As my ancestors did

2 Timothy 1:1-14 TNIV

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, in keeping with 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 ancestors 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 am 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 the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

My thoughts -

I have had some people question my claim that I was born a Christian. They argue, rightly so, that following Jesus is not a happenstance of birth but rather a conscious decision we all must make. And yes, I chose to become a Christian and be baptised into the church, but that choice was inevitable. I was born into a family that modeled this for me. Their faith became mine. If I was born somewhere else and into a different family who knows what faith, if any I would have?

Look at what Paul says again about faith and our ancestors starting with verse 3:

I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors 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 am 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.

I love how Paul identifies Timothy's faith as having come through his grandmother and his mother to him. Our faith has been handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. We are caretakers of that faith, as well, and are handing it down to our children and grandchildren. This may be the most important task we have in this life.

We Christians believe in the resurrection of the dead and the communion of saints. We declare this weekly in our churches when we recite the Apostles Creed. My pastor Steve has, on occasion, preached on worshipping with the dead. The idea is that we, the body of believers, when we gather to worship do not only worship with each other but also alongside the body of believers in eternity. We worship with the saints of our faith that have gone before us and also with those who will follow after us. We are in this world for a short time but also eternal. Eternity is beyond time so we are all worshipping God together, connected to the Creator and to all the created past, present, and future.

While this life may be all that we experience an present this is not our home. We are bound to God in eternity. For this reason saints like Paul were willing to suffer and eventually to die for their faith. We are to follow after the purposes of God with our eyes not on this world and all that will perish in it but on eternity. We are to share God's love and grace no matter what the cost may be in this life. What does Paul say about this grace?

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

We think of movies or books or music that have passed from one generation to another as being "timeless" because they have managed to be culturally relevant beyond what one might think of as their time. Our faith truly is timeless in that it is beyond time itself. The grace that we have through Jesus predates time and endures beyond time.

There is nothing in the entire universe that is bound to time that can hold a candle to it. And there is nothing as important to those of us in time now than to share this timeless faith with future generations of saints so that we may continue to worship with them in eternity.

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