‘But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the holy scriptures.’ The opening words of this sentence, ‘But as for you’, don’t appear in my lectionary, but I think they’re important. Who is it that St Paul is contrasting to Timothy?

In the previous few verses, Paul has been speaking of a time when Christians are already seeing signs of opposition from the world around them. ‘Wicked people and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived.’ Perhaps we see some of the same things going on in our own time and feel there is very little we can do.

THE PRECIOUS GIFT WE HAVE RECEIVED

Timothy, in contrast, has something firm he can hold on to. He has learned from the scriptures, which can ‘instruct [us] for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.’ For him and for St Paul, the scriptures are what we now call the Old Testament, and it can come as a surprise to people that we can learn a great deal from the Old Testament – even about Christ himself.

I remember reading a commentary on the Psalms, by a Jewish scholar. It was excellent, but I was struck by what (to a Christian) felt like huge gaps – because of course he didn’t make the connection we do, with the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. We see traces of Jesus throughout the Old Testament. We read it in the light of the Gospel. In some of our traditions, this is symbolised in the Easter Vigil. Here, the Old Testament readings are proclaimed in a church which is in darkness except for the light of the Easter Candle. Each of the readings is followed by a prayer, which speaks about what God has done in ancient times – but goes on to say how much more he has done, since then, in Christ.

WITNESSING TO CHRIST IN SIMPLE WAYS

St Paul also reminds Timothy how much he has learned from the example of his family and of people like Paul himself. For me, this is an invitation to reflect on those who have had a similar role in my life: parents, teachers and outstanding members of my local community.

As a priest, I have had the privilege of seeing God at work in the lives of so many of the people I serve – people who would never think of themselves as anything special, let alone saints – but that is what they are. Particularly at funerals, I’ve heard people speaking about how the deceased had inspired them by their faith and the witness of their life. One good person’s life can touch so many others – and we are called to do the same.

Timothy is told to be ready to preach the word, in season and out of season. How many times have I failed to do the right thing, because I told myself the time is not right? The Gospel is counter-cultural in so many ways – and so we hesitate to speak out. To take one simple example, if we take seriously the words of Jesus, ‘Blessed are the poor’, this alone is completely mad, from a worldly point of view – whether we’re thinking of the poor in spirit or those who are materially poor. Even though we often fail, our taking the Gospel seriously is itself a powerful witness.

WITNESSING WITH PATIENCE

St Paul tells Timothy to teach ‘with complete patience’. We have to recognise that we, as well as the people around us, have a long way to go. Our witness is to be confident but also humble. What we have to offer the world is Jesus himself, who is ‘the way, the truth and the life’. At the same time, it isn’t all one-way. My experience of teaching others is that I learn a lot from them, too – from members of my congregation, from other Christian traditions and even at times from people of other faiths. Whether or not I fully share a person’s beliefs, I may well be inspired by their commitment and their way of life. And by engaging in dialogue, I am stimulated to rethink the way I understand my own faith, and so to deepen it.

So, to sum up, it seems to me that today’s second reading is telling us to have confidence in the faith that has been entrusted to us, through so many faithful witnesses. We can imitate their example and inspire others in our turn.

Main resource for preparation: The New Interpreter’s Bible, Abingdon Press, 1994-98.