In English, We Have a Saying: No Pain, No Gain

A Sermon on 2 Timothy 2

For our second sermon from 2 Timothy, we consider what is admittedly an unpopular topic. If you are going to be a minister of the gospel, you can count on hardship and suffering. For pastors, the issue is not whether you will suffer, but when and how. Perhaps even more difficult to accept is that suffering is God’s means to bless your ministry. In other words, God intends for you to undergo trials and tribulations.

When you’re in the ministry, though, it is hard to remember and believe this truth. We pastors don’t like resistance and disappointment any more than anyone else. How do you, in the midst of guaranteed problems, persevere in your calling as Christ’s servant? Second Timothy can answer that question. No one is more qualified than Paul to talk to us about suffering in the ministry.

So far as we know, 2 Timothy is the last letter that Paul wrote, and he wrote it from prison. Verse 9of our text tells us that Paul was in chains and being treated like a criminal. In fact, Paul expected to die soon because of his unflinching witness to Jesus Christ. In the books of Acts and 2 Corinthians, we learn more about Paul’s trials as a pastor. Quite simply, he had endured his share of physical and verbal abuse. He even had once been stoned and left for dead. When Paul talks about suffering as a minister, he has the bruises and scars to confirm his expertise on the subject. On top of the opposition, he had a pastor’s heart that caused him more turmoil. Paul genuinely cared about people and identified with them in their circumstances. Their failures and struggles tore him up inside, and he agonized over them. Through all of this pain and sorrow, Paul remained faithful.

Over the years, though, Paul saw ministers shrink back from the demands of the ministry. In chapter 4, he singles out Demas who had left the ministry because of love for the world. Paul doesn’t elaborate, but it’s not hard to get into Demas’ mind. Demas saw what had happened to Paul and decided that the ministry was not for him. Other people lived better and seemed to have more satisfaction in their work. They enjoyed more social and professional respect. They had more money and could buy more finery and luxury. They didn’t have to fear for their lives during Nero’s reign of terror. Demas left the ministry to pursue these other opportunities and avoid persecution. They were more real to him than the crown of righteousness that Paul mentions in 4:8.

Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, a young minister with weighty responsibility in Ephesus. Paul didn’t want Timothy to become another Demas. He knew that the ministry could chew up Timothy and spit him out. Of course, this personal letter to Timothy has become part of the New Testament. As a book of the Bible, 2 Timothy is now God’s Word to you. What this means is that Paul doesn’t want you to become another Demas. He knows that the ministry has the potential to erode your highest hopes and grittiest determination.

On more than one occasion, Paul mentions how people have deserted him. Not only Demas but also all of Asia has abandoned him. He doesn’t offer details about the Asian Christians, but let me say this. If you are going into the ministry, you can expect to feel lonely and abandoned. We say in English that you can please some of the people some of the time. You can never please everyone, and even those you do please can quickly turn on you. People in churches put unrealistic expectations on ministers. They will blame you for problems that their own sins or negligence have created. You will pour your energy, emotion, and time into people, and they will break your heart. They will criticize you, go somewhere else, or force you to leave. All of this ingratitude and disloyalty can make you consider deserting the ministry too. So what keeps you going?

Look at verse 8. Notice what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t tell you, “Don’t be like Demas.” It doesn’t urge you to try harder. There’s no British stiff upper lip that takes life as it comes. You’re not told to grin and bear it. Paul doesn’t liken life to a box of chocolates, meaning that you never know what you’re going to get. These approaches only remind you of how limited you are. They offer no hope of redemption.

Rather, verse 8 points you to Jesus. Paul refers to Jesus as a descendant of David who was raised from the dead. As a descendant of David, Jesus was human and a royal heir to David’s throne. He was also the Messiah who had to suffer for the sins of his people. In fact, Jesus reigned by dying. His atoning death broke the power of sin in the lives of his people and set them free. Paul has already referred to Jesus as the Savior who has destroyed death. As one raised from the dead, Jesus received God’s approval. God accepted his atoning sacrifice and exalted him to the highest place. Life is now possible where the entrapment of death once prevailed.

Who would think, though, that victory and glory could come through suffering and death? Our world bestows its highest prizes on those who look like winners, not losers. God simply doesn’t do things the same way that we do. What appears to be the bleakest defeat in history, the cross, is actually God’s finest moment. God in the person of Jesus suffers humiliation that leads to exaltation. A pattern runs throughout the Bible: God’s servants suffer. Their weakness showcases God’s greatness and advances his redemptive plan. We as God’s servants often don’t understand how God is at work in our trials. All the suffering and frustration usually seem pointless. Yet, God works behind the scenes to accomplish good that we cannot foresee.

Verse 9 contrasts Paul’s chains with the freedom of God’s Word. God seems to delight in working through human weakness and limitation. Nothing is impossible for him. When we despair that all is lost, he’s on the move working out his will. How do we know this? God’s own Son hung despised and rejected on a cross; nevertheless, God accomplished our redemption through this most pathetic of men.

What does this truth mean for your perseverance in a vocation that often wants to destroy you? The relation between your suffering and the effectiveness of your ministry is not one of contrast. You donot suffer or succeed. Rather, the relationship between suffering and success has to do with cause and effect. God uses your suffering to prosper your work for Christ and build his kingdom. Somehow he draws others to himself as they witness your trials. They see how his grace is sufficient for you, and they realize their need of Jesus. Often you are not even aware of how God is working though you for the benefit of others.

It is this pattern of redemptive suffering that keeps you from giving up like Demas. You realize that Jesus has loved you and saved you by this pattern. Jesus has not asked you to do anything that he has notdone for you. Rather, you take your place in the grand narrative of God’s redemptive program. On the basis of what God has already done in Jesus, you have confidence that he will redeem the labor of your hands. So you endure everything that God throws your way and trust him to bring good out of it—not only for you but also for others.

That said, I have to make another point about your perseverance. You don’t get to decide how God redeems the labor of your hands. You are not in control of the fruits of your ministry. The Lord’s ministers persevere out of gratitude and leave the results to God. You rely on the grace of God that saved you to keep sustaining you. You hope, along with Paul, that God will be faithful to preserve what you have done for his kingdom. If you cannot leave the results with God, then you run the risk of giving up. Your circumstances will overwhelm you and distort what you believe about God. Doubt, bitterness, or envy may convince you that God is not good or able. Paul does not mince words at this point. You cannot walk away from God without consequences. He will not allow you to deny that he can prosper your labor for his glory. He will not agree with you that he is not who he says he is. If you abandon God out of disbelief, then he will disown you.

Verses 12 and 13 are sobering words; however, they are not meant to terrify Timothy or you. Instead, they reinforce Paul’s encouragement of Timothy and you as ministers. God knows no limitations. The proof is what he has already done for you through the suffering of Jesus. To survive the hardship of pastoral ministry, you have to believe that truth. If you stop believing that truth, then you will walk away and have no one to blame but yourself.

For those of you who are new here, welcome to seminary. For you veterans, welcome back. The Lord has blessed you with an opportunity to study formally for ministry in Christ’s church. Let’s not have any rosy or idealized expectation of what lies ahead for you. Seminary is hard, and the ministry is even harder. You will face the temptation to give up and search for an easier life elsewhere. Nevertheless, the grace of God that has saved you will be sufficient for your every need. God will display his power through your limitations.