Scripture Text (NRSV)
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
3:14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly
believed, knowing from whom you learned it,
3:15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that
are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
3:17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient,
equipped for every good work.
4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the
living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I
solemnly urge you:
4:2 proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is
favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the
utmost patience in teaching.
4:3 For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound
doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves
teachers to suit their own desires,
4:4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away
to myths.
4:5 As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work
of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.
Comments:
At the little church I pastor, we face an end, as we will lay down our
gathering, and the 9 or so beyond my family of 5 will find other
communities of faith. Over the remaining 5 weeks, I hope that we will
do the "heavy lifting." Yesterday, remembering the leper who
acknowledged his healing, we listed all the beauty they had known in
that congregation--it has been the spiritual home for one woman for
nearly 69 years. Perhaps next week I will encourage them to list those
whom God has placed in their lives, and what those individuals have
taught as lessons of faith. We cry, we hurt, but that is how it should
be, when one sees that an end to something so very dear, is near. It
will be left to all of us to "...carry out our ministries fully."
lkinhc
Perhaps the title in our bulletin will be: "PRESSING ON WITH
SCHOOLWORK" .
preaching points : . 1. (v14) The Teachers; (ref. 1:5) ....
.2.(v15-16) The Textbook;... .3.(v17) The Lesson;.... .
.......Galveston Teacher
ooohhhh ... I'm liking this so far!
Proclaim: be persistent and patient even in unfavorable times! Put up
with rebuke and keep to the sound doctrine ... because people will
seek out teachers who tell them what they want to hear.
The holes this opens up are worthy of a dissertation! So OPEN! Whose
"sound doctrine?" Which "teachings to suit (our) own desires?" Heck,
we can't agree what "sound doctrine" is ... because even our most
fundamental(ist) brothers and sisters use interpretation, even though
many deny it. And, I maintain that even "fundamentalists" or
"evangelicals" are using "teachings to suit their own desires" every
bit as much as "universalists" or "liberals" or (fill in the blank).
You get the idea.
To say that doctrine is from a "literal" reading of scriptures is, in
and of itself, an interpretation of Scripture. But, I digress...
Reality says that there are a bazillion doctrines out there ... I have
a friend who's currently disillusioned with her UU church and is
approaching meeting her spiritual needs by considering whom to
worship. I hate for her that she's in this place - because it must
feel lonely and without a center. Still, I know that the old-fashioned
"testifying with sound doctrine" will turn her off all the more.
There's a REASON she left the Christian church.
I preach what I believe to be sound doctrine all the time ... and
there are a good many around who believe that my preaching AT ALL is
specifically UN-sound doctrine.
... and then, Paul says something of profound value, too. (or whoever
it was) ... don't we all accumulate for ourselves teachers to suit our
own desires? and don't our congregations????? There are 2 SS classes
that use the same curriculum ... and they refuse to merge ... and as
best I can tell, they've been having the same conversation for 20 +
years. Their "teachers" are suiting the desires of their classes,
which conveniently happen to be their own.
Maybe a general rule might be: If people are too rigid, lighten them
up with sound doctrine, and if people are too "out there," then rein
them in a bit with sound doctrine.
I hope other folks come here to ponder along with me! This could be
fun.
Sally in GA
4:2 was the topic verse for my ordination, but I have to say I dislike
greatly this translation. It is not just "the message," that must be
proclaimed, but all of the "logon," the "Word." On this, the context
is clear. The sacred writings instructed Timothy for salvation through
faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God. Scripture
makes those who belong to God proficient and equipped for every good
work. Fearful times are ahead when people will not put up with sound
doctrine. It is the Word of God alone which accomplishes the purposes
of 3:14-17, and which guards against the errors of 4:3-4.
JG in WI
Just to muddy the water a little, what is the "scripture" that Paul is
referring to? What did he have other than the Old Testament. The
Pauline Corpus (a collection of the letters of Paul) was the earliest
known collection of New Testament scripture at about 90 AD (or CE if
you prefer). The Gospels of Mark and Matthew may have been around at
the time if Paul wrote this letter but there was no New Testament as
we now think of it at that time.
