WILLING TO DO WHAT MUST BE DONE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Acts 16:1-5

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

There had been a parting of the ways in Antioch. Fueled over a disagreement centered on Mark coming along on the second missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas split up. At the end of Acts 15, we read where Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus while Paul chose Silas, a leader in the Jerusalem church to be his new partner. You’ll remember that we never hear about Barnabas and Mark again in Acts so the rest of this book is predominantly focused on the Apostle Paul.

As chapter 16 opens, we find Paul back in the region of Lycaonia where he passed through Derbe to Lystra where he visited a disciple named Timothy who was well respected by the Christians in Lystra and Iconium, another town in Lycaonia which was to the northeast of Lystra. This is the Timothy that Paul writes two letters to, letters found in the New Testament (between 2 Thessalonians and Titus).

While there isn’t a lot of time spent on Timothy here, we do learn some things about the faithful Christ disciple.

First, his lineage was mixed. The scriptures tell us that his mother was Jewish but his father was Greek. There’s little doubt that Timothy grew up with an understanding of different religions, knowing of the one God of Israel but also being exposed to the numerous gods worshiped by the Greeks. This experience would make him perfect for the missionary journey as he would be able to relate to the different belief systems in place where he, Paul, and Silas would bring the Gospel to.

The other thing we find out about Timothy is that he was willing to do whatever it would take in order to be effective in his ministry for Jesus. Paul had already been on one missionary journey and so he knew how the Christians in the Lycaonian region behaved. He knew that if he partnered with Timothy that questions might arise from the Jews over his connection to the Greeks via his father and remember that it was a very patriarchal society in biblical times. The influence of the father would have been seen as exponentially greater than the mother.

And so to avoid any conflict that might impact the effectiveness of the Gospel work, we read where Timothy was circumcised by Paul. This wasn’t a forced act. Timothy agreed to the procedure based on Paul’s recommendation, respecting his wisdom. I think it also shows Timothy’s commitment to his Lord, that he was willing to allow the circumcision to happen if it meant he could better carry out his calling.

This made me wonder how well we do in this regard as believers.

What sacrifices or changes are we willing to accept in order to be more effective in the ministry work the Lord has called us to do?

Would we be as willing as Timothy to do whatever needed to be done to carry out the Lord’s will?

Would we place restrictions on what we would be willing to sacrifice for the cause of Christ?

I think today’s scripture passage calls us to face these questions.

Well, after the circumcision, the scriptures tell us that Paul, Silas, and Timothy got to work. We read where they “traveled from town to town” and “delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.” As a result of their work, “the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.”

There was no conflict. No rifts over Timothy’s background and upbringing. No uprisings that may have gotten in the way of the work of Christ. Only a growth of the Christian church.

All because of Paul’s wisdom and Timothy’s willingness to do what needed to be done.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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