Today's Scripture Reading (April
24, 2021): 1
Timothy 6
Many years ago, a dignitary from
the denomination showed up for a Sunday morning service. It happens, but it is
also a perfect time to suffer a case of nerves. I had prepared for the morning,
but I never feel like I have studied enough. The worship team was good but were
they good enough. The service went off without a problem, and I had an
opportunity to meet with the dignitary in the church's foyer after the service.
He smiled, apologized that he had to run, but then left me with two messages.
One was that I was being underutilized in my current position. It is good to
hear someone say that you are doing okay and that the door isn't closed for a
move, but I had no desire to be anywhere else. I was happy with my congregation,
small though it might be.
The second message was a simple
one. Love your congregation. Love the ones that God has entrusted to your care.
That wasn't a problem. The reason why I was content in my place of ministry was
precisely that I did love them. Every person in the congregation was remarkable,
and it was my privilege to be with them; some of them I have been with for
almost twenty-five years. My community was easy to love, and it is my privilege
to be with them.
When I read Paul's closing words
to Timothy, I hear two messages. The first is the one that most Bible scholars
seem to hear. Guard what has been entrusted to your care, namely, the gospel
message, or literally, the "good news," left to us by Jesus. The "good
news" is a message of love and acceptance that is directed to all people. The
"good news" has been entrusted, not just to the pastors like Timothy,
but to all Christians. But often, this "good news" gets perverted. We
don't accept everyone, and our rejection of people is often the immediate cause
of pain, and as a result of this pain, people have left the church. Paul wants
Timothy to do everything he can to guard this "good news."
But that is not the only message I
read with Paul's words to "guard
what has been entrusted to your care." And while the "good
news" is important, the guarding of the gospel message has an even more
important purpose; the universality of the "good news" is essential for
protecting the people who had also been entrusted to Timothy's care. Paul is
pleading with Timothy to love his congregation.
Every group of people has its people
who require extra care. In Christianese, often referred to these individuals as
EGR people; extra grace required. And it is easy to discard these people or
wish that they would somehow wander away. What we forget is that they are as
important to God as we are. And Paul wants Timothy to guard the people who have
been entrusted to him, including, and maybe more specifically, the EGR's,
because these people are often the easiest to lose.
But it is not just the task of Timothy
to keep the EGR's. These people often require the efforts of the whole congregation
to love into the kingdom. I am haunted by the EGR's that I have lost over the
years, often because someone in the community simply lost patience with them
and cast them away. But they are our responsibility because God cares for them
too.
So, go and guard what has been
entrusted to you. Guard the gospel, but protect the people too. Never lose
sight that both are important.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1
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