CORNERSTONE BIBLE CHURCH December 16, 2012 BEHIND THE SCENES: Eunice, A Mom with Faith Acts 16:1 5 / 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14 15 Introduction: The Power of Parents As I am sure you did, I hugged my children a little tighter this weekend than I did at the beginning of the week. As the news began to trickle in on Friday morning, I couldn t wait to pick them up from school that afternoon. I wanted to see them and talk to them. If you are a parent, I am sure you felt similar feelings. There is no doubt in my mind that a tragedy like this will turn the attention of many parents towards their children. Unfortunately, I fear it might be only a season of time that the hugs are tighter; that the kisses are more precious; that the time is more valuable; and that the influence is intentional. Unfortunately, many parents will forget about his event within a few months. Don t get me wrong; we will all still remember where we were when we found out about this horrendous act of violence. But I simply wonder if parents will continue to live with their children six months from now like they are this weekend. I wonder if parents will recognize that they are the ones that indelibly shape the heart of their children. It is their influence that will light up their day or darken their night. It is the way they talk to them, what they teach them, and how they shepherd them that will largely shape the adult they become. It is no accident that this morning we are going to talk to the parents. It is not an accident that several months ago, as I set out to plan the order of the sermons of this series, Behind the Scenes: Finding Joy As A Supporting Cast Member, that I chose this morning to talk about one woman that did more for the cause of Christ than you might imagine. She was a woman that stood behind her child and held him up, shaping a man of God. This morning I want to talk about a woman by the name of Eunice. And I think her story will be healing words for us this morning. Her life will help us orient a direction of biblical parenting towards our children. There are only a few verses in the Bible that talk about this woman, but the information are told of her is really powerful. The most direct information is found in... 2 Timothy 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. There are two important items that we initially learn about Eunice. First, she was known as the mother to Timothy. Timothy is one of the most beloved and important characters in the book of Acts and is foundational to the early 1
church. We see him as the key person that Paul chooses to disciple and train to pass the baton of ministry off to once he was gone. Timothy was trustworthy; he was a man of character; and he was a man that was wellspoken of by other people. And behind this man stood his mother! Illustration: Mother s known for their children How often is it that the mother is known by her offspring? You no longer have a name; you are simply the mother of fill in your child s name. I know that my mother used to talk about this as she would be walking through the ballgames, or see people at the store when I was in High School. People would meet her and say, oh, your Thad s mom (although, she was very clear to point out to all of them that I was her son). You have probably had similar experiences. That certainly was the case with Eunice. We know so much about Timothy, but just a few things about her. And the knowledge we have is almost exclusively seen in connection with her son. She was known as the mother of Timothy. Secondly, she was known for her sincere faith. If there were one thing that you would want recorded about you in the Scriptures, would it not be something like this? Wouldn t you like for all the generations to come to know that the one character quality that described you was that you had a sincere faith? Paul is praising Timothy for his sincere faith, a type of faith that was first in his grandmother Lois and in his mother Eunice. They paved the way for Timothy to know what a sincere faith looked like. It is a faith that is void of hypocrisy. It is a faith in which the life that is lived matches up with the words that are spoken. It means that even if persecution or problems come the way of the person, they are able to trust in God through them all, for their faith is grounded in the true God. It is what Acts 16 says concerning this woman that she was a believer, that she was a true Christian woman. It was a faith that was not double-minded; it did not waver; it was a genuine trust in God. Paul writes here that Timothy had this sort of faith, but that it had first dwelt in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice. What does it mean that this kind of sincere faith dwelt in Eunice? It means that it was deep-rooted in her. It means that it was part of her being. It means that you could not speak of Eunice without talking about her faith. The two most important, two most implicit items that we know about Eunice are that she was a mom and that she was a woman of faith. She exemplifies what it means to live in relationship with your child as a person of faith. Because of this, what I want to do with our time this morning is to paint the picture of her life on this backdrop. I want us to consider what it means that she was a parent of faith. And I wan to do this by articulating 3 2
CHARACTERISTICS OF A PARENT OF FAITH. I am using the word parent, because while we will be talking about her as a mother, these are things that fathers must learn as well. The character qualities of her life apply to the men as much as the women this morning. So, let us look at what it means to be a parent of faith. 1. A PARENT OF FAITH IS CAPABLE OF HANDLING ADVERSITY (ACTS 16:1 3) Our life is filled with adversity, as you know. Watch the news, even on weeks that there is not a national tragedy and you will find out that life is filled with pain and suffering; hate and strife. If you are involved in any sort of household relationship, you know that adversity is probable. It is possible in any relationship. And part of being a person of faith, let s say it like this, part of being a Christian is that you are able to handle yourself in adversity. Vs. 1 3 Acts 16 stands as the beginning of the second missionary journey by the Apostle Paul and one of the first places he chooses to go is to the cities of Derbe and Lystra. This was the second time that Paul had been there, and as he enters, we are introduced to a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer. But his father was a Greek. Here we see one example of adversity that Eunice had to handle. A. The adversity of a spiritually broken home We are told that Eunice was Jewish, but her husband was Greek. Most likely the way the situation unfolded was that Eunice was a Jewish woman who stepped outside of her Judaism in order to marry. We know that she still stood strong to many aspects of Judaism, like the Old Testament and sometime later, she hears about Jesus and the gospel and becomes a Christian believer. We know that her home was not completely Jewish however, for she never had her son, Timothy, circumcised, as would have been the Jewish custom. She put herself in a hard situation. On the one hand, she had sold out her spiritual background in marrying this Greek man and would have been considered by most Jews as an outsider. But on the other hand, the Gentiles would have considered her as an outsider as well, because she was a Jew. She was really put in an awkward situation socially. But that pales in comparison to her situation spiritually. She had married outside of the Jewish faith and was in a situation where she was being forced to compromise her standards of Judaism. Her husband by this time in Acts 16 is presumed to be dead, for Luke, the author here in Acts, makes mention of him in the past tense he was a Greek (vs. 1 & 3). The repeated statement of his ethnicity set in contrast to Eunice being a believer makes it apparent that Luke was making a point that 3
