I’ve got a question for you. Do you remember that old Sesame Street skit, who are the people in your neighborhood? If you’re a little older, you probably do and you can probably even hum the song in your head. “Who are the people in your neighborhood…in your neighborhood…in your neighborhood…who are the people in your neighborhood…the people that you meet each day.” One of the Sesame Street actors would talk to a puppet that resembled someone that worked in the neighborhood and ask them some questions about their job. I had a blast from the past and watched a few on Youtube, what a hoot. There was a grocer, a policeman, a librarian, doctor etc. So, I’m sure by now, you’re wondering why in the world I’m bringing this up. Well, it’s pretty funny, but way before Sesame Street, Paul was talking about the people in his neighborhood.
This morning in 2 Timothy 2, Paul compares the Christian walk to 5 different people. A soldier, an athlete, a farmer, a teacher and a servant. Let’s look at how each of these people in our neighborhood and how what they do can be compared to our walk with God.
1) Soldier. “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” 2 Tim 2:3-4. Paul mentions the soldier many times in his comparisons to the Christian walk. In Ephesians he tells us that the believer is fighting not a physical battle but a spiritual battle and that for this battle he needs to put on the armor of God. (Eph 6:12-13) Here Paul says the believing soldier should not get “entangled in civilian pursuits.” Imagine a soldier in the middle of a battle running over to his Sergeant and saying, “oh hey, I forgot, I’ve got a few errands to run real quick, I’ll be back in a few hours.” Silly right? A soldier not doing what he’s been trained to do? It’s basically saying that we should not get so tangled up in the pursuits of this sinful world that we lose sight of the battle that is raging all around us. We should “aim to please the one who enlisted us” which is of course Jesus Christ. Just as a soldier is to perform every duty that his commanding officer asks in battle, we are to be obedient to Christ in the battle. We are to be a good soldier.
2) Athlete. “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” 2 Tim 2:5. Paul also uses the picture of an athlete many times in his letters. Think of an athlete. They specialize in a specific event or sport. They train to be able to win at that one certain thing. They don’t train to win 3rd place, they train to win the event. I heard a funny saying that today most Christians exercise by “jumping to conclusions, running down their friends, side-stepping serving, and pushing their luck.” Pretty funny, that’s not the kind of exercise and training Paul is talking about though. He specifically says here that the athlete is to play by the rules. What rules? Well, if you are running a race you can’t just take a shortcut across the middle of the field, that’s cheating. You have to stay the course and run the full race. A baseball player can’t skip first base and run straight to home plate, that’s not how it works. There is no shortcut in the Christian life. You run the whole race and don’t look for the easy short cut. Time in God’s Word, time in prayer, time serving God and others and time in Fellowship with other believers. There will be tough times and there will be good times along the race and we must endure them all. We must run the full race.
3) Farmer. “It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.” 2 Tim 2:6. A Farmer grows things. How does he do this? Well, first and foremost he must sow seed. If a farmer wants to be successful at growing his crop, he must start with something that can produce a harvest. So, what can we as Christians sow that can bring forth a harvest? You guessed it, the Holy Word of God. This is similar to the parable of the sower that Jesus mentions in three of the four Gospels (Matt 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) We as Christians are the sowers. We simply give out the Word of God. Once given, the Holy Spirit will take over and tend the seed. It will be watered, and God will give the growth. “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.” 1 Cor 3:7.
4) Teacher. “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman (teacher) that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15. So how do you become a teacher? Say specifically a history teacher? Do you just think really hard about history and then teach it? Of course not. Do you listen to other people talk about what they know about history and then teach that? Well if you did, your history facts would be all over the place. First things first, if you're going to teach you need to make sure that what you are committing yourself to learn is true and trustworthy. You’ll need to make sure your history textbooks are factual, truthful and trustworthy. Then what? Well, you study. You begin a process of extracting knowledge out of the books and inserting it into your memory. Through this process of studying and learning, you will eventually become and expert and you will be able to effectively teach others the knowledge which you have worked so hard to attain. This is exactly what Paul is talking about here concerning God’s Word. It’s important to note that before you speak on God’s Word or attempt to teach others about God’s Word that you have STUDIED the Word of God. If you are going to attempt to teach the Word of God, you have undertaken a huge responsibility and will be held accountable. (James 3:1) When you represent God’s Word, you represent God, you better know what you’re talking about.
5) Servant. “ And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 2 Tim 2:24-26. All of the other occupations are relatable today, but when we get to a servant, we pause. You just don’t really see many servants in 2018. Not in middle class homes anyway. I guess you can find servants in the homes of some wealthy people, I’ve only ever seen them in movies. I know that Batman has a servant. And almost all rich guys have a servant named Jeeves. Kidding aside, the description of the servant is the most amazing of all the 5 people in our neighborhood. The Lord’s servant has quite the demanding list to strive for:
Must not be quarrelsome. That’s pretty simple, don’t argue. Just don’t. There’s many times, I’m right, I know I’m right and I want to prove it. It doesn’t matter, let it go. Walk away. If your point ends in an argument, you’ve lost whether you win or not.
Kind to everyone. Another simple one to understand but near impossible to execute on a daily basis. The key word here of course, is everyone.
Able to teach. This one seems odd to me for a servant but notice the verse specifically says “the Lord’s servant.” In order to be a good servant of the Lord you need to be able to teach. Teach what? By now you should realize that you’ve always got a good chance of getting these questions right if you go with “Word of God.” This time is no different. You must be able to teach the Word of God. Now, this doesn’t mean you need to be Billy Graham. Remember back to the teacher, you simply need to study the Word of God in order to teach it. Study the Word of God diligently and then share with others what the Holy Spirit speaks to you.
Patiently enduring evil. Can we just skip this one? I mean really, this one does not sound like any fun at all. In fact, it sounds impossible. But yet, here it is. Patiently endure evil. Evil is here, it’s in our lives every day and friends, its not going anywhere. Since its here to stay, we need to learn how to deal with it. We have to endure it with patience. To endure means to “suffer something painful or difficult.” There is no question that as Christians we will suffer trials and evil, (James 1:2-4) God makes this very clear. When evil appears, we are to suffer through it with patience.
Correcting his opponents with gentleness. When people disagree with the Word of God you are not to argue, fight and make a spectacle. You are to correct them with kindness. This is an art and takes much practice and prayer. Remember that your example and treatment of them is what will make the point, not necessarily your words.
What a great (and fun) passage God provided this morning as we get to walk with the people in our neighborhood. I pray that each of you are enjoying a thriving, growing walk with God as you are drawing nearer to Him each day, by spending personal time in His Word.
Blessings.
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