Sermon
Introduction
2 Timothy 1.1-14 Guard the treasure you’ve inherited
The word tradition can refer to different things. I usually think of it in church terms, the traditions of the church, man-made and built up over the years. We hear the saying so often in church life, but we have always done it that way, referring to where we sit, that we always have a service sheet, the order of service the liturgy we follow, that we stand to sing etc. I have used the song TRADITION from ‘Fiddler on the roof’ to refer to the traditions that the Israeli people developed over the years which came to restrict and constrain people over time.
But Paul in this letter is referring to the teaching of the sayings and stories of Jesus life, ministry and death and the good news that people may find new life in him. The Christian tradition rather than the church tradition, is the gospel message itself.
Background/Context
Paul is in prison in Rome for the second time. Not house arrest like the first time but in some dark underground dungeon with a hole in the ceiling for light and air. And wearing chains. The preliminary hearing of his case had already taken place – now he was awaiting the full trial and was not expecting to be acquitted. IT was the time of great persecution of the church under Nero was leader in the year 64. The tradition of the church is likely to be correct that Paul as a Roman citizen was condemned to death so beheaded about 3 miles out of Rome. He was killed with Peter who was
Jewish by crucifixion head-downwards. So Paul is writing this second letter to Timothy under the shadow of his imminent execution.
Timothy had been Paul’s faithful companion on many of his missionary journeys for over 15 years.
When Paul was first imprisoned Paul left Timothy in Ephesus as the leader of the church there. Now
Paul is asking Timothy to take on the full responsibility once Paul is gone. Timothy was still relatively young. If he had been about 20 when he joined Paul he would have been in his mid-thirties. He was apparently prone to illness, had frequent ailments, and was timid or shy in temperament. Timothy was reluctant to accept it young weak and shy, yet God was calling him to leadership.
Paul’s preoccupation was with the gospel, the treasure of the good news story of Jesus life, ministry and death and the salvation he accomplished. The apostles, those who had been eye-witnesses of
Jesus were dying , the Emperor Nero was determined to destroy the church, and recently there had been heresies on the rise and abandoning of the teaching which would have seemed humanly speaking as if Christianity was on the verge of disappearing. You can just imagine Paul being concerned that someone guard the tradition of the gospel message after Paul had died and ensure that it was passed down to generations yet to come.
So you can imagine Paul writing with great emotion and feeling this longing that Timothy would take up the baton and be faithful.
Application
Paul had no way of knowing that two thousand years later that the gospel would have spread to all of Europe and around the world, that a billion or so people would call themselves Christians.

Timothy was obviously successful in guarding the treasure of the Christ tradition and ensuring that others learned of the good news of the gospel. The apostles and early Christians faced persecution and then later down the years others who sought to guard and preach the gospel would persecuted for it.
The story of Wycliffe and Tyndale and others trying to make the gospel available to ordinary people is another example of those who valued it highly. I do understand that the church tried very hard and took very seriously the treasure of the teachings as written down in the Scriptures and carefully guarded it. Monks carefully and meticulously wrote and re-wrote the Scriptures by hand, keeping them readable for generations to come. But in keeping them in the original languages of Hebrew and Greek, and the liturgy of the church in Latin, only a small minority of well educated people would have begun to know and understand them. The church became wealthy and powerful and instead of guarding the treasure for its teaching and preaching they guarded it to maintain their power and control over people. Now yes, they would have been worried that ordinary people might treat it lightly and shallowly and not with honour and respect and care that it required. And there was a danger that ordinary people wouldn’t read it correctly and misinterpret and therefore miss use it. But that was up to the Holy Spirit to enlighten people as they read the Scriptures down the generations.
Today we have the Bible in our own language, and new versions with good scholarship and plain language to help us understand it in many ways with Bible study notes, commentaries and concordances, not to mention years of scholarship to refer to. Yet is it read? Do we as God’s people actually read our own Bibles? People lost their lives preserving and ensuring that the Scriptures would be available to us, but we hardly refer to them. Yes we hear a couple of passages read each week, but the lectionary does not include the whole Bible.
At our ministers’ get together we were given Bible studies by Janet Tollington and John Proctor. They helped us as ministers keep up to date with understanding of the teachings and also to consider how they are to be applied to us today. Anyone is welcome to take one of these day courses you do not have to be a minister. Use Bible notes, come to Advent course, go to sessions at Westminster, read books and Christian teachings, come to our discussion group third Wednesdays of the month.
More seriously, the teaching of the Scriptures have infiltrated our British society – many of the sayings in our English language have come from Tyndale’s translation. But often sayings are taken out of context and not put into the full story of God’s dealings with people as a whole. The world is full of ideas and ideologies there are so called New Atheists and scientists who deny and decry the
Christian faith but we rarely offer a Christian perspective on issues and current events. And, the vast majority of people do not see its value and worth. We know what a treasure the story of Jesus is and how it has given us new life – we have been given it at great cost to our forebears – we should want to learn more and continue to study and read it. But more than that to want to share it with our children and grandchildren and live out the story in our lives so that others are drawn to know Jesus for themselves and to find fullness of life in him. Let’s not take it for granted, but keep that which
God has entrusted to us until the day of his coming. AMEN.