The Neighborhood Podcast

"What Disciples Do: Disciples Take Their Faith Home" (October 5, 2025 Sermon)

• Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

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Preaching: Rev. Dr. Stephen M. Fearing

Text: 2 Timothy 1:1-14

A single line from 2 Timothy—“Guard the good treasure entrusted to you”—opens a tender, practical conversation about how faith survives and flourishes across generations. We start with Paul’s charge to Timothy and the living faith of Lois and Eunice, then follow that thread into kitchens, classrooms, sanctuaries, and hospital halls where ordinary people pass on courage, love, and self-discipline when fear feels loudest. Along the way, we name the ache of families who no longer share the same practices and offer a wider frame: in Christ, family expands to mentors and friends who quietly keep us brave.

We share personal stories of women who modeled generosity and risk, teachers who renewed a love for Scripture, and congregants who embodied interfaith friendship. The heartbeat of the episode is intergenerational church life: a 100-year-old and a 12-year-old holding hands, a baptism viewed from above with a whole congregation promising to nurture a young life, and the realization that guarding the good treasure is never about hoarding. It’s about stewardship that gives itself away—resisting cruelty with compassion, greed with generosity, division with inclusion, and despair with resurrection hope.

If you’re exhausted by scorched-earth rhetoric, this conversation offers a gentler strength and a clear practice: name your Lois and Eunice, give thanks, and become that person for someone else. Listen for a vision of community that keeps promises, expands belonging, and treats everyday moments as sacred chances to protect what matters most. If the message resonates, subscribe, share this episode with someone who encouraged you, and leave a review with the name of the person who “smiled you into smiling.”

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SPEAKER_01:

Holy God, as we read your word, may your spirit speak through it, that it may be for us the word of life. Amen. The scripture lesson for today is from 2 Timothy 1, verses 1 through 14. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did, when I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed then of the testimony about our Lord, or of me, his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, in the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. And this grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. But it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. And for this reason I suffer as I do. But I'm not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day the deposit I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us. Holy wisdom, holy word. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_00:

