A moment of light

And don't we need one at present? Lockdown in the summer was one thing, but being shut up at home in the short, cold days of winter has been something else. At the time of writing, the UK is in a very difficult situation. The current lockdown seems to be taking effect, but there are still several hundreds of deaths from Covid-19 each day and almost 20,000 new cases reported daily. Hospitals in several parts of the country are being overwhelmed and the medical staff under serious pressure. Many people have been in some form of lockdown or serious restrictions on movement for most of the last ten months. A vaccine is finally being rolled out which should alleviate the situation, but some voices are being raised about its effectiveness and the potential side effects. Of course, a lot of people have died from the disease and many more are now grieving the loss of loved ones. Others have lost jobs and face an uncertain financial future. Perhaps that is you and you are desperate for some light at the end of the tunnel.

A little over 2020 years ago, Israel was an occupied state. For some this was great, because it had put their small country on the map as part of the dominant world empire centred on Rome. The opportunities arising for those willing to take them, and pay the price of subservience, were unparalleled. In fact, Rome had first been courted not that many years previously, when Israel was still free, in order to sort out some internal political issues. However, the ultimate result had polarized the country. Tensions were mounting which would around 70 years later lead to a dreadful and unsuccessful civil war as a bid for separation from the empire. Religiously speaking, and Israel was traditionally a very religious nation, there had been no serious prophetic voice in the land for around 400 years. The Pharisees, though, had a tight grip on how people should live, through multitudes of religious laws. Society was one of haves and have nots, with beggers a common sight and leper colonies of unclean outcasts, alongside luxurious homes and, of course, the palace. The Temple courtyard and the market place were not easily distinguishable from each other in terms of the trade going on, and 'justice' was meted out arbitrarily.

Into this situation, God sent a baby. A baby? Yes, a baby! What good was that? The political map and health service both needed urgent overhaul. A serious statesman or military leader needed to arise. What good was a baby? It would take 20 years or so before there was any chance of any action from the child. So God didn't tell the ruling parties, or the King, or the religious leaders. In fact, when the King did find out a couple of years later, he tried to get the child killed. God decided to be selective about who knew that he had sent his own Son to be born as a baby in Bethlehem. Obviously the parents knew, as well as group of cousins, and angels had turned up to tell some shepherds. None of these was likely to cause a problem and, in fact, they all worshipped the boy perfectly happily.

So his parents, Joseph and Mary, took the boy, Jesus, to the Temple when he was 40 days old, in accordance with the religious custom. While there, a man called Simeon came up to them and started to prophecy (Luke's Gospel, chapter 2, verses 25-35). He explained that God had told him he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah and he had recognized Jesus when he was brought into the Temple. He went on to say that Jesus would be a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of the people of Israel. In summary, Jesus had come for everyone, both Jews and Gentiles, and was going to be the light of the world.

So this baby was God's answer after all: the country just had to wait for him to grow up. And he still is the light of the world, bringing hope and salvation in the midst of whatever might be going on around us. This is why the day for remembering the presentation of Jesus in the Temple is known as Candlemas, and candles are traditionally lit to symbolize the coming of the light of the world. If you need hope, because of the current national situation or more personal circumstances, it is there, to be found in Jesus. God loved the world so much that he sent his only son, Jesus, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life (John's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 16). That eternal life in God, full of hope, begins as soon as we give our lives to Jesus. Once we belong to God, his hope is there for us, whatever our circumstances. He's just waiting for you to ask.

The dark horse

The Church of England commemorates Timothy on the same day as another of Paul's co-workers, Titus. Now, while Timothy is reasonably well known to most church-goers, the name Titus might not ring so many bells for some. Paul wrote him a letter, but that's not about Titus himself. So, other than a few verses in Paul's letter to the Galatian church and his second letters to the church in Corinth and to Timothy, we have little to go on. However, those few verses show us that this apostle who managed to keep himself quite well out of the limelight of history was in fact a powerhouse for the gospel.

Titus was a companion of Paul by the time of the Council of Jerusalem in 49 AD. Paul had recently completed his first missionary journey and went to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus to explain why Gentile Christians, like Titus, should not be circumcised. The next we hear of him is about eight years later, when Paul and Timothy wrote to the church in Corinth. Titus had been sent there previously and had by all accounts done a good job in a difficult church situation. He came up to meet Paul in Macedonia with a good report of the church's situation and attitude, which provided some comfort for Paul. So he was sent back to continue the work.

After Paul was released from his first imprisonment and house arrest in Rome, it seems that he went to Crete with Titus and left him there as the apostolic overseer of the island - the same position that Paul entrusted Timothy with in Ephesus. Like Timothy, Titus was sent a letter from Paul in Macedonia, explaining to him various leadership issues, including the appointment of church leaders. However, as in the case of Timothy, he was later replaced there, by Artemas or Tychicus (Paul hadn't made up his mind when writing the letter). Titus was to join Paul in Nicopolis to overwinter there. It seems that from Nicopolis he was eventually sent to Dalmatia, presumably to head up a new missionary work in that region.

