2 Timothy 4:1-8 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, June 21, 2026 “Use the Word Jesus Gives You”
Things have changed. The world and our society are different today than when the Holy Scriptures were first written. Technologies have increased. Today, we can watch a sporting event involving teams from all around the globe. We can sit in our own homes and see what is happening in a game being played hundreds of miles away at the very same instant, almost as if we were sitting in the stands. Even one hundred years ago, people could barely imagine something like that. We can have instant communication by text, voice, and even video, with people anywhere in the world. So much of this we can do with a device tiny enough to fit in our pockets. Around AD 67, that sort of technology did not exist. When Paul wanted to reach Timothy from his prison cell, he wrote another letter. Timothy had to wait patiently for the letter to be delivered. It wasn’t instantaneous. It also didn’t disappear from a screen or get drowned out by everything else that would show up there. What Paul wrote got attention; what he wrote had lasting value and gravity. The words we read earlier from Second Timothy may have been some of the very last writing Paul shared before he was executed. He knew it was coming, that he was likely down to his last chance to write to encourage his friend, fellow pastor, and protégé. So while Paul may not have been able to envision how things might change in the world, he wrote truths that do not change. He pointed to important matters that would always be important. They were important for Timothy; they are important for all who preach God’s Word. And they are important to all who rely on God’s Word. So that is precisely the encouragement we take from these words. We are to use the word Jesus gives us. About that Word, Paul would have us remember that it is applicable, that it is too often avoided, and that it is assured. Paul directed Timothy as his mentor and overseer. Timothy, the younger pastor, was to do his job and do it well. His job is summed up in three words: “preach the word.” But don’t think of preaching as “being preachy” or specifically as what a pastor would do during a Sunday morning worship service. That’s included in what Paul wrote, but the word translated “preach” is the word for what a herald, a spokesperson, does. Timothy was to herald the word. He was to share something that was not his own but came from the boss. It came from the king. It came from someone with authority, even if Timothy on his own didn’t have authority. If he was speaking God’s message, he had the authority of God behind him. Paul even reminds Timothy to keep the king in mind. The king, Jesus, is with us. He is coming again to be judge of the world. He is going to institute his eternal kingdom in a visible way. Based on all of this context, his power, his might, his love, his presence, his promise, that’s why Timothy is to take on the weighty task of being a herald for Jesus. And the message he heralds is applicable in so many ways and so many circumstances. The work of a herald means that he shares the Word whether he feels like it is the best time or not. He is to preach whether it is convenient or not. Another translation tells Timothy to be ready “in season and out of season.” That reflects very well the Greek words. There may be good seasons for sharing. Perhaps that means when people are interested, when they seem excited, when the preacher has had a good night’s sleep, and when laws support the freedom to preach and teach as you see fit. But Timothy is also to preach when it is not those seasons. When persecution comes and authorities oppose the preaching. When people don’t show up at church or listen intently. When Christians are made fun of or considered weird. In season and out of season, people need preachers to correct, rebuke, and encourage. God’s Word applies in all of these circumstances for all of the people to whom it is preached. It is applicable for all that we truly need. The preacher can trust that and deal with believers, deal with listeners, with patience and care in his teaching.