The Noontimes

1 Timothy 1:3-20: God’s Yardstick – The Law of Love Conclusion

Living the Yardstick

Monday, January 23, 2023

We continue to see God’s yardstick in the New Testament, with Christ’s Law of Love superseding the Old Testament Mosaic Law.

Paul writes to Timothy, the disciple he left in Ephesus, to continue the work they began in Christ. Paul might be writing these words to us today.

Stay on top of things so that the teaching stays on track. Apparently some people have been introducing fantasy stories and fanciful family trees that digress into silliness instead of pulling the people back into the center, deepening faith and obedience.

Paul might also remind us today that the laws of the world too often stand at odds with the Law of Love that Christ teaches. When we find ourselves between these two ends, we need only come to the center where Christ always is. In love.

The whole point of what we’re urging is simply love—love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven’t the remotest idea of what they’re holding forth with such imposing eloquence.

Paul might also urge us to share the Good News of the coming and in-dwelling of the Spirit. He might caution us that we will meet opposition. And he might remind us that we only need act in love as Jesus does.

It’s true that moral guidance and counsel need to be given, but the way you say it and to whom you say it are as important as what you say. It’s obvious, isn’t it, that the law code isn’t primarily for people who live responsibly, but for the irresponsible, who defy all authority, riding roughshod over God, life, sex, truth, whatever! They are contemptuous of this great Message I’ve been put in charge of by this great God.

James Tissot: The Lost Drachma

Paul might thank us as he thanks Timothy. He might remind all of us of our inadequacies. And he might also urge us to place these liabilities in God’s great hands, the hands that created each of us to be blessed with Beatitude and nourished with Love.

I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus.

Paul might tell us that God’s mercy will overcome all adversity; that the Spirit will heal any injury; that Jesus will accompany any and each of us in our journey. He might urge us to persist in sharing this message with the same diligence as the woman who seeks the one lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). When we read Paul’s words we might realize that he speaks not only to Timothy but to each of us, urging us to rely on the Spirit and to remain in Christ. Paul might remind us that we come from God’s love and are to return this love in all we say and do. Paul might speak to us of this great Law of Love. Might we persist in sharing this love today?

Tomorrow, Mattathias.

When we use the scripture link to compare other versions of these verses with The Message translation we find here, we the opportunity Christ offers to explore his Law of Love . . . and to live this measure of God’s love more fully each day.

For a reflection on 1 Timothy 1:12-17, click on the image of the painting by Tissot. To read the Parable of the Lost Coin and consider how this story calls us to the Law of Love, read Luke 15:8-10.

For a sermon on the Law of Love, click on the Old Testament image or visit: http://lakeharborumc.org/2014/06/june-22-2014-message-love-of-the-law-or-law-of-love/