Are you part of a team? It could be sport on the weekends, or does your work culture stress that you are all team members working towards a common goal? Being part of a team can be great; it shares the work, builds camaraderie and can achieve more than just one person.
When I was at uni for my IT degree, there was this shift in moving to lots of teamwork assignments, preparing us for the real world where IT nerds worked in teams. The one thing that I learned from this was that I don’t like teamwork assignments. There was always one person who was being propped up by everyone, and there was always another person who was carrying everyone else. I know in some teams I was carrying the group, but to be fair, in others I was that one being carried.
Someone told me that when they die, they want their team members to be their pallbearers, so they can let him down one last time (that joke was from Andrew Lubbock).
Over these holidays, we are going to be spending some time looking at the person of Timothy. We are going to be looking at how Timothy was a team member, a minister and a multiplier. And from his life, we will see how we can be encouraged to continue in our faith.
Today, we are looking at how Paul recruits Timothy to join his team. Paul brings him along in his travels and encourages Timothy in the tasks he has to do. Timothy became quite the team member for Paul, and while we might have a glamorous view on how this all worked out, today we will see that Timothy was probably a lot like us.
Our outline today is:
- Found Faithful
- Fully Committed
- Facing Fear
- Forever Secure
Found Faithful
We first meet Timothy in Acts 16 when Paul turns up to Lystra for the second time.Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. (Acts 16:1 NIV)Already Timothy is known as a faithful guy and is the son of a mixed marriage. His mother was a Jewish beleiver and his father was a Greek.
The first time Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra was in Acts 14. They healed a guy and people thought Paul and Barnabas were both Zeus and Hermes. They rejected this and instead said they were followers of the living God. Some Jews stired up trouble, but some people beleived.
The women in Timothy’s life were devoted Jews waiting for the messiah. They had been teaching Timothy the Old Testament since he was a baby (2 Tim 3:14-15). So when Paul, a trained Jewish scholar who was also a Christian, came into town he would have helped them put all the pieces into place for them about Jesus. When Paul left Lystra the beleivers formed a small Chrisian house church.
Timothy would have been a teenager or young adult and he may have been converted then too (Acts 14:6–23) (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Timothy). [In one of Paul first letter to Timothy he calls him his “true son in the faith” (1 Tim 1:2) which may indicate that Timothy was also converted under Paul.]
Then about 4 years later Paul comes back and finds Timothy as a faithful believer who is well regarded, even by Christians in the neighbouring towns.
Paul sees great potenital in Timothy. He is the son of a Greek, but brought up a Jew. Timothy knows the Jewish scriptures, and also the Gentile culture. He has a foot in two worlds and would have been a great asset on Paul’s team. Paul and Barnabas had also just split over Mark, and so perhaps Paul saw Timothy as a good replacement. (The New Bible Dictionary, Third Edition Timothy)
Fully Committed
So Paul seeks to take this Greek, third-genetaional Christian to join his team. But there was a bit of a problem. Timothy was not circumcised. This was probably because of his faither’s influence when he was born. So I’m not sure, but I do wonder if his dad was still alive in Acts 16, as we don’t see or hear anything from him in this incident. (Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible Timothy)Anyway, the problem Paul saw was that Timothy wasn’t circumcised, which is a little strange when you find out what the message Paul was going around telling other belevers.
We are told that:
As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. (Acts 16:4 NIV)The decisions from the Jerusalem council had to do if Gentiles were to get circumcised when they became a Christian. The council in the end they said:
No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” (Acts 15:11 NIV)People are only saved by the grace of Jesus, not by rituals and outward actions. So when it comes to being circumcised the council didn’t want to make it difficult for the Gentiles to come to God (Acts 15:19) so they said circumcism wasn’t needed.
And yet, with this very message in their mouths Paul gets Timothy circumcised. What’s that about? To confuse the matter a little more, we also know that before this incident Paul resisted getting his other team member Titus circumcised (Gal 2:3). What is going on here?
