Serve God Anyway

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And I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea anyway. And then a couple of weeks ago, my son and I were in the truck one day, and my older son, and we have some of our best conversations just driving down the road. And I forget how it even came up, but I let him in on the secret that as an adult, I don’t have everything figured out.

Maybe you didn’t want your kids to know that. Kids, your parents might have it all figured out. I don’t.

And it’s easy to make it look like we’ve got it all figured out, like we know everything, we know how to handle everything, but I just don’t. And maybe my parents did, or maybe my parents dealt with the same thing I do. But I told Benjamin that when he was born, I looked at him when we brought him home, and I thought, how am I supposed to keep this thing alive?

I’ve never done this before. I said, and you learn as you go, and you go on day by day, and you learn a little something extra as you go along. And I said, but just as I get one of you figured out, and if you didn’t do the math earlier, we have five.

And none of them are even similar to each other. So what works on one has no effect on the others, right? And I told him, as soon as we get you figured out, then we try that same thing next week, and you’ve changed.

So we’ve never raised a Benjamin at this age. We’ve never raised a Madeline at this age before. We’ve never, this is all new.

I said, and a lot of things in life are that way. Marriage is that way. Now, my wife is a delight, as am I, right?

But sometimes even with two delightful people, there are challenges. And you think, we’ve never been here before. And nobody goes into marriage knowing exactly how to do all of this.

We learn as we go. And I told him, I said, on one hand, that may scare the life out of you. On the other hand, it may take some pressure off to think you don’t have to compare yourself to all these people that you think have it figured out.

They just figured out how yesterday worked and went from that. But we could apply that to a lot of situations in life, and we could look at parenting, we could look at marriage, we could look at our jobs, and any given day we could say, I’m not cut out for this. But as I told him, there are some things in life that we look at and say, I’m not cut out to do this, but we have to do it anyway.

It’s just part of life. We have to do this anyway. I don’t, well, I guess I could, you know, walk out on the kids, but I’m not going to.

I guess I could walk out on Charlo, but I’m not going to. I guess I have that option. But no, this is what I signed up for.

This is what God put me here to do. And the same thing is true of our Christian life. When God has called each of us to do something, when God has created each of us to fulfill a purpose in His plan, we could easily look at the things that He’s called us to do and say, I’m not cut out for this.

I’m not wired for this. I don’t know how to do this. And we could say, then I’m just not going to do it.

But we’re supposed to look at those things that God’s called us to do. And even when they’re difficult, even when we think I’m not cut out for this, we’re supposed to do it anyway. And that’s what Paul is addressing in a letter to Timothy that we’re going to look at this morning, 1 Timothy chapter 4.

And if you haven’t turned there with me, please do. If you don’t have your Bible or you can’t find 1 Timothy, it’ll be on the screen for you here. But once you find it, if you’d stand with me as we read together from God’s Word, we’re going to look at about four or five verses here.

And you’re going to see this and you’re going to think, oh, he’s just talking to young people because the kids are here today. No, no, this applies to all of us, and I’ll tell you why in just a moment. 1 Timothy chapter 4, starting in verse 12, says, let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.

Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance by the laying on of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things, be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all.

Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching. Persevere, excuse me, persevere in these things. For as you do this, you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

And you may be seated. As I said, we can easily look at the things God has called us to do, and we can always find reasons not to do what God has called us to do. If we look hard enough, we can find excuses, if we want to use that word.

I feel like reasons is a little nicer. Reasons is a little less accusatory. But if we want to be honest, I can find excuses not to do anything.

They may not be good excuses, but I can find them. We can always find reasons not to do what God has called us to do. And that’s what Paul addresses here at the beginning of verse 12 when he says, let no one look down on your youthfulness.

Timothy was significantly younger than the apostle Paul. And that became a challenge for him in ministry. Now, a lot of times we will look at this verse and say, let no man despise your youth.

Don’t let anybody look down on your youth. and we take it as a verse that says, young people can do great things in the kingdom of God. And that’s true, but that’s really not the point here.

His youth, especially in contrast to the apostle Paul, was something that people would look down on and say, him, that guy? They would have compared him to Paul who was substantially older and said, I don’t want that guy. I want the guy with some life experience.

