18th Sunday after Trinity

2 Timothy 1.1-14; Luke 17.5-10

One of the wonderful things about these particular letters of Paul to Timothy which are amongst what are known as the pastoral epistles, is how much they are loaded with very positive encouragement. We have some indication from the pastoral letters of the trials and tribulations that St. Paul has gone through in his ministry and the fact that he also writes from prison here and there. But those difficulties some of them very severe, along the way never stop him from being so very positive about the gospel he believes in, positive about the power and presence of God and positive about the whole enterprise of spreading the gospel far and wide. Here is a man who believes with the whole of his being, who loves God as God commands him to, with all his heart, mind, soul and strength. So that when Paul writes to those who are feeling the strain of living the gospel, of teaching and preaching, his own determination and zeal come shining through to lift up his hearers. Such is the way and the voice in which he writes to Timothy.

It's pretty obvious that Timothy is feeling the strain. St. Paul remarks on having seen Timothy in tears. But then he goes on to metaphorically pat him on the back because he says he is reminded of Timothy's faith, a faith which he inherited from his grandmother and his mother. I wonder how many of us inherited our faith from our mothers and grandmothers? And then Paul goes on, having reminded Timothy of the depth of his faith and the extent of it too in that he shares it with so many others; he goes on to encourage Timothy to 'rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands'. And he goes on to remind Timothy that God's spirit isn't a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power and love and of self-discipline. Do you see how encouraging these words must have been to Timothy? Maybe there have been times in our lives when we've felt really down simply because the demands of our life and work have become tedious at best and heartbreaking at worst. And maybe someone has come along, a family member or friend who has helped us to take heart, to remember all that we've achieved, helped us believe in ourself again and believe in God again and lifted us up. I remember a colleague saying that when he is encouraged by others, he's twice the man he was before. Maybe we've all felt that sometimes. I hope so.

And then St. Paul goes on to build on that encouragement by helping Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel, no matter what the suffering. He must continue to have faith in the power of God who called them both to the work they are doing and who in the end will save them. And it's a hard thing but St. Paul is content to suffer because it was God himself who called him to the work. So it's the highest of callings and because of that St. Paul is prepared to trust God entirely. And he wants St. Paul to have the same mind. And we are reading that today because as Jesus' disciples we are to be of the same mind.

And the gospel reading reminds us in rather less dramatic ways that to have faith often simply means to carry on despite the demands of the calling. And that there is no let up in the calling. There is no rest in our work for God. And that work is first and foremost to believe in God and in Jesus Christ. Because upon that work of faith IN God is built all our work for Him in the Church and in the world. Without that work of faith IN God we are nothing. It reminds me of the saying of St. Silouan of Mount Athos - it is one thing to speak of God; it is quite another thing to know God. Knowing God is what faith is all about because we can't have faith in God if we don't know Him.

So today we are reminded, each and everyone of us to rekindle the gift of faith that God has given us day by day and to keep on in faith whatever the life of faith brings because that is God's first and foremost call to each of us who calls himself a Christian, work that is simply our duty as Christians but a duty from which all else flows.