Am I a good soldier?

Scripture 2 Timothy, Chapter 2 verses 1-7:

You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; 2 and what you have heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well. 3 Share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving in the army gets entangled in everyday affairs; the soldier’s aim is to please the enlisting officer. 5 And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules. 6 It is the farmer who does the work who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.

Thanks Judy for your kind words.

I appreciate Laura Candler-White, our church organist, and Daniel Parks, our music director for their participation in this service.

That thanks also includes our acolytes, those of you in this Sanctuary, and anyone watching on-line at home. Additionally, thanks to the Trinity staff, and our Senior Pastor, Brian Siegle, who is running the technology.

I also want to say safe travels to the Hall family. They are making their annual drive to Missouri to be with relatives during Thanksgiving.

I volunteered to be here this evening. Maybe this gives a little break to our pastors Brian, Daniel, and Judy as they head into Advent.

A couple of reminders for you.

I’m not a theologian. I’m no expert on the Bible.

Quite simply, I’m a rapidly aging, grumpy geezer.

And for the next couple of hours, maybe, just maybe I might say something that will resonate with you as we take a look at Timothy, and a few verses of scripture about teachers, soldiers, athletes, and farmers.

But, let’s start with a prayer, let us pray: Father of us all, over the next few minutes touch our hearts. In your name we pray, Amen.

From the 1973 edition of the New Oxford Annotated Bible the Revised Standard Version, here are a few bits of information about Timothy.

Timothy was the son of a Greek father and a Jewish mother who had become Christian.

Timothy’s mother and grandmother raised him as a Christian.

Paul was looking for a helper in his missionary work when he visited Timothy’s hometown, Lystra, in present day Turkey. Clearly, this Christian upbringing helped Paul in the recruitment of Timothy.

In this Second Letter to Timothy, a veteran missionary wants Timothy to understand that endurance is a key quality of a preacher.

Additionally, Timothy is encouraged to rekindle the gift of God within him. The veteran missionary reminds Timothy not to be ashamed of witnessing for the Lord.

There are some indications that Timothy was overawed by his surroundings and did not make his witness boldly.

And finally, Timothy was advised to take his share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

I wonder what Timothy thought about this advice.

I wonder what you, me, we, us think about this advice.

We might not see ourselves as soldiers of Jesus Christ, but we are familiar with the words endurance, rekindle, ashamed, witness, and suffering.

Yes, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m not a bold witness for Jesus Christ.

It would be very uncharacteristic of me to walk up to a person or a group of people, and shout out:

Hey, you bunch of heathens, as a Christian, I’m here to tell you that you must quickly rekindle your endurance for following the teachings of Jesus Christ because if you don’t, there’s a whole heap of suffering headed your way.

And yet, I’m drawn to the seven verses in second Timothy chapter two because of these words— teacher, soldier, athlete, and farmer.

Like Timothy, our national holiday of Thanksgiving has become overawed by the commercial rise of Halloween and Christmas. But if you really think about Thanksgiving, farmers are the key. No farmers, no Thanksgiving.

What might we learn from farmers about endurance and suffering as they work through the challenges of a difficult growing season?

At some point over this Thanksgiving weekend, we will probably be drawn to the athletes who play college or professional football.

From this chapter of Timothy, verse five reminds us:
“And in the case of an athlete, no one is crowned without competing according to the rules.”

As fearsome as the football warriors might look on the field, their thinking can become internally fragile. In these frail, weak moments, these athletes can place themselves in unwise situations where they fail to compete by the rules of life or the rules of the game. In those circumstances, there is no crowning.

What might we learn from athletes who fail for not following the rules?

With regard to soldiers, I’m drawn to an intense scene from the movie Saving Private Ryan.

Captain John Miller, played by Tom Hanks, and his soldiers have been given orders to find Private James Frances Ryan. Private Ryan’s three brothers have already been killed in the war.

This mission is to find Private Ryan and send him back home.

After a fierce encounter with a German unit, Captain Miller faces an emotional and out of line pushback from one of his soldiers over this mission to find Private Ryan.

In this pushback, the personalities of his men erupt all around Captain Miller. The language is vile. Weapons are drawn and pointed. Threats are made. Captain Miller’s men plead with him to intervene to stop this unsafe chaos.

Finally, Captain Miller quietly asks one of his men, “What’s the pool up to on me now?”

Captain Miller’s men have been trying to determine his profession prior to joining the Army. The pool amount is up to $300.00.