How often do we wander off to myths even in our modern churches? (What
were the names of those 3 wise men again?) Maybe this is why Paul
claimed that he stuck to preaching Christ and Him crucified. Paul
stuck to preaching what he knew. Mike in Soddy Daisy
PS to lkinhc, I was speaking to a couple at a funeral on Friday whose
little church had closed about 4 years ago. A congregation from
another denomination is renting it for now but they said it was a
little rough that it had closed on their shift. I asked how old the
church was and was told that they had a list of pastors that dated
back to the 1840's. Having been to that church site, I doubt it could
have held 75 people at best in the present building. I reminded them
was how that church had been a constant part of that community for so
long and to consider how many people through the years had found faith
and salvation there. That church didn't fail. It was just time for a
change. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future."
JG in WI - which translation do you prefer, and why?
Sally
The message points remain the same, (The Teachers:, The Textbook:. The
Lesson:,) but the title now is "Higher Education" !!!
(Special Music is "Every Moment of Every Day")
Hope you have a great week. Galveston Teacher
How many people have hunted down specific scriptures to pursue their
cause?
I am thinking of the church hoppers who look for the church or the
preacher that says what they wish to hear.
Vs. 3-4 sound a lot like the United States at this point.
sorry for the randomness. Just thinking with my fingers.
Sally
Thank you for asking. I tend to examine many versions for study. I use
the NIV for preaching because most of my congregation has it and it's
easier for them.
For study, I use the American Standard, New American Standard, New
English, and several others when there is a difficult passage (I have
software for this). I prefer these because the translator were very
particular about verb tense (especially the old American Standard) and
exact wording. The NIV provides dynamic equivalency but has its flaws.
My congregation often finds me re-translating passages using the other
translations.
Look at 2 Timothy 4:2 in ASV - "preach the word; be urgent in season,
out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and
teaching." In Greek, the conjunction "kai" (and) is not present. The
meaning here, in the words of John Chrysostom, is to preach in season,
but to make "out of season" times into "in season" times. This is just
a tidbit.
Thank you again for asking.
JG in WI
Thinking with the fingers:
I'm not sure I agree ... at first you appear to be dead-on about the
"itching ears" verses and the USA.
It's just that it's not as clear as we wish it were. I think even the
most biblical of people have their own form of 'itching ears.'
Not to rouse up a bunch of controversy, but take, for example, the war
in Iraq. Many "conservative" Christians (as defined in contemporary
society) believe that this war is sanctioned by God. Many other
conservative Christians (such as the Amish) believe that NO war is
sanctioned by God. Both can quote Scriptures supporting their case.
Some Christians believe that it's immoral to be Republican, and others
believe that it's immoral to be Democrat (and we haven't even injected
the green party influence). And they can justify their arguments ---
Women preachers, racial integration, homosexuality, abortion when
mothers' lives are at stake (and yes, one of my best friends from
college died from breast cancer and lost her unborn son in the process
- she chose not to end the pregnancy to take chemo, but if she had, I
wanted for it to be ok for her to do so - there was nothing pro-life
about losing them both), the church & state issue, what freedom of
religion really means .... just name your hot topic.
Just because we believe we're right doesn't make our "opponents'
wrong.
Sally in GA
JG in WI -
thanks. It's interesting that I've heard the opposite about the ABS
and the NASB. I prefer the NRSV, though fully admitting it has its
problems.
If the RSV and the NIV and the NRSV didn't have their theological axes
to grind with each other, they'd be able to get together and come up
with something really good. As it stands, it's ended up being a way we
identify who's on the left and who's on the right. I just hate that.
Trying not to grind axes...
Sally in GA
When it comes to figuring out sound doctrine, what's "the truth" we
can grind just about any axe that suits our fancy...that's a given. I
like the notion that it is the entire message that informs the
particular message, in other words it's not a super market where we
buy what we like. In addition, it also seems to me that the word is
dynamic...and we do best when we make use of the Kerygma of corporate
reading and study and prayer.
