Keep That Train Chugging!

2 Timothy 3:10-4:5

September 26, 2004

 

1.  Last Sunday we took an imaginary train ride on our journey of faith, based loosely on the train ride Richard and I had taken the week before, and more strongly on 2 Timothy 2:8-15.  It was all fun and with absolutely no danger.  Our only decision as we rode the Eureka Springs Express was where to sit.  Should we face the back of the passenger car watching where we had been, or face the front of the car watching where we were, or should we climb up into the engine to really see where we were going.  Likening that train ride to our own faith journeys as Christians, we realized we had the same three decisions.  We could look backward where we’ve been and say we have all the faith we need; we could look forward and deceive ourselves into believing we actually know where we’re going and really are doing what God wants us to do; or we could climb up into the engine of our “Faith Journey Train.”   Up in the cab, we could get counsel from the “fireman” Paul as he shoveled chunks of advice to keep the train moving along the track, and we could talk to “engineer” Jesus as he kept a close eye on the rails laid down by God.  Last week we rode this imaginary train on our journey of faith.  It was a fun ride; and it was easy.  

 

2.  I’ve only been on one other train trip as an adult, and on that trip I realized how dangerous a train trip can be!  We boarded the Grand Canyon Railway, and rode 65 miles to the rim of the Grand Canyon, then another 65 miles back.  This was a 150-mile train “trip” quite unlike the 2-mile train “ride” on the Eureka Springs Express.  We left the station in Williams, Arizona , and rode in restored antique train.  The huge steam engine was authentic.  Behind it, a coal car followed obediently with its stash of coal.  Behind the coal car were several old passenger cars, and finally the little red caboose.  As we chugged away from the station, billows of smoke polluted the pure Arizona sky.  The trip itself was great–beautiful scenery, pleasant weather (another passenger car with no air conditioning!), and good company.  But half-way between Williams and the Grand Canyon , we came face to face with danger.

 

3.  “Bad men” robbed our train!  It happened so quickly that no one saw the two men galloping on horses, headed straight for us.  Riding alongside the train, they sprang off their horses and landed on the platform between two of the cars, then bullied their way into our car!  Bandanas concealed their mouths and noses, and hats covered their heads.  All we could see were their beady little eyes peeping over the bandanas.  They whipped out their pistols and told us to hand over our money and jewelry.  We figured we were in the middle of a Wild West Show, but we weren’t going to take any chances!  The children, especially, sat in their seats and did not move.  But about that time the sheriff came through the other door and took care of those awful train robbers.  He handcuffed them and led them away.  We continued our journey amazed at the lengths some people will go to make us think our train was riding through the Wild West 100 years ago.  At the same time, though, we also realized how dangerous it was to ride the train back then.

 

4.  That was then.  Further back than that, Paul didn’t know about trains or train robberies and the dangers for passengers.  But he knew what dangers lay ahead for Christians.  And he knew his time was coming to an end.  Someone would need to take over for him.  One of the main reasons he wrote this letter was to prepare his young partner Timothy; caution him so he would remain strong in the face of the dangers in his day, no matter what happened.  There were more than a few dangers! 

 

5.  One danger was the times in which they lived.  They were “distressing times” (2 Tim 3:1-4); hard, difficult days.  “These last days” he called them.  Most interpret the phrase to mean the End Times.  But we know now that the End Times did not come, and this phrase can also be interpreted the “most recent days” which makes more sense.  Whatever the phrase means, those days were not pleasant for Christians!  Paul lists the dangers.  Instead of “loving God and neighbor and self” as Jesus had commanded, some people loved only themselves; instead of giving tithes to God and offerings to the Church, some people kept all their money for themselves; instead of exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control [Galatians 5:22-23]), some people were ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable [rigid], slanderers, profligates [grossly self-indulgent], brutes, haters of good, unreliable, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; As Eugene Peterson so colorfully puts it, they are “addicted to lust and allergic to God.  They make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they are animals” (The Message, page 2171).  For too many people, those were accepted behaviors of the time.  Paul did not want Timothy and his friends would be caught up in their behavior.  KJV says “From such turn away.” NRSV reads “Avoid them!”  Peterson says “Stay away from these people.”  Distressing times were a danger to Christians.