I want the guy who knows more. As a matter of fact, I saw something on Facebook this week where people were debating whether we should listen to any pastor or teacher who’s under the age of 40. I thought, well, I guess I can go home for a couple years and come back.

I know I know more now than I did when I started doing this in my teens. As a matter of fact, I can’t believe anybody let me preach in my teens when I look back on some of the things I said. I know more now than I did, and I know there’s room to grow, but I don’t think I’m completely ignorant of what God’s Word says.

But they were looking at Timothy as though he would be a poor substitute for the Apostle Paul. They were comparing him. And Timothy, in all likelihood, looked at his youth, and he was probably in his late 30s by this time, was looking at his youth, especially in contrast to the Apostle Paul, and said, what am I doing here?

I’m not cut out for this. Timothy was a young pastor. He pastored in what’s now Turkey.

He pastored in a hostile area. As a matter of fact, history tells us that he was run out of the city of Ephesus. He was beaten and run out and then went back and continued to preach in spite of the fact that he was awfully young.

But he had this challenge in his youthfulness of saying, people aren’t going to take me seriously. Nobody’s going to listen to me anyway. I’m not cut out for this.

Maybe I just shouldn’t do this. And this is the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, giving him the encouragement of saying, if God has called you to do this, don’t let anybody look down on your youthfulness, but go on and be an example anyway. And we seize on the idea of this being about youthfulness, but all of us have one of these challenges at least. Whatever God has called you to do, if you are a believer, if you belong to Jesus Christ, God has called you to do something in service to Him.

and each of us has some reason why on paper we should not be able to do that. Something that in our minds we think, I wouldn’t be any good at that. I have struggled with that for years, just doing what I do, and I don’t claim to be an expert or the best in the world at preaching or pastoring, but I’m probably the last person I would have picked to do this job.

I grew up with a speech impediment that sometimes if I get going real fast, you may still be able to pick out, but as a kid I would not have thought, oh yeah, I’ll be up and talk in front of people. Now, most of the time, I can talk in front of people anytime. It’s one-on-one, I’m a train wreck, right?

That’s the other thing. I’m kind of socially awkward, right? I was expecting my wife to amen me right there.

And so looking at who I am, the idea of doing this job, God, really? I have all these reasons in mind of why I probably would not be the best person to pick for this, and yet God said, no, go do that. And we all have something that if God’s called us to serve him, we look at it and say, no, I don’t think so.

I don’t think that’s me. I can’t do this because of this reason. And when Timothy deals with that, when Timothy was struggling with this idea of his youthfulness, this challenge, especially in comparison to Paul, he was directed to go ahead and do it anyway.

It’s not just a lesson directed to young people. It’s directed toward anybody who struggles with this sense of not being able to do what God’s called him to do. The youth just happened to be Timothy’s issue, his shortcoming.

And it’s a problem when we look at our gifts and our abilities as the determining factor in what we do in God’s kingdom. It’s a challenge when we look at other people and compare ourselves to other people in God’s kingdom. What we should be looking at is what has God called us to do.

Some of you sitting out there this morning may be struggling with something you know God’s called you to do. And you’ve got all the reasons in the world like I have, like Timothy had, like Moses had when he said, I can’t talk in front of people. God said, fine, I’ll send Aaron.

Aaron can be your mouthpiece if you need it. I don’t recall any instance in Scripture where Aaron had to speak for Moses. God just equipped him to do what God called him to do.

You may be sitting there struggling with one of those issues and saying, God, I can’t because, because, because, because, because. Instead, look at what God’s called you to do and trust him to equip you. That’s why Paul instructed Timothy to serve God anyway.

Yes, you’ve got this issue of youthfulness. You’ve got this challenge where some people may not take you seriously. You’ve got this challenge where you may not feel like you’re up to the task.

Serve God anyway. That’s why he says in the second part of verse 12 Says in the second part of verse 12 But rather in speech conduct love faith and purity show yourself an example of those who believe Obedience to god ladies and gentlemen is more important than the obstacles that prevent it We all have those obstacles. We all have those things that stand in our way and they seem so big.

