Valor

God’s Word Does Great Things for His Children

6.21.26 [2 Timothy 4:1-8] River of Life (4th Sunday after Pentecost)

Ps. 19:14 May the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts, be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. 

Great fathers have different skill sets, interests, and gifts. Great fathers can be great story tellers or men of few words. Great fathers can be handy or all thumbs. Great fathers have different gifts. But all great fathers have a common goal. Great fathers want to see their children do great things. So, in order for their children to accomplish great things, great fathers go to great lengths to break great things down into small steps. 

The Apostle Paul, the writer of this letter, had no children by blood. Paul never married. He didn’t see that as a deficiency. Singleness is a gift from God, too. Rather, Paul rejoiced in the contentment and flexibility God blessed him with in a single life. 

Though he himself did not have any natural-born children, Paul saw the people he served as his spiritual children. We hear him express this fatherly devotion in his letters to two different congregations. Paul also speaks of more than a few individuals as his spiritual sons. Timothy was one of those individuals whom Paul considered his spiritual son. 

That tenderness and love come across in both of Paul’s letters to the young pastor, Timothy. As a great spiritual father, Paul wanted great things for the young pastor Timothy. As a great spiritual father, Paul also went to great lengths to break great things into small steps. 

That’s what we have here in 2nd Timothy 4. 2nd Timothy is very likely that last letter written by the Apostle Paul. This is the final chapter of that letter. Paul openly acknowledges that he is on death’s door.  2 Tim. 4:6-7 I am being poured out like a drink offering. The time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. 2 Tim. 4:8 The crown of righteousness is all that remains. At this moment, Paul was in chains for the Gospel in Rome. In short order, he would be beheaded. So, as we read these words, we might compare them to a father’s last words to his son. 

So Paul gives his spiritual son, Timothy, a charge. 2 Tim. 4:5 Do the work of an evangelist. 2 Tim. 4:2 Preach the Word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct. Rebuke. Encourage. Do this with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Tim. 4:5 Keep your head in all situations, even when people won’t listen. Endure hardship.  

The great charge is simple. Paul has broken it down into small steps. 

Do the work of an evangelist. Preach the Word. This is what faithful pastors are tasked with doing. But how does that apply to you? 

Perhaps we could look at what Paul says and recognize that these charges apply to all of God’s children. Our Father in heaven wants each of us to be Gospel proclaimers. He wants each of us to always be prepared to speak the truth in love and endure whatever rejection or hardship comes our way. This is all most certainly true.  

But, here, God is uniquely speaking to one of his called servants in the public pastoral ministry. While God has made each one of us 1 Pt. 2:9 royal priests that we may each individually declare the praise of him who has called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, he has also given the gift of Eph. 4:11-12 pastors and teachers to equip each of us individually for works of service. So Paul is breaking down for his spiritual son, Timothy, what it means to be a great evangelist. 

What does it mean to be a great preacher? What would you say? 

If you ask ten people, you’ll likely get twenty different answers. For some, a great preacher is someone who is relatable and authentic, humble and honest. Some will say a great sermon is memorable, thought-provoking, inspiring, passionate, and perhaps even funny. Some will say that a great sermon is easy to follow and listen to and compelling. A great sermon touches the heart and changes your life. 

All of these things can be true about a great sermon or a great pastor or a great father for that matter. But they are attributes, not unique, defining characteristics. A man can be funny or inspiring or relatable or humble, but that does not make him your father. A great father invests himself in you individually. He is committed to being honest with you above all. 

And a great pastor, a great sermon, preaches the Word to you personally. It corrects you—shedding light on your sinful habits and shady tendencies. It rebukes you—speaking seriously about the eternal consequences of your sins and silencing the excuses of your sinful nature. It encourages you—proclaiming Christ crucified and the power of God’s Holy Spirit to sanctify you through and through. 

That is what great preaching and great preachers do. 

But, we don’t always admire or appreciate greatness, do we? 

There are times when our sinful natures do not want to 2 Tim. 4:3 put up with sound doctrine. There are areas of our lives where our ears are itching to hear that greatness is within us, not wretched sin. 