See, Timothy was a bit of an edge case, as he was not fully Gentile. He was half Jewish, whereas Titus was 100% Gentile. Circumcism was seen as the entry into Jewadism and the start of obeying the law. But Timothy, since he was young, was already obeying the Jewish law, geting him circumcised was not adding another yoke around his neck.
However, uncircimscised Timothy may have been a stumbling block to the synagoues they were going to visit in the area. They may have known that Timothy was the half-Jewish kid from down the road was only cosplaying at being a Jew (Enter Timothy, Doug Wilson). They might have thought that Tim perhaps didn’t take his Jewish hearitage seriously, and they might not listen to him or Paul. So for the sake of avoiding any distraction on how legit Timothy was as a Jew, Paul had him do this, so their message wouldn’t get side tracked.
This would have a been a painful cost for Timothy. He did this for the sake of others so that their message would be clear, even if the message was that Gentiles don’t need to be circumcised.
Timothy was fully committed to this mission trip. His gave up his rights for others. This is not the only time Timothy is comended for this action. Next week we will see how Timothy is known for considering others above himself (Phil 2:19-22).
Timothy was young, and he may not have felt prepared or well trained or known all the answer, but from the get go, he was faithful and committed. He believed in Jesus and was willing do what was asked of him. Even if it meant scrafice, even if he felt out of his depth. He would have been a great team member.
So Timothy joins Paul and they move around the area. They couldn’t get into some of the places they wanted to so they bounced around, before Paul had a vision to go to Macedonia. There they visited places like Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea. On this journey Timothy started out with Paul but then he starts using Timothy to stay in places for him. Paul moves on to Athens but leaves Timothy and Silas in Berea (Acts 17:14-15). Later, when they were in Ephesus Paul sents Timothy and Erastus back to Macedonia (Acts 19:22). Timothy was trusted on Paul’s third missionary journey which involved taking up a collection from the Gentile Christians to help the Jerusalem church.
Paul and Timothy built up a friendship over time. Timothy is mentioned as co-sender of Pauls letters 6 times and is recipiant of two. Timothy is mentioned in Romans, 1 Corinthians and Hebrews. Timothy is absent in only 3 of Pauls letters, Galatians, Ephesians and Titus.
Timothy was faithful and committed to helping Paul and his mission. Those are traits every team member needs. Are you working on being faithful and committed as a fellow team member in our family of faith? Are you willing to set aside your personal comfort to support others? To commit to serving here or beyond in some way?
Now this doesn’t have to be about filling a roster but it could. You could join a board, or meet one-on-one with someone, give up an hour a week or fornight for someone else. Or yeah, it could be joining a roster
[10am: and giving up your Sunday sleepins to help set up the building, or prep the coffee or set up the sound.]
[4:30pm: Maybe you could come to the 10am and help with sound, or if you know how to play a lead instrument you could help out here.]
Our services on Sunday get put together every week by faithful and committed people. And I want say thankyou to all those who help every week.
But I know, even in saying this some might be thinking that I can’t read the Bible with someone, or manage the sound desk. That could be true, but consider why you might feel that. We have training to help overcome the skill issue. But if the thing holding you back isn’t your gifting but is fear, self doubt or what people would think of you, then you need to see Timothy and how he handles these same feelings.
This would have a been a painful cost for Timothy. He did this for the sake of others so that their message would be clear, even if the message was that Gentiles don’t need to be circumcised.
Timothy was fully committed to this mission trip. His gave up his rights for others. This is not the only time Timothy is comended for this action. Next week we will see how Timothy is known for considering others above himself (Phil 2:19-22).
Timothy was young, and he may not have felt prepared or well trained or known all the answer, but from the get go, he was faithful and committed. He believed in Jesus and was willing do what was asked of him. Even if it meant scrafice, even if he felt out of his depth. He would have been a great team member.
