When the roll is called up yonder, it won’t be a list!

“I am mindful of…your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice….” (2 Timothy 1:5)  “You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermnogenes” (2 Timothy 1:15). 

A pastor friend sent a copy of his resume’ which I am passing along to a couple of preacher-hunting churches.  At the top, he posted a lovely picture of his family, and inside introduced their children in an interesting way: “Elizabeth the writer, Silas the Shooter, and Sarah the craft queen….”

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, which became the final epistle from his long ministry, he remembers certain individuals and is rather specific as to why.

Timothy he remembers as “my beloved son.”  These two men, the old mentor and the young protege, have a history.  In Acts 16:1 they meet and quickly bond spiritually.  Timothy accompanies Paul and Silas for the balance of their “second missionary journey.”  At various times as Paul writes to churches, Timothy is alongside him (2 Corinthians 1:1; Philippians 1:1;Colossians 1:1; and the two Thessalonian letters).

In that cold barren prison cell, Paul longed to see Timothy. He had prayed for him, taught him and later reminded him of what he had taught, and then wrote letters to him, all part of the mentoring and discipling process.  Their relationship seems to have been natural and not something they had to put on the calendar.

Some of the best fruit any minister will leave behind will be those called into the Lord’s service under his watchcare.

Lois and Eunice. Paul pays tribute to them for their sincere faith and the great job they did with their boy Timothy.

Can you think of women in history who are known to us simply because they raised a certain son or daughter?  When Jimmy Carter became president, the world soon learned of “Miss Lillian,” his amazing mother.  When I pastored in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the late 1980s, people were still telling stories of the mother of Billy Graham.  Abe Lincoln is said to have given credit for anything in his life “to my darling mother.”

Are you a mother?  It’s just about the highest calling imaginable, and perhaps the shortest way to change the world.  God bless you mothers.

My mother was Lois and my first Sunday School teacher was Eunice Martin (Nauvoo, Alabama).  I love that Paul singled out two women with those names.

Onesiphorus. A friend who comes in when all the world is going out is a keeper.  “He often refreshed me,” Paul says in 1:16.  I like that.  All around the Lord’s workers are people who wear them out and use them up. But once in a while a special friend comes along who contributes to his strength and courage, and does not subtract.  By the time they leave, the minister is energized all over again.

“He was not ashamed of my chains” (1:16) and “eagerly searched for me and found me” (1:17).  At critical times in your life, you will never forget who was there, who went the extra mile, who was faithful.

Paul claims for this brother the reality of Hebrews 6:10.  “God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love that you have shown toward His name in having ministered to the saints, and in still ministering.”  He prays that Onesiphorus will be granted mercy (1:16) and find mercy from the Lord “on that day” (1:18), and greets his entire household in 4:19.

And so many others…. (chapter 4)

Crescens has gone to Galatia.  Why? We will assume he’s on a mission. It fits with the others mentioned here.

Titus to Dalmatia.  This faithful brother had shown he could handle fighting brethren, so God (and Paul!) had used him in Jerusalem, in Corinthians, in Crete, and now in Dalmatia.  He was known to be “able, courageous and consecrated,” as one writer describes him.

Luke was with Paul. Hmmmm.  So, Paul is not entirely alone.  Good for you, Luke. As a physician and a loyal traveling companion on Paul’s journeys (see the “we” passages in Acts, beginning in 16:10 and continuing), he was good man to have around when one is stuck in Nero’s dungeon.

John Mark is “useful to me for service,” so Paul wants Timothy to bring him along.  This is the same young man who bailed out of the first missionary journey (Acts 15:36ff) and caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas. But Mark has matured and Paul has mellowed, so all is well.

Tychicus has been sent to Ephesus.  That being Timothy’s location, we assume he will be taking along this epistle. (Tychicus is found at numerous points of Paul’s ministry and was one of the good guys, always dependable. We owe them far more than we will ever know in this lifetime.)

Prisca and Aquila (4:19).  Paul has a long history with this husband-wife team, going back to his second missionary journey (see Acts 18:18ff). They were great teachers of the word and always had a church meeting in their home.

