This passage offers several ways to build a homily that
faithfully reflects the Word of God. The bullets below offer several possibilities for
developing a sermon.
John Calvin makes an interesting point: "The Apostle . . . does not enjoin Timothy
to defend indiscriminately the doctrine which has been delivered to him, but only that
which he knows to be truth . . . nothing is more inconsistent with the nature of
faith than light credulity, which allows us to embrace everything indiscriminately,
whatever it may be."
"Borrowed sweat!" Giving a lecture is not quite the same as preaching. To
read the commentaries, run a quick check on the computer for word-meanings and text
background may simply be an exercise in "borrowed sweat." That is, going to
texts and resources for information rather than for formation. Or going to the Bible and
biblical resources for sermons, rather than to be engaged by those texts in the context of
our lives. Or speaking words that have little conviction and relationship to one’s
personal life. Certainly information transfer needs to happen in Christian discourse, but
what Calvin-and perhaps Paul-seems to suggest is that preachers as traditioners must speak
out of a conviction, out of a lived relationship with the biblical truth they are
sermonizing about.
Thus, truth isolated from life and practice is not the traditioning that Paul
encourages Timothy to continue in but rather to "continue in what you have learned
and firmly believed . . ."
The second part of this lesson moves toward the discussion of the "Inspiration of
Scripture." Many church groups and denominations have embedded in their articles of
faith a statement on "the authority of Scripture." Invariably, this passage will
be marched out to buttress their firm confession that they believe the Bible and nothing
but the Bible. What does this passage say about itself, about Scripture?
Concerning the Inspiration of Scripture:
