"Denying the Power of God"
Exodus 8:16-19 II Timothy 3:1-9
I think that there are times in our lives when we wonder, how could things have gotten so bad. I mean, the Notre Dame football team starting out 0 and 3 and losing to
In writing to Timothy, Paul is writing as one who does not have long to live. He is trying to prepare Timothy for the difficult road ahead. One of the misunderstandings of the Christian faith is that the more faithful we are, the better things will get. All we have to do is look at the life of Jesus and we can realize that is misguided theology. The more he taught and healed, the more uncomfortable people became until they decided that he must be stopped. Jesus was faithful and things certainly did not get better for him in this world.
John Calvin, in his comments on our reading in II Timothy wrote that when things go well, our tendency is to become careless, but necessity makes us more alert. Paul is warning Timothy that there will be difficult times ahead and there will be suffering in the church. You will need to be alert. It is going to call for uncommon faithfulness, diligence, carefulness and wisdom.
But there is a major stumbling block, the wicked and depraved ways of people. The thing that is interesting in Paul's comments is that Paul is not attacking the enemies of the church or people who opposed to Jesus. He is addressing the members of the church. He is saying that they keep up the appearance of godliness but are living lives of sin. It is a message that is similar to the Old Testament prophets. Worship in the sanctuary is meaningless to God if it is not followed by justice and righteousness in the world.
Paul lists a number of sins, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents, ungrateful. But the list begins with self love. John Calvin writes that the source of all the other sins is self love. The person whose first love is self claims superiority in everything.
In other words, some times are more perilous than others and the times that are the most perilous are when self love rules the day. Self love causes us to love things more than people, causes us to reject any kind of authority. People delight in being unholy. Self love leads people to vices that cause us to lose sight of the good of our loved ones. In order to satisfy our own desires we put the lives of people close to us in jeopardy. For example, someone likes driving fast. When he or she has friends in the car and puts driving fast ahead of the safety of his or her friends, it is a form of self love.
Paul is saying to Timothy that people go through the right motions in worship but it is only lip service. It does not come from the heart. When this happens they deny the power of their faith because they are using religion to get what they want rather than as a way of giving thanks to God for what God has done for us.
Lovers of self like religions that promise a great deal and ask for very little in the way of commitment. Faith in Jesus Christ is the giving of the self for others, not a love of self that takes only into account what is good for me. I want my child to do well in school so that I will look good. I go to church to that I will be looked up to in the community. I don't take my mother anywhere because I am afraid she will embarrass me. We do what is best for us without thinking of what is best for others.
In writing to Timothy Paul mentioned Jannes and Jambrez. They are the legendary Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses and Aaron. They tried to duplicate the miracles of Moses and Aaron to discredit them. They were opponents of the truth. Paul is saying that people who put love of self first are like Jannes and Jambrez. Their love of self causes them to be opponents of the truth and lead people astray.
The early church was showing signs of loving self more than others. Paul was concerned that Timothy would get frustrated because that kind of self love was prevalent in the church as well as in the world. So Paul wrote to Timothy to try strengthen him for the task at hand. He let him know that it will not be easy, "all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." But he encourages Timothy to not give up, there is a crown of righteousness waiting for all who fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith.
We live in a world that encourages us to put self first. We are part of a faith that calls upon us to practice self giving love. When Jesus calls disciples he says, "Come, follow me."