A congregation of the United Church of Canada
Yr C ~ Creation 3 (Stewardship 2) ~ 2 Timothy 1:1-14 (The Message translation)
Paul’s letters to Timothy are lovely to read. They clearly have a profound affection for one another. Paul looks on Timothy like a son. They had tear-filled goodbyes and were overjoyed when they were reunited. One of the reasons I like passages like this is that it helps make Paul more human for us. Paul is Timothy’s mentor, teacher, encourager. That’s the part I want to focus on today – the way that Paul encourages Timothy to use the gifts he’s been given – and that makes this a stewardship message. 
Stewardship is about what we do with that which has been entrusted to us. Last week we mostly talked about our time, and a little bit about our money. Today we’re going to talk about our spiritual giftedness.
Did you know that you’re gifted?
Well, you are! Abundantly! Just like Timothy was.
And you probably got your gifts just like he did too. For him, it all started with his grandmother. Sound familiar? 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul says,
“What a rich faith [you have], handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you!”
Did you notice who carries the faith and passes it down through the generations? It’s the women!
Strong women of faith are a force to be reckoned with – always have been. I suspect most of us are here today because of the faithful example of a strong woman. Not that men can’t be faithful and inspirational, of course.
Maybe you noticed that our attendance is down a bit today? It’s because around 20 women from this congregation are away on a spiritual retreat this weekend! That’s awesome!
So Timothy has that strong foundation, and then he gets the spiritual rocket fuel.
Verse 6, Paul says, “And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed – keep that ablaze!”
We’ll come back to the keeping it ablaze part. First we’re going to talk about the spiritual gift.
It wasn’t that Paul’s hands were magic, that when he laid hands on Timothy in prayer a dramatic electric shock coursed through his hands and lit the lad up. Laying on of hands is an ancient posture for prayer that’s been passed down through the centuries.
We do laying on of hands in our Prayers for Healing and Wholeness time.
It’s not magic, but it is deep.
It’s because of the touch, the connection, the shared nature of it.
Two (or more) people physically connecting – embodying and enacting our shared spiritual connection in a deep and meaningful way.
Timothy’s spiritual gifts weren’t imparted by Paul – they were evoked by prayer!
In other places Paul writes extensively about specific kinds of spiritual gifts, but there’s no need to get into that here. It’s not about a specific thing – it’s about inspiration, passion, conviction, fire!
The Greek word for the idea of a spiritually fuelled gift is charism. That’s where we get our word charisma! Do you know anyone with charisma?
It’s a quality of how they come across, how they engage, how they appeal to you.
It’s about being lit up inside and having that exude through your pores as you interact with the world.
It’s that sense of seeing someone’s eyes dancing and their energy pulsating as they’re telling you about something important to them.
That’s what Timothy had. Charisma.
Do you? Yes you do!
Turn and look at the person beside you and see their charisma! Can you feel it?
If you and they are open to it, put your hand on each other’s shoulder, or hold their hand.
Can you feel it now? There’s something about them. There’s a spiritual energy about them.
Keep looking. It’s right there.
Spiritual depth and power, waiting to be fanned into flame.
That’s the challenge Paul lays on Timothy, and the challenge I’m laying on you.
“And the special gift of ministry you received when week after week you come here and worship and pray – keep that ablaze!”
You have spiritual passion in you. You must.
Nobody comes to places like this as often as you do and gives of themselves so fully as you do just for something to do.
No, it’s spiritual passion! – kindle it afresh, stir up the fire, fan the flame.
That’s Paul’s encouragement – keep the spiritual fire burning, keep it ablaze.
Ablaze!
Not generally a word associated with the mainline church.
Pity! We oughta reclaim it!
Instead of blazing we tend to prefer smouldering quietly and behind the scenes.
That’s ok, but the danger is that you don’t tend to kindle many other fires that way.
2 Timothy 1:7 God doesn’t want us to be shy [timid] with God’s gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
We may not be all that comfortable with blazing but I fear we know timid all too well. I can probably convince you that you have great spiritual gifts within you, and even get you to fan the flames of them a bit, but I’ll bet it’s a much harder sell to convince you not to be so timid about sharing them, especially verbally.
United Church folks are unbelievably awesome about demonstrating the love of God through acts of kindness and service, but the moment we get nudged to say why we’re so inspired to do these things we clam right up.
“I’m too shy. They wouldn’t want to hear about faith stuff from me. I wouldn’t know what to say. I’d get it all wrong. I’ll let the preacher-guy do that stuff.”
Verses 8 and 9 “Don’t be embarrassed to speak up for Jesus [or for his church]. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work.”
I hope we’re not embarrassed about our faith, or our church. But I must admit that the idea of suffering is not exactly pleasant.
But would your view change if I told you that the word ‘suffer’ here doesn’t so much mean feeling pain or hardship but means to feel heavy emotions.
Does Faith United make you feel emotional?
Does thinking about this place, and the people here, and the ministry we share together stir your emotions and make you feel deeply and powerfully that there is love here?
I hope so! I’d love for us all to suffer like that!
The embarrassed part is uncomfortable though. It goes back to our being timid and shy about speaking about our spirituality.
But remember, Paul was encouraging Timothy to stand up and keep ablaze – and the stakes were a lot higher for them.
We might experience a bit of discomfort for our efforts – they often got thrown in jail, or beaten, and sometimes killed for it.
So when Paul says, “Don’t be embarrassed to speak up for Jesus [or for his church]. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work.” – well, when he says that he really means it.
So here I am encouraging you to keep on keeping on, just like Paul did in verses 13-14
“So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ…Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.”
Keep ablaze! Keep the faith. Keep on working.
Nose to grindstone, shoulder to the wheel, work your socks off, sweating blood.
Nose, shoulder, socks, and blood. [sing it like the kids song]
“Keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ,” says Paul, “…Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.”
We’re in an interesting place in our church life right now.
We’re a vibrant and healthy congregation.
You give so generously of your time and your resources.
We have a congregation that many might envy
– a building that’s new and interesting and in good repair
– a great music program
– lots of programs for kids (like Family Fun Night that just happened on Friday)
– we have numerous faith formative programs like bible studies and learning groups
– we have a tremendously important and effective outreach into the community with our Church Work in Durham initiatives
– we have a Sunday Night Worship service that absolutely rocks!
I could go on and on!
Our mission and ministry here is fantastic, and is a blessing to many, many people.
But, there’s almost always a but, I’m worried that we’re in danger of plateauing – of resting on our laurels.
This is one of the reasons we’re engaged in this Giving in Faith stewardship campaign right now. Sure, some of it’s about money – we’re currently running an uncomfortably high deficit. But it’s not just about money.
It’s about fire.
It’s about coming together, maybe even laying hands on one another’s shoulders, and rekindling that passion to share the love of God that is filling us up – to name all these wonderful ways that we do ministry together and make a real difference in the world – to fan the flames, to stir up the fire, to kindle it afresh.
We’ve been entrusted with tremendous gifts – especially spiritual gifts.
Friends, we’ve got so much charisma we’re oozing it!
So blaze on! Keep it burning.
Noses, Shoulders, Socks, and Blood!
As Paul says, [moving backwards through the text]
“So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ…Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.”
“Don’t be embarrassed to speak up for Jesus [or for his church]. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God, who first saved us and then called us to this holy work.”
“God doesn’t want us to be shy [timid] with God’s gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.”
“And the special gift of ministry you receive when week after week you come here and worship and pray – keep that ablaze!”
“Every time I say your name in prayer – which is practically all the time – I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors.”
“All the best from our God and Christ be yours!”
Amen.
