He had been in ministry for 15 years. His church was vibrant. He was considered successful, but success wasn’t bringing him any comfort. Everything looked great on the surface but, underneath, he said, “I felt like a phony, going through the motions, I was struggling with God and ill-at-ease in ministry.
One night, H.B. London said, “in a dark, silent church when no one was present, I fell across the altar in a mood of spiritual desperation. I began to pray the most humiliating prayer imaginable.” “God, I want out of the ministry,” he said. “I’m not worthy of this church. I’m not real. I’m a play actor, get me out of this. I would appreciate it if you could get me out gracefully. But if it is not graceful, that’s okay, too. I just can’t go on with this pain inside.” He went on to tell God that he was inauthentic, inadequate, unworthy, full of cracks and holes, and running on “spiritual empty.” “In that moment,” said London, “something happened. The presence of Christ came over me with empowerment and meaning like I had never had before. It was as if, God said, ‘Ah, now I can use you,’ and what happened changed my whole life. It was a spiritual movement that revolutionized my entire ministry.”
Sometimes, in the church, we have been guilty of downplaying the emotional and spiritual aspect of Christianity. Sometimes, we forget that the true faith is something that occurs deep inside of us and involves God’s Spirit interacting with our spirit. We don’t, perhaps, give enough credence to emotions that lie deep within us that the Spirit may affect; our passions and fears, whether we are vitalized and full of assurance or whether we are unclear and questioning. Yet these things are important for when deep fears and questions get the better of us, we can lose the edge of our Christian walk or our conviction. Sometimes, even, monotony - the monotony of a long-lived faith dulls what was once so meaningful to us. At times, there’s a need to fan the flames of a faith that once were, there’s a need for the Spirit of God to transform, to renew, to enliven us once again make us vibrant.
It seems that when Paul wrote to Timothy, Timothy’s faith was in need of a renewal of this sort. He said to him, “Timothy, rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands.”
II Timothy is another of Paul’s letters written during imprisonment (1:16). Paul was alone, most of his friends had deserted him (1:15); he was staring in the face of his own death (4:6). If Church tradition is correct, Paul was in a Roman prison during the dark days of the Emperor Nero. Nero led the first public persecution of Christians blaming them for the fire in Rome. The Roman historian, Tacitus, wrote in his Annales (15:44) of the horrors. Some Christians, he said, were covered in the hides of animals and torn apart by dogs, others were nailed to crosses, while yet others were set on fire to light up the night. It is likely that Paul knew of these atrocities and awaited a similar fate. But in the midst of it, Paul’s main concern was for the gospel, that people would hear the news of immortality in Jesus Christ; it was such great news. Apparently, Timothy had fallen back. Paul himself was not going to be able to testify, but Timothy could and Paul desperately wants him to rekindle the gift of God that he had once had.
We are never told what Timothy's struggle was exactly. He had started well, served the gospel well, but had fallen away. Perhaps, he was frightened by what was going on. He may have seen Paul imprisoned and thought, “I don’t want that, I don’t want to be lobbed in with common criminals (1:16).” He may have heard of the persecution and deaths of Christians and said, “I don’t want that either.” He may have been disturbed by troubles within the church and been disheartened (1:13; 2:14ff.). Whatever it was, Timothy had stepped back, he no longer had the same drive or enthusiasm for the faith. Paul says, “Never be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, rely on the power of God who has brought life and immortality to light… (1:8ff.).” "Rekindle the gift of God that is within by the laying on of my hands." Now, one doesn't need to rekindle something unless it has died down.
This past summer, I was staying at a cottage on Lake Huron and on one evening a few of us decided that we’d have a fire in the fire pit. It took us city-slickers a while to get the fire going properly but, it did, and we sat around chatting, roasting marshmallows, and reminiscing about campfires of long ago. Then there came the time when the fire died down and there were just a few burning embers left. I was not ready to say goodnight, so I threw on a couple of small logs and hoped it would take again. After 15 minutes or so, it was clear that the new wood was not catching fire, so I tried putting a few pieces of newspaper in. The newspaper caught fire and burned with great gusto briefly but I was then left with things the way they were. I tried a little more kindling wood shoved into the middle of the embers but they were not taking either. Finally, I got down on hands and knees and I began to blow on the embers. They glowed more brightly. I placed the kindling strategically, and they glowed some more. Then there was a little flame on one piece of kindling. Then another, eventually the fire started up again and we enjoyed it for a while longer.