 

6.  Another danger was persecution (2 Tim 3:12, 13).  Paul knew all too well what lay in store for those who followed Christ!  Paul himself watched as Stephen was stoned to death; The Book of the Acts of the Apostles lists all the obstacles Paul and the others met as they moved about that part of the world spreading the Good News.  Some people just don’t want good news!  Christianity threatened Jew and Gentile alike, and the result was not a pretty picture.  Christians were beaten, flogged, and cast into prison; some were even killed by crucifixion, in much the same way Jesus died.  Those who were not beaten were ostracized—they could not come together to pray and study and worship in any public place.  They had to meet secretly, sometimes even in underground caverns—the catacombs.  Being a Christian in those days was risky business.  Was Timothy up to the task?  Did he have the courage to hold on to his faith if he were to be persecuted?  Persecution was a constant danger.

 

7.  Still another danger came from the heretics who hung around the Christians (2 Tim 4:3, 4).  There were the Docetics who did not believe Jesus was truly human, and therefore did not actually suffer and die.  And there were the Marcionites who ignored any writings that quoted the Old Testament—only a small part of Luke’s gospel was their “Bible.”  And there were the Gnostics who believed the earth and everything on it (including people) was evil, so the All-Father would have to send a redeemer to come whisk away only the ones who had a little spark of good in them.   Those who believed these heresies were often friends of Christians, very respectable people, and would be very subtle in their persuasion.  They did not wear signs around their necks that read “I AM A HERETIC.  DO NOT BELIEVE ANY THING I SAY.”   Newer Christians who did not have a firmly-grounded mature faith could be swayed by the heretics, and in turn teach those heresies to other new Christians.   Heretics posed an even greater danger than ungodly behavior and persecution.

 

8.  That was then; this is now.  You would think these dangers had lessened through the years, but not one of them has even grown weaker, much less disappeared!  Century after century, the Church and its members have had to battle every danger that Paul described to Timothy.  Paul’s words to Timothy are a caution to the Church.  Think about it!  Hasn’t there been someone in every century who believed that events of their days signaled the end of all time?  Yes, there have, but the world is still turning.  “The End” hasn’t happened yet.  What about persecution?  Every century finds people persecuting the Church.  The persecution we know in America is not the violent beatings and imprisonment that Paul knew, but it is persecution nevertheless.  And every day each one of us struggles with pulls and tugs from the world around us.  Just beyond this wall, Christianity is experiencing hard times right this very minute!  Somewhere un-Christ-like behavior is rampant, Christians are being persecuted, and heretics are distorting our beliefs.  The Church is in danger; dangers far more threatening than masked bandits on a train!

 

9.  Let’s get back on that train, the imaginary Journey of Faith Train.  What if the Christian Church were made up of individual passenger trains, each train a congregation, all of them on a dangerous journey?  How would we protect our congregations’ train?  There are those who have been determined to harm the church and its members throughout the history of Christianity, just as there have been those intent on harming trains and passengers throughout the history of “traindom.”  Compare protecting the church with protecting a railway. The train industry had to learn to protect itself.  Train companies have merged together and modernized their operations.  Those that didn’t merge with another company or modernize their operations have faded away completely.   Trains don’t have the influence they once had.  Those who have survived are still chugging on down the track, with airplanes flying overhead in the skies and wheeled vehicles driving alongside them on the roads. 

 

10.  What will happen to this “train” called The Christian Church?  It has undergone tremendous changes in its two thousand year history.  Like the railways, the Church has seen divisions and mergers; some have refused to change and are on the brink of oblivion.  The Church’s influence is not as great as it once was; now Christians share this world’s space with other religions.  What is the Church’s future?  What about St. Andrew’s?  In another 50 years, what will people be able to say about St. Andrew’s?  Do the passengers on this train have a strong enough faith?  And what about the Presbyterian Church ( USA )?  What will it look like in another 100 or 200 years?  Christianity itself is 2000 years old.  What will people be able to say about the Christian Church in the year 4004?

 

11.   I hope you realize how important each one of you is to the future—not only the future of St. Andrew’s and the whole Presbyterian Church (USA), but to all of Christianity!  Every one in this room is a passenger riding a train that is part of an enormous “railway company” called The Church!   If you earnestly want to be a Christian in whatever time you have left, you will take your own train trip seriously.   Here is a question for you to reflect on during the next few moments:  When you reach your destination station, what can you say you did to keep the Christian train chugging down the track?