Paul and Timothy built up a friendship over time. Timothy is mentioned as co-sender of Pauls letters 6 times and is recipiant of two. Timothy is mentioned in Romans, 1 Corinthians and Hebrews. Timothy is absent in only 3 of Pauls letters, Galatians, Ephesians and Titus.
Timothy was faithful and committed to helping Paul and his mission. Those are traits every team member needs. Are you working on being faithful and committed as a fellow team member in our family of faith? Are you willing to set aside your personal comfort to support others? To commit to serving here or beyond in some way?
Now this doesn’t have to be about filling a roster but it could. You could join a board, or meet one-on-one with someone, give up an hour a week or fornight for someone else. Or yeah, it could be joining a roster
[10am: and giving up your Sunday sleepins to help set up the building, or prep the coffee or set up the sound.]
[4:30pm: Maybe you could come to the 10am and help with sound, or if you know how to play a lead instrument you could help out here.]
Our services on Sunday get put together every week by faithful and committed people. And I want say thankyou to all those who help every week.
But I know, even in saying this some might be thinking that I can’t read the Bible with someone, or manage the sound desk. That could be true, but consider why you might feel that. We have training to help overcome the skill issue. But if the thing holding you back isn’t your gifting but is fear, self doubt or what people would think of you, then you need to see Timothy and how he handles these same feelings.
Facing Fear
Timothy was not a superhero. He was not some great Alpha church planter, who was part of Paul’s delta team of missionaries. Instead Timothy needed continual encoruagement to keep going. We learnt from the letters to Timothy that he was fearful (2 Tim 1:7) and He was a bit sicky who had stomach aches (1 Tim 5:23).In fact one time Paul sends Timothy off to Corinth to settle a disagrement (1 Cor 4:17) and Paul asked the church to not be mean to him (1 Cor 16:10-11). But in the end Timothy couldn’t solve their disagreement, for whatever reason it was too hard for him. Titus in the end got sent to deal with the issue as he seemed toughter (they recieved Titus with “fear and trembling”) (2 Cor 7:6, 15).
But what is great about this is that Paul didn’t cut Timothy off. Like at work if your outcomes are not being met, if you are taking lots of sick leave, you might get reviewed and sidelined. But Paul continued to used Timothy because he shows genuine care for others (Phil 2:20). Timothy wasn’t bold, but he was loyal (Phil 2:22). He did what was asked of him. To be circumcised, to go here, to delever this message. To sort out this problem. Timothy stayed the course, even if scared him, even if he failed.
Even after 20 years of friendship Paul writes to tell Timothy to keep going and to remember his faith and the message of the Gospel. That people may look down on him, but that is ok.
Sometimes you may find an opportunity to talk about Jesus and then feel in over your head. Or you don’t start that conversation about God because you feel illprepared. Or you don’t want people looking down on you because of your faith. I think Timothy would have felt all of that, and yet he kept going. He didn’t have it all together, he had health issues and anxiety, but through it all, he was faithful and committed.
In Paul’s final letter, he writes to Timothy
I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. (2 Timothy 1:5 NIV)Paul remembers, all those years ago, Timothy’s sincear faith that came from his grandmother and mother. This faith, Paul reminds Timothy is still with him.
Paul wants Timothy to continue to fan into flames the gifts God has given him. To not have self doubt but to keep going and to do what is asked of him in Ephesus. Paul says:
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. (2 Timothy 1:7–8 NIV)The Spirit has gifted Timothy and the Spirit has also gifted us. And notice what the the Spirit gives us: power, love and self-discipline to not be timid. Timothy needed to hear this due to his worry, and we might need to hear this too.
We aren’t to think about all the negative possible worlds out there. Timothy wasn’t to be ashamed of what has happened to Paul. He was instead to lean into it, and share in Paul’s suffereing. To trust in the Spirit’s gifting who gives us power, love and self-discipline.