Erastus remained at Corinth.  Trophimus I left sick at Miletus (see Acts 20:13-38). So much for Paul as a faith healer (smiley face, please).

And we have greetings from others–Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia “and all the brethren” (4:21).  We’d like to say, “Hey Brother Paul.  You weren’t exactly alone in Rome after all, were you?”  (One last smiley-face)

Then, there are eight who made Paul’s bad list…

Phygelus and Hermogenes (1:15). “You are aware that all who are in Asia (that would be the province of Asia in modern day Turkey) turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.”

It’s not so much that these brothers and sisters in Christ walked away from him at a time he needed their support as it is how they did it.  And whatever else that means–we have nothing else in Scripture on this–that desertion was not of negligence but of full intent.  The two men singled out here are clearly the ringleaders and accountable to God.

Hymenaeus and Philetus (2:17).  “But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness and their talk will spread like gangrene.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus.”

Paul gives us an insight into what these trouble-makers were doing: “Men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and thus they upset the faith of some” (2:18).

In my lifetime, I’ve known of seminary professors who taught this very heresy and got by with it for ages.  I suppose their bosses–deans and presidents and trustees–did not want to (ahem) “stir up trouble” by rebuking them.  But Paul doesn’t mind calling them out for who they are and what they did.

Jannes and Jambres (3:8).  “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith; they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, as also that of those two came to be.”

There is a reason your Bible does not have an Old Testament reference to accompany these two men.  They are not named anywhere else in Scripture. One commentary writer says Jewish history had identified two of the ringleaders of Pharaoh’s magicians (see Exodus 7:11) by these names (probably nicknames, one meaning “one who seduces” and the other “one who makes rebellions”).  That same tradition says Jannes and Jambres tried to form a ripoff of Moses’ exodus by attracting people to themselves, and when that failed, they joined Moses and were among the multitude that left Egypt for Canaan.  The trouble they caused was ongoing until Moses called them out and dealt with it.  Once again, Paul knows stories that are common to his audience but which are unfamiliar to us.  (What should we make of that? Nothing.)

Beware the troublemakers in your midst, Paul is saying.  In time, everyone will recognize them for what they are.

Demas and Alexander (4:10,14-15)  “Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.”  “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching.”

Whatever Demas did in “loving” the world, the present culture which is almost always ungodly and self-centered, disqualified him from holding the trust of God’s people and they needed to know this.  Churches make no greater decisions than the leaders they select.

Alexander the coppersmith earns a pointed rebuke. Those who say we should not judge (always and forever misrepresenting Matthew 7:1) stumble at Paul doing this very thing.  But he is fulfilling his responsibility to those coming after him (like Timothy) and those looking to him for guidance (the church).

“Don’t call it a list!”

We are forever indebted to the great Fred Craddock for that reminder.  In a sermon on Romans 16, Paul names 36 individuals (or leaders of families or churches).  Pastors and teachers may skim over the chapter while teaching Romans, but Craddock urges us to slow down and remove our hats, for this is hallowed ground. These are individuals with significant ministries, and not “just a list.”

Craddock’s church once gave him and his wife a quilt the women had sewn with the names of members.  Years later, they would pull out that quilt and read those names and reminisce. “There’s Roger. He fought us on everything we ever proposed.  There’s Mary Alice. She bought me that coat our first winter.  And here is Mrs. Lawson, who made the best apple pie turnovers in the church….”

A local cemetery hosted the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall.  I drove down and walked out onto the green expanse where it had been set up.  Here and there, you would see someone kneeling in front of a small section, the tears flowing.  Flowers were on the ground before other sections.  This may have looked like “a list” to some of us, but to many others, those names represented a daddy, a son, a brother, or a daughter.

When the roll is called up yonder, don’t call it a list.

“Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, ‘The Lord knows those who are His'” (2 Timothy 2:19).

Thank you, dear Lord.

He knows my name.

Every step that I take, every move that I make,

Every tear that I cry.

He knows my name.

When I’m overwhelmed by the pain

Can’t see the light of day

I know I’ll be just fine.

He knows my name.

 

 

 

 

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