The Saint from South Central

“[P]ursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called . . .” (1 Timothy 11b-12)

The Revised Common Lectionary, used by Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, and other denominations, provides alternate Scripture texts for next Sunday, the Third Sunday After Epiphany, which is celebrated in many churches as St. Timothy’s Feast Day (on January 24 or January 26). This week’s blog is based on the Scripture texts for St. Timothy Sunday.^[1]

Timothy was Paul’s close companion and helper during the final years of his ministry.  He was born about 7 A. D. in Lystra, located in current-day south central Turkey.  He probably became a believer in Jesus Christ during Paul’s first missionary journey in about 46 A.D., but he had been steeped in the Scriptures his entire life by his Jewish mother, Eunice, and his grandmother Lois. Timothy would have been about 39 years old at the time of his conversion to Christianity.  

Timothy, the saint from south central Turkey, joined Paul as his assistant during Paul’s second missionary journey to Lystra in 50 A.D., shortly before Dr. Luke joined the group in Troas^[2]: “Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, . . . As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.” (Excerpts, Acts 16: 1-5).^[3]

Paul wrote his first letter to Timothy in 64 A. D. from Macedonia.  At the time Timothy was serving as the first bishop at the church in Ephesus. The letter could be called “Advice to a Bishop.”  It encouraged Timothy and gave him some practical guidance about how to carry out his duties.  In this passage, Paul provides personal advice to his protégé whom he refers to as a “man of God,”: “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called . . . God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” (Excerpts, 1 Timothy 6: 11-16).

Our partner church, St. Paul’s, is a century old church in the historic West Adams area of Los Angeles, which is not too far from South Central Los Angeles.  But whether your church is located in South Central USA or in any other part of the world, Paul’s advice to Timothy is just as timely to saints everywhere as it was to Timothy from south central Turkey: “[P]ursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called . . .” (1 Timothy 11b-12).

Timothy was doing just what Jesus had told his followers to do—to take care of those under his care: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly, I tell you, he will put him in charge of all of his possessions” (Matthew: 24: 45-47).

Timothy was the shepherd of his flock. A good shepherd watches over his flock when no one is looking.  God gave us a free will; we have a choice.  We can follow the master’s directions in his absence, or not.  But Jesus warns us that we cannot presume that we will have time to correct the error of our ways.  We don’t know when the Master will return, so we should live our lives as we know he would expect us to live–in pursuit of godliness, faith, love, and gentleness. 

Prayer:  Lord, I am an empty pitcher; fill me.  I am weak; strengthen me.  I lack love; fill me with the warmth of your love so that I can share it with my neighbors. Help me to fight the good fight of faith—to show mercy to the poor and to attend to the many needs of those around me.  Help me pursue godliness, faith, love, and gentleness. In Your Name.  Amen.  

Diane Cieslikowski Reagan

^[1] The Scriptures for St. Timothy Sunday are Acts 16: 1-5; 1 Timothy 6: 11-16; Matthew 24: 42-47.

^[2] In Acts 16: 10, Luke changes the pronoun from “they” (Paul, Silas, and Timothy) to “we,” confirming that Paul joined the group in Troas. Dr. Luke would remain with Paul until Paul was martyred in 68 A.D.