In our text, it was as if Timothy’s faith and commitment had died down like the fire. It needed a spiritual rekindling or as one translation puts it, Paul says to Timothy, “Fan the flame of the gift of God that is within you with the laying on of my hands.” “Fan the flame,” suggests something Timothy must do. “Laying on of hands” is always connected in the NT with a movement of the Spirit. So what Paul means by telling Timothy to “fan the flame,” or, “rekindle” the gifts that were his, is that he be open to renewal, be open to receiving the Spirit again, be open to being reawakened and regaining the passionate faith that he once had for the sake of the gospel. He doesn’t want Timothy to stop, to be weak, or, to be ashamed, for, says Paul, “God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline (1:7)."
There are three things mentioned there. The first is power. I used to have a large yellow Labrador. Jay was a fine dog. He was from top breeding stock and champion pedigree. He was one of the best-looking labradors I have ever seen. When I would take him for a walk all sorts of dog-people would comment about him.
One time I was out with Jay when I heard a woman's voice some distance behind us shout, "O hello, good looking." I didn’t quite know quite what to do with that comment and certainly wasn’t about to be presumptuous and turn around, so I kept walking. The voice came again, a little closer this time, “Hello good looking.” I still thought to myself, I’m not going to touch that and kept walking. The voice then came right up behind me and said again, “Hello, good looking.” It was so close now, I couldn’t do anything else but turn, only to find this nice, older woman with an older labrador, completely transfixed by my dog. I was, of course, devastated myself, but I was very glad for Jay. “What a lovely Labrador,” she said. She went on and on about Jay and his appearance. She couldn’t say enough about him.
But as much as Jay was a good-looking dog, he was also a very nervous. I got Jay when he was a year old. I don't know how he was treated during that first year but he was so nervous. Sometimes when I would take him for walks it was embarrassing. If someone came walking on the path toward us, Jay would begin to cower. His sprite walk would get lower and lower until he was almost crawling along. On more than one occasion I had to explain to passers by that I didn't beat the dog, he came to me like this. Jay for some reason had learned to fear strangers. He improved over the years, but he was always a little nervous.
When the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy he said, "Timothy, we cannot be like Jay. Don’t cower, don’t crawl around and try to be inconspicuous about Jesus. Don’t fear. “God," he said, "did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power, love, and discipline. Rekindle the gifts you have been.
Timothy also had been given a spirit of love. It’s amazing what happens when the love of God enters the human heart. The Christian really cares for others and their eternal well-being. It was that love that led Paul to be concerned for the gospel even though he could have been forgiven for wallowing in his own personal circumstances and what was about to happen to him. But Paul had a love for his fellow human beings within him and he knew that the gospel could bring eternal life to others. He cared for the well-being of the world. He wanted to share the eternity he had found.
Timothy had had enough, however. We can sympathize with him – the effects of the persecution, the dissension within the Church, it would have been easy to stop, to wash ones hands of the persecutors or the disrupters and say, “You know what, I don’t care. I’m going to go back to making tents or carpentry, I’m not going to waste my time on these people.”
I have a friend in another Church who has been a good and faithful Christian for many years. He has always been very supportive. He attended study groups, he served on the Church board, he gave much time and energy to the work, and he is a nice man. One day, he told me about some difficulties he was having with another person in the church. He said that it seemed to start when the other man had an idea for the church. My friend, Frank, was not opposed to the idea, it just wasn’t something he wanted to do or get involved in and the other man took offence. Apparently, he began to oppose Frank on the Board in any way he could. At one meeting, he randomly accused Frank of being a racist, something that Frank definitely is not. He then started to speak ill of Frank to others and had a minority voting block on the Board which was causing significant division. As Frank shared the various problems that he was encountering, he said that he was completely disheartened. “I don’t dislike the man,” he said, “but the way he’s acting – I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve thought about pulling out, leaving the church.” As we talked, one thing we spoke of was Christian love and how far love was to go.
Paul asked Timothy to rekindle a spirit of love. That is the love that is founded in God’s love and the cross. It may not be easy but it is a love that stretches out even to the unlovable. While practically speaking, that may not mean that we must rush out to have coffee with people we find difficult in our lives, it does mean that we treat them fairly, cordially, and with kindness, and encourage them in the faith that leads to God’s kingdom. “Timothy, don’t stop; rekindle the love you have had for others no matter what.”
But there is one other thing that Paul asks Timothy to rekindle and be open to as God’s Spirit works in him. The Greek word here is sophronismou. Sophronismou is one of those Greek words that is very hard to translate. Modern versions usually use the English "self-discipline" - being in control of inordinate desires and impulses, appetites and tempers. One translator has tells us it means "control in the face of panic". Sophronismou can be translated, moderation, good judgment, prudence, the mastery of self in order to bring good judgement.
