“Purpose-filled
Faith”
2 Timothy
4:1-8
The pages of
history are graced with the names of numerous people who have lived
extra-ordinary lives. Names
such as Marie Curie, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King Jr., George
Washington, and Harriett Tubman.
All of these people, through their accomplishments and works, have
become nearly legendary in status compared to others who have lived throughout
history.
We look upon these extra-ordinary
people with a sense of awe and admiration, because they, in some way or
another, went above and beyond the call of duty in their every day work and
every day lives. They took upon
themselves a mission greater than themselves, and looked upon the world and
their place in it as one of potential and possibility – and purpose. It truly is a testimony to the good God in
heaven, who graced these mere human beings with the talent and gifts to become
extra-ordinary people, a people who in their own way changed the world in which
we live.
All of us, in
some way or another, aspire to be extra-ordinary people. All of us, in some way or another, want to
make a difference in this world even if it is just with the people we
know. There is, I believe, in all
Christians, if not in all people, an innate desire to have a purpose-filled
life. We look at the world around us and
wonder about our place in it. We stand
next to the ocean, and we realize we are but a drop of water. We stand on the beach, and realize we are but
a grain of sand. We look upon the night
sky, and realize we are put a tiny speck in the universe.
We wonder if we can truly make a
difference, if we truly are important in God’s grand creation, if we, in the
end, will have counted for something. It
is the glorious good news of the Gospel that the answer for us who live our
lives in loving service and faithful witness to Jesus Christ is an emphatic,
YES! YES!, we
can truly make a difference. YES!, we truly are important in God’s grand creation. YES!, in the end, we
will have counted for something.
John W.
Gardner, founding chairman of Common Cause, a non-partisan
citizens' organization whose goal is to ensure open, honest, accountable and
effective government at the federal, state, and local levels, once said that
it’s a rare and high privilege to help people understand the difference they
can make – not only in their own lives, but also in the lives of others, simply
by giving of themselves.
The old man was
delighted by a woman who answered, “I’m doing a good job raising three
children;” and by a cabinetmaker who said, “I believe in good workmanship and
practice it;” and by a woman who said, “I started a bookstore and it’s the best
bookstore for miles around.” “I don’t
really care how they answer,” said the old man.
“I just want to put the thought into their minds. They should live their lives in such a way
that they can have a good answer. Not a
good answer for me, but for themselves.
That’s what’s important.”
The old man was right – that is
what’s important, to be able to have a good answer for ourselves, to be able to
say, when all is said and done, “I gave it my all. I gave my whole self. I fulfilled my purpose, and my cup still
runneth over;” to be able to say, like the Apostle Paul, “I fought the good
fight. I finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
Certainly, if there was any person
who lived an extra-ordinary life, it was the Apostle Paul, and what a life he
lived. We know Paul best as the first
missionary to numerous cities in the
But we don’t always remember that
Paul was at one time Saul, and that he was not always a zealous advocate of the
gospel. He was most likely an athletic
man in his younger years, a highly educated man of the Hebrew Scriptures and
Greek philosophy, and he was a hard line Pharisee and persecutor of the
church. “If anyone else has reason to be
confident in the flesh,” writes Paul to the Philippians, “I have more.” But for Paul, is whole outlook on his life
changed on the day he meet the living Christ on the
road to
In our text for today, Paul now
stands at the threshold of this world and the next as death’s shadow is closing
in upon him, and he reflects back on his life in this moving, heartfelt, and
intensely personal letter to Timothy. In
the end, he is able to declare for himself that he had given his all to his
purpose, that he had given his whole self, that he had fulfilled all that he
was called to do, and his cup still runneth over, that he had “fought the good
fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.”
For Paul, as it must be for us as
well, we must never forget that each one of us has a purpose for our lives and
a place in this world. We must never
forget that we can make a difference in our lives and in the lives of the
people around us through Christ. Each
one of us is important, and each one of us has been given the talents and gifts
to become extra-ordinary people in God’s grand creation.
Yet, so
many in the Church continue to search for a purpose in themselves, for a
meaning to their life, for some kind of way to get off the hamster-wheel like
marathon that they live in.
Yet in all their searching, they only find themselves, like a hamster,
running and running and running, but going nowhere fast. The Scottish writer, Thomas Carlyle, once
said that a person without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder – a stray,
a nothing, a none person. The problem isn’t that they don’t have a purpose, the problem is they have forgotten that their
purpose is in God, and that the purpose of their faith in Jesus Christ is
important to God’s work in the world.