Timothy s father was more than just culturally not Jewish, but that he was not a believer in the religion of the Jews or what Eunice now believed Jesus. The point we cannot overlook this morning is that Eunice was a part of a socially and spiritually broken home. Can you imagine day in and day out living in a home where the father wants nothing to do with the spiritual temperature of the family? I know that many of you women feel this way. I know that many of you could tell story after story of how you have had to be the spiritual leaders of your families because of the spiritually broken home that you are part of. But would you please notice that this did not stop Eunice. We know that she was resolved in her mind to teach her son the Scriptures (as we will see in a minute). She stood strong in the face of extreme adversity in the home. We do not have recorded the in s and out s of the daily grind, but we could guess. A man who would not let his son be circumcised because it was too much like those religious people over there. All we know is that there would have been a battle, but she seemed to be the one to overcome it. She led her son to the things of God! Men... Husbands... Fathers... Just a word to you. Let me beg of you to be the spiritual leaders of your homes. This means more than just allowing your family to follow the things of Christ; it is leading them to the trough to drink deeply in the things of God. Just about every marriage counseling situations I have been part of can be traced back to the man not leading his family! Men, when was the last time you ask your children about their spiritual condition? When was the last time you talked to your wife about what she is reading in her devotions? When was the last time you prayed with your family? When was the last time you read the Bible with your family? Have you made church a priority with your family over and above the things of the world? The point is: MEN, do not put your wife into the situation where she needs to be the spiritual leader! But women, even in a situation like that, look at Eunice who was a godly mother of faith that faced the adversity of being in a spiritually broken home! But that is not the only adversity she faced. B. The adversity of a spiritually pluralistic society I have not mentioned it yet, but most commentators assume that Eunice and her mother (Lois) and then probably Timothy, came to faith in Jesus Christ about four years before Paul s visit in Acts 16. It was during Paul s first missionary journey that a great revival took place in their city. Acts 14:1 7 [read] 4
It was the 1 st missionary journey & Paul and his companions are in the city of Lystra, the city that Timothy and Eunice are from and a wonderful miracle happened... Acts 14:8 10 [read] Now, what would have been the response of most generations? You can read the response of the Jews and Gentiles in Israel with Jesus and they either got upset or followed Jesus because they thought He was a wonderful miracle worker. But not here, here in Lystra, these people saw Paul as a god... Acts 14:11 18 [read] Their culture was one of perverse religious pluralism, to the point that they wanted to worship man as god. Maybe in a different form, but the goal of worshipping man is not unlike ours. What I mean by pluralism is that it was okay to have all roads that lead to heaven, as long as you do not state that there is only one way. The only thing that is not acceptable is to tell people that there is only one truth. And that is what the Jews started to do now, it is okay if you want to sacrifice to Zeus or Hermes, but you talk about Jesus as the only way, then look out. And that is what happened. Some Jews now come from Antioch and Iconium and stir up more trouble... Acts 14:19 23 [read] How does this relate to Eunice? The point is that most people see that this was the time when she came to faith that she came to be a believer in Jesus Christ. That she was named among those disciples in vs. 22 and even after all that she saw Paul go through, she was committed to growing in this sincere faith. Nothing was going to stop her; not even a culture or society that is willing to kill those who are too opinionated. Our crosses are easy to carry in our society even though we face similar pluralism. Our crosses do not possibly cost us our lives, but it could have cost Eunice her life. She stood in the midst of a generation that did not tolerate the truth of Jesus Christ and was known as someone with a sincere faith. If you want to talk about the characteristics of a parent of faith, they are capable of handling adversity whenever and wherever it might come from. Do you? Do you respond well when things get tough in your life? Be like Eunice and stand firm when adversity comes. Secondly... 2. A PARENT OF FAITH IS CONVINCED OF BIBLICAL AUTHORITY (2 TIMOTHY 3:14 15) 5
Vs. 14 Paul tells Timothy to continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them. What has he learned and from whom has he known them? Vs. 15 And that from childhood... Who is it that would have taught him something when he was a child? We know that Paul probably took him when he was old enough to be a useful disciple for him on his missionary journey in Acts 16, so it was not Paul. So who was it that had taught Timothy? The obvious answer is his mother (and probably his grandmother)! What did they teach him? Paul commends him for since childhood, he had known the sacred writings or the holy Scriptures. Timothy, from the time of his childhood had been a person who had the Holy Scriptures, the Bible taught to him from his mom! Despite the fact that his father wanted nothing to do with him spiritually, she did stuck to her plan to faithfully teach him the Word of God. Most scholars give the age of 4 5 to be the time when the Jewish boy would have been fit for the teaching of the Bible. And Paul is telling Timothy to not forget who it was that had taught him the Scriptures at that very early age. Parents, can I ask you a question? Do you teach your children the Bible? Or do you see that as the responsibility of the church? Listen, the church, for sure, needs to be teaching children the Word of God. But the church should be coming alongside parents, not the parents coming alongside the church. Ultimately, parents, this task falls on your shoulders. Grandparents: do not forget that Lois gets lumped in here often with Eunice. She was apart of this teaching team. Are you the Cookie Grandma or the Bible Grandma? Hopefully you are both! Don t be scared to ask your grandchildren what they are being taught about God. Lois & Eunice understood, and Paul confirms, that there is a purpose to teaching them the Bible. Notice if you will