Passing the Baton

When pastor first asked me to

preach, I hesitated. If you know me very well, I'm not much of a talker.

I'm just not very good at small talk.

But during my consideration of doing the sermon, Moses and Aaron came to mind.

Exodus 4. But Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent,

either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant,

but I am slow with speech and tongue.

Then the Lord said to him, Who has made man's mouth, who makes him mute or deaf,

or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall

speak. But he said, O my Lord, please send someone else.

Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said,

Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well.

Behold, he is coming out to meet you. and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart.

I wondered if I had ever angered the Lord in my meekness in preaching the word

or spreading his gospel.

It also came to mind that recently I've been trying to get better at getting

into the word so this seemed like a good opportunity to exercise that necessity.

If you ever want to learn something I encourage you to prepare to teach it to

someone, like kids time, for example.

The 5-10 minute kids time lesson are about as good as it gets for me when it

comes to public speaking.

The more that I thought about it, the more I thought kids time lessons that

I have done in the past, I've often thought, is this lesson too deep for kids?

Or this lesson, this would make a good sermon.

Quite honestly, sometimes the kids lessons resonate with me almost as much as

the sermon. Sorry, pastor.

That could be because I spend the whole week thinking about it and preparing

for it, but I attribute that to my small, ever-so-dwindling brain capacity.

But like I said, if you ever truly want to learn something, prepare it to teach to someone else.

I've never felt more vulnerable than when I've been standing in front of a room

of people trying to teach them something.

Let me say that again. I've never felt more vulnerable than when I've been standing

in front of a room of people trying to teach them something.

I realized, though, if it was something that I was familiar with,

something I was passionate about, or something I dealt with every day, it was a lot easier.

It's common for someone to ask questions when being taught, whether it's out

of curiosity or out of spite.

So hopefully, through your time alone with God, prayer, and devotion, you come prepared.

If I'm being quite honest, preparing for a sermon made me quite anxious,

in spite of Joanne's preaching.

This may be the second or third rendition of this sermon.

But during my preparation, I came across 2 Timothy 4.

2 Timothy 4, 1-8 says, In the presence of God in Christ Jesus,

who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his

kingdom, I give you this charge.

Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season.

Rebuke, encourage, with great patience and careful instruction.

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around a great number of

teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

But you, keep your heads in all situations, endure hardships,

do the work of evangelists, discharge the duties of your ministry.

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my

departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,

the righteous Lord, will award me on that day.

And not only me, but also those who have longed for his appearing.

This seemed fitting, as I was worrying about what to preach.

Paul is getting ready to pass the baton on to Timothy, writing him to simply, Preach the word.

Be prepared in season and out of season But I don't want to get ahead of myself

Let me back up to the beginning of the letter Of how Paul starts out,

Paul starts out, he says To Timothy, my dear son Grace, mercy,

and peace From God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord,

I thank God whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience,

as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois

and in your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded now lives in you.

For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God,

which is in you through the laying of my hands.

For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power,

love, and self-discipline.

Did you catch that, church? It's okay, I missed it at first, too.

Timothy's faith seemed to be instilled in him by his mother and grandmother.

One commentary that I read noted, Lois and Eunice are examples of the powerful

influences a mother and grandmother can have on a young man's life.

Many personal testimonies include statements such as, My mom or grandma took

me to church, taught me right, and prayed for me every day.

Paul recognized the life-changing contributions of these women in a day when

women were rarely mentioned by name.

He honored their impact in preparing his young protege, who later joined Paul

in his travels and eventually became the pastor of the church at Ephesus.

Lois and Eunice should encourage all Christian mothers and grandmothers,

reminding them that their godly influence has an internal impact on lives and

futures of their children and grandchildren.

So with this on Mother's Day, I hope this encourages you mothers to continue

to raise your children in faith and prayer.

The Lord only knows the impact that you may be having on someone right now.

Some of you ladies may say, this doesn't apply to me, I'm too young,

I don't have children, my children are grown and gone, and I would counter or

encourage you with this story.

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend Janice's Singspiration.

From what I am told, Janice didn't want her celebration of life to be about

her, but instead she wanted her friends, family, and church singing and worshiping God.

See, during the Singspiration, we did sing, we did worship, But we also got

to hear a little bit more about Janice She didn't have any children But from

what I heard, it sounded like Janice fit into what I call a church mom,

I bet if you can think back to your younger church days

You would find someone that was a church mom The person that maybe was your

Sunday school teacher Your youth leader Quite possibly a teacher at school or

maybe just the woman that when you visited her house for a small group had your

picture on her refrigerator because she was praying for you.

I love the fact that our church gives out all the ladies a Mother's Day gift.

Because you are, or could be, a church mom. Lois and Eunice pass their faith on to Timothy.

Paul acknowledges this, but reminded Timothy to fan into the flame the gift of God.

