TRIUMPH! – A Winning Life In A Losing World
LIVE THE LEGACY!
2 Timothy 1:1-7
My dad is built much like the great swimmer Michael Phelps, tall body, long arms and legs, large hand and feet. Commenting on his shoe size, he once said, “I can squeeze into a twelve, but a thirteen feels so good, I might as well wear a fourteen!” Big feet equal a big stride, and I remember walking tall and proud beside him, eagerly trying to match his every step. I recall walking behind him too – trying to follow those wide size 14s! That usually took place on Saturday afternoons in the spring, right after the fields had been plowed and a big rain had fallen. Our family hobby was hunting for Indian arrowheads, and the southern area of Alabama had been inhabited by various Native Americans who left many artifacts just waiting to be found! And so on those perfect arrowhead hunting days, we would pile into back of the pickup truck, drive to the nearest field, and hop right out, swinging our empty buckets and searching for a little point of white flint shining through the dark dirt. The soft damp dark dirt. It often seemed that I found myself sinking to my ankles, struggling to get anywhere fast. So I would follow my Daddy. As he walked across the field, his footsteps packed the supple soil into a solid surface that made my traveling much easier- as long as I followed in his footsteps. And so I did.
Footsteps. Following. Lives. Legacies. Big ideas that have big impacts for us in our world as they did for Paul in his as he began this letter to young Timothy. Timothy lived in Lystra, a rather rude and wild Roman outpost- town close to the mountains in Turkey. Paul picked up Timothy during his second missions trip, and they worked closely together for the next fifteen or so years. Paul often sent Timothy to check on and cheer on previously started churches. Sometimes he left Timothy in a city to teach and train the church leaders in correct doctrine and Christian living. As we read the two letters Paul wrote to Timothy, we easily see that Paul had mentored his protégé well. Timothy was following in Paul’s footsteps. He was Paul’s living legacy.
“Wait!” you say. “I thought a legacy was what was around when you weren’t.” No, a legacy is not simply what’s left when you’re gone; it’s how you live while you’re here. This came to life for me one day when my mother-in-law was visiting. “I’ll mop for you,” she said. “Yea!” I said and promptly retrieved the mop from the cleaning caddy before she recanted. As I handed it to her, she asked, “Where’s your mop bucket?” “I don’t have one.” “Well, how do you wash out your mop?” “I rinse it in the laundry room work sink.” “Why?” “Uh, because that’s why Mom always did.” It wasn’t the best reason, but it was the only one I had. (Which reminds me of the story of the man who was watching his wife make homemade bread. As she was placing the loaves in the baking pan, she pinched off a piece and laid it to the side. “Why do you do that?” he asked. She looked at him like he was a bit crazy and said, “Because that’s what my mother always did.” So he called his mother-in-law and asked her if she always pinched off a piece of dough and laid it to the side before baking her bread. “Why, yes!” she said. “Of course.” “Why?” he asked. “Because that’s what my mother always did.” So the man went to the nursing home to visit his wife’s grandmother. “Granny, did you always pinch off a piece of dough before baking your bread?” “Yes,” she answered. He asked, “Why?” And she replied, “Because the pan wasn’t big enough to hold it all!”)
There are reasons why we do what we do. And how we do what we do is what we leave for the ones coming behind. So how do we make sure our reasons are right? How do we forge footprints worth following? How do we live the legacy?
A close peek at Paul and Timothy can give us some helpful hints. As we get into the book of 2 Timothy, we will find that Paul gives Timothy much instruction and lots of advice. His words are full of tough training and good teaching. Lots of “do’s” and lots of “don’ts.” Clear directives for living a winning life in a losing world. Why was Timothy willing to listen and to live out what Paul said? Why would he follow those familiar footprints? Because of their relationship. The intentional connection Paul made with Timothy paved the way for his words to have weight. Listen to the beginning of his letter.
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.”
Timothy was Paul’s dear son. Not biologically but emotionally and spiritually. He was precious to Paul. Their intimate friendship was formed by shared priorities, experiences, and trust. Paul treasured Timothy and didn’t mind telling him so. As we desire to live a legacy of triumph for the ones looking up to us, we need to always make sure they know how much they are cherished. We need to hold onto them in love. Paul told Timothy he was a dear son and that he longed to see him again. Verse 4 says, “Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.” When they last parted, Timothy had wept. They most likely had been separated when Paul was arrested and put in prison. There in the loneliness of the Roman jail, Paul recalled Timothy’s tears. It’s neat how Paul uses the word tears. The word literally means “teardrops.” Paul wasn’t just saying, “I know you cried a bit when I left.” He was saying, “I can still see the teardrops rolling down your cheeks, and I so want to see you. My heart hurts because we’re apart. My heart hurts because you’re hurting. I want to be full of the joy we have when we’re together.” That’s love. That’s holding onto someone in love. The familiar saying “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” is very, very true. Jesus tells us to love each other as He has loved us. (John 15:12) Last time I checked, Jesus loved us by giving Himself for us – completely. That’s rather self-explanatory. Hold onto your cherished ones in love.
