Last Message
For a United Methodist Church, July
1st is like a new year, because all appointments begin that day. For
some UM pastors and congregations, today is the day that the last service is
held, and the last sermon is preached. As for me, by God’s grace I am given one
more chance, one more year to serve and build up his church. As we ring out the
Old Year and ring in the New, I believe God encourages us and guides us with today’s
scripture. I don’t know about you, but for me, there are times when I question,
“God, we worked hard all these years. We tried. But we don’t see many fruits.
We don’t know what to do.” If you are like me, today’s message is for you.
Be a Disciple
Today’s scripture, 2 Timohty 4, is
Paul’s very last words to his spiritual son, Timothy. Throughout his last letter,
Paul commends Timothy to practice two essentials: Be a disciple first, then
make disciples.
First, be a disciple. Being is more important than doing. The challenges that Timothy was about to face were overwhelming. People would not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, they would look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They would reject the truth and chase after myths (vv. 3-4). That was the ministry setting Timothy was in. If we read Paul’s entire letter (The Second Letter of Paul to Timothy) carefully, we can hear what Paul has to say loud and clear, that is, our being (our presence, our integrity) is more important than our doing (technique, skill, know-how).
There is a story about a missionary to Dutch New Guinea. One day the missionary decided to plant some pineapples (100 plants). They were rare and valuable to the natives. It took about three years to yield pineapples. He couldn’t wait! But when the pineapples got ripe, the missionary couple didn’t get anything. The natives stole every single pineapple! The missionary got mad. “No pineapples, no clinic!” he said. And he cut out the clinic. Next year the natives stole the pineapples again. This time he cut out the trade store. But the natives kept stealing the pineapples. This time he brought a German Shepherd. It did work for the time being. But the thing was he didn’t have a chance to talk about Jesus and learn their language. The church was empty on Sunday.
One Sunday after the service, the missionary went out to the pineapple garden and prayed, “Lord, I have fought to have the fruit from them. I have claimed them as my own. I have stood up for my rights. It is all wrong, and I realize that now. I have to give them all to You. From now on, if You want me to eat any of Your pineapples, fine. If not, then that is fine too. Amen.” The natives kept stealing the pineapples just like before. But he didn’t say anything but just kept praying and trusting God. One day they finally came to the missionary and said “Too-wan (foreigner), you have become a Christian, haven’t you? Because you don’t get angry anymore when we steal your pineapples.” He answered, “The pineapples don’t belong to me anymore. I have given the garden to God.” They answered, “To God?” They were afraid that they were stealing from God. And they stopped stealing. Then, the missionary couple was able to enjoy the fresh pineapples! And they shared the pineapples with them. Soon many of the natives decided to become Christians. For years, he had tried hard to evangelize them. But it didn’t work. But when God transformed his heart, he began to change theirs too. The most powerful message is our being, our transformed lives.
In the midst of all challenges Paul exhorts Timothy in this way:
Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and my sufferings… But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it. (3:10-11, 14)
When Paul says, “my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,” he is not boasting about his performance. Instead, here what he is saying is that the gospel of Christ is put into his heart and transforms his innermost being, transforms his wills and affections, including his faith, his patience, his love. It became a part of his being. Whether we raise children, manage people at work, or do ministry, in the face of every challenge, our transformed being (being a disciple) is most important. As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed (3:14). As for you, be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable (4:2). As for you, be sober in everything, endure suffering (v. 5a).
Make Disciples
Be a disciple, then make disciples.
“Do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” (v. 5b) Eugene
Peterson’s Message Bible paraphrases it this way: “Keep the Message alive; do a
thorough job as God’s servant.” So how can we keep the message alive? What does
it look like?”
The other day I read an article about Mount Everest’s trash problem. The world’s tallest mountain suffers from trash problem, and it’s getting worse, especially at a camp near the summit. Garrett Madison has climbed to the peak of Mount Everest 14 times, and on the mountain, he noticed the signs of people who came before. Since his first expedition to Mount Everest in 2006, he has been cleaning trash off the mountain with about a dozen of his team climbers. Because of the low oxygen environment on the peak, it’s very tough to carry loads down. Each person can carry around 25 to 30 pounds of trash per trip. Madison and his team have collected about 4,000 pounds so far. He said, “You can’t push the body too hard, so we need to do everything very slowly and deliberately. So it’s like life or work in slow motion.”[1] Yes, the work is slow. But they are making a difference – picking up one trash at a time, taking one trip at a time.
Paul’s last years were particularly challenging. At his trial no one came to his support, but all deserted him (v. 16). Paul said, “Demas in love with this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica, Cresens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.” (v. 10). It was discouraging. But Paul was still discipling by exchanging letters or simply living a life together – Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila, and some others. It was a handful of people (cf. 4:19-21). Through their faith, God changed the world. Because of their faith, we are here today.
For That Day
In his book The Purpose Driven
Life, Rick Warren gives us a vivid image of the day for settling the
account. On that day God is going to ask us at least these two questions: “What
have you done with my Son Jesus Christ?” (being question – being a disciple
of Jesus) and “What did you do with what I gave you?” (doing question –
how did you make disciples with your time, talents, and treasure?)[2]
What would be your answer?
About eight years ago Joyce and I had a chance to attend worship service at one of my colleagues’ church. His wife was a professional painter. She took us on a brief tour of her studio. All of her paintings were so inspirational, but there was one particular masterpiece standing out to me. The title of the painting was “Urgency of It.” In this hourglass there is Jesus in the upper part, the earth in the lower part. You see the time is running out. The day is coming. There is urgency to preparing for our death because our times are in God’s hands. Today might be the day. Tomorrow might be the day. We don’t know. But what we know is now is the time to prepare ourselves for that day. For me personally, I often think about the day of settling the account. When I get to heaven, when I meet my Jesus face to face, I have one thing I really want to hear from him: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” That would be sufficient. Great changes and challenges are ahead of us. As for us, let us be sober in everything, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out our ministry fully. Let us be a disciple, and make disciples – one person at a time slowly and deliberately. The Lord is near. Amen.
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