Tag Archives: 2 Timothy 4

Chapter-a-Day

“Bring Mark”

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Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 
2 Timothy 4:11 (NIV)

Paul sits alone in the Roman dungeon. Despite his words of encouragement to Timothy, despite the hope of an eternal reward that awaits him, there is no mistaking the heaviness of heart he feels as he awaits his appointment with the executioner that he knows is imminent. Paul’s final words of this the final letter are filled with loneliness…

Demas has deserted me.
Crescens left me too.
So did Titus.
Only Luke is with me.
Please come quickly.

Then Paul makes an unusual request.

Get Mark and bring him with you. I need his help.

The personal greetings in the letters of the New Testament don’t get much attention from casual readers. The names are strange, there’s no real context, and the message doesn’t have any real meaning for the reader. But those personal greetings often point to stories that are full of meaning and Paul’s request for Mark to come to him is one.

Mark was known as John Mark. He was a young man when he and his mother became followers of Jesus. Mark was present in the garden when Jesus was arrested. His mother’s house became a hideout for the disciples and Jesus’ followers during and after the crucifixion. When Paul set off on his first missionary journey to take Jesus’ message to the Gentiles in Greece and Asia Minor, young Mark was part of the entourage.

Wherever Paul went, he stirred the pot. When Paul stirred the pot things got hard. Persecution, riots, getting arrested, getting beaten, death threats, and getting stoned were what came with the territory.

Mark couldn’t handle it. He bailed on Paul and Barnabas and went home.

A few years later, Paul approached Barnabas about taking a road trip to visit all the local gatherings they’d planted on that earlier journey. Barnabas wanted to bring Mark with them. Paul wanted nothing to do with having Mark along after he wimped out on them before. Things got heated. Words were exchanged. Paul and Barnabas parted ways. Barnabas took Mark with him. Paul went in the opposite direction.

Fast forward to Paul in the final days of his earthly journey sitting alone in darkness and chains. Among the final words of this his final letter he writes:

Get Mark and bring him with you. I need his help.

We don’t know the whole story, but it is obvious that there was a reconciliation between Mark and Paul. Mark regained Paul’s trust. Paul forgave Mark for deserting him on that first journey. Their relationship was not only restored but grew. Mark became indispensable to Paul in his later years, his imprisonments, and his tireless work of spreading Jesus’ message.

As I look back at my life journey, there have been conflicts with people I love very much. I have my own moments of disagreement when things got heated, words got exchanged, and when I and my friend walked away in opposite directions. Life gets messy. I hear Jesus’ words echo in my soul as I type this in the quiet:

“This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God. Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. “
Matthew 5:23-25 (MSG)

I wish I could say that every broken relationship gets reconciled this side of heaven. That has not been my experience, but some do and as a disciple of Jesus my job is to do my part in creating the atmosphere in which reconciliation might happen. I can’t control the other person, but I do control myself. I can forgive. I can be gracious. I can reach out. I can make the first move.

Paul’s desire to have Mark by his side at the end of his earthly journey is a reminder to never give up trying to make things right in relationship.

Note: I’m out on a business trip the next two days. Will plan to be back on the chapter-a-day trek on Friday.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Chapter-a-Day

The Fateful Knocking

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For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:6-7 (NIV)

He knew he was going to die. I don’t know how he knew. He had been struggling with his health for some time. Nevertheless, he knew. He heard fate knocking like the opening measure of Beethoven’s fifth. He asked his caregivers to call me, and I went to his bedside. He was restless, agitated, and there was fear in his eyes.

I had pleasant conversations with him and his wife before. They were very sweet people who lived in a little house on top of a hill with a gorgeous view. They were both humble individuals with gentle spirits. He loved to tell stories. They had no desire to talk about spiritual matters. So, we didn’t. I visited and we swapped stories. We talked about many other things and enjoyed the view together. It really was spectacular.

Now, things were different. He needed to get some things out. He needed to take care of some matters of Spirit. He’d always avoided this conversation so he had no idea how to have it. I took his hand and began to ask him questions. He wept. He talked. I listened. I gently asked more questions. At his request, I helped him pray. I believe it may well have been his first and only time.

When I left he was quiet and resting peacefully. He died a few hours later.

It was what many people call a “deathbed confession.” My experience is that when that phrase is used in conversation it has typically been uttered cynically or sarcastically as if a dying person is trying to rig the system. I liken it to taking on the mantel of the prodigal’s older brother who gets pissed that little brother squandered his life and partied like it’s 1999, and then dad just welcomes him home with feasting and homecoming gifts. Where’s the justice in that? Perhaps I should have told the man, “Too bad, old man. You had your chances and now it’s too late. Good luck. You might want to take a fan with you.”

Everyone has their own journey. Everyone has their own story. Who’s to say that his story wasn’t a great story? Who am I to judge? The fear in his eyes was genuine. The words, the tears, and the prayer were humble and sincere. I am honored to have played a bit part in his final chapter.

