2 Tim 4:9-22 - People are the Plan

Today’s text introduces us to 16 individuals (plus the household of Onesiphorus). Earlier this week I had the privilege of visiting with an individual who has been active in our County for decades. She said that she and her husband often tell about daily events and a person who used to work for so and so, who is not part of the main plat gets brought into the story and their children have to ask them to get back to the original plot.

I know that is not an isolated reality.

Several years ago, Becky (my ministry assistant) used to dispatch for the Sheriff’s office. She has told me that people would call in and report activity “just down the road from the home where so-and-so used to farm. Or up the creek from where the fire started in 1978” as if everybody knows who lived where and exactly what happened before coming to Chase County.

Today’s text could easily look like either of those illustrations. People who were first-name-familiar to Timothy, can be total strangers to those reading the letter 2000 years later.

TRANSITION: Since none of these characters are our neighbors, and you’re quite unlikely to ever run into them at Casey’s or Dollar General, Permit me to draw some generalities out of these specifics

Kingdom Work requires Strategy (2 Tim 4:9-13)

Paul expects a friend to visit Him (& Luke) and bring a mutual friend (4:9, 11b, 13)

This is more than a friendly chat. Early verses in this chapter indicate that Paul expects to die soon.

The challenge of 4:9 quickly takes on the mood of expectation in 4:13 - When

The only one attending to Paul’s need is Luke (Col 4:14 tells us he was a physician in addition to compiling the 3rd Gospel and book of Acts).

I can’t help but connect Paul’s end-of-life loneliness to Christ’s end-of-life abandonment.

How quickly the crowds of Palm Sunday, reduced to the dozen or so in the Last Supper, then Judas betrays and Peter denies and John is the only one mentioned with the women in the final moments.

5. Paul’s understandable loneliness does NOT cross the line into self-pity. 2 Cor 12 (Thorn in the Flesh) and Philippians 4 (Content whether abundant or sparse) have thematic overlap as God’s sufficiency becomes experientially real to Paul. He never dips into despair

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 NIV:2011

8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

6. Isolation doesn’t indicate sin, just as Jesus hungered in the Wilderness, became fatigued by the Sea, and thirsted on the Cross; your human frailty is not sinful itself, but can be a hinge where you either turn to pity or to prayerful thanksgiving.

Some friends had been sent [Crescens, Titus, & Tychicus], other(s) just went [Demas]. (4:10-12D)

Tradition states that Crescens founded the church in Vienna, but that cannot be verified with trustworthy sources.

We have the luxury of a New Testament letter indicating Titus was stationed on the Island of Crete.

In Acts 20:4 Tychicus is listed together with Trophimus as one of two Asians who accompanied Paul on part of his third missionary journey. Tychicus appears to have been Paul’s traveling companion on several occasions[i].

Note that Acts 1:8 mentions Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. By the end of Paul’s life we see that Jerusalem Church has spread to Greece, Turkey and Rome, and these names indicate movement into Europe and Asia as well. It’s not part of Paul’s story, but Philip and the Ethiopian also indicate the Gospel advancing into Africa. Missions started long before America existed, and the spread of the Gospel is a worldwide enterprise!

Besides companionship, other items can bring comfort when isolated.

Paul requests a particular cloak. A cloak was kind of a cross between an outer cape or a poncho that doubled as a blanket in the cold.

‎The overcoat mainly consisted of a simple panel of fabric worn by both men and women, although the cloak depicted here also has a headdress.

Paul also longed for reading material – books and parchments, transliterated bibles and membranes.

Our concept of a book consisting of flat pages didn’t even begin until the time of Christ, and it wasn’t until after the New Testament was complete that it became the prominent form of distributing important information.

If you’ve ever received a fancy card (or wedding announcement) with a flimsy piece of blank tissue, that is what is thought about when Paul mentioned membranes. In earlier civilizations one couldn’t just run down to DG and pick up a Big Chief Tablet. (If you don’t know what that is, ask your grandparents!) Vellum and Parchment were rare and expensive, so personal notes would be recorded on whatever they could find.

