2 TIMOTHY 4:1-4 THERE ARE ONLY TWO TIMES TO PREACH THE WORD

1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

“Preach the Word…” The Word is not our word but God’s Word. The act of preaching is to be a prophetic act, in that prophecy is God’s Word proclaimed by a human being. God’s Word is truth and so preaching is the ultimate in truth-telling. But, in words that have been attributed to St. Francis, we are to “Preach the Word always, and when necessary use words.” All believers are tasked with announcing and demonstrating God’s purpose and direction in the world through Jesus Christ, both individually and in community.

Through this charge to Timothy, we realize that all our study of Scripture has a purpose greater than our personal edification and salvation. It is of course necessary that we listen to and learn God’s Word, grow in our life of obedience, keep the message pure and even suffer for the Gospel, but all of that comes together for the purpose of sharing God’s message accurately and effectively with others. Knowing the Scriptures and aligning your life with them gives us the confidence to be able to encourage others rather than bludgeon them with the truth in a desperate attempt to be seen as correct. Only through confidence in the Word can we exhibit the “great patience and careful instruction” that will result in a relationship with the listeners and bring the harvest of transformed lives. We preach God’s eternal Word so we do not need to be anxious and over hurried. Relationships take time and God wants us to build relationships with our neighbors so that they in turn might have an eternal relationship with him.

We will also need to call upon our patience and show care for our instruction because the world is filled with preachers of another gospel. The temptation to fall into the trap of anger and frustration simply leads us into self-righteousness which causes others to dismiss us and stop listening to God’s Word. Our energy should be directed at staying dependent upon God, studying his Word and presenting it with his love and mercy. And when are we supposed to do this? Only under two conditions…in season and out of season!

Lord God, may your Word always be on the tip of my tongue and the light for my feet. As it is your loving self-revelation to humankind, may my motive and my presentation always be steeped in love. Make my entire life your sermon to the world. Amen.