And hold onto them in your prayers. Paul tells Timothy in verse 3 that night and day he constantly remembers him in his prayers. The Greek word translated “remember” literally means “to hold onto.” Paul held onto Timothy in his prayers. He prayed for Timothy continually. No wonder he instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “Pray without ceasing.” (Now I know that Paul spent a lot of time in prison and didn’t have many options for other activities, but he actually was not in prison when he wrote the letter to the Thessalonians!) Two of my favorite prayer verses are 1 Samuel 12:23 where Samuel and the Jewish people were discussing the desire for a king, and Samuel tells them, “As for me, far be it from me to sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you,” and Colossians 4:12 when Paul shares with the Christ-followers at Colossae that their friend Epaphras is always wrestling in prayer for them. Wrestling certainly gives the image of being all wrapped up with somebody.
I love the picture of holding onto someone in prayer. I wonder if, as Paul wrote those words to Timothy, he thought about the men who held onto him way back in Damascus, many years before. Paul had been confronted by Jesus and converted on his way into town, but his fire and his faith soon had the Jews wishing he was out of town, or better yet, out of life. Acts 9:24 says, “Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.” Paul couldn’t safely go out the way he had come in, so his friends contrived a different plan. “They took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall,” Acts 9:25. As those men held the ropes secured to Paul’s escape basket, they didn’t know they were slowly lowering the greatest missionary the world would ever know. They didn’t know God would use him to spread the good news of Jesus all the way to Europe and eventually reach across the ocean to you and me. They didn’t know Paul would stand before kings and queens testifying about the King of Kings. All they knew was that they loved him. That Jesus had changed him. And that he needed them to hold onto him – all the way until they felt the gentle bump of the basket on the ground. The ones we love need us to do the same. We don’t know what plans God has for them. We don’t always understand His purposes or His ways. All we know is that we love them and that they need us to hold onto them in prayer. To continually lift them up to the Father in their different circumstances and situations. And they need us to keep holding onto them until we feel the God’s gentle bump letting us know that all is well.
Hold onto them in love. Hold onto them in prayer. Hold onto them in thoughts. Paul tells Timothy in verse 5 that he is reminded of his sincere faith. That just means Paul thinks about Timothy and his total trust in God’s truth. Paul thought much of Timothy and thought of Timothy much. We think about the people who are important to us. Or at least we should. We should always have them in mind and on our minds. In Philippians 2 Paul reminds us to be holding onto others in our thoughts. He tells us we should “in humility consider others better than ourselves. Each of us should look not only to our own interests but also to the interests of others.” (Phil. 2:3-4) I think he is trying to say that we shouldn’t think so much of ourselves or think of ourselves so much! Instead think of others.
Paul held onto Timothy in his love, his prayers, his thoughts, and Timothy knew it. As a result in verse 6 when Paul starts reminding Timothy of the what he needs to do and why he needs to do it, Timothy was eager to hear and to take it to heart. In the same way, when we wrap up the ones God has given us to cherish with love, prayer, and thoughts, they will be willing to listen to what we say and wanting to walk where we have stepped.
By the way, we are told in 1 Peter to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. So just why should we listen up and live that out? The reasons are too numerous to list exhaustively, but here are three good ones. First, Jesus holds onto us in love. John 15:9 tells us that He loves each of us in the same way that God the Father loves Him! Wow! He also holds onto us in His prayers. Hebrews 7:25 says that Jesus always lives to intercede (pray to the Father) for us. Talk about a direct line! And never forget that He holds onto us in His thoughts. Psalm 139:17-18 declares that God thinks of us a lot. How much is “a lot”? Here’s what it says. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of the sand.” We live in Florida. We know about sand. Enough said.
We are being held onto by the One who lived the ultimate legacy of life. Let’s follow His footsteps and live that legacy for others. Throughout the years, my father’s footprints did much more than lead me to arrowheads; they were arrows themselves pointing me in the right direction to a life of triumph – to a winning life in a losing world. Others are watching and walking behind you. Keep in step with Jesus. Hold onto your precious ones in love, prayer, and thoughts. And each day you will leave footprints worth following – a legacy of truly living!
