Dear Pastor,
I want to encourage you in your efforts to preach the word this month. As much as you appreciate the privilege, we both know ministry can be exhausting and preaching can require a great deal of energy. Don’t grow weary. It’s important that you keep at it.
Receive this quintessentially Advent Christian charge from 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom…
This is as serious as it gets. It is in the presence of God and of Jesus that we must receive what Paul is about to say. But it is also in view of the future reality that Jesus will return and fully establish his kingdom. He is saying, “If you believe that Jesus is on his way, bringing ultimate judgment with him, then for Christ’s sake (in the holiest, most literal sense) do this:”
…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
Herald the word of God. Proclaim the gospel and the truths, hopes, promises, commands, directions, and warnings that flow from it.
Of course, do this from the Sunday morning pulpit, and do it well. But consider yourself pulpited everywhere you go. Be ready for this work “in season and out of season.” You are on call for preaching all the time.
Be spiritually alert enough that if a pastoral emergency wakes you in the middle of the night, you can find in your mind a biblical word of truth and comfort. Let the word of God dwell in you so richly that when you are hurrying to some important engagement, and a church member springs out of nowhere, ambushing you with a pastoral problem, you’re ready to quote the right verse and apply it to the need. Keep your preaching loaded and holstered at your hip.
Breaking the fourth wall for a moment, I fled my house this morning to write this devotion without interruption. As I arrived at my church office, people were there preparing for a funeral later today. So, I fled again, this time to a top-secret coffee shop where I don’t know anyone well enough for them to distract me from my work.
As I was sketching out the paragraphs above, an acquaintance walked in and, wouldn’t you know it, pulled up a chair and engaged me in a lengthy conversation. This felt out of season.
I’m ashamed to admit that I would normally clip this conversation short. But this time Paul glared at me from this passage in amazed frustration. “Why don’t you stop writing about preaching and, I don’t know, PREACH?” So, I closed my laptop, listened, and shared all the relevant biblical truth I could.
After all, it is possible that, one day in the future, maybe next week, my acquaintance and I will find ourselves in this coffee shop again. And just before our eyes meet, our ears will hear a cosmic cry of command and the sound of the trumpet of God. Down the road, the dead in Christ will begin to rise. Through the windows, we’ll see Jesus coming with the clouds and my opportunity to herald the word to this gentleman will permanently close.
Whether it feels like a good time or a bad time, it’s always the right time to proclaim gospel truth. Be primed. Be alert for the full range of word ministry you will be called to each day. Be ready to:
- Reprove (expose and convict)
- Rebuke (convince with evidence)
- Exhort (call and encourage)
Notice that these words imply a potentially tough crowd. Your people may sometimes be “a resisting medium which would call for something else other than soft and honeyed words—what might be likened to a sharp and two-edged sword.”* Sometimes faithful preaching will sting, but that’s better than scratching itchy ears (2 Timothy 4:3). Just make sure you go about it “with complete patience and teaching.” This is what you’re there for and this is what we all need.
You may be tired and/or retired, but God’s word is timeless. You may feel like you’re not very good at it and you’re probably right (none of us are all that great at it), but the Bible is unquestionably good, and you can rest assured that it will accomplish its purposes.
Advent Christian pastor, preach, preach again, then preach some more, because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
In Christ,
Matt
*19th century scholar Patrick Fairbairn’s comment on this verse in his 1&2 Timothy and Titus, page 384.
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