2 Tim 2: 1 – 7
“Play the great game of faith” says the writer of the first letter to Timothy in the modern translation by Nicholas King. Here, in his second letter Paul gives Timothy three images of what it means to be in Christian service. Mull it over, he says, “Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.”
The images are the soldier, the athlete and the farmer. All three were stock images for exhortation in Hellenistic moral teaching. Paul also uses them in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 9: 7 – 27). This evening we’re going to step into Timothy’s shoes and spend some time thinking over those images. What do they tell us about how we might play the great game of faith?
Timothy seems to have been very young, a protégé of Paul’s and one who had been authorised by the laying on of hands for ministry in the church. We’re not most of us particularly young. We’re not all Christian ministers, although we may exercise ministries of various kinds. But we are all seeking to follow Christ. Our baptism gives us a vocation as Christians. So let’s explore what the images of the soldier, the athlete and the farmer might say to us now in 21st Century Hampstead.
The soldier
First the soldier. Paul says: “Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer” (2:3 – 4). The soldier is not currently a very popular image for the Christian life. But it’s worth exploring. A couple of weeks ago, I went on a training day about army chaplaincy at the Wellington barracks near St James’ Park. So I’ve been thinking about what it’s like to serve in the armed forces. I came away with a whole range of impressions – of discipline; of training; of a very definite hierarchy. But there’s also friendship and comradeship – real grief for every soldier lost in action coupled with the need to keep going with the job in hand. For those going into combat for the first time there’s the fear that they “won’t be able to hack it”. For many – for example those based in Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, there are long periods of boredom interspersed with shorter periods of intense activity and fear when they go out on patrol. There are also long periods of separation from family and friends back home with all the sadness and anxiety that may bring. It isn’t easy being a soldier, and it’s not easy for their families either. There’s often suffering and hardship and danger.
I’m not for one moment suggesting that the church is, or should be, like the modern army. But are there elements of what I discovered which might resonate with our life as Christians? Perhaps the need for discipline, for training or study? Perhaps the call to take on things which are outside our comfort zone, things which we’re afraid of? For many of us, involvement in church means sacrificing time which might otherwise be spent with friends or family. But at the same time we discover new friends in church. I hope you do!
Paul mentions the suffering of the soldier, but picks out above all the need for focus; the soldier must not be distracted by “civilian pursuits” – things which are perfectly good in themselves, but not helpful to Timothy’s ministry. The soldier aims to please his enlisting officer; we should aim to please Christ. This calls for dedication and focus. It doesn’t mean we all have to turn into fanatics, but we need to review our lives from time to time to make sure that our faith is still central and that we’re not being drawn away towards something else.
The Athlete
The figure of the athlete was well-known in the ancient world. Paul also uses it in 1 Corinthians where he tells his hearers, (again this is the Nicholas King translation), “you’re surely aware that the people who are running in the stadium, all of them run but only one gets the gold medal. Run in such a way as to win it. Everyone who is in training is under all kinds of discipline. Now they do it to win a glory that passes; but our training is for a glory that never passes” (1 Cor 9:24-25). In Corinthians Paul is concerned with discipline; here in the letter to Timothy the emphasis is more on competing according to the rules. Modern athletes certainly have to be disciplined and dedicated. I read this in an article about Mo Farah:
“Mo Farah’s incredible ascent to the top of world athletics has undoubtedly come down to numerous factors, but one of them has been his dedicated planning and training.
Farah’s devotion to his running has seemingly known no limits as he took off to Kenya, Oregon and other parts of the world to ensure that his preparation was the very best it could be.”
I heard Mo interviewed on the radio recently about whether he would ever return to live in the UK. He said he’d love to; England is his home, but that he needs the simple life in Kenya – just food and running – in order to be able to keep on achieving in the world of athletics. That’s dedication!
There are of course, the sadder stories of those who don’t compete according to the rules. When I was preparing this I googled ‘cyclists who doped’ – and found an astonishingly long list going right back to the late 19th century. And those are the ones who got found out! We don’t like it, do we, when our heroes are toppled in this way?
So the image of the athlete tells us that we need discipline and we need to compete according to the rules. There are no short-cuts to the Christian life, no magic pills which will transform us into saints overnight. For most of us it’s a long, slow process of gradual growth and transformation as the spirit of God works within us over a lifetime. Handley was speaking about this this morning too. There are no clever tricks, only the disciplines of regular prayer, serving God, reading the Bible and coming to church.
The farmer
So, to our final illustration. The farmer seems rather different from the soldier or the athlete. But he (or she) is also engaged in hard physical labour. Agriculture in the first century was not the mechanised process it is today in the developed world. The farmer prepares the soil, plants the seed, waters and waits for the harvest. They’re also subject to the vagaries of the climate and the weather. They can’t be certain of a good harvest. Paul also uses this image in 1 Corinthians where he’s making the point that those engaged full-time in Christian ministry are entitled to the means to live. We call it a stipend in the Church of England!
More generally, the image of the farmer is an encouraging one. It suggests that whatever we do for God we may expect the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of our work.
Conclusion
Even if we’re not in authorised and full-time ministry as Timothy was, the soldier, the athlete and the farmer all point us to our duty as serious followers of Christ.
So what are these images saying to us today?
Where do we need focus in our service of God? What are the distractions which may be unhelpful? Where do we need discipline? Are we willing to work for Christ and be encouraged as we see the results? And what does all this mean here and now for each one of us in the context of our membership of this church?
Let’s think it over, as Paul asks Timothy to do, and pray that God will give us understanding of what it means for us. And let’s be encouraged to “Play the great game of faith” (1 Tim 6:12 – Nicholas King translation).