Tuesday of Trinity 4

But as for You...

2 Timothy 3 (ESV) But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 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 sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

“The last days” will be times of difficulty, St. Paul says. When is this? Today, and every past day since Jesus ascended into heaven! So let us not delude ourselves with nostalgia for “the good old days” or with utopian dreams of “progress.” The reality is, we live in “the present evil age” (Galatians 1:4) until Christ returns in glory.

This is foremost because of Satan: “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:12). In fact, the term Paul uses above for “difficulty” is only employed one other time in the New Testament, to describe “fierce” demon-possessed men: “When Jesus came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way” (Matthew 8:28). The devil never takes a holiday!

We see manifestations of the diabolical difficulties described by Paul all around us: “lovers of self” look out for #1, “lovers of money” exploit others, “proud, arrogant, abusive” language permeates social media, children who are “disobedient to their parents” behave the same way in schools, people are “ungrateful” for the blessings we enjoy in this good land, “unholy” folks desecrate morality, “heartless” parents and doctors murder the unborn, “unappeasable” special-interest groups rave on, etc.

But let’s get personal: how often have you “slanderously” gossiped, lost “self-control,” acted in a “brutal” manner toward your neighbor, didn’t “love” good but delighted in evil, “treacherously” betrayed a friend, behaved “recklessly,” swelled “with conceit,” loved pleasure rather than God, and dressed up your life with “the appearance of godliness” to hide your secret sins?

“Avoid such people,” says Paul. Lord, have mercy! Do we have to avoid ourselves?

No, while we can recognize some or all of these behaviors in ourselves, St. Paul is describing people who “oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.” In other words, unbelievers, who live in manifest impenitence, with their minds set “on the flesh”: “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:7-10).

 

Sinners we are, but in Christ, we have a Savior from sin, death, hell, and the flesh. Baptized into Christ, we have received the Holy Spirit to give us a new heart and a new mind, which seeks to “submit to God’s Law” by rejecting vice and embracing virtue. Of course, this happens in great weakness, which certainly keeps us humble, recognizing our need for constant repentance.

Since the world around us is in the hands of the Evil One, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 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 sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

There is great power in godliness, great power in using the Word and Sacraments, since the Holy Spirit works through them to help us daily put to death the Old Adam with his vices so that a new man may arise each day to live in newness of life. The world will reject the Means of Grace, but as for you, they “make you wise for salvation” and equip you “for every good work.”

Prayer: Merciful God, for freedom You have set us free through Christ’s liberating death and resurrection. In this freedom, teach us to live in the fruit of the Spirit given us in our Baptism that we may bear in our bodies the fulfillment of the Law as we love our neighbors as ourselves; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.