Jump Start # 387 

2 Timothy 4:5 “But you, be sober in all things, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 

Note: This Jump Start is dedicated to James Finney—a fine man, a dependable and faithful preacher who lived this passage. James passed away Saturday at the age of 95.

  Words from a preacher to a preacher—that’s what our verse is about today. Four simple statements that define the character of the preacher’s work.

• Be sober—same words used by Peter when he told us about Satan being a roaring lion. To be sober is to be serious, alert and conscious of what is going on. Preachers are not stand up comedians. They are want-a-be actors. They are presenters of God’s word.

• Endure hardships—this is a contrast to what Paul said earlier in this chapter. He reminded Timothy that a time was coming when the listeners would NOT ENDURE sound doctrine. That can’t endure, but you must endure. They can’t endure God nor His word. As a result they will make your life miserable. You endure. You hang in there. Don’t quit because it’s difficult. Don’t throw in the towel because you don’t get 5 weeks of vacation like some in the business world. Few things are worse than a preacher who can’t endure. Hardships in Paul’s mind was persecution. He and the early preachers faced it. Stephen was killed after the audience put their hands on their ears, rushed him and then stoned him. Paul was beaten many times. They endured. Today, the preacher must endure the sarcasm, nit picking and tongue of many folks, especially and sadly, those from the congregation. Some pick and pick at the preacher until he finally gets fed up and leaves. Then they are astonished that he left. Shame on us for that! Don’t they realize that God will judge them for the way they are treating another Christian? Endure, Paul says. The message is greater than you.

• Do the work of an evangelist—This is it! Just what is that work? Paul seemed to know. Timothy seemed to know. There wasn’t a job description given here—simply, go do it. Evangelist evangelize, that is, they preach and teach God’s word. This is done to the lost with the goal of bringing them to Christ. This is done to the church with the goal of strengthening them. That is what the preacher is supposed to do. Preach and teach. He does that orally. He does that publically. He does that through writing. He does that privately. His role is preach and teach. He is not the fund raiser, as if there was such a thing in the first century. He is not the mechanic for all things broken at the church house. He is not the one available to take people to the airport because “everyone else is working.” He is to preach and teach. This means two things. He has to study to know. You can’t teach what you don’t know. So he must read. A preacher who doesn’t like to read is like a doctor who doesn’t like blood. Such a one is in the wrong business. Reading, thinking, studying, learning. The second aspect is that the preacher must be around people. All kinds of people in all kinds of settings. The preacher must like people and be comfortable around people. Someone who doesn’t like people is in the wrong business if he plans to preach. Many of these people have dirty lives. They are in a mess. They need Jesus. This is why the preacher must connect with them. If they were perfect, they wouldn’t need Jesus and they certainly wouldn’t need a preacher.

  Most of us see the finished product on Sunday morning—the sermon. Sermon writing isn’t easy. It looks it. And many have given a lesson or two and think this is pretty fair stuff and there really isn’t much to this. That’s true if you give a lesson or two once or twice a year. Try it this week. Plus think of something wrothwhile write to write in the bulletin. Also the church wants you to teach a couple of classes this week. Then you have a few private Bible studies this week. Then there are the phone calls and the “can you get me some information on…” things. Now if someone dies during the week, the preacher will need to do a funeral as well. Now when all of this is done, the preacher starts all over the next week. Thinking up ideas that are fresh and interesting is one of the hardest tasks for preachers. Some do well with this. Others struggle.

  Now, about that sermon, it needs to be interesting or the people will get bored very fast. The sermon has to say something or you are just wasting time. And if the preacher has any kind of heart, he needs to realize that he needs to try to convince, warn, encourage, challenge or simply move the audience to a greater relationship with the Lord. This means he must teach some things that are controversial, difficult and even hard. He needs to teach and preach some things that he doesn’t feel like it. He must teach some things that the audience may not like. The preacher needs to please Jesus, not the church.

  Now, add to this, once the sermon idea has been found, and the preacher has spent time making it, researching, studying, writing and polishing it the best he can, the delivery can make or break the whole message. If the preacher is in a foul mood, tired or just had his ear chewed off  by some member, he must some how find the right attitude and spirit to make the message come across to have the right effect. Few things are worse than a mad preacher shouting from the pulpit.

  Now you might think that I am really on my soap box today, sorry about that. I love preaching. I love writing sermons. If I could make a living out of just writing sermons I think I’d do it. I’ve seen young preachers who have taken so much verbal abuse that they just couldn’t endure any more, and they quit. That saddens me.

• Fulfill your ministry is Paul’s final words here. Fulfill is to finish. Fulfilled prophecy is prophecy that has been completed. Preachers need to finish. It’d help if some finished their sermons—some seem to last forever. But what Paul has in mind is completing your task. Teach and preach. Do it as long as you can. Do it everywhere you can. You do these things because you love the Lord and you love souls. No other reason. That alone is your passion. It excites the preacher and causes him to get up after he has been knocked down. It causes him to return to the office and begin work on his next sermon. Some sermons soar and they change lives forever. Some sermons seem to fall flat and will never be preached again. Such is preaching.

  God has blessed me to be know some incredible preachers in my life. Some of my dearest friends are preachers. I love them for what they are doing. I am amazed at their talent. I thank the Lord that they are on this side of the kingdom. And someday, they will wear out, like my friend James Finney and they will go to that land that they have tried to get the world to see. They will rest from their years of labor.

  Endure…work…finish—those are Paul’s words to Timothy and to all preachers of God’s word.

Roger