4. I think the different materials mentioned indicate Paul wanted formal writing that was meant to be preserved [most non-Christian codices that still exist are educational or medical textbooks]. But he especially wanted the scraps that contained personal messages likely to not last for very long—the “post-it notes” of the first century that may have been put in a lunch box (or sack).

NEVER underestimate the value of a hand-written note. A short note often means more to a person than a long letter when he or she is isolated. (that is why our prayer lists indicates where these people are restricted, so that you can send a note!)

Kingdom Cooperation delivers Strength amid Struggles (2 Tim 4:14-18)

Isolation is painful (4:16)

1. It is impossible to overstate the tragedy of dying alone. But even though Paul had been abandoned, his attitude had been shaped by what he observed in Acts 7:60. Acts 7:58 states that while Stephen was being stoned, there was a man named Saul holding their jackets (cloaks?). Just before Stephen breathed his last breath he said:

Acts 7:60 NIV:2011

60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

2. Having participated in Stephen’s martyr before conversion, I think Paul is reflecting upon the grace that Stephen demonstrated and He is trusting for the same by releasing mutineers of their would be guilt.

God and Paul made an impact (4:17)

The Lord’s presence (stood by me) imparted power(strengthened) so that the gospel was fully proclaimed.

Our weakness or limitations don’t need to silence our witness. I know I’ve mentioned someone witnessing in an ambulance about a month ago. Before his death, Charles McCabe introduced me to nurses that he had evangelized in the hospital. And I learned of someone this week in her 90s who is leading Bible Studies at an assisted living center in Emporia.

2. Some scholars interpret the mention of the Lion’s mouth in 17cas reference to Roman Government (Nero specifically) being unable to silence the advance of the Gospel. Others see a vague reference to Daniel when secular government tried to silence a prophet, but the majority see an allusion to Psalm 22:21-22

Psalm 22:21–22 NIV:2011

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. 22 I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.

3. The theme of rescue is forefront in Paul’s mind.

God’s past deliverance provided strength for current challenges and future hope (4:18)

God rescued (through death) Stephen from the mob.

The Psalmist had absolute trust in God’s rescue

Daniel was rescued from the schemes of evil men

Paul had confidence that to be absent from the body would be his reward, but he was going to go out witnessing!

Kingdom Heroes are Surrounded by Co-workers (2 Tim 4:19-22)

12+ co-laborers are mentioned

We don’t have a reasonable guess as to how large Onesiphorus’ household was. We don’t know how many brothers 4:21 includes, but if the household and the brothers is only 2 (very unlikely) we have a cohort of kingdom workers.

Workgroups for 2025

As the elders met with potential members last Monday, we were impressed that the 4 we interviewed did NOT simply want their names added to a list, they want to be involved.

Over the next 8 weeks several of you will be nominated or recruited for leadership and serving positions in our church.

If Paul saw fit to name individuals who are not mentioned anywhere else in Scripture, I think you can be assured that even if your name is not engraved on the stone sign, or printed on the front door, your contribution is notable in the sight of God.

Conclusion:

The week leading up to Christ’s crucifixion saw a narrowing circle of companions. One of those concentric circles was the intimate dinner he had with his Disciples in the Upper Room as Jesus connected the unleavened bread and the ceremonial wine to the death He was about to endure.

After the resurrection, the circle of Disciples didn’t reduce, it expanded! It spread to the North, West, South, and East. The circle of Disciples expanded across the Atlantic so that we now observe the same elements in memory of the same once-for-all death of Jesus for sin.

2 elements celebrated in community through history and geography into this very room.

Transition to Communion

[i]Robeck, C. M. Jr. 1979–1988. “Tychicus.” In The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 4:930. Wm. B. Eerdmans.