“A Good Soldier Of Christ”
2 Timothy 2:1-13
10-12-2025
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Do any of you remember the TV show, “Major Dad”? It aired from 1989-93. I never watched it, but I do recall the story plot. It was about a Major in the U.S. Marines who marries a gal with 3 little daughters. The humor came in when this hardcore, career soldier had to learn how to be a Dad. Treating his subordinates with love and gentleness was not something he was used to. Anyway, you can imagine the juggling act his personality had to perform between his career and his home life.
As strange as it may sound, St. Paul is writing to Timothy today in a similar role of “Major Dad.” In our reading for today, Paul starts out, as he does several of his letters to young Timothy, by calling him “my child” or “my son in the faith.” That’s because Paul viewed at this young man as a spiritual son since he was instrumental in leading Timothy to faith in Christ. I can vouch for similar feelings I have as a Pastor towards my young confirmation students. There is a tender kinship and pride that I have for these young sons and daughters in the faith.
But then Paul addresses Timothy as a “soldier of Christ Jesus.” That’s what Paul was. He sort of had the role of Captain and Timothy was his young Lieutenant, with Jesus being their commanding General. Paul had trained Timothy and was there for his ordination as a Pastor. Paul trusted his young Lieutenant and had left him behind at Ephesus to continue working with the new church he had established there on his earlier missionary journey.
Remember, though, that as Paul wrote this letter, he was a prisoner in chains, held in a Roman dungeon, awaiting death for preaching the Gospel. We could say he was a Prisoner of War. And he was writing to his son, his fellow soldier of Christ, with words of encouragement. Rather than being despondent about his situation, Paul tells Timothy that he is happy to endure his suffering because of his love and devotion for Christ, his Commander. It was Christ Jesus who had enlisted them into His service and Paul’s goal was to obey and please the Lord in everything he did. Paul was not sadistic, wishing to see others suffer. And yet he tells Timothy in verse 3 to “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” What he was saying was that Timothy, or any Christian for that matter, needs to be prepared to endure the same kind of bad treatment he was receiving. Suffering for the sake of the Gospel is to be expected by all Soldiers of Christ.
We can draw an analogy here from our modern times. I find it almost laughable when I hear people say that a soldier who enlists in a branch of our armed services today doesn’t expect to ever see combat. Even though I enlisted during peace-time when no wars were being fought by the U.S., I knew the possibility existed that I would be called on to fight if a conflict arose. Soldiers today know full well that this is an undeniable reality. Similarly, Paul is saying that it’s foolish for anyone who has been enlisted as a Soldier of Christ to think there isn’t a conflict going on and that you might have to suffer as a result of it. Don’t be naive! There are evil forces, lead by the devil, who are fiercely battling against us and Jesus our Lord. As Soldiers of Christ, we must expect to be engaged in that combat.
That ought to raise red flags for us whenever we hear a peace and prosperity preacher tell us that life as a Christian is supposed to be all peaches and cream. Baloney! Paul says that at the very least you can plan on being uncomfortable due to persecution, and the other extreme is suffering perhaps even to the point of death as a Soldier of Christ.
So how does a Soldier of Christ prepare for enduring such difficulties? Well, how does a solider or sailor in an earthly military prepare? I can assure you they don’t just hand you a uniform and weapon and then call you a soldier. No, they put you through a rigorous Basic Training. I can’t speak for other branches of the service, but I do know what the Army did with us. The first item on the agenda was to take away your civilian clothes, dress you all in the same O.D. green, and then give you a buzz haircut. Why? Even though you may have different skin color, and you may be different shapes and sizes, the Army wants to strip away anything else that makes you “different.” That way everyone is the same. Then, you march and train and exercise to the point of exhaustion. You learn how to defend yourself and how to fight in combat. You go on bivouacs where conditions in the field are anything but comfortable. And even after your Basic, you regularly train to be ready to do your duty as a soldier. All this is to prepare you for battle.
