Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Charles Lwanga and his companions, martyrs in Uganda. They were brutally executed on June 3, 1886. One of them, Mgaba, was even the son of the chief executioner. The missionaries were driven out. Yet, those remaining were able to keep and spread their faith until new missionaries returned. They found 500 Christians and one thousand catechumens waiting for them. Christianity has a strong vitality and it must be the work of God. For us modern Christians living comfortably nowadays, shall we not treasure the grace of faith which God has showered us?
Today, we continue to read the Second Epistle of Timothy. Paul continues to encourage Timothy to be a faithful bishop.
His first duty was to entrust the gospel to faithful men capable of teaching others.
and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2).
Christianity is not a private, personal matter. It is not beneficial to keep the faith for oneself. It has a life of its own and seeks to perpetuate itself like "selfish genes". The model of the Uganda martyrs is just such a case in point. God wants universal salvation. Therefore, those of us who receive and accept the gospel have the duty to evangelize.
Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3).
Secondly, oppositions and persecutions are inevitable. They may not fall upon all Christians. Yet, Christians are in communion with Christ and with each other. Therefore, we should be prepared to share in suffering like a good soldier of Christ. As a soldier, we do not choose in which battle field we fight. Fight wherever we are enlisted (2 Timothy 2:4). Absolute obedience is expected. There may not be many obvious battle fields. Yet, we should be vigilant whichever field we are in to bear witness and suffer for the sake of the universal salvation of mankind.
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules (2 Timothy 2:5).
According to what rules do Christians compete? Paul did not make it clear. I guess they are the teachings of the Lord. The most obvious one is to love each other like Jesus has loved us (John 13:34). We know very well that Jesus means a love that despises death, that urges us to surrender our lives for the sake of the souls of others. Here, Paul motivates us with the image of a competition. Though we may not be physically competent enough to join singing contests, beauty pageants or the Olympics, all of us can lead our daily life with an athlete attitude: serious in preparation, total in commitment, honest in the observance of the rules and humble in accepting the outcomes. This is the third duty of a bishop.
Fourthly, he should be hard-working. He could not afford to be complacent. Paul assures Timothy that if he did so, he would surely receive the reward from God.
It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops (2 Timothy 2:6).
Many of us are hard-working in making more money, in studying to upgrade our marketability. In what area then should Christians be hard-working? To pray harder, study the Bible harder and love each other harder. Only then shall we receive an eternal crown. However, are crowns attractive anymore for modern men? If not, a modern Paul should look for some other attractive alternatives. What would you recommend?
There is a curious quotation recorded in this epistle. It does not seem to be a quotation from the Old Testament. Nor did Paul attribute it to Jesus like he did in his farewell speech to the Ephesian elders.
In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' (Acts 20:35)
The quotation goes like this:
The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;
if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful -- for he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:11-13).
Obviously, it was not uttered by Jesus because this saying refers to him. Was it then an utterance by one of the apostles? Perhaps. Would this apostle be Paul himself? Very likely. This saying consists of a series of 4 "if εἰ". Paul likes to employ this kind of rhetoric. Of course, we need to check the theology conveyed by this saying.
"If we have died with him, we shall also live with him" is very Pauline in tone. For example,
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his (Romans 6:5)
"if we endure, we shall also reign with him" is again Pauline. For example,
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:17).
"if we deny him, he also will deny us;" comes from the gospels. It is a paraphrase of Jesus' word. For example,
For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38).
"if we are faithless, he remains faithful -- for he cannot deny himself" is again found in the Epistle to the Romans.
What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God?
By no means! Let God be true though every man be false, as it is written, "That thou mayest be justified in thy words, and prevail when thou art judged." (Romans 3:3-4, Psalm 51:4)
Curiously, Paul did not quote the Numbers which reads
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it? (Numbers 23:19)
Therefore, we can safely conclude that the saying came from Paul himself.
Dear Lord, Your faithfulness endures forever. Help us to be faithful in You. Amen.
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