There are moments when we want the sermon to attack our enemies or humble our foes. None of us wants to hear we are God’s enemies. That we are blind to our pride, greed, & arrogance. That we’re Eph. 2:1 dead in our trespasses. That Is. 64:6 even our righteous acts are nothing more than filthy rags. None of us wants to be told that, without God, all our free will can do is choose which rebellious activity we want to participate in most. None of us wants to hear Rom. 7:18 there is nothing good within us and that Jer. 17:9 even our hearts are deceitful beyond cure. None of us wants to hear that no one does good, even the people we love and admire most. None of us wants to be told to love our enemies. 

But this is what the Word of God plainly says. Good preaching and good preachers declare what our Good God has said and done, is doing and promises yet to do. Good preaching elevates all of God’s Word over all of man’s ideas. His Word is eternal truth, not ours. Only God’s Word can create, save, & redeem. No mortal can make this claim.

God’s Word is the great thing that does great things in the hearts and lives of God’s children. How do we know that? Because God sent his Son. No one carried out Paul’s charge better than Jesus Christ. 

Everywhere Jesus went, he was preaching the Word. Jesus preached the Word in Capernaum when it was popular and in Nazareth when it was not. Even when there were crowds pressing around him seeking healing, trying to prevent him from leaving, Jesus declared: Lk. 4:43 I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns also, because that is why I was sent. Jesus preached the Word to the wise and the learned, like Nicodemus, and the common criminal, like the man being crucified by his side. Jesus preached the Word to men, women, and children. Jesus lived on and loved every word that came from the mouth of God. 

Jesus corrected the children of Israel and his own disciples when they were going astray. He rebuked the Pharisees and all those who were confident in their own good works. He encouraged the repentant, like the demon-possessed man near the Decapolis and Zacchaeus. 

But Jesus also demonstrated tremendous tender love to those to whom he spoke the Word. He was patient with his mother and his brothers when they did not understand his Father’s will, or timing, or mission. He was patient with his disciples and his opponents. He was patient with Pontius Pilate and the disciples on the road to Emmaus. 

But he was always careful not to sacrifice the truth for the sake of patience. He never just told people what they wanted to hear. He confronted sin in Jerusalem’s Temple and in the heart of his dinner host, Simon. He confronted sin in Peter’s idea of the Messiah. He confronted sin in the hearts and minds of his disciples who were arguing over which one of them was the greatest. 

And he endured the hardship that came with being devoted to God’s Word and God’s plan to save sinners. He fought the devil so that we could be declared righteous. He ran his race and drank the cup of wrath his Father marked out for him. Even as he died, he kept the faith, committing his spirit into his Father’s hands. Jesus is the Word made flesh. Jesus is the Savior who gave himself up for the world.   Jesus is the Righteous Judge. 

Jesus is the Word we hear and preach. Jesus is the Word who forgives our sins. He is the Word who justifies us and declares us righteous in God’s sight. He is the Word who keeps us in the one, true faith. He is the Word we devote ourselves to day by day. 

Jesus is the One who makes preaching powerful and preachers great. Paul declared this to the Corinthians when he said 1 Cor. 2:2 I resolved to know nothing else while I was among you except Christ crucified. 

It is Christ who corrects. It is Christ who rebukes. It is Christ who encourages. And it is only after we have personally reaped a harvest of righteousness through the personal experience of correction, rebuke, and encouragement that we will begin to recognize and appreciate great preaching. Only after being carefully and patiently taught God’s Law and Gospel will we see what a treasure we have in the Scriptures. In the best of relationships, we see that with our dads. They taught us things—great things—through a series of short words & small actions.  

Only God’s pure Word does the great thing of saving sinners. Not in being relatable or memorable or novel. Not in being thought-provoking or culture-changing or even side-splitting. A great sermon speaks of our great Savior. A great preacher points to the great love of our God. A great sermon reveals the heart and mind of God who came into this world to make us his very own. A great preacher prepares his spiritual children for great and yes, even difficult things. To preach and gladly hear the Word. To recognize the difference between interesting talks and faithful proclamation. To deal with rejection and isolation and disappointments of all kinds. To endure hardship. To fight the good fight. To finish the race. To keep the faith, even when you’re being drained to the last drop. Lord, keep us all steadfast in your Word, so that on the last day, you might award us the crown of your righteousness. Amen.