The point of my sermon this week is that as followers of Christ, we are to anticipate, prepare for and expect suffering for our faith convictions.  To live lives of witness and service in grateful response to the Gospel message means that we live against some of the cultural values - Values that tell us that we shouldn’t have to suffer - Values that tell us that we should live our lives in the pursuit of pleasure.  Paul’s second letter to Timothy seems to call us to prepare for suffering much like an athlete prepares for the great athletic event.  With the summer Olympics coming this summer, I wonder how many of us think that we have an opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games without any training.  Training for these games is full time work and essential to qualification.  So as we witness and serve in the name of Jesus Christ to this world, how should we train for that work?  Should it include training for suffering?  How do you react to the statement that suffering is not something separate from the Christian faith, but suffering is a part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

A portion of the Scripture that we didn’t talk about today is the last portion of the reading verses 11-13.  One of the most challenging sayings in this reading is “if we deny him, he will also deny us.”  Many scholars refer back to Matthew 10:33 where Jesus says: “Whoever denies me before men (others), I also will deny before my father who is in heaven.”  Jesus’ challenging words seem to be as present for Timothy as they should be for us.  But how do we reconcile these sayings with the promises of Christ?  Robert W Smith in his commentary on (Matthew ACNT) says that this line points to a future possibility of apostasy by those being baptized…this use of denial is a remote and almost unthinkable action…the verb denial appears elsewhere in the letters to Timothy and Titus but here alone, drawing from a baptismal hymn, does it apply to

apostasy from Christ.  The last part of this hymn juxtaposes a saying of faithfulness against one of denial, “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.  Some commentators attempt to separate apostasy from unfaithfulness; however it seems that Paul’s intent is to set this hymn with a warning against apostasy with a more Hebraic understanding of

God’s faithfulness which endures even through our unfaithfulness.  Do you see this juxtaposition or do you see Paul setting apostasy apart from unfaithfulness?