love and guidance

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Before we begin our reading I'd invite you to pause a moment to remember the victims of September 11, 2001 and all who have suffered and died since then in related violence. Our passage for this morning is not unrelated to thinking about Christians and violence. Paul reminds Timothy that the point of Christian instruction is love and that's a pretty good test for any question about how Christians behave in the world: if something promotes love there's a good chance it fits with the gospel we proclaim; if it opposes love, it likely does not fit. Needless to say, burning a pile of Qur'an's has nothing to do with love and nothing to do with the good news of Jesus Christ.

This letter is unlike most of our New Testament letters in that it was written not to a church but to a person. Timothy was a young leader in the early church who helped Paul in his ministry. Paul wrote this letter and 2 Timothy to encourage and guide Timothy in leading the church. This will be very familiar to current and recent session members since we read this letter together last year. Here Paul warns Timothy that much of his energy will be spent opposing bad interpretations of Christian faith. We don't know exactly what errors Paul was worried about but there is always a risk of twisting Christianity into something it isn't: a ticket to heaven, a magical power for prosperity, a blessing on selfish accumulation, a set of rules, etc. Many of the churches also struggled with the place of the Law of Moses; Paul makes the important point that the Law itself is good when we remember its purpose, which is to keep our bad inclinations in check. I hope you enjoy this letter and that Paul's encouragement to Timothy encourages you in your ministry and your love as well.

God bless,
Sam

1 Timothy 1-11
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2To Timothy, my loyal child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine, 4and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith.

5But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. 6Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, 7desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions. 8Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately. 9This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, 10fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching 11that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.