2 Timothy 1:1-7 - Homiletics

Reminiscences.

A ring once given to an old and loved friend, who in later life had been cut off from the former loving intercourse by the inevitable course of events, bore this touching inscription, "Cara memoria dei primieri anni" (dear memory of old times). The memories of a happy unclouded youth, of youthful friendships, of joyous days, of pursuits lit up by sanguine hopes and bright expectations, are indeed often among the most precious treasures of the heart. And in like manner the recollection of former triumphs of faith in days of dark doubt and difficulty, of temptations overcome, of victories gained, of grace received, of work done for God, of Christian intercourse with God's saints, and happy hours of prayer, and treading underfoot all the powers of darkness, are not only bright lights illuminating the past journey of life, but are often among our strongest incentives to perseverance, and our best encouragements to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. St. Paul, that great master in the knowledge of human nature, knew this well. And so with inimitable skill—a skill heightened and set off by the warm affections of a tender heart—he calls back Timothy's recollections to the days of his early faith. That there had been anything like a falling away from the faith in Timothy, any real declension in his religious life, there is no reason to believe. But the quick eye of the apostle had detected some symptoms of weakness. The pulse of firm resolution, as dangers thickened around him, had not beaten so steadily as he would have wished. He did not see the symptoms of Christian courage rising with the rising flood of difficulty quite so marked as to set his mind at case as to what might happen if, after his own death, which he felt was near, Timothy were left alone to confront the perils of a fierce persecution, or to guide the wavering purpose of timid and fainting disciples. And so he calls back his dearly beloved son in the faith to the old days of his first conversion. The lessons of faith and obedience learnt on his mother's knee in the dear home at Lystra, whose blessed fruit had attracted St. Paul's notice; the first appearance of the apostle in those regions in the noonday of his apostolic zeal; the bold front with which he had met the storm of affliction and persecution; Timothy's own warm surrender of himself to the companionship of the great teacher, and his exchange of a happy, peaceful home for the wandering life and incessant peril of an evangelist; then the solemn time of his ordination—the time when, with prayer and fasting, he had knelt to receive the laying on of hands, and had exulted in the new gift of God with which he might go forth fearlessly and lovingly, and in a strength not his own, to emulate his father in the faith in preaching the gospel of God's saving grace,—Oh, let Timothy cherish those dear memories of former times! And there were later memories still. Their last meeting, and their last adieu. They had parted, under what circumstances we do not know; St. Paul hastening on to his crown of martyrdom, Timothy remaining at his post of work and of danger. And Timothy had wept. Were they tears of bitterness, tears of compunction, tears of a heart broken and melting under a gentle loving reproof, or were they only tears of sorrow at parting? We cannot say for certain; but St. Paul remembered them, and he recalls them to Timothy's memory too. He adds the hope that, as they had sown in tears, they would reap in joy—the joy, perhaps, of a healed wound and renovated spiritual strength, or, at all events, the joy of meeting once more before the fall of the curtain of death to close the drama of Paul's eventful life. The lesson left for us by these heart-stirring words is the value of the memory of the past when brought to bear upon the work of the future. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits," is a sentiment which continually comes up in the varied experiences of the psalmist. He quickened hope in the land of banishment by remembering the days of happy worship in the house of God ( Psalms 42:1-11 .); he added depth to his sorrow for sin by recalling the memory of that joy of salvation which he had forfeited by his fall ( Psalms 51:1-19 .). And so we shall do well in times of weakness to remember our former strength; in days of darkness to call to mind the days of light that were of old; in days of slackness and indolence to call back the memory of the time when we were all on fire to do God's work; in days of depression to think of old mercies shown and old graces given to us of God; to quench the fear of defeat by the recollection of ancient victories; and, in a word, to make the past supply the present with incentives to an undying zeal, and a steadfast courage in facing all the afflictions of the gospel according to the unchanging power of God.