Old Testament Lesson; Habakkuk 1:1-2:4
Epistle Lesson; 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Gospel Lesson; Luke 12:8-9
Sermon Text; 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Suppose that you were given an assignment for church this week. You were supposed to come to church today with a box that represented God.

What would your box look like?

Would it be a BIG, HUGE, imposing box? Would it be a box that looked beautiful and gorgeous? Would it be a box that looked unshakable and immovable? If you were to bring a box that was to represent God, what would it look like?

Here is my box. It does not look like much, does it? It does not look like much at all, because

when God came to this world,

He came in humility.

It did not look like much at all.

God came to this world in a manger, in the body of a little baby, wrapped in strips of cloth. God grew up in this world, without much to His name. He did not even have a place to lay His head, He tells us. In this world, God’s hands were bound. He was led to trial. He was spit on. God was beaten, with rods. God was struck with fists. God had a crown of thorns put on His head. God was mocked by the people, as they bowed down to Him in mockery. God had nails driven through His hands and His feet. God suffered. God, in apparent weakness, died on a cross.

It did not look like much, did it?

God came to us in hidden ways. God came to us in apparent weakness. God came to us in death. And, God died. To the world, that does not look like much.

How does God come to us, today? Well, it does not look like much, does it? He comes to us through the spoken Word, the still, small voice. Not an earthquake, not thunder and brimstone.

God comes to us

through the spoken Word.

God comes to us

through bread and wine.

God comes to us

through the Word and water, in baptism.

Still today, it does not look like very much at all. But, that is the picture of God that we, as sinners, need to see.

I am going to tell you something really important. The devil does not care what kind of box you would bring in here that you thought represented God. The devil would tolerate any view that you have of God, except this one, because this is the right one. This is the one that brings salvation. This is the one that the devil will not tolerate. And, this is the view of God that the devil would like to knock off of the shelf, so that the world does not see it anymore, and nobody knows it, anymore.

I will tell you something else. This view of God, (of all the different views of God that you could have), this is also the view of God that the world can't tolerate. The world does not want to hear that is what God is like. The world wants to see a glitzy God. The world wants to see a powerful God! The world wants to see a God that expects something good and powerful from us. The world does not want to see a God who had to go to a cross, suffer and die, because "I can't do anything to save myself." And, the world would just as soon knock that view of God off of the shelf, so it does not have to hear about that God, anymore.

Now, how do the devil and the world propose to get rid of this view of God?

So long as there is somebody standing in front of that Gospel,

so long as there is somebody who is willing to stand there and proclaim the Gospel message,

so long as there is somebody who is willing to stand up and tell the world this is who God is, and this what He has done,

the devil won't be happy,

nor will the world.

And so, the devil and the world are going to try to move out of the way anybody who stands, defends, and proclaims that Gospel message. If they can move you out of the way, they can maybe knock that view of God off the shelf.

And so, what is going to happen? Here is the basic mode of operation. The devil and the world are going to try to get you to be ashamed to stand here. They are going to try to get you ashamed to stand up here and defend this view of God. If they can get you to be ashamed and get you to move out of the way, there is their target!

As we look at today's scripture reading, a little Bible history is pretty important. St. Paul, who wrote today's Bible reading, used to be known as Saul. Saul was a persecutor of the Gospel. Saul was one of those men who would go around rounding up Christians, arresting them, and trying to pull them away, so they would not stand up for the Gospel. Saul was trying to knock down that Gospel of Christ, so that nobody would believe it.

However, you all know that by the mighty grace of God, on the road to Damascus, the Lord Jesus brought Saul to his knees. He was converted there. Saul came to believe that Jesus, the Jesus he had been persecuting, was the Savior of the world! And, God assigned Paul the duty of being an apostle, a herald, and a teacher of the Gospel!

Paul had been changed, and he was the one, now, who was to go out to the world, stand up, and defend that Gospel of Christ, (which he had been trying to get out of the way). By the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul had faithfully gone on three missionary journeys. And, he had begun many mission congregations.

He suffered for the Gospel. He had been thrown in prison. He had been stoned. He had been shipwrecked. He had been through all kinds of hardships. And now, as we read today's Epistle Lesson, Paul is about to face his death.