Paul doesn't specifically say what this gift is, but wants Timothy to rekindle his spiritual gifts.

Paul reminds us that the Spirit of God should not make us timid,

but gives us power, love, and self-discipline. So how do we do this?

Fortunately, Paul was a good teacher. He lays it out pretty well in his letter.

He says in 2 Timothy 2, 11, Here is a trustworthy saying, If we died with him,

we will also live with him.

If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.

If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Keep reminding God's people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words.

It is of no value and only ruins those who listen.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who is not

ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Church, if we are going to reach the lost for Jesus, we must be united in our message.

If we preached to the lost, but we are seen as hypocrites or are not unified

in Christ, it will only ruin those who listen.

You know, sometimes I think the Bible has to be one of the most complex, simple books ever.

You can go through a book like Revelations and be bewildered by what's being explained.

Yet Paul lays it out pretty straightforward here. He says in 2 Timothy 2.22

Flee the evil desires of youth And pursue righteousness,

Faith, love, and peace Along with those who

call on the Lord Out of a pure heart Don't have

anything to do with foolishness And stupid arguments Because you know they produce

quarrels And the Lord's servant Must not be quarrelsome But must be kind Able

to teach And not resentful Opponents must be gently instructed in the hope that

God will grant them repentance,

leading them to a knowledge of truth,

and that they will come to their sense and escape from the trap of the devil

who has taken them captive to do his will.

Paul states that we should gently instruct.

Sometimes I think Christians take Paul's talking about power,

the power the Spirit gives us, and miss how that power should be used.

Many Israelites believed Jesus would come back as a traditional king,

but instead, Jesus came back as a teacher.

When provoked with quarrels of stupid arguments, he simply pointed them to the Father.

Paul compares following Jesus to being like a soldier or a hardworking farmer.

He also states that it's like a competing athlete.

One commentator states that all three of these comparisons are examples of people

that are committed to doing something bigger than themselves.

You may have heard some of my kids' lessons, and I've used cross-country as an illustration.

Well, this time of year, we can be found cheering on our kids at track meets and soccer games.

So in each sport, our kids train daily or weekly so that they can get better

at scoring more goals or running a specified distance faster.

I always remember one soccer coach's expression after a kid scored a goal. He would say, great job!

That started all the way back here.

And he would be pointing back at midfield where the initial pass took place,

allowing for the two kids to break away, pass it in for assist,

and eventually score a goal.

A team that was committed to something bigger than themselves.

The player that passed the ball allowed his team to score so that they might win.

Paul continues on, showing how in the last days the world would be quite the

opposite of being committed to something bigger than themselves.

He writes, But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days People

will be lovers of themselves Lovers of money Boastful, proud,

abusive Disobedient to their parents Ungrateful,

unholy Withhold love, unforgiving Slanderous, without self-control Brutal,

not loving of good Treacherous, rash,

conceited Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God Having a form of godliness Yes.

But denying its power, have nothing to do with such people.

I'm sure that this has been said many times in history, but man,

oh man, does that sound like today's world.

We have social media, news outlets, social circles that panders to what we want to hear.

We are quick to turn to worldly things because it's easy. It's comfortable.

Sometimes I forget where Paul was when he was writing these letters.

He was in jail awaiting the results of his trial.

Because of his teaching, his faith, his way of life, he was being persecuted.

He states, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ,

Jesus, will be persecuted. Sounds like a great time.

But it's required for what Paul talks about next.

Paul says, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living

and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge.

Preach the word. Be prepared.

In season and out of season, correct, rebuke, encourage, with great patience

and careful instruction.

For the time will come when people do not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number

of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

But you keep your head in all situations Endure hardship Do the work of evangelists

Discharge all the duties of your ministry,

For I am being poured out like a drink offering And the time for my departure is near,

I have fought the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith

Now there is in store for me my own crown of righteousness Which the Lord,

the righteous judge Will award me on that day And not only to me but also to

those who have longed for His appearing.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead.

We are all going to be judged. It is our responsibility to evangelize with a

message based on biblical truths, with patience, encouragement,

and required, and when required, rebuke messages that go against biblical truth.

Paul knows his time is coming closer to an end, and he's preparing Timothy to carry the baton.

I'll leave you with one last story.

At a recent track meet, we were watching a relay race. Our team had gotten off

to a great start, and each runner was doing quite well.

I remember thinking, they've got this race in the bag.

Until it got closer to where the first runner was going to be handing off the

baton to the second runner.

All I could think was, please be a smooth handoff. Don't drop the baton.

Transition before the cutoff. I tell you Jesus has already won the race We just

need to deliver the baton Because remember church It starts back here It starts with us,

Let us pray Heavenly Father we just thank you today,

That you've already won the race Lord We just ask that you would give us The

power The ability to not be timid To teach your truth Lord We ask that you go with us this day,

be with us as we celebrate our mothers we ask all this in your name Amen.