On the Installation of a Pastor
2 Timothy 4:1-5
Timothy was not a pastor of a local congregation, but rather Paul’s apostolic legate. He was Paul’s representative in the oversight of the churches that Paul founded. Still, much of what Paul has to say is applicable to the pastor we are installing today.
For the Pastor
So, to the new pastor, the apostle says this. Preach the word. Teach the faith. Evangelize the world. Do the work of ministry, a word whose basic meaning in Greek is service.
Preach. Teach. Evangelize. Serve. These might be called global tasks of ministry. They would be included in any list of pastoral responsibilities, and I have no doubt that your new pastor excels in them
But Paul reminds Timothy that preaching, teaching, evangelizing, and serving are not abstract tasks that one can do by oneself. One does not preach to the wind or teach an empty classroom. There are people on the other end of our preaching, teaching, evangelizing and serving. In the words of Jesus. The whole work of ministry about gathering, sending, and caring for God’s people in Jesus Christ.
Paul tells Timothy to convince, to rebuke, and to encourage. You might call these leadership tasks. My background is in the Army, where leadership is defined as “the ability to influence people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish the mission and improve the organization.” I think this is a pretty good definition in any setting.
As a leader, sometimes you must convince. Sometimes you must correct. And sometimes you must encourage.
Saint Chrysostom, in his Homilies on Timothy, compares these tasks to the work of a physician who both exposes a wound and applies the remedy.
If you rebuke without convincing, you will seem to be rash, and no one will tolerate it. If you convince and rebuke, but do not apply encouragement, all your labor will be lost. For conviction is intolerable if consolation is not mingled with it.
For me, confrontation is the hardest part. I don’t like disturbing the status quo or creating tension. Sometimes, however, tension is required. Leaders will not make everyone happy all the time.
These are tasks that Paul says to do with patience, or more literally, with long suffering. In fact, how Paul says to do the work of ministry is as important as what he says to do.
Be persistent in when times are favorable and when times are unfavorable, he says. Be patient with people. Maintain self-control and a steady mind. Endure hardships. And keep at it until the work is finished.
Do this, and you will do well.
For the Congregation
Now, I need to shift focus. I would be remiss if I were not to address some words to the congregation that is receiving this pastor.
This installation service creates a partnership of pastor and congregation. Paul’s charge to Timothy has something to say to the whole team, to the whole body, and not solely to the pastor.
The works of proclaiming the gospel, teaching the faith, evangelizing the world, and ministering to those in need are not the pastor’s alone. They belong to the whole people of God. Your pastor is here to lead you in this work. He is not here to do it all for you.
The apostle Paul wrote this to the church at Ephesus:
Christ himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. (Eph. 4:11-13 NRSVue)
To equip the saints for the work of ministry. That’s you.
And If I can back up two verses in 2 Timothy, Paul writes
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NRSVue)
So that the person of God may be proficient and equipped for every good work.
All the pastor’s teaching, convincing and correcting take place so God’s people can be the people God called them to be and do the work that God has called them to do.
There are people who like to learn about things that they never do. I am one of those people. I like to read in some detail about flying airplanes and imagine what it would be like to do that. I never, however, intend to fly an airplane.
There are people who go to seminary who never intend to engage in the work of ministry. And there are people who come to church who learn about God and God’s work in the world and never intend to let it affect their lives in any way. Don’t be like that.
You are installing a pastor today to lead you in the life of prayer and praise, in Christian growth and holiness, and in the work of Christian ministry. And, of course, he is not the only one called to lead within this congregation.
But if you are calling a pastor to lead you, you need to be willing to be led. Don’t just nod your heads and say “Amen” when he makes an interesting point in a sermon or a bible class. Be willing to open yourselves to those parts of the gospel that impinge upon your own life. Be willing to be led. Be open to convincing, correction, and encouragement.
As a church, you may feel discouraged in the work of the ministry from time to time. This age is not conducive to hearing the gospel. The people of this age are suspicious of the church. With few exceptions, the once great institutions of American Christendom are declining in number and influence.
Paul’s words to Timothy apply to the whole church. Persist in proclaiming the gospel whether the times are favorable or unfavorable. Endure hardship and suffering. Keep at it until the work is done. There may be no more important message to the church today.
What God is Doing
Our reading from 2 Timothy begins with an affirmation. Jesus Christ, will come again to judge the living and the dead and establish God’s reign on earth. God will hold us accountable for how we’ve done the work he’s given us to do, and how we’ve used the gifts that he has entrusted to us.
But, of course, we are not doing these things solely on our own power. They are ultimately God’s work within us and through us, both individually and corporately.
Paul charges Timothy “in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ.” Even now, our Lord is present with his church.
Jesus is building his church on earth. I don’t just mean that he is making the church bigger, although that is certainly visible in certain parts of the world. No, what I mean is that God is cleansing and perfecting his often broken, misled, cantankerous, and sin-filled church, and that has never been more relevant than it is today.
There is, within our own culture, a great sifting of the institutional church taking place. The church’s character, and that of its members, is being revealed, for better or for worse.
As the apostle wrote to Timothy,
For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound teaching, but, having their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to lies and bizarre ideas disconnected from reality, to conspiracy theories, disinformation and propaganda.
(Well, the actual Greek word is “myths”, but I think my paraphrase fits our modern era.)
So, the question for this congregation and its pastor is this: what kind of church do you want to be for the time and place in which God has settled you?
To be that church, the apostle calls you to focus your attention on the gospel of truth, and on the teaching of the holy scriptures. Immerse yourselves in them, submit yourselves to them, and put them into practice.
God is present with his church, shaping it, perfecting, and working through it, and he will continue to do so until the work on earth is done.
May God richly bless and use this partnership in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we are recognizing this day, and may he use each of us to accomplish his purposes in the church and in the world as the Holy Spirt directs, to the honor of his Name. Amen.
