2 Timothy 1:1-14 Commentary

It has been so dry in the northeastern United States that even the slightest or most carelessly tossed spark can easily turn into a destructive conflagration. As a result, on a recent vacation in New England, my wife and I saw countless reminders to be very careful in the handling of outdoor fires. One of the most evocative signs to that effect warns people to “drown” their campfires.

That’s, however, just the opposite of this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson with Paul’s summons to his son in the faith. After all, in verse 6 the apostle calls Timothy not to douse, but to “fan into flame [anazopyrein*] the gift [charisma] of God, which is in you by the laying on [epitheseos] of my hands.”

The call to fan into something in flame employs imagery with which campers, backyard barbecuers and other fire-starters are familiar. At least some of us have crouched over or near glowing coals as we tried to turn them into a fire. How many of us have also done what we can to breathe life into the faltering flames of pieces of smoldering wood?

Of course, a couple of questions come to mind in regard to the flame that is God’s gift to Timothy mediated through the blessing of his father in the faith. What exactly, for example, is the charisma (“gift”) to which the apostle refers? The Greek word is, of course, a noun in the singular form. Given verse 6’s gift’s close proximity to Paul’s reference to Timothy’s “faith” [pisteos] (5), at least some Christians assume that implies the gift which Paul calls his mentee to fan into flame is his Christian faith. But that assumes a connection between God’s gift of faith and the laying on of human hands that makes at least some of Jesus’ friends nervous.

That’s among the reasons why some biblical scholars suggest Paul’s thinking of Timothy’s ministry as the gift he received through the apostle’s laying on of hands. That’s, in fact, the assumption that the biblical scholar Eugene Peterson seems to make. The Message, after all, paraphrases verse 6 as “The special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed – keep that ablaze.”

Yet if that’s true, does Paul imply in verse 6 that Timothy’s ministry is in danger of dying out? Does the apostle’s call to “fan into flame the gift of God” suggest that his ministry is like a dying flame or smoldering ember? This possibility reminds Jesus’ friends that even God’s saintliest adopted children want to be vigilant about seeking the Holy Spirit’s help in keeping healthy whatever ministry it is to which God calls us.

The apostle, however, doesn’t seem to make clear how his son in the faith should keep that gift of ministry anazopyrein (“ablaze”). He doesn’t offer a DIY manual on how Timothy can fan his ministry into flame. Yet this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson may imply that keeping an eye on the Triune God as well as Timothy’s brothers and sisters in Christ, especially Paul, can help keep his ministry’s perhaps flickering flame ablaze.

In verse 7, after all, Paul testifies, “The Spirit God gave [edoken] us does not make us timid [deilias], but gives us power [dynameos], love [agapes] and self-discipline [sophronismou].” This at least implies that Timothy was tempted toward being timid, if not cowardly in his work of ministry. After all, the Spirit compelled the apostle to remind his mentee that God’s Spirit graces Jesus’ followers with power, love and self-control for the work of ministry.

The apostle, what’s more, in verse 14, invites Timothy to “guard [phylaxon] the good deposit that was entrusted to you [paratheken].” But, he adds, his son in the faith doesn’t have to do that by himself. “Guard it,” Paul continues, “with the help of [dia] the Holy Spirit who lives [enoikountos] in us.” In this case, the apostle seems to have in mind not guarding by somehow protecting that good deposit but, instead, by keeping a watchful eye on it. That good deposit seems to be Timothy’s faith in the living God.

Paul, on top of that, invites his timid son in the faith to look to the incarnate Son of God. Jesus, after all, according to verse 9-10 “has saved [sosantos] us and called us [klesei] to a holy life [hagia] – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose [prothesin] and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time [chronon aionion], but it has now been revealed [phanerotheisan] through the appearing [epiphaneias] of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here the apostle reminds Christ’s friends that Christ graciously rescues us in order to, in part, both call us to and equip us for lives of ministry. Jesus’ friends like Timothy can be courageous ministers of the gospel because God has rescued us for that very purpose. Paul may even be suggesting that Timothy can be bold in his work of ministry because Jesus was bold in the face of fierce opposition to his work of ministry that included his rescuing of his adopted siblings.