A great sea change had taken place in the Roman Empire. Now, Nero was the Roman Emperor. After Rome was burned, he accused the Christians. He blamed the Christians. And, he made Christianity an illegal and illicit religion. Nero mercilessly, mercilessly began to go after the Christians. The stories of the ways that Christians had to suffer and die under Nero are repulsive.

Paul is now in prison. He is writing this letter to Timothy. Paul knows that in a very short time he is about to have his head cut off, (literally have his head cut off), for standing there and defending the Gospel. He says, "I am about to be poured out, like a drink offering." Boy, that is graphic, isn't it?

What are the devil and the world trying to do to Paul? The devil and the world are trying to look at Paul and say, "Paul, what kind of God do you believe in - that Jesus, who died on the cross? Look at what your God has done. Look at what has happened to your friends. He has let them be burned at the stake. He has let them be torn apart by lions. He does not step in and defend them. He has let them suffer in gruesome ways. He does not step in to defend them. What kind of a God do you have? And now, you have gone and spent your life for Him. Now, He is going to ask you to have your head cut off for Him? What kind of God do you have?"

The world is trying to get St. Paul to be ashamed of his God, walk away, and not defend that Gospel. But what does Paul say? Paul says to Timothy,

"I am not ashamed."

"I am not ashamed, because I know who I have trusted. I am convinced, I am convinced that He is able to keep what I have entrusted to Him, until that day." Paul says to Timothy, "I am not ashamed" of this God.

"I will not be ashamed of Him. I have entrusted my very soul to Him. He is my only way of salvation. And, I know He is able to keep my soul, until that day. And when they cut off my head, for me it is victory. For me, it is eternal salvation in Heaven. And, I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed. In fact, I will seal my testimony about my faith. I will show the world how important my faith is in Jesus, by sealing it with my blood."

But, his main concern, Paul's main concern, is Timothy. Now Paul, the great apostle, is about to lay down his life. And who will be left? Who will be left, when he is taken out of the way? Who will be left to stand there, defend the Gospel, and hold it out for the world to see? Timothy. Young Timothy.

Young Timothy had been brought up in a Christian home. Grandmother Lois and Mother Eunice had been Bible believers, Old Testament Bible believers, who believed in the coming Messiah. (When Paul came on one of his missionary journeys to Lystra, the Holy Spirit had brought them to believe in Jesus, as the true Savior.) They had taught young Timothy.

And now, St. Paul is telling young Timothy, who had become pastor to a number of congregations, "You are the one, now. You are the one to stand there, defend the truth, proclaim that Gospel, proclaim the God that the world does not want to hear about and the devil does not want the world to hear about."

Paul says to Timothy,

"Do not be ashamed."

"Don't be ashamed to testify about our Lord. Don't be ashamed of me, His prisoner."

And then he says,

"Guard the good deposit

that has be entrusted to you."

What is he saying? He is saying, "Timothy, guard this gospel that is so despised by the world. Guard it! Stand there, defend it, protect it, and hold it out to the world. Don't be ashamed." And then, he says to Timothy,

"God did not give us a spirit of timidity.

He gave us a spirit of power."

What does that mean?

He gave us a spirit to carry on,

when the world laughs.

He gave us a spirit to stand up,

when the world tries to cut us down.

He gave us a spirit to speak the truth,

when the world does not want to hear it.

He gave us a spirit to be victorious

in the face of death.

Paul is exhorting and encouraging Timothy. And, this is not just for Timothy. This is Holy Scripture. And so, the Holy Spirit intends this to be an encouragement for you and me, today. By God's grace, for two thousand years, and it is by God's grace, there have been people who have not been ashamed, no matter what reviling things came their way, have not been ashamed to say, "This is who God is. This is what I believe." The world may laugh and mock, but the world has not made them ashamed and they spread that Gospel. And, you and I are recipients of that.

Now, I am especially talking to the youngest generation here today. Soon, it will be your task (well, it already is), but, even more so, when us ‘old folks’ are gone and not here to defend that, anymore. Just like Timothy's grandmother, and then his mother, had believed. Next, it was left to Timothy. Paul had held forth the Gospel and now it was left to Timothy, young Timothy. One day, it will be left to the young generation here, to stand up, and proclaim the Gospel.