As Christians, as it was for Paul,
we can never forget that our lives of faith has a purpose, a purpose to carry
God’s message of salvation to the ends of the earth, a purpose to be persistent
and patient in our teaching of the Gospel, a purpose to carry out our ministry
fully to the end of our days, because, as Paul tells Timothy, we are “in the presence
of God and of Christ Jesus…in view of his appearing and his kingdom.” This is why Paul was so confident in the
purpose of his faith, because he knew that he was in full view of the living
Christ, the same Christ who had met him on the road to Damascus, the same
living Christ, who is the righteous judge of the living and the dead, the same
Christ who has reserved for him the crown of righteousness when he comes again.
Like Paul, we too must have a
purpose to our lives of faith, and set out to fulfill our purpose with all the
ambition, determination, devotion, and enthusiasm of faith that we can muster,
because like Paul we too stand in the presence of God and of the living Christ,
and we too have reserved for us the crown of righteousness when Christ comes
again.
Our
purpose-filled faith must be ambitious.
In the jargon of athletics, it means desire, it means having a hunger to
want to accomplish more than what we expect to accomplish, to want to grow and
mature in the faith more than what we are now, to want to push ourselves to
greater and greater heights of spiritual joy and fulfillment.
We hunger after many things –
money, prestige, even power – and we stuff ourselves with the food that
provides no spiritual nourishment. Jesus
said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they
shall be filled.” Even when we do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, we prefer not to make a big deal out of
it. We prefer to speak softly. We would rather have a faith that is written
without punctuation, when what we need is a faith with an exclamation
mark. We should be so ambitious in our
faith that we crave to be filled over and over again by the only one who is the
true food for eternal life.
Our purpose-filled faith must be
determined. We must be determined to
reach the goal and prize that awaits us on the last day. Too many people today are determined to reach
the goal and prize of the crowns of this world, but in the end, the crowns of
this world only rot and decay, but the crown of righteousness lasts
forever.
But reaching the goal and prize
that awaits us on the last day is not always easy. In the 1992 Summer Olympics, while running in
the 400-meter semifinal, British runner Derek Redmond tore a hamstring and fell
to the track. Derek struggled to his
feet and began to hobble down the track, determined to complete the race. As he hobbled down the track, a man ran out
of the stands to help him off the track.
It was Derek’s father. But Derek
refused to quit. He leaned on his father,
and the two of them crossed the finish line together to a deafening
applause.
Paul experienced more pain and
suffering in his ministry than any one of us will ever experience in our
lifetime, but he remained determined for the sake of the gospel, because Paul
knew that the one who suffered humiliation and death upon the cross, was now
the same living Christ who supported and helped him to finish the race he was
called to run.
Our purpose-filled faith must be
one of devotion. We must be so devoted
to our mission and ministry that nothing will distract us from who we have been
called to be and what we have been called to do. We must devote ourselves, commit ourselves,
dedicate ourselves, and give ourselves fully to God’s purpose for us. Our eyes must be fixed upon the prize that
awaits us, our eyes must be fixed upon the goal to which we run, our eyes must be fixed upon the fulfillment of God’s
salvation plan for the world. Being
devoted is more than just being devoted to our own lives of faith, it is always
being devoted to Christ’s church as well, for it is in Christ’s church that we
learn, hear, and embody God’s purpose for all of God’s people. Devotion, commitment, dedication, and giving
are not done in isolation, but in community; in a community that is devoted,
committed, dedicated, and gives together in witness
and in service.
Finally, our purpose-filled faith
must be one of enthusiasm. Everyday
should be a day when we get up excited about what the day has to offer us. Everyday should be seen as another
opportunity to enjoy God’s presence, to enjoy God’s love, and to enjoy God’s
gifts to us. There are some days when we
just don’t quite feel right, just can’t quite pick ourselves up, or just don’t
feel like we have much to offer. It is in
these times that we can rely on the power and strength of God to carry us
through. It is in these times that we
can remember that God has already called us into a new life with Him, and given
us the possibility of a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with Him. These are the gifts we don’t have to strive
for, run toward, or fight for, they are ours as God’s
gracious gifts. Allow them to help build
you up, rely on them when your down, and remember them in your hearts. Let God’s gift of grace resonate in you, fill
you, and lift you up, and then just enjoy them.
Let them be the fire that rekindles your faith and enthusiasm.
Ambition, determination, devotion,
and enthusiasm – these are the hallmarks of the Christian faith and Christian
life. Let them be the means by which you
fulfill your purpose-filled faith, so that in the end, you will be able to
confess with all boldness and conviction, “I have given my all to God’s purpose
for me. I have given my whole self. I have fulfilled all that God has called me
to do, and my cup still runneth over. I
have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith to the glory
of God.” Amen.