Speaking of chapters, today’s is the last surviving words that Paul wrote. He, too, hears fate knocking. His story is very different. He welcomes the journey’s end. He looks forward to what lies beyond. His earthly journey is a sojourn. He is the prodigal heading home and looking forward to being welcomed.

In the quiet this morning I’m thinking about life and death and resurrection. I’ve recently been walking with a friend whose father has heard the fateful knocking and, along with his family, is making preparations. It’s a strange time when it comes – however it comes.

Everyone has their own stories in both life and death. Paul’s journey had prepared him in mind and spirit for the journey’s end. My friend, who asked his caregivers to call me, had never allowed himself to think much about it. I certainly identify with Paul as we share a common faith and a common hope. I find myself saying a quiet prayer for those who, like my friend who made his deathbed confession, have not thought much about it – and have no one to call.

Chapter-a-Day

Letting Go

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At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
2 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)

The final section of Paul’s letter to Timothy reads like a bullet list of miscellaneous thoughts. Paul languishes in Roman custody. He is in the homestretch of his life journey and he sees the finish line approaching. It’s time to do some housekeeping. Paul both provides Timothy with a thumbnail sketch of his situation as well as instructions for his protege´.

Among the rambling bullet points, Paul alludes to three sets of interpersonal conflicts:

  • Demas, Crescens, and Titus have all left Paul. The departure of Demas, in particular, does not sound to have been a good situation.
  • Alexander the metalworker caused Paul problems in Ephesus and he warns Timothy to be wary of him (the story is in Acts 19).
  • Paul recalls that when Alexander stirred up trouble for Paul all of his friends deserted him and left him alone in his defense.

One of the things I noticed this morning was that the situation with Demas appears to sting. I could almost feel Paul’s bitterness in the subtext. While in the latter two situations, Paul specifically mentions that he has given the Alexander situation over to God’s judgement and he does not want his friends’ betrayal held against them.

As I’ve read Paul’s story and his letters, one thing has become clear to me. Paul was a temperamental man, and I’m not sure he was easy to be around or to work with. As with a lot of people who accomplish great things in their lives, Paul was a driver. He was passionate, focused, and intense. The history of the world was changed by Paul and all that God accomplished through him. At the same time, Paul’s story is littered with interpersonal conflicts in which good men walked away (or were driven away) from Paul.

So now Paul raises three of these conflicts in his final words to Timothy. The older situations Paul has processed and he has come to a place of letting go. He’s not demanding justice of Alexander, but has given the situation over to God’s justice and timing. He is not hanging on to resentment of his friends whom he felt abandoned him. With Demas, however, it would seem Paul’s feelings are still in process.

I am reminded this morning that interpersonal conflict is not always resolved in a moment, even by the greatest of saints. When our lives are troubled by relational problems with others, it often requires time and space to process the issues and to let go of our anger and resentments. We must, however, process and let things go. Refusing to do so will wreak havoc in our spiritual and emotional lives. The ripple effect of resentment seeps out into our lives with insidious consequences.

 

 

Chapter-a-Day

In Sight of the Journey’s End

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homestretchI have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)

For Paul, who languished in a Roman dungeon and put the finishing touches on his letter to Timothy, the proverbial handwriting was on the wall. Emporer Nero was a couple of years into his rather successful pogrom to blame followers of Jesus for the Great Fire of Rome and exterminate as many of them as he could as gruesomly as he could. There would be no pardon for Paul this time.

For roughly thirty years Paul, who had begun as a persecutor of Jesus followers himself, had been arguably the greatest champion of Jesus’ message. The twelve disciples, Jesus’ twelve closest followers, initially stuck close to home and spent much of their time sharing Jesus’ message with their fellow Jews. It was Paul who became the unlikely game changer by focusing his efforts on carrying Jesus’ message of salvation with non-Jewish Gentiles far away from Jerusalem. The road had not been easy. In his letter to Jesus’ followers in the city of Corinth, Paul briefly related just how harrowing his own road had been:

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

In today’s chapter, we hear a very different tone. Paul knows that he is in the homestretch of his Earthly journey. He can see the finish line. He is not giving into despair. In fact, his tone is confident. He is not giving up and limping home. In fact, he is still dishing out orders for Timothy to bring his scrolls and parchments so he can continue to work until the end. But, Paul is reflective. He looks back at his life and confidently makes three strong statements:

I have fought the good fight.
I have finished the race.
I have kept the faith.

No one knows, for the most part, exactly when their own earthly journey will end. Lord willing, I am still only at the half-way point of my own journey (even though I realize this morning that I have followed Jesus about as long as Paul had when he was martyred). It will take me twice as long to accomplish less than a ten thousandth of what Paul did. A humbling thought.

Nevertheless, today I am encouraged and motivated by Paul’s words. I have a long way to go, but when that day comes that I sense the finish line approaching I hope that my heart will confidently whisper Paul’s words to Timothy: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

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