I will be blunt about this. To all of us here, no matter what age you are, the world will try to make us ashamed, ashamed of this view of God. If the world came into this church service right now, do you think they would be impressed? I don't think so. They would say, "Well, you sang some hymns, some boring hymns about Jesus. You read some scripture readings, kind of boring scripture readings. You confessed your sins. You are listening to a sermon, a simple, plain sermon about God and His Word. And the God you talk about came poor, weak, and lowly. He suffered and died. He looked weak and did not look like much. And now, you say He comes to you in water and the Word? You say He comes to you in bread and wine, with the Word of God? You say He comes to you through the spoken Word of God?"

The world would not be impressed by that. The world may come here. Maybe you invite a friend here and they are not impressed at all. They would have you ashamed, thinking, "Oh that is my God? That is who I believe?" And they would have you walk away from that, and say, "There is nothing glitzy. There is nothing special. There is nothing powerful about that."

Or, you know that it can happen at work, in school, and in the neighborhood, that you, as a Christian, who believes in Jesus and wants to stand and defend that Gospel message, and live for Him,

you may get rejected.

You may get laughed at.

You may not get invited to people's homes.

You may not be involved in conversations.

You may not get to go the movies with somebody, because it is a movie that you do not believe is an appropriate movie.

Whatever it may be, you know the world is going to try to get you to be ashamed and walk away from Jesus.

And, when you are going through a cross in your own life, (like Paul was, or like Timothy would later go through), the world and the devil is going to whisper in your ear and say, "Look at your God. He is a weak God. Unbelievers are happier than you are. Unbelievers have more money than you do. Unbelievers have better health than you do. Unbelievers have more friends than you do. Why would you believe in such a God?"

They are going to try to get us to be ashamed, and walk away from that Gospel.

So, where do we get the power, the power to stand up and defend the Gospel? I love what Paul did for Timothy and he does the same for us, under divine inspiration. Paul did not look at Timothy and say, "Stand there and be a man. Buck up under it. Look to your own strength."

He did not say that. Where did Paul direct Timothy? He directed to Timothy right to what is inside this 'box'. In the midst of telling him to be unashamed, and not to have a spirit of timidity he says,

"Join with me

in suffering for the Gospel,

by the power of God."

And now, all he does is lay out what this is all about. It is simple. It is plain. It does not look like much to the world, but here is what he says,

"By the power of God,

who saved us and called us to a holy life

not because of anything we have done,

but because of His own purpose and grace."

Paul says, "Look Timothy, (look all of us out there), it is not because of anything that you have done that God saves you. It is His own grace, His own power. You are a sinner. You can't save yourself. You cannot save yourself. God has done everything, everything, to save you, by His own grace and power."

Paul takes us all the way back into eternity, and all the way forward into eternity when he says,

"This grace was given us

in Christ Jesus

before the beginning of time."

Before the world was ever created, God already knew that we would fall into sin. He loves you so dearly, He already from eternity determined that He would send His Son, wrapped up in swaddling clothes, later beaten, tortured, and then dying on a cross, to pay for your sins. He already planned that, before the world was ever created. And, now it has been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus - Christ Jesus.

Jesus had come.

He has died on the cross for our sins,

and risen from the dead.

And, it says,

"He has destroyed death

and brought life

and immortality

to light through the Gospel."

Jesus has

destroyed death!

Jesus has

rendered death powerless!

Whatever the world can do to us, even taking our life, is powerless, because when I die, I am going to Heaven because of Jesus and so are you. And, if the world takes my life, I gain the victory. The victory is ours, Paul is telling us. Through Jesus, we have immortal life. It is only that Gospel, only that Gospel that can motivate anyone in this room to say, "I am unashamed. I am unashamed of my Savior Jesus. Look at what He did for me. He is everything to me."

Let's dive into that Gospel day, after day, after day, and be encouraged. Let's look at the witness of a man like Paul, a man like Timothy, and of our Christian brothers who stand up for the Gospel. And let's be unashamed, as we guard this deposit that has been entrusted to us!

Amen.