Weekly Lift

1 Timothy: Ringing the bell

Welcome to the weekly lift number 80, Tuesday 19th October 2021, as we continue in thankfulness through the New Testament. Today we look at Paul's first letter to Timothy: "Thankful that God saves people like me!"

When I was in year 6, at the age of 12, I was given one of the greatest responsibilities in the whole school. At the risk of sounding old, we had a big bell in the playground that someone had to ring by hand at the start and end of the day, and for recess and lunch. By far the most important bell to be rung was the one at the end of the day. Even ringing that bell one minute early would give great joy to every student in the school. The day came when I was given that responsibility to ring the end of school bell. I left class 5 minutes early. I stood, watching the time tick by, wondering to myself "should I ring it a little early?! I was so young, yet with such a great and awesome responsibility to be the one to signal the end of the school day! What should I do?

In Paul's first letter to Timothy, Paul says this to the young pastor in training:

Paul is thankful that God has considered him worthy of serving. Worthy of ringing the bell of the gospel. Worthy of being appointed in his service. Perhaps sometimes we feel the burden of serving God - at home, church, in the workplace, at school - a duty that sometimes is difficult, or onerous, or can get in the way of other things in life that we might rather be doing. But for Paul, the honour is amazing. You see, Paul was not a nice guy when he came to know the Lord Jesus. A blasphemer, a persecutor, a violent man. If you think YOU were bad, just look at Paul! Maybe you weren't a great person. But Paul was a pretty nasty guy. He was an overseer of Christians being put to death for their faith. He oversaw the stoning of Stephen as one specific example from Acts 8:1.

Yet Paul, this once prominent man, was humbled by the fact that God called him to himself. Paul was appointed to the service of the great and mighty King of all. And he pauses in this letter to Timothy, the young pastor, to remind him how good this is. From verse 15:

This is the gospel. This is trustworthy. It deserves our full acceptance - Jesus came to save SINNERS! And for that very reason, Paul found mercy. If Jesus did NOT come to save sinners, how could Paul have been saved? He was the worst! Paul was pretty bad. Paul was a pretty nasty person. Yet here is the great news as we consider the man Paul was, and who he has become: God saved him. In Paul, we have an amazing example of God displaying his mercy. I think this is particularly helpful to those of us who may think we are not worthy. Because that is correct. No one is worthy. However, God came to save the unworthy. He saves us and calls us trustworthy of his gospel. The worst of sinners, in fact any sinner, is not worthy. And that is the point. This is why it's called grace. It is undeserved that the unworthy should be made trustworthy.

And so Paul finishes his paragraph with these words:

God deserves all honour and glory for stooping down to earth to save people like Paul, and people like you and me. And the more you think you don't deserve it, the more reason to praise him for calling you to his service!

I did ring that bell early that day by the way. School ended a minute early because of me! Such power! So no, I didn't deserve that responsibility, that priviledge, that trust. Yet it was given to me.

Though we are unworthy, God calls us trustworthy. God trusts you with his gospel. What will you do with it?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, in your great love and mercy you chose to speak to me, a sinner. Please remind me of the great honour it is to be chosen by you to serve you. Thank you for showing me patience and kindness. Thank you that you came into this world to save sinners like me. Help me to serve you today. All glory to you for ever and ever. Amen.