The other day I watched the first 1/2 hour of one of my favourite films, The Sound of Music. Perhaps you will remember at the beginning the youthful Maria is up in the hills when the convent bell rings for prayer. While she is running down the hill, prayers take place and come to an end. Her absence is duly noted by a number of the nuns and in the song, "Maria", they discuss Maria's suitability for the novitiate. Many of the senior nuns try to influence the Rev. Mother to send her away. She's not suitable, she's disorganized, flighty, she's a headache. In the whole scene one could sense what we might call the sophronismou of the Rev. Mother. She listened to the other nuns, she weighed the evidence. In her decision, she showed herself not to be unduly influenced by nay-sayers. She didn’t do the political thing to please the leading Sisters and elevate herself in their eyes, neither was she tied to the letter of the law in convent rules. Instead she showed wisdom and grace, asking Maria to take a short sabbatical to discover herself while working at the home of Captain von Trapp. The Rev. Mother had sophronismou, the discipline to not be swayed by the opinions of others. It’s the prudence and wisdom to do the right thing.
Timothy, rekindle the gifts that were in you. Be open to the Spirit. We have not been given a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power, love, and sophronismou godly wisdom in the midst of the clamour of the world.
As I read this text, I wondered, how much are those things needed in the church today? How much do we as individuals, need to rekindle what has been given to us? How much do we need the Spirit to be at work among us again so that our faith is enlivened, lived out with a vitality that is infectious and desirable to others?
I have been reading recently Callum Brown’s book, The Death of Christian Britain. The decline that the church has faced in Britain since the 1960s is nothing short of astonishing. Secularism, multiculturalism, a multi-faith environment, and pluralism have taken over. Unfortunately, the rest of Europe and portions of North America are in the same boat. We have entered an age when Christians are a very small minority of our culture. Many feel uneasy declaring their faith, it has become a private thing. We haven’t wanted to be labelled as different, potentially holy, or intellectually inferior, so we have tended to downplay the radicalness of the gospel, made it innocuous and safe, so much so that people wonder why they should bother being a Christian. Our children are abandoning the faith in droves because it doesn’t mean much and has little appeal.
Pluralism is perhaps the thing that has undercut Christianity the most. Pluralism tends to treat all worldviews and all religions as equal, meaningful for those who espouse them alone. It undercuts any idea or claim to truth. There are no absolute truths. No religion has an objective reality. In our environment, those ideas sound good but when one approaches the world with those kinds of presuppositions, as many younger people do, then there isn’t much point in committing to anything; there isn’t much point in committing to any one religion or faith.
I won’t get into a critique of pluralism this morning, even while stating that while it may sound good, pluralism does not always stand the test of logic. What I will say, however, is that Christianity has always been couched in events and realities that have strong evidential support. There’s a lot to be said about Jesus and what happened to him. Even in its earliest days, the Christian story was always linked to eye-witnesses, people who had been there, people who had experienced Jesus, people who had seen their own lives and the lives of others transformed by some power connected to Jesus. It changed them. It awakened them. It strengthened them. It gave them a power they did not have before, it instilled within them a love of humanity, and in some it put swphronismou. These were real changes in real people and they occurred in the first century, the tenth century, twentieth century, and the twenty-first century – today - giving vitality, passion, a conviction for the things of God in Christ.
Recently, I was handed a report from another United Church that was attempting to ensure that their church survived the great disappearance of Christian churches in our culture. The report described its own church as doing better than most United Churches yet, there was the realization that its congregation was aging. It sought a roadmap to the future. It wanted to re-ignite its own community to action so that they would attract others who want “a truly awesome and living experience of Christian faith in action.” The report stated that they had a bold mission, “To provide an awesome and transforming experience of God’s love;” and asked, “Do we walk and talk as a faith community like we are on a mission? Do we use words like ‘thriving,’ ‘fiercely,’ ‘passionately,’ joyously,’ ‘innovatively,’ ‘boldly,’ ‘dynamically,’ ‘challenging,’ ‘changing,’ ‘growing,’ and ‘faithfully,’ to describe our faith community and what we believe and what we are here to do? If we are not using them regularly, the time to start is now … we need to get on with our mission to the world.”
That’s a United Church in this country … and that sounds like the kind of “rekindling” Paul spoke to Timothy about. One Church, one group of people is headed that way. I wonder if we too could rediscover a vibrancy that would engage the world for Christ? That’s the sort of thing that starts with individuals. Are you interested in your faith be rekindled? Are you open to the work of God’s Spirit?