They seem so insurmountable They seem like they are the most important thing in our world And yet it’s obedience to god that matters far more than those God will move those out of the way when he’s ready or God will show you a way to work around them God will show you a way to work through them so regardless of how Timothy was going to be perceived by others in the churches in Ephesus and elsewhere Paul told him go on serving God anyway go on being obedient to what God’s called you to do anyway in speech, in conduct, in love, faith, in purity show yourself an example of those who believe and we could go through what each of those mean but I’d rather sum it up this morning and just say everything about what you do and who you are can be an example of those who believe. Not only could Timothy serve, but Paul says God could use his service as an example for others.

So what if you feel like you’re less than? So what if you feel like you’re unqualified? Just step out and do what God’s called you to do.

And not only can you do it with his power, not only can you do it because he will equip you, but he will equip you to do it in such a way that it can even be an example to others. And he tells him how to do this. How is he supposed to be an example?

How is he supposed to obey? In his case, it was pastoring this church at Ephesus. And he tells him in verse 13, until I come, give attention to the public reading of scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.

Now for Timothy, his specific calling was to go and teach and shepherd that church. Now I dare say for most of you, that may not be specifically what you’re called to do. For some of you, it may be.

Especially some of you young people, God may call you into ministry one day to do this. And Lord willing, do it better than I’m doing. God may call you, and if he does, he’ll equip you for that.

And that was Timothy’s specific calling, to shepherd that church. And so he says, here’s what you’ve been called to do. God actually expects you to go and do it.

I mean, what a novel idea. God told us something because he expects us to actually do it. Any of you parents, do you tell your kids to do things just for the fun of it?

Hey, go clean your room just because I enjoy nagging you about it. No, we expect them to actually do it. It’s easier these things when none of my children are in here.

That never happens. We tell them these things because we actually want them to do it. God tells us, God calls us to do things because He actually wants us to do them.

And so He said, pay attention to the reading of Scripture. Read the Scripture. And by the way, as someone who was supposed to shepherd the church, don’t just go by your own opinion.

The Scriptures. Read the Scriptures. Preach the Scriptures.

Exhort and teach from the Scriptures. And here’s why He says this is possible. Because none of this had to do with Timothy and all his attributes and his talents and all the things that Timothy probably thought were important, all the things that you and I look at and say are important with us.

Well, I’m good at this. I’m not good at this. Here’s why he says this is possible in verse 14.

Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. And I don’t know that there was anything magical about the laying on of hands, but he says there is a spiritual gift within you. In other words, God has gifted you and equipped you to do what he’s called you to do.

And that gift has been noticed. It has been confirmed. It has been cultivated by the church.

We want believers around us who encourage us to seek the calling that God has placed on us and encourage us to follow those gifts that God has given. But he said, God has placed this gift in you. God has empowered this.

God has made this possible. And so what ultimately enabled him to serve was not his own personality, was not his own talents, was not his skills. It was the fact that because God called him, God had gifted him to do it.

And God may call you to do things in his service for his kingdom that you think, I can’t do that. God will equip you. If he’s called you to do it, he will equip you.

And this is where I go back to my own experience. again, not that I claim I’m the best, I am not the best preacher, but I look at where I started out just based on my own abilities. Oh my goodness.

I have, I have the church that I was a member of would record services for a tape ministry back in, you know, 20 years ago. I have tracked down as many of those tapes as I could find to make sure they never see the light of day. I mean, it was awful.

It was awful. But God gives you the gifts and you keep working out of the gifts that he gives you and equips you and somehow it works. And that’s the only reason why anybody ever comes to me after the service and says, hey, I got this out of what you were saying today.

That’s not me. That’s got to be the Holy Spirit. Because when I started and just doing it by my own abilities, I couldn’t preach my way out of a wet paper bag.

And it doesn’t matter what it is. If God has called you to do it, God will equip you for it. And I’m not just talking about pastoring.

Anything you do in ministry, anything you do for his kingdom. I take you back to the examples where I started in family life. I am not a perfect father.