Friends, let us pray. The Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight, O Lord. Our rock and our Redeemer. Amen. So, friends, it's so good to be with you this day. Let me start by saying that today's passage from 2 Timothy contains one of your pastor's favorite scriptures in all of the New Testament. It's the part that comes towards the very end where it says, guard the good treasure entrusted to you. The updated version of the NRSV says, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. I don't like that translation. Guard the good deposit. This doesn't sound as good as guard the good treasure entrusted to you with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us. I've always loved that passage. I think I've had it read at all three of the installation services I've had at the three different service churches I've served. I love that because I believe that guarding the good treasure entrusted to us is at the heart of discipleship. And we can interpret that treasure in many different ways. The passage is a little vague, perhaps purposefully so. When cruelty rears its ugly head, we guard the good treasure of compassion. When selfishness and greed dominate, we guard the good treasure of God's generosity. When fear is weaponized to turn neighbor against neighbor, we guard the good treasure of inclusion. When death cosplays as the final word, we guard the good treasure of the resurrection. That is our work as disciples. And let's be perfectly clear, we don't guard these things to hoard them and keep them for ourselves. It's quite the opposite. We guard these treasures to share them generously as God has first shared them graciously with us. And here's the thing: we don't do this by ourselves. You and I guard these life-giving gifts from God because we stand on the shoulders of those who raised us in the faith and taught us to follow God with all our heart, all our soul, and all of our strength. And today's passage specifically references two women who have served in that capacity for the recipient of this letter, Timothy. Let's back up just a here. First and 2 Timothy were both written by Paul, or more precisely by a follower of Paul, who probably wrote in his style and in his honor. One reason that this is a popular passage is because of its enthusiastic encouragement and positivity, despite the sufferings that its author mentions. We believe that the letters of 1 and 2 Timothy were composed by an elder leader of the church. I don't just mean elder as in the leadership, but also an older leader of the church, to a much younger person, perhaps about to claim the mantle of leadership in the church, named Timothy. You can think of it as a letter of encouragement from a retiring pastor to a new seminary graduate about to take her first call. And I believe that the effusive and gracious tone of this letter resonates with us because we all need encouragement right now, do we not? I've had some truly uplifting conversations with many of you over the past several weeks, congregations among you all, from the left, from the right, and from the middle, and there's a common thread among all of them. Everyone is exhausted and anxious right now. Everyone. No matter where we stand on the political or theological spectrums, I think we are all disheartened by the division and hostility of our current body politic. We need each other. We need each other's listening ears. We need each other's holy curiosity. We need each other's compassion. We need each other's compromise. And the tone of this letter may seem a little naive or even foreign in this time of scorched-earth rhetoric. So my prayer is that we might find a way for the encouraging message of this passage to soften our hearts, and perhaps another prayer that we would find a way to share that encouraging message with our neighbors. My guess is that the author of this letter, whether it be Paul or someone that came after him, knew that this young man was about to start his earthly, his uh his early ministry and was in this position because of those around him who expressed words and actions of faithfulness and encouragement as he grew up in the early church. We don't have to guess the names. They're given to us in this passage, Lois and Eunice. The verse reads, I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. Now I am sure it lives in you. I especially appreciate this mention of two women who clearly played a vital role in Timothy's faith development because 2 Timothy's partner, 1 Timothy, is infamous for its statement that women should learn in quietness and in full submission in church. This passage has, of course, been used over the centuries as a blanket argument to keep women out of the pulpit and in other leadership positions in the church. I trust that you all know that I do not subscribe to that patriarchal theology. And one of the many reasons I don't is because this verse from 2 Timothy names Lois, Timothy's grandmother, and Eunice, his mother, as integral parts of his faith journey, of his faith development. The author of 1 in 2 Timothy describes faith as a living thing, something that first lived in Eunice and then Lois and now lives in him, certainly largely due to their influence on his ministry. And so whenever I come to this verse, I'm inspired to name in gratitude the women in my family who have inspired and continue to inspire me as a follower of Christ. I think about my grandmother, Gay Fearing, who is celebrating her 90th birthday this month. She taught me so much about the importance of being a decent and generous person who isn't afraid to take a risk to do or to say the right thing. I think about my mom, Catherine, who taught me that creativity is a gift to be shared and that having deep feelings can be a very powerful way to connect with those who are feeling alone or hurt. And I think too of my younger sister, Sarah Kate, who has a deep well of joy and silliness and compassion that makes me a better brother and pastor and husband and dad. And I would also add my two daughters, Hazel Grace, and Winnie. You're not in trouble, don't worry. I would add Hazel, Grace, and Winnie to that list, for both of you have taught me about resiliency and kindness and courage and patience. This passage can remind us that our nuclear families are powerful places for faith formation. To this day, I can still recite how my parents would end our prayers before every meal. Gracious God, we asked that the food might nourish our bodies, that we may do the work of thy son. I remember the pride I felt when my grandparents stood up to a pastor and their home congregation that was trying to kick out all of the gay members. I remember having conversations about faith and the Bible around the dinner table, such as the ones at my grandparents' home in Huntington, West Virginia, where we where they would often host a Jewish family, the Weisbergs, who were very close with my family. And that's where I learned the importance of respecting other faith traditions and practicing our own without forcing it upon others. So indeed, I stand before you today as a pastor because of my family's dedication to the Church of Jesus Christ. And here I also want to acknowledge and honor what for many of us might be a bit of a painful subject. I'm deeply aware that many of us mourn the fact that our children or grandchildren do not practice the faith that they were raised in, or at least do not practice it in the same way. I've sat with so many of you over the years who lament that families are now divided, not just over political differences, but also over theological and spiritual ones. I don't have any simple answers for that. At least none I can explain succinctly in a sermon, but I do want to say as your pastor that I honor that pain that you have shared with me. Which is why I think it's important to remember, to remember that when we affirm that disciples take their faith home, we're not just talking about blood relatives. I think it's crucial to remind ourselves that when we commit to Christian discipleship, we expand our definition of family. That's why when I think about those who have raised me in the faith, I don't just think about my parents, my grandparents, my sister, or my daughters. I also think about Peter Hobby, my religion professor in college, who taught me to fall in love with the Bible all over again. I think about Anna Carter Florence, my preaching professor, who lovingly kicked my you know what, and made me a better preacher for that. I think of Michael Morgan, my friend who taught me the art of writing hymns. I think of Lynn Franklin, a former congregant of mine, who showed me the importance of interfaith relationships and how diversity makes the body of Christ stronger and not weaker. And I think of some other folks that you all know. I think of Carolyn Sherrick, whose generosity inspires me to this day. I think of Jane Lawrence, who we said goodbye to almost a year ago, whose kindness was a treasured presence at this church. The list can and does go on. I was not biologically related to any of the folks who I just mentioned, but they influenced my faith just as much as the blood relatives that I named. And that's the beauty of our faith. Disciples carry their faith home while giving thanks at home is also where you make it. Family is both inherited and chosen. Just as Christ made his home wherever he wandered, we are called to take our faith to wherever the world has need. You know, last week many of us gathered in this very room, either in person or online, to sing happy birthday to Marie Franklin on the occasion of her 100th birthday and Landon Bryant on the occasion of his 12th birthday. I was moved when we started singing because Marie reached out to hold Landon's hand, and it was a touching scene. One of our oldest members and one of our youngest members connected by a faith that you and I have inherited, a good treasure that we are guarding together. As Marie and Landon held hands during that singing, I was reminded that this is part of that precious treasure that is entrusted to us as an intergenerational church. And later that day, Landon and I, and about 40 of us, gathered at First Baptist Church downtown to celebrate his baptism. If you've never been in First Baptist's sanctuary, the baptismal pool is somewhat high above the choir at the front. So as such, Landon and I, as we were up there, were literally looking down on those gathered to celebrate his baptism and to make the public promise to nurture him in the faith, just as Lois and Eunice did to young Timothy. In fact, what you see on your screen right there is exactly what Landon and I saw last week as he was being baptized. Before Landon was submerged in the waters of his baptism, I asked him to take a moment and just appreciate this view. I said, Landon, I want you to take a moment and look down at your faith family. These people are here because they love you. These people are here because God loves you. These people are here because they're making a promise this day, as I'm sure Lois and Eunice did, to raise you in the faith, to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with God. And so, friends, I hope that you and I can give thanks for the way God calls us to take our faith home in many different ways. I hope you can take some time this week to thank the Loises and the Eunices who have helped bring you to where you are today. You know, Mr. Rogers once said, in fact, from time to time, from the time you were very little, you've had people who have smiled you into smiling, people who have talked you into talking, sung you into singing, and loved you into loving. May we give thanks today for those people and to the God who has lovingly placed them in our lives. In the name of God, the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer, may all of us, God's beloved children, say. Amen.