Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Richard Davenport October 23, 2022 - Proper 25 2 Timothy 4:6-18 There's no denying St. Paul has a difficult life after his conversion. Sure, God takes care of him, but God also told him he would be suffering quite a bit for the sake of the Gospel. And suffer Paul does. Shipwrecks, hunger, beatings, stonings, mockery, hatred, imprisonment, not to mention endless days on the road travelling from one end of the empire to the other. Granted, the Christian church today would be a very different thing if Paul hadn't set off to make all of these missionary trips. We know some of what the original twelve apostles did, but Paul's trips are by far the best documented. Through his letters, along with Luke's account in the book of Acts, we have a good sense of all of the different places Paul went and how extensive his travels were. St. Paul had an almost superhuman fortitude. That might be quite literally be true, since God was guiding Paul's steps ever since he appeared to him on the road to Damascus. He's put in both the years and the miles. Now he writes this letter to Timothy, who we discussed last week. We don't know for certain where Paul was when he wrote the letter or when he did it, but given how he's talking, it's very likely he's writing this in Rome. Church tradition holds that Paul was executed in Rome, not long after writing this letter and his epistle to the Romans. You can hear the weariness in his voice. He's been at this a long time. He's had breaks from time to time where he got to spend a while in one place, but even then there was always more work to do. Retirement, such as we think of it today, just wasn't an option. The world was full of those who had never heard the gospel, so there were always more places to go and more people to preach to. The reading we had skips over a couple of verses of personal details that help us see even more of Paul's situation. "Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message." Not only are almost all of his friends somewhere else, but some who had been working with him have left him and others have become open enemies of the gospel. Even Mark, who Paul is calling for, has been a source of trouble for Paul in the past as well. Paul and Mark previously parted ways back in the book of Acts because Paul thought he was no good and didn't want him around. Even though Mark would be the one to write the Gospel of Mark, the two haven't gotten along in the past. God told Paul he would go to Rome and stand before Caesar. Now he is there and he awaits his appointed time to stand before Caesar or one of his representatives to present the case for the Christian faith. You can hear it in his letter. He knows his time is almost up. A spiritual retirement. Man, how great would that be? You finally did it. You reached the end of the road. You did the work you needed to do and now it's time to kick back and relax. Nothing more to worry about. Nothing left on my to-do list. Whether I have a lot of time left or just a little, it's still mine to do with as I please. Free! Free from all of those sorts of responsibilities. I did what I needed to do and now I'm done! It's a situation I've heard and seen all too often. One of the most common places is confirmation. Parents don't really encourage their kids or engage them in what they're learning, so the whole family treats confirmation as just something that needs to be done so they don't look like slackers and so the pastor stops hassling them. The kids sit through a couple of years of classes with the pastor, they put in their half-hearted effort to make it through and then they're done. They did what was expected of them and then they leave without a trace. Confirmation wasn't really something they needed. It was just something that had to be done. Sadly, the same is often true for baptism. This wonderful gift that showers you with more blessings than you could know or understand in a lifetime is just as likely to be an item on someone's checklist that just needs to be marked off. There is no thought to it being a gift or that God might do something wonderful through it. It is simply something to do so we do what is specifically expected of us. After that? We're free. In this case, the issue is usually with the parents who are bringing their child to be baptized, not because the child needs the grace and mercy of God, but simply because it's expected and nothing more. I've seen it in others as well, some older, some younger, those who have put in their time, those who have helped out around the church, perhaps on a big project or perhaps just here and there over a long period of time. At some point you just decide you've put in all the time and effort you should be expected to give and it's time to step back, relax, and coast along. The thought it very tempting, especially when you look around at other people and see how little they contribute of their time or resources. Look how much you've done for the church! Surely you deserve a break. Surely it's time to retire and let those other people who have been slacking off all this time step up and do their part. The mindset is that I've given all I need to give. I've done all I need to do. I've met my quota. But this is not the life of discipleship. Jesus calls his people to follow him. This is the calling he gives to each and everyone one of us in baptism. You are made a disciple. Your job is to follow wherever your Teacher and Lord leads you. You are hear what he has to say. You are to learn from him. You are to follow his direction as he shows you the kind of life he expects of you and wants you to have. He knows you will never do it perfectly, so your learning and growing will be life-long. To stop learning, to stop growing, to stop working under the Lord's direction is to also stop being a disciple. It says you no longer want to follow. What God expects of you is no longer worth the effort. It's time to relax. Surely, with all you've done, God will cut you some slack. If anyone had the right to claim retirement, it would have been St. Paul. For all of the miles he's travelled, people he's helped, converts he's made, instruction and teaching he's shared, he deserves a rest. Yet, he doesn't take it. Even here as he awaits his time before Caesar, he is following his Lord. He is encouraging the church. He is strengthening his friends. He is teaching those who would listen. He is preparing to follow his Lord into death and then on into the resurrection. The temptation is strong to sit back and relax, to think there's nothing more that needs to be done. But Jesus, who has called you to be his disciple, sees how much more needs doing. He sees your life where anger, pain, heartache, and grief assail you. He sees how hard you struggle against your own sinful impulses which drive you to take from others, put others down, ridicule and create divisions among others. He knows, when you're thinking clearly, you don't want to do these things, but you can't seem to help it. He knows you can't keep living like this. Eventually it will kill you. The question will be where you go from there. Are you on the path that leads through death to life, or are you seeking your own way, in the hopes you'll find something better? Christ sought you out and saved you by his grace. He created the way that walks through death into life everlasting. He knows that, on your own, you would be trapped in this world, this life of hatred, sorrow, and pain. Without his guidance, you would die like that and go on to experience that for eternity. He calls to you, not out of a desire to grind you down, but so that you would have a path to follow the leads out of the misery and sadness of this world. The tasks and directions he gives help others to hear his call to follow, so that they too might be saved. But, even if what he tells you benefits no one else, he also means it to be a benefit and a gift to you. Baptism is not just an item on your list to be marked off, nor are any of the other things the church does. Instead, he is giving you ways of avoiding the temptation to try and find your own path by showing you what he has to offer you. He shows you a life where love, compassion, and mercy are at the forefront, not selfish pride or envy. He wants you to see it firsthand by living it. He wants you to know and experience what that sort of life is like. He wants you to see for yourself what awaits you, a life lived in grace. He knows it's hard to follow him, to live the life of a disciple. He lived that life too, and died for it. He died so you could return, so that death wouldn't be your end. Today the path of discipleship has led you here, to his house. It leads you up to the altar where you see a bit of what following him means and what we look forward to. A life together with God, free from the sorrows of this world. A life where mercy and grace cover everything. A life where divisions and hatred are meaningless. Christ doesn't want you to lose heart before reaching the goal. St. Paul doesn't doubt where he is going and Christ doesn't want you to have doubts either. He calls you to follow him, now and always. Follow him despite the temptations, despite the struggles and don't lose heart. Look at your life here and all that he has already given to you. Look to what is still in store for those who follow him even to the grave, a new creation and life everlasting.