Yr C, Pentecost 2                      June 22, 2025
2 Timothy 1:3-10                        Pastor Ryan Wolfe

Preach with Peace and Power!

Our theme for worship this week is pretty easy to see, isn’t it? It’s not a new thing for us to hear from God’s Word that we are called to be his witnesses. To hear this truth again – that we who are blessed to know Jesus, we who have seen and heard from Jesus through Scripture, that we have the privilege and the responsibility to tell others what we have seen and heard. Unless you are the newest of Christians, you’ve heard this before. You know it. You know how important it is to God and to others.

So let’s start with the obvious self-assessment: how are you doing in your role as a witness for Christ? Are there times looking back that you wish you would have spoken up more? Are there people you care about that right now don’t believe in Jesus? People who, with one sudden heart attack, or one wrong turn on the highway would be separated from you and, even worse from God, for eternity?

If this describes you, then you have plenty of company. According to a 2022 poll done by Lifeway research 70% of Christians had not shared their faith with a stranger in the six months before the survey. Less than half had told a friend or family member something God had done in their life. Two thirds, 66%, reported that they didn’t know any way to tell others about their faith in Christ. (Christian Post, June 2, 2022)

That is a crisis of epic proportion considering the stakes at hand. Regular believers like us are the messengers that God intends to go out into the world to tear the lost away from their path to destruction. To lead them to a God who wants nothing more than for sinners to repent and live. This is a mission that isn’t meant to be a side-point of our Christian faith – it’s at the heart of it. It’s truly something that does deserve our undivided attention. If we want to be the witnesses God calls us to be – if we want to overcome our reluctance and share the faith the way we want – then listen to the two points of motivation Paul gives in the opening verses of his second letter to Timothy. Why will we speak? Because God’s people preach with peace and with power.

Paul’s second letter to Timothy is the last letter of Scripture the Spirit inspired him to write. Paul had been thrown into prison in Rome again. And while he had been delivered out of prison the first time he was there, he didn’t expect the same outcome this time. This is the letter in which Paul writes, “I am being poured out like a drink offering.” And “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” No, Paul is nearing his home in heaven, and he knows it. And sitting in chains, Paul’s thoughts turn to a fellow preacher of God’s gospel, the young pastor Timothy.

Timothy was a native of the Galatian city of Lystra. And while we aren’t told exactly when Timothy and Paul first met, it’s reasonable to infer that it happened on Paul’s first missionary journey when he stopped for a time to preach in that very city. Timothy joined Paul and Silas for a part of his missionary journeys after that, eventually being sent to work in Thessalonica and Corinth and even Ephesus. The two had a special relationship, with Paul describing Timothy in the 2nd verse of this letter as his “dear son.”

So what does Paul write to such a beloved companion with what he surely assumed to be his last words? He records memories of peace and encouragements for preaching, and that makes it useful for us today as we think of our calling to be preachers of the gospel as well.

Paul begins with an emotional reminder of what a blessing simple Christian companionship can be. He longed to see Timothy and the joy he would have in being reunited. This is perhaps one of the blessings of faith that we are quickest to take for granted. But ask anyone who is kept away from worship unwillingly by failing health or great distance and they will tell you the blessing of Christian friendship and community. The first part of our preaching and being witnesses of Jesus is simply being there. Paul says he thanks God as he remembers Timothy in his prayers. I hope we thank God for the blessing of each other as well. I hope we keep working at that here at Salem with time before and after worship, with potluck dinners and social outings, with growth groups. Our connection to each other is an important part of our connection to Christ.

What Paul is most thankful for, though, is Timothy’s faith. A faith that was first in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. Certainly Pastor Paul taught that faith and sharpened that faith but Timothy’s faith was first built at home. Perhaps we would do well to remember the same in our families. Now, we are of course, witnesses for Christ to the whole world, but our first mission field is the one we don’t have to leave home to find. Husbands, take up your calling as heads of the family and lead your wives and children as Christian men. Wives, support them in that. Encourage them. Admonish them when you must. The number one indicator of children remaining in faith for their lifetimes, in every survey on the topic, is the family that worships together. That means, parents, you have a role in God’s plan for your children that goes beyond giving them good education, nutrition, and physical safety. You, in a very real sense, are the most important spiritual shepherds your kids will ever have.

So if this is your calling, how do you witness to your children? In many ways, the same we witness to anyone. In Christian words and Christian actions. Listen to verses 9&10: “[God] has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” If you want to be the best witness of Christ you can be, you don’t have to take a special Evangelism class or memorize Bible passages. This is really you need to know right here. God saved us, by his grace alone. He wants sinners to live with him in heaven so much that before the beginning of time he worked out a plan to send Jesus to take our sins away. This Jesus destroyed death with his resurrection from the dead. And he promises that his life and immortality is our own.

Do you know what I call that truth? That we are saved from sin by Jesus’ life. By God’s grace? I call it peace. Peace that calms me when I fail to be the person I know I should be. Peace that settles me when my sinful nature is fighting to keep me from doing what God wants. Peace that compels me to want others to have this peace too.

People sometimes ask me why I chose to be a pastor. Or why I pastor in the way that I do. This is the answer: I want others to have the peace that I have. My life isn’t perfect. I’m not perfect. But I know that my future doesn’t depend on that. It depends on Jesus, who has already done everything necessary for me. Being a pastor means I get to preach that full-time, publicly. But all of us, just be being Christians get to preach that peace sometimes.

You know what other peace we have because of Jesus? Peace that calms us when we’re afraid of suffering or opposition for our preaching. Paul knew that Timothy was prone to be timid, whether that was due to his youth or just his personal nature. But as Paul urges him to preach, Paul tells Timothy, “Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands…The Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. Do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord…join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”

Paul was facing the end of his life and still he told Timothy, this is worth it. We’ll see the laying on of hands again in a couple weeks as we ordain a new pastor – it’s a tradition we still keep. The call to preach was a gift from God to Timothy, and Paul wanted to see that gift of ministry to Timothy grow all the more. The last few weeks we’ve been talking about the Spirit’s work and gift of faith. We were reminded two weeks ago that the Spirit comes to us through the Word with power, just as Jesus said.

Today we see that this power of God helps us to overcome our fears as we preach and witness to Jesus ourselves. Paul didn’t preach because he was so good at it – in fact he told the Corinthians that he wasn’t eloquent or powerful in preaching at all. I don’t keep sharing Jesus myself because I’m the best preacher or make the best arguments. I do it because I know the Spirit works through me when I do it. I can tell you from experience, there is no greater feeling than to be the person that gets to watch someone “get forgiveness” for maybe the first time. To almost see the Spirit at work as they realize that my Jesus is their Jesus too. To know that God used me to change someone’s eternity.

This is why we witness. Why, by God’s grace, we will grow in faith and go in faith. Fellow believers, you know the peace of God through Jesus. You have the power of God through the Spirit. Retake your place in God’s plan of salvation for others. Preach the Word. Share your faith. In peace and power. Always to God’s glory. Amen.