What do we learn from Titus' story? In some ways it was similar to Timothy's. He actually joined Paul's team a few years earlier, but they both ended up with similar responsibilities as city-wide church overseers and heading up international missionary teams. We might think of Timothy as Paul's closest co-worker, but Titus is also referred to as Paul's true child in a common faith. Timothy is probably seriously overlooked, even though we know a fair bit about him; Titus is almost unheard of, because of the lack of information about him, but from what we do know we can see that he was equally a giant in the furtherance of the gospel for Christ. Being well known and leaving an obvious legacy is not what serving Jesus is about. The rapid growth of the early Church was all about team work - with each other and with God. Most co-workers were never really well known and have been long forgotten. Those who are remembered may well be vastly underappreciated. However, our reward comes from the one who sees in secret - and he rewards us in secret.

A faithful friend

We can easily think of Paul as the great apostle to the Gentiles, and of course he was. Yet, there were others; the gospel reached Rome before he did, for example. Moreover, Paul was aware of the need to develop a team and train up people who would take on the baton of pioneering for the Gospel after him. One of these was a man called Timothy, and we actually know quite a bit about him, since he is mentioned in Acts, Paul's two letters to him (1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) and several other of Paul's letters (his two letters to the Corinthian church and two to the Thessalonians, those to the churches in Rome, Philippi and Colossae, as well as his letter to Philemon and the anonymous letter to the Hebrews).

Timothy was probably converted to Christianity, along with his mother and grandmother, during Paul's first missionary journey through modern day Turkey around 45 AD. Paul came across him about four years later, the next time he was in the area, when he arrived in Lystra with Silas and maybe others. He found that this young man was well thought of not only in his home town, but also in neighbouring Iconium. His mother was a Jewish believer in Jesus, his father a Greek. Paul was impressed by him, finding him to be a man with a true faith and knowledgeable in the Jewish scriptures. So he offered him the chance to accompany him on the rest of his journey.

Jumping in with both feet as a young man, a Christian of only four years, Timothy took the opportunity given to him - a willing heart is more important to God than age or experience.

Timothy was part of Paul's team as they travelled through towns in Phrygia and Galatia, then on to Troas and across the Aegean Sea to Samothrace, where they shared their first sight of European soil. Then they travelled together down the west coast of the Aegean, through Neapolis, Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia and Thessalonica to Berea. Paul needed someone to stay in Berea while he continued on south to Athens, so he chose Silas to take the lead and Timothy to support him. Timothy had had plenty of time to see how Paul and Silas ministered in the many towns they'd visited and to get involved himself; now he had the opportunity to be second in command. Once in Athens, Paul called for Silas and Timothy to join him there.

After a while, he needed to send someone back up the coast to Thessalonica and this time chose Timothy himself, to build up and comfort the church and bring back news about them. By the time Timothy returned to Paul, he had moved on to Corinth, so they met up there, where Paul mentioned him in his letter to the Romans. Paul then returned home via Ephesus, where he left some people behind, perhaps including Timothy, because the next we hear of him is when Paul is back in Ephesus on his third missionary journey.

This time Paul stayed in Ephesus for two years and then decided to send someone back to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in western Turkey. It seems that this time Timothy was probably put in charge of the missionary journey, supported by Erastus. They journeyed on to Corinth and in a letter to the church there, Paul asks them to look after Timothy well and then send him back. They actually met up again in Macedonia, travelling from opposite directions, where they together wrote to the Corinthian church. Timothy was now a co-author with Paul, as well as a missionary team leader.

Timothy was in Paul's team returning from Macedonia via Troas, Miletus, Rhodes, and Patara to Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea and, eventually, Jerusalem. No events are recorded in Acts about this long journey, but we can't imagine that they were silent about the gospel to those whom they met. When Paul was finally sent to Rome to be heard by the Emperor, we know that Timothy ended up with him there and was was a key companion of Paul while he was in prison and then house arrest in the capital of the empire. They co-wrote at least three letters from Rome and Paul wrote to the Philippian church that he was intending to send Timothy to them.

Timothy reminds us that the 12 apostles and Paul wasn't enough - God needs all of us.

By the time Paul was writing his first letter to Timothy, after his release from his first imprisonment in Rome, Timothy was in Ephesus, where Paul urged him to remain and ensure that the church were taught well. Paul also gave instructions in how to appoint leaders, so Timothy was clearly in a position of overseeing the church in the city. When Paul was imprisoned in Rome for the second time, awaiting execution, he called for Timothy to join him as he was being replaced by Tychicus in Ephesus. Timothy was to collect some possessions of Paul's from Troas on the way, and also take John Mark along to him.

What happened to Timothy from then on we don't really know, except that he was in prison for a while and later released. However, we can see that in the space of about 23 years he had grown from a young man, fairly newly converted to Christianity, into an apostle in his own right, overseeing the Christian affairs of a major city, and co-authoring several letters with the greatest letter writer of the New Testament. He had become Paul's probably most trusted co-worker and faithful friend. Paul told the Philippian church that he had no one like Timothy whom he could trust to send to them to be truly concerned for their welfare. He also told them that Timothy worked for the gospel with him, like a son with his father.

Timothy's story reminds us that the gospel of Christ is not spread by a few great individuals. Over the centuries the message of salvation has gone forth through the preaching, serving, and loving of huge numbers of people, mainly in teams. Paul needed Barnabas, Silas, Timothy and many others. Timothy needed support. Timothy's supporters needed support and so on. The harvest is ripe and there are still too few workers. There is something great for all of us to do in one way or another.

It takes a team, of all shapes and sizes!