With that distracting question, the tenseness of this moment is broken. Captain Miller reveals to his men that he was a high school English teacher and baseball coach in a small town in Pennsylvania.

What might we learn from soldiers who struggle to understand the reasoning behind their orders?

For a few minutes, let’s take a brief detour to watch a scene from the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus.

In this scene, two teachers, who are friends have a conversation about a student:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad5pKiflwew

In this scene, Glenn’s fellow teacher Bill is looking for understanding.

He can’t understand why Glenn can’t teach his star wrestler, Lou Russ, to play a musical instrument.

I’m not sure about you, but for me, in that scene the path to understanding pivots off these words—“then you’re a lousy teacher.”

I wonder if anyone ever said to Jesus—“you’re a lousy teacher.”

At this very moment, when Jesus looks down upon us, I wonder how he might evaluate our current teaching skills. He might ask:

Bill, are you able to teach others about grace?
Bill, do you understand the endurance it takes for people to survive living in difficult environments?
Bill, do you understand their suffering?
Bill, when are you going to enter this game and compete?

Timothy is given a lot to think about in Chapter Two, but the last verse states:
“Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in all things.”

Isn’t that part of what we are all searching for in life— a bit of understanding?

In David Halberstam’s book October 1964, Mr. Halberstam takes a behind the scenes look at the New Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals and the season that leads the teams into the World Series.

In the final seventh game of the series, the Cardinals win.

At the end of the game, the reporters want to understand why the Cardinal’s manager, Johnny Keane, left his starting, but worn out pitcher, Bob Gibson, in the game to finish the ninth inning.

Johnny Keane tells the reporters: “ I had a commitment to his heart.”

In the magazine The Week, I recently read about author, Sophie Kinsella. This 54 year old mother of five has terminal cancer.

“Every morning, her husband reads the papers and delivers a cup of tea along with a hopeful story about someone who’s beating the odds on a grim diagnosis. From this routine, Kinsella states, “ I really want to be someone else’s story of hope.”

“ A commitment to his heart and some else’s story of hope,” are powerful human reflections.

However, the question remains for me—am I a good soldier?

Am I a good soldier depends upon my heart.

Is my heart grounded in the teachings of Jesus?

Can my heart offer hope to the people who are lost and struggling to find their way in life?

From my non-theological brain, I sense any chance I have at understanding the pep talk that Timothy has been given lies in these familiar words from John 15 verse 12: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

In this very challenging and difficult world to be a good soldier, I must find the capacity to love the people I encounter on my walk through life.

This includes people who don’t look like me, act like me, or think like me.

And this requires me to love 365 days a year. I can’t opt out to love these people only during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On the afternoon of Saturday, November 16, I was starting my second day in my annual battle with the leaves in our yard.

My wife, the Commander Supreme, came out into the backyard, and said to me, “If you are looking for something else to do, you could trim back the butterfly bush.”

I responded, “I’m not looking for something else to do.”

She laughed and said, “But, I know you are.”

Deep in his heart, Jesus has something for us to do.

He needs us to be graceful, strong soldiers, athletes, and farmers whose hearts can teach a world full of battered and weary people that hope can be found in love.

My clock is ticking. I turn 72 in June.

I’m overdue to be a good soldier.

How about you?

Benediction

As we prepare to head out of here this evening, if you have college students at home—enjoy the laundry.

If your in-laws are visiting your home—pray harder.

Whatever your plans are for tomorrow, I hope you and your family have a good, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving.

And don’t forget the pep talk for Timothy.

Somewhere in your life:

There was a patient teacher who never gave up on you.

The farmer you never met who harvested your food.

The athlete who played by the rules and was crowned.

A soldier who courageously sacrificed to preserve your freedom.

And most importantly, don’t forget Jesus.

He needs our hearts to find the beat just like Lou Russ did.

That beat is a heartbeat, a heartbeat committed to love one another beyond the walls of Trinity.

Now go in peace.

Author’s note: I had the privilege of speaking at the Thanksgiving Eve Service at Trinity United Methodist Church in Richmond, Virginia on the evening of Wednesday, November 27. I’ve included for you a link for the scene we used from the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus. From the original movie, this scene is called Challenged. It features Bill and Glenn playing chess on Glenn’s porch. The clip is just under five minutes. If the technology fails, I hope you can find it on-line and view it. Happy Thanksgiving, be safe, love, Bill Pike