II Timothy 4
Dear RTB’ers,
Paul was writing some 2000 years ago, but his words sound like they were written directly for today: For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions… (v. 3) [NOTE: The NASB has “wanting to have their ears tickled” instead of “having itching ears”. I like that translation!] “…teachers to suit their own passions…” There are reasons why we are St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, in the Anglican Diocese of the South and a part of the Anglican Church in North America instead of The Episcopal Church USA. Yes, Paul was writing for us, today.
Blessings!
See also: December 22 (2023) / Titus; II Timothy
I was drawn to vs. 16 in this reading or rather the last sentence in vs. 16, “I hope it will not be counted against them.” (Life Application Study Bible translation). In this specific verse, Paul is all alone in court, in front of a judge; alone, abandoned, no friends to support him… It would be easy to get angry at your close friends in a situation like this where you desperately could use a friend. I felt myself in Paul’s shoes in this situation. But the second sentence in this verse doesn’t show Paul expressing anger at his friends for not being there for him. I don’t read here that Paul specifically prays for them, but I don’t read any anger either.
I’m left with a couple of thoughts on this when I look back at how I’ve handled abandonment, rejection and the fear and anger that comes from it… Where were my expectations? And if my expectations weren’t met, did I turn to a resentment and turn that into anger and mistrust? Can I accept my friends just as they are, i.e. broken, sinful human beings also? Can I accept them and this situation (whatever the situation is) just as it is supposed to be and learn something from it? Can I reach deep into some humility and turn to Jesus through faith to help me accept? I see Paul accepting his situation. He may not be happy with it, but he is accepting it. That was the lesson for me today.
Bruce, thanks for your insight. It’s so easy to fall into self pity and blame others and even God when we feel abandoned. I’ve been in a season where I have felt abandoned, even by God but He has never abandoned me. Paul said his friends abandoned him but never said God had. Instead he says God delivered him from the lion’s mouth. (vs. 17) When our friends’ faults are revealed, then is the time for compassion and humility. For if we are brave enough to admit to ourselves that those same faults reside in us then true compassion for our friends can exist. We hold others up on a pedestal, and when they inevitably fall we see it as an affront to ourselves rather than seeing a friend in trouble who is struggling.