Real-life saints

 

⁹ Do your best to come to me quickly, ¹⁰ for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. ¹² I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.

¹⁴ Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. ¹⁵ You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

¹⁶ At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.  2 Timothy 4:9-16

We human beings, foolish and feeble as we are, easily look for heroes. It may be a favourite sports star or pop idol. It may be someone we get drawn to in more serious areas, history, perhaps, or politics. And it may be in the church – a favourite preacher, pastor or writer who, as we see it, can do no wrong. (I knew an elderly minister when I was young whose mode of dress was very out-dated even at that time: pin-stripe trousers, wing-collar, waistcoat, the lot. And - would you believe it - young men in his church, as well as lapping up his preaching, also took to imitating his dress.)

We all know that we should worship God alone, that our focus should be firmly on Christ. But such is our lack of security that we unwittingly gather to ourselves human props who make us feel better. It’s usually pretty harmless, perhaps, but in extreme cases it could lead to us going seriously off the rails.

I can’t think of any Bible character more prone to this kind of treatment in today’s church than the apostle Paul. Not that he would have wanted it, of course. God forbid! - just see the horror with which he and his friend Barnabas responded to the idolatry which the people of Lystra treated them with (Acts 14). I love Bible passages such as 2 Timothy 4:9-18, passages which show us Paul in his weakness and sheer unadorned humanness. They’re included in scripture, I suspect, as a warning to us: “By all means admire and respect such people - but be careful; keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus!”

If we skim through these verses I think we find super-saint Paul portrayed in down-to-earth human terms, the mere man he was: no halo round his head, and no pedestal under his feet. And as such he can be a real challenge to us lesser disciples.

1.   He could feel lonely: “Do your best to come to me quickly… Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia…” and then the rather plaintive little note: “Only Luke is with me”. All right, I may be reading more loneliness into his words than he really felt. But it’s very clear that he valued and appreciated his friends and missed them when they weren’t around.

Is there a word here for us about our friendships? Are we sometimes guilty of taking them for granted? We enjoy the pleasure of receiving the benefits of friendship – but what about also giving those benefits? Is it largely a one-way journey? The question that matters most is not “Do I have good friends?” but “Am I a good friend to others?”

2.   He knew the pain of being let down: “Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica”.

Oh. Fancy anyone “deserting” Paul! Who was Demas, and what went wrong with him? What did “loving this world” mean in his case? The answer to both questions is simple: we don’t know. All we have is the briefest of mentions from obviously happier times (Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24). But, well – it happens.

One of the first lessons we learn in the Christian life is that it carries its weight of hurts and disappointments: the enthusiastic conversions that fizzle out; the eager companions in some form of ministry who run out of steam; the rock-solid friend who suddenly shocks us by giving in to temptation. Such things go deep. But let’s beware – it’s just when we’re feeling low and perhaps a little self-pitying that we need to examine ourselves for the times we have been a disappointment to others.

We have no idea if Demas was ever restored, but who knows? What we do know is that the tragic story of Judas Iscariot can never be erased. But whatever, here’s an idea for us: how about setting aside a concentrated prayer-session for the Demases we have known? There could be some wonderful surprises coming our way!

3.   Paul is flesh and blood like the rest of us: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas”. I picture Paul (in prison, remember) sitting at a desk as he writes this letter, and looking up at his friend Luke on the other side of the room: “Luke, is it just me or is the weather beginning to turn a bit chilly? Now, what did I do with that cloak…”

Earlier verses make it clear that he didn’t expect to live long, so that a little home comfort (not that he was actually at home, of course) would have meant a lot. (Let’s also notice, especially those of us who lead and preach, that he asked for some reading and writing matter as well: keep up the study!).

4.   Paul refuses to give in to anger or a spirit of revenge: “Alexander the metal-worker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him…” (implying, “So I won’t”.) The same thought recurs in verse 16: “At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them”.

A truly Christlike sentiment (“Father, forgive them – they don’t know what they are doing”: Luke 23:34).

Exactly who this Alexander was no-one can be sure, and it doesn’t matter anyway. But remember that Paul was there when Stephen was stoned to death, and may have heard his dying words, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Forgiving those who hurt us in some way may not be easy: but it alone is the way of Christ. Are any of us harbouring grudges or nursing bitterness? It’s time pray for grace to wash it all away.

So… the very human, weak Paul. Looking at him in this light somehow makes the great apostle even more attractive, don’t you think?

Father, I’m aware of being really a very ordinary person, and I have no desire to be anything else. But I delight in the way you take the damaged goods of human nature and turn them into something beautiful in the likeness of Christ. I consecrate myself to you afresh. Please make of me what you please! Amen.