Frequent reader...not so frequent contributor. Thanks for the
insights...
The phrase "itching ears" from the NSRV has caught my attention--I
wish The Message used it!
My dogs frequently scratch their ears, and our vet recently told us
that ear infections can be common in dogs, especially if they swim in
ponds (like ours do). One sign of the infection is constant itching.
Our ears have been assaulted for months by campaign rhetoric (in the
USA), and we have trouble discerning what is truth in what we hear. Do
our ears itch from too much information?
How can Scripture soothe that itch? SHOULD Scripture soothe that itch?
Shouldn't we always itch to hear more, even, and especially, if it
stretches us from our liberal/conservative, comfortable stances
(theologically as well as politcally)?
Hmmmmmm............Sybil in KS
Sermon title... Itching Ears and Stomach Aches (from the Message
translation of Jeremiah).
Sybil in KS
I recently read the DaVinci Code. I LOVED it, as a work of fiction. I
FEAR it, as something people who are not grounded in the Word of God
will read and take to be factual, historical, information. I recently
sat down with some young friends (they are 4 and 13) to watch "The
Prince of Egypt." I was absolutely DELIGHTED when this 13-year-old
started to point out the parts of the movie that were filled in and
not actually based on the Bible story of Moses! How many adults can't
do that? This gospel says to me "Learn all you can about and from the
Word of God so that when you are confronted with an idea, you can know
whether it is real and true or corrupted somehow." The good news in
this is that we have available for our use, "Good News"! Pastor Janel
in ND
Sally in GA
I may not have been clear about the ASV (American Standard Version).
It is the 1901 translation sometimes called the American Revision
(there was a British one done about the same time). It was so literal
and particular in its usage that it was considered stiff and woody.
Currently, it is not readily available except online (though I am
blessed to have two old copies which my father had). Another source,
surprisingly, is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. They have
purchased publishing rights to it and they have not altered the text.
You can always buy one (at cost) from a visiting Jehovah's Witness
(and, I might add, some professors of Greek tell their students to do
so in order to show them proper verb parsing). The New American
Standard Version, a 1963 translation attempting to correct some of
these problems, and though it partly succeeded, it still does't flow
very well.
I agree with you that the NIV and NRSV are grinding axes which is why
I don't use the NIV in my study and preparation - I just live with the
fact that my people have them. I actually do like how the NRSV
translates some segments - this one bothered me however. I know what
they're trying to say, but I fear they've gone a bit far afield with
their attempt at dynamic equivalency at least here (which the NIV also
does frequently in other places).
Wouldn't it be interesting to see what would come if our two
traditions - the more liberal and the more conservative - got together
to translate a Bible that avoided axes?
JG in WI
Pastor Janel in ND,
I too, have concerns about my parishioners reading the DaVinci Code.
And for good reason. I've had many of them tell me they didn't "know"
that Jesus and Mary had a relationship. These dear folk had accepted
this book as truth.
I have recommended to them, and I recommend to all who look for a
clear response to Brown's book, an excellent resource:
"Cracking DaVinci's Code" by James L. Garlow and Peter Jones.
breakingthedavincicode.com www.jimgarlow.com
Standing Firm, Janet in PA
Paul continues his instruction of Timothy, his younger colleague in
ministry, by emphasizing the importance of faithful teaching despite
opposition.
It is the story of God's relationship to humanity contained in the
Hebrew Scriptures that Paul commends to Timothy. There is urgency in
Timothy's ministry to proclaim the message with which he has been
entrusted. For many it will be easier to find messages that suit them
than to hold to the truth.
JG in WI -
Ohhhh.... I obviously though "American Standard Bible," a favorite
among Southern Baptists 'round these parts. Thanks for clearing it up
for me.
Sally
Sybil in KS
I think our ears itch from too much MIS-information - from both sides.
Sally
