Fr Matthew Reese

Dear Friends in Christ,

For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all—this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument. (from 1 Tim. 1:18-2:8)

Today’s Epistle reading, from the First Letter to Timothy, is a discourse on the nature of Christian discipleship, and it is heady stuff. The author—traditionally believed to be Saint Paul, though that attribution is now suspect—writes with a tone that is at times brutally severe. For instance, he references his excommunication of two former disciples saying,

“By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith; among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme.” 

Timothy and his brethren surely knew—though we are now left to imagine—the precise nature of Hymenaeus and Alexander’s blasphemy.

We know from 2 Timothy 2:16-18 that Hymenaeus, at least, was a false teacher, telling the faithful that the General Resurrection had already come and gone. (You can imagine the alarm this would have caused the faithful, patiently waiting for Christ to return in his glory!) But the vociferousness Paul’s language (“their talk will eat its way like gangrene”) suggests that their failings were moral as well as doctrinal.

If this is how not to be a Christian, Paul contrasts it with a model of Christian virtue:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Paul’s exhortation is that we pray, and that we pray unceasingly. Not just for our own needs, not just for those in our family, or our church, but for those who are distant from us, even kings and those of high degree. (Remember this was a time of active persecution of Christians). 

God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” and he desires that we work to that end. Serving, preaching, praying.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Matthew