On our own, we can overthink and this can paralysed us. We sometimes think if we just had a little more of something we would be better. If we had better answers, more time, better health, more courage, then I would be a better Christian.
But its not up to us to have the best techniques or the best answers or the best life. We are to just simply do. Because it isn’t about our own power anyway, it is God’s Spirit gifting us things to say, it is God’s Spirit giving us love for others, and it is God’s Spirit giving us self-discipline to act and react when needed.
The Spirit of God gives us the power we need to keep running. The energy souce Christianity runs on is from God, not from within us. We don’t need to dig deep to manufacture some sort of courage in the faith. We just need to depend onGod. For it is only in God where we are enpowered to serve and it is is only in God that we can be saved.
Forever Secure
Paul says, even though he is in prision, is is ok. This is because the message they shared in saves and brings life.He [God] has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:9–10 NIV)Paul helps reframe Timothy’s anxiety, getting him to look through a bigger window than what he might be seeing. His teacher and friend is in prision, but that is ok. God saves people through Jesus Christ, and our messiah destroyed death and has brought life, immortality and light through the Gospel.
The worst thing the government could do to Paul is kill him, but Jesus has destroyed death. The resurrection takes away the power and finality of death. What can the world do to Paul in Rome or Timothy in Ephesus?
Timothy is reminded to think about his faith and the powerful mesage of Jesus, not in his own lack of self-confidenced or inexeriences. Timothy was sent to Ephesus to strenghten the church despite all that he was worried about.
And that is what he did. Church history says [Eusebius ~325 AD] Timothy stayed in Ephesus and was considred the first bishop there (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary Timothy)
In the letter to the Hebrews it says
I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been released. If he arrives soon, I will come with him to see you. (Hebrews 13:23 NIV)At some point, Timid Tim, ended up in prision for his faith, like his team mate Paul. He did share in that same suffering for the gospel.
Wrap up
So having seen a bit of Timothy’s life, what can we learn from Him? We might not all be called to plant churches or travel the world to be missionaries, but Timothy’s temperment might have been a lot like us. He wasn’t bold, forceful or stern. He felt young and inexperiend. He was kind and caring; timid and worried about what people thought of him.And we might feel all of that too. But Timothy shows us that despite these fears or inadquaicies we can be faithful, commited and secure. Not because of anything we have done but by the grace of God.
We can be everyday team members for Jesus right where we are. At this church we want to make disciples of Jesus with deep roots and last fruit. How might you join us in doing this? How might your faith, commitment and security in Jesus lead you to action? How might you sick your neck out for Jesus?
At work, when the conversation turns to some hot button religious issue, will you be timid or ashamed of Jesus, or speak up and put forward your two cents?
At church, when you see something that needs to be done, or some blind spot that we are missing, will you work in this body and help in that area that you have noticed and help get involved in fixing this need?
For those who feel anxious or inadquate, overthinking all the bad possible outcomes, saying to yourself that you can’t do help on this team. Remember our power comes from the Spirit and not ourselves. Remember your faith and what Jesus has done and what God has promised.
For those who feel like they want to act but honsetly don’t feel equipped, or you just don’t know where the needs are, come and talk to me after the service, or send me an email this week. We can talk and try and figure something out.
If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His eye is upon us, his arm over us, his ear open to our prayer; his grace sufficient, his promise unchangeable. Under his protection, though the path of duty should lie through fire and water, we may cheerfully and confidently pursue it. (300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church Security in God’s Faithfulness)Christ Jesus has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel (1 Tim 2:10). As you think more on this good news, may you be found faithful and fully commiteed to this message, not fearful, but forever secure in God.
Heavenly Father,Help us to remember our faithAnd to see how we can be helpful team membersNot promoting our own causes, but yoursGive us power, love and self-disciplineSo that your name can be known to those around usHelp us not to be timid, but instead to be confident in you,Who has overcome death and brought light and life into this world.We ask this through our risen Lord's name, Jesus. Amen.
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