This helps remind the gospel’s proclaimers that various ministers can read all the books and attend all the conferences we want about doing ministry well. There’s certainly an appropriate place for that. But Paul at least suggests those who would minister well in Christ’s name always, from first to last and everywhere in between, keep our eyes on the living God whose Spirit calls and empowers us for the work of any ministry.

However, of course, God graciously does God’s work in part through the people God puts around us. So when Paul in verse 5 talks about Timothy’s “sincere [anypokritou] faith,” the apostle recalls how it “first [proton] lived [enokesen] in his grandmother Lois and mother Eunice.” God graced Timothy with a godly grandmother and mother. Paul at least implies that Timothy should remember the faith that animated their lives and which they shared with their grandson and son.

This may offer preachers an opportunity to invite our hearers to reflect on the godly people who have loved both the Lord and us. In fact, even Christians who don’t have particularly godly family members remember how God has used and still uses various people to impact our faithful reception of God’s grace. Preachers might even, with the Spirit’s permission, share a story of a loved one’s impact on our faith.

But, of course, the person who has the largest ongoing impact on Timothy’s Christian faith is his father in the faith, Paul. The apostle, as he reminds Timothy in verse 3, constantly remembers him in his prayers and longs to see his son in the faith so that joy may flood him.

In verse 8 Paul summons Timothy to “join with” him “in suffering [synkakopatheson] for the gospel, by the power [dynamin] of God.” It’s an invitation to partner with the apostle in not just proclaiming the gospel of God’s saving grace, but also in being willing to suffer for its sake. Here too, however, Paul reminds his son in the faith that neither of them have to suffer on their own. God’s dynamin (“power”), insists the apostle, is available to those whom others persecute for following Jesus Christ.

In verses 11ff., Paul also draws Timothy’s “eyes” toward him, in this case to his suffering for the sake of his proclamation of the gospel. “Of this gospel,” the apostle writes there, “I was appointed [etethen] a herald [keryx] and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering [pascho] as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame [episkynomai].” Paul’s testimony here may be an allusion by way of contrast to Timothy’s natural timidity about proclaiming that same gospel.

Paul then draws this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson’s last attention to himself with verse 13’s, “What you have heard from me, keep as the pattern [hypotyposin] of sound [hygiainonton] teaching, with faith and love in Jesus Christ.” This is the apostle’s summons to Timothy to model his own faithful and loving proclamation of the gospel after Paul’s.

Paul’s invitation to Timothy to look to and imitate him may, to 21^st century ears, sound arrogant. But the Spirit can use that summons to remind us that God doesn’t just call God’s faithful servants but also empowers us to be humble role models. The apostle’s summons may even serve as a reminder that those who know we follow Jesus are watching to see just how we do that.

But what if through all of this Sunday’s Epistolary Lesson Paul is also presenting to Timothy some ways of fanning into flame his gift of ministry? What if by inviting him to minister with power, love and self-discipline the apostle is offering him a means to fan into flame his ministry?

What if Paul is at least implying that, on top of that, the Spirit can help us fan into flames our ministries through our willingness to suffer for the gospel? The apostle may be implying that Jesus’ followers can fan into flames our various ministries by actually doing those ministries.

*I have here and elsewhere added in brackets the Greek words for the English words the NIV translation uses.

Illustration

Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead is, in part, the utterly remarkable story of John Ames. He is a 76-year-old minister who is dying from heart failure. So he writes to his young son about how he has experienced some ministry. In it Ames describes approaching a couple of men who work in the local car dealership. The mechanics are smoking and laughing together.

Ames notes, “When they saw me coming, of course the joking stopped, but I could see they were still laughing to themselves, thinking what the old preacher almost heard them say . . . That’s the strangest thing about this life, about being in the ministry. People change the subject when they see you coming.

“And then sometimes those very same people come into your study and tell you the most remarkable things. There’s a lot under the surface of life, everyone knows that. A lot of malice and dread and guilt, and so much loneliness, where you wouldn’t really expect to find it, either.”