I am not a perfect husband, but God has called me to be those things for my family, and I feel like I’m a whole lot better at it than when I started out. Because moment by moment, God gives you the grace. If you’ll just look for the gift of God and the equipping of God, he will give you the grace to do what he’s called you to do.

In those moments where your children are about to irritate the living daylights out of you. And you think, I don’t know how I’m supposed to parent these kids. Look to the Lord to gift you and equip you with what you need.

Same goes with marriage. Whatever we do that God has called us to do, God will equip us for. Just like Timothy was given this spiritual gift in verse 14.

And we need to understand why this is as we come to a close this morning. We need to understand why this is. Because one thing that we do at this church is we try to focus on the gospel.

Not a list of rules. Now, there are things the Bible tells us to do and not to do. But it’s not because we get close to God by checking off all the boxes and following all the rules.

The emphasis of the message is never, you go out and do this in order to be better. You go out and do this in order for God to be more pleased with you. You go out and do that.

The emphasis is on what Jesus Christ has done for us. And that’s why this is so important. Because it’s not a matter of just go out and be faithful and be obedient so you can be a better person.

Go out and try harder and work harder so that God will love you more. It doesn’t work that way. As believers, we desire to be obedient because it brings glory to our Lord.

Because it glorifies Him. He deserves to be glorified for all that he’s done for us. When you consider who we are, who the Bible teaches that we are apart from Jesus Christ, that we have sinned against a holy God.

That each of us is separated from God because of our sin. And that there is no amount of good we could do. There’s no amount of good works.

There’s no amount of religious rituals we could ever do to make ourselves right with God. There’s no way we could ever earn our way back into his good graces. Jesus Christ came and did all that was necessary for us.

Jesus Christ came and took responsibility for every sin that I’ve ever committed, for every sin you’ve ever committed, for everything we’ve ever done, thought, or said that displeased God. Jesus Christ, who was perfect and sinless, came and took responsibility for us and was punished in our place so that we could be reconciled to God, so that we could have peace with Him, so we could have a relationship with Him. Jesus Christ deserves to be glorified in everything that we say and do.

He deserves all the praise we could ever offer Him. and when we live out the calling that he has placed on our lives we are bringing him glory it’s not do these things because it’s the rules and we have to stick to the rules it’s we do these things because we want to give him the glory he deserves that’s why verse 15 says take pains with these things work at it not because it needs to be a struggle not because we want to be miserable but take pains with these things be absorbed in them so that your progress will be evident to all so that people see the growth. And not so they think, oh, he’s getting better, or what a good person he’s becoming.

But we’re able to reflect all that glory and say, it’s not me, it’s him. When they see the way we grow in what we do in service to the kingdom, when they see just the change that takes place in us on a daily basis as Jesus Christ changes us from the inside out, we reflect that glory back to him and say, it’s not me, it’s him. That he was able to take a sinner like this and make them into somebody that’s useful in service in the kingdom.

And so he says, pay close attention in verse 16. Pay close attention to yourself and your teaching. Persevere in these things, for as you do, you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.

One aspect of what he’s talking about here is as Timothy was working out his calling, as Timothy was doing the things that God called him to do, that Timothy at times felt like he was incapable of, he was not up to the task, and yet he did them anyway. He was ensuring salvation for those who heard him. He’s pointing people to Jesus.

He’s drawing people’s attention to Jesus Christ, who was then and still is the only way to salvation and peace with God. And so when you and I do what God’s called us to do, whether it’s a ministry you do in the church, whether it’s some kind of service to him outside these four walls, whether it’s living every day in service to your spouse, to your children, to your parents, whatever it is, as a reflection of your love for him, as we do those things and the world takes notice, we point people’s attention to the one who made it all possible, Jesus Christ. And we are walking billboards of what Jesus Christ is able to do in somebody as he transforms us from the inside out. And where that transformation starts is with recognizing that we’ve sinned against a holy God.

Recognizing what I said a moment ago, that there’s nothing any of us can do to earn our way into God’s good graces. Our sin had to be punished, and Jesus Christ came and took the punishment for us so that we could be forgiven, so that our slate could be wiped clean, so that we could have peace with God.