The Roman army of Paul’s day did about the same thing. Although he wasn’t a soldier, Paul seems to have been very familiar with how the military operated. And he uses this as a comparison to our duty as Soldiers of Christ. When Christ “enlists” us into His ranks He too strips away anything that would make us think we’re different or better than anyone else. The Bible makes it very clear that we’re all condemned sinners in need of God’s grace. And Paul says it is that grace which strengthens us for our duty in service to Christ. Then Christ trains us. I had a Mom tell me once that her son called Confirmation Class “Basic Training.” Maybe that’s not a bad description. We repeat the basics of the Christian faith over and over again so that these young soldiers of Christ are prepared for the spiritual battle out there. And that training goes on well past Confirmation Day as we regularly are trained in God’s Word week after week.
As you know, sometimes soldiers go AWOL, that is, Absent Without Leave, and some become deserters. When they are eventually caught, they go to prison. Longer ago in history, if a soldier left before his time of service was completed, execution was the penalty. Well, sadly, some Soldiers of Christ have gone AWOL and some have deserted their faith. Thankfully, God is willing to welcome back anyone who has walked away from Him. But if they refuse to come back and serve Him, something far worse than execution awaits them and that’s eternal death in hell.
Paul also goes on to say that a good soldier doesn’t allow himself to get entangled in civilian affairs. That makes sense because a soldier needs to have his head in the game, totally focused on the task at hand. So, for instance, a soldier in a war zone can’t be on his cell phone making business decisions while he’s fighting in a battle. Also, a soldier who’s having marital problems will get pulled from the battlefield. Why? His mind is distracted and therefore he’s endangering himself and others. Likewise for a Soldier of Christ. Paul says we must not allow anything in our day-to-day lives to distract us from our duty to Christ. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have jobs or be married. But it does mean that we have to keep our priorities straight and our head in the game when it comes to our spiritual battles.
I want you to notice something very important though. Paul says to Timothy, “share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Paul had set a good standard for Timothy and us to follow. I can tell you from personal experience that the soldiers in the trenches respect their superiors who lead by example. That kind of a leader won’t ask his troops to do anything that he himself isn’t willing to do. A while back I learned something interesting about General George Custer. You may only remember him for the disaster at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. But did you know that prior to that he was a Civil War hero? He was greatly admired by his troops because he would lead them into the fight. He didn’t sit safely up on a hill watching. He was down in the thick of it, risking his own life along with the rest of his soldiers.
St. Paul did the same thing. He didn’t ask Timothy to do anything he wasn’t willing to do. He had fought the good fight of faith and was in chains because of it. He was suffering in prison for boldly preaching the Gospel and Timothy needed to be prepared to do likewise. That’s true for us too. As your Pastor, I won’t ask you to face public ridicule for being identified as a Soldier of Christ without first being willing to do the same. I also won’t ask you to speak out about evil and false doctrine without first doing so myself.
But Paul didn’t come up with this on his own. He was simply following the lead of Christ. Jesus came down to earth and fought for us. He went straight to the front lines and sacrificed His life. He endured mocking, suffering, and death on the cross so He could defeat our enemies: sin, death, and the devil.
In John 15:20 Jesus warns us, “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” In other words, Jesus is not asking us to endure anything He Himself wasn’t willing to endure. Thankfully, we know that He won the victory for us so that we would never have to face the pain and suffering of hell that our sins deserved. Paul tells us that since we have been united with Christ in His death, we will also live with Him. We were united with Christ in our Baptisms. Now, He calls us to serve Him as “Good Soldiers” knowing that His victory is our victory.
Paul endured all his difficulties in order to please His Lord who had enlisted him as a Christian Soldier. He didn’t endure them so that he could receive honor or a medal to pin on his chest. Rather, he says in verse 10, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.” Paul was willing to sacrifice his freedom, physical comfort, and even his life in order that more people would be saved by the grace of God through Jesus. That too is our aim as Good Soldiers of Christ. We serve Jesus out of loving gratitude. We endure hardships not to earn some kind of reward, but to please Him who laid down His life for us. We gladly share in suffering for the sake of the Gospel because we too want to see more souls saved by God’s grace. When we grow weary in the battle against sin, Christ refreshes us through His Word and Sacrament. Therefore, strengthened by the grace that is ours from the Lord, may we serve Him faithfully throughout our lives as Good Soldiers of Christ. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!