Pass It On
Jan van Eyck, Portrait of a Man (Timothy), 1432 C.E., oil on panel, The National Gallery, London, public domain, courtesy of “Art and the Bible,” click image to link.
Sermon Series “Through the Bible,” № 78, 2 Timothy 1:1-7, 13-14
I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. —2 Timothy 1:5
Today, our journey through the Bible arrives at a text from the pastoral epistles: 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. The three books are labeled “pastoral” because they are written to disciples who exercised pastoral oversight of congregations. These books of the Bible address not only doctrine and ethics, but also proper leadership of congregations.
Like other letters traditionally ascribed to Paul, the pastoral epistles have been analyzed, and declared by many scholars to be authored by someone writing in Paul’s name, a generation or two after his death. Besides differing with Paul’s authentic letters in vocabulary and style, it is argued that the pastoral epistles assume the Church has a more formal organizational structure than existed during the apostolic period. It is said that the prohibition against female leadership does not reflect Paul’s more egalitarian teaching, and so must come from a later period when societal pressures were tempting church leaders to emphasize the primacy of male leadership.
Readers are cautioned against uncritical acceptance of such source theories by Luke Timothy Johnson, Professor of New Testament, and author of commentaries on the pastoral epistles. He notes that some nineteenth-century commentators seem to have eliminated certain letters in order to preserve the type of “authentic Paul” who fit their ideologies. He says many differences in vocabulary and style can be explained by differences between a formal letter to a congregation and an informal note to a friend and colleague. He points out how undisputed letters of Paul such as 1 Corinthians also reflect a more developed church order and biases about gender roles. Polycarp, a disciple of John, a disciple of Jesus, seemed to accept the Timothy epistles as Paul’s. Speaking personally, I see no compelling reason to conclude that the pastoral epistles were written by anyone other than Paul.
Whether the author is Paul or Deutero-Paul, a main purpose of these letters was the critical need to train leadership that arose due to the unexpected delay in Christ’s return. You see, in the earliest days of the Church, there was an eager expectation that Jesus, who rose, ascended, would come back soon. But as months grew to years, and years to decades, the first generation of the Church’s leaders were martyred or otherwise passed away. When, like Paul, you believe that Christ is at the center of the universe, that faith in Christ is the foundation for living, and that the Church is Christ’s agent on earth, then you want to make sure there are leaders trained to serve God’s people.
Since the time when Paul instructed Timothy, there’s been concern voiced and energy expended to pass on the faith to new generations. In our time, this concern seems heightened. Early in my ministry, some theologians were introducing the idea that we live in a “post-Christian society.” I resisted that idea for years, but now believe the main points of their argument are generally true. We used to be able to presume a general understanding of the Christian story in our larger culture, but no longer. We used to be able to count on indirect support of the Church by the government and schools, but not anymore. When a 20-year old wanders away from church, there are fewer examples and influences to remind him or her to return when he or she becomes a 30-year-old young parent. Today, as each new generation wanders further from the influence of the Church, the likelihood of return diminishes.
The relationship between church and culture that exists in a post-Christian society is something like the way things were in a pre-Christian society, i.e. in the time of Jesus and the apostles. When Paul penned his letters to Timothy, the survival of the Christian community seemed even more doubtful than today.[1] The Jews wanted to distance themselves from what they perceived as a radical sect. The Romans were on the watch for any challenge to their political authority. In retrospect, we know that things were about to get much worse. There would be imprisonments and torturous deaths that would give new meaning to the Greek word for witness, which we translate “martyr.”
The challenge of passing on the faith to new generations, which is old to us, was new to them. Though some were baptized as part of a larger household, most of the first Christians made a conscious decision to follow Jesus. As the first generation passed away, the Church faced more and more the question: What does it take to rekindle the gift of faith in each new generation?
Back in the nineteenth century, Horace Bushnell wrote a book called Christian Nurture, which became a classic, a foundational text for seminarians who study Christian education. It was a book that provided guidance and inspiration to me when I was an associate pastor with oversight of the faith formation program. Its basic ideas have withstood the test of time.
Bushnell wrote in reaction to the religious awakenings that were sweeping the country. He argued that moments of emotional conversion are almost always preceded by years of careful Christian nurture. Bushnell’s work influenced the Presbyterian emphasis on education, our strong support of public schools, our heritage of founding universities and supporting theological education. Looking at the larger Church through the lens of Bushnell’s writing, Presbyterians would say that the success of events like crusades and revivals, even the conversions that occur during youth mission trips, would not be possible without years of preparation by parents, grandparents, and Sunday school teachers working diligently and patiently week after week, year after year.
Michael Lindvall, in his folksy storytelling style, offers a related lesson by telling about a busy father and his energetic seven-year-old son who participated in a weeklong treasure hunt. The local Jaycees sponsored the event, each day hiding a $50 gift certificate somewhere in the community. Each morning, a clue was pulled from a sealed envelope and read by an announcer on the local radio station. The person in charge of the clues thought it would be clever to make all the clues relate to the Bible. For example, one day’s clue was Psalm 78:46: “He gave their crops to the caterpillar, and the fruit of their labor to the locust.” The day’s treasure was eventually discovered under the seat of a big yellow Caterpillar bulldozer prominently parked on the edge of town.
The young son was good at the hunting, but not so good at the reading, or the looking up of scripture verses. Dad would point out the verse, son would read along, and together they would repeat it as they drove the streets and walked the parks of their community. They got close once, but never did come home with a gift certificate. The last day, they even got lost.
Lindvall closes the tale with the observation, “So often, the treasures that life hides from us are to be found not at the end of the search, but in the searching itself, especially when you look together.”[2] His story is a parable: We discover spiritual treasure by taking a journey with those who know enough to guide us along the path. Faith is transmitted to a new generation of children and youth by parents and mentors and teachers who travel with them, remembering the faith of our parents and grandparents, holding to the standard of sound teaching we’ve received, guarding the good treasure entrusted to us, making time to pass it on.
NOTES
[1] Thomas C. Oden, First and Second Timothy and Titus, Interpretation Commentary Series, Louisville: John Knox Press, 1989, p. 3 ff.
[2] Michael L. Lindvall, Good News from North Haven, New York: The Crossroad Publishing Co., 2002, p. 145.
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