Skip to main content

It Ain't Over Yet


Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments. (II Timothy 4:9-13) 

            “I have fought the good fight” Paul told Timothy. “I am ready to be poured out like a drink offering.” Yesterday’s passage was all about endings. Paul knew he didn’t have much time left. He’d done all he could. He’d done enough. It’s thought that II Timothy was written around 67 AD, which would have made him about 62 years old. That’s about the time that people today think they should be allowed to retire. They’ve worked enough. Of course, in Paul’s case, his retirement party apparently involved his receiving an ax or a sword through the neck. 
            While Paul was clearly looking forward to retirement, today’s passage takes a different tone. Paul wanted Timothy to come to him. This may have been partly because he was feeling abandoned by friends who weren’t strong enough to be true. It may have been partly because he just missed his friend and student, but there were practical matters. He wanted Timothy to bring is cloak, and some scrolls and parchments… books. He may have wanted them in order to bequeath them to specific people, but I suspect he wanted them for his own use. Getting ready to retire didn’t mean slowing down, taking it easy, handing responsibility off to someone else. It means continuing to find ways to bring love, truth and faith into the lives of others. I hope when I’m sixty-two, and seventy-two, and eighty-two and maybe even in ninety-two that I am still learning and finding ways to share what I learn, and that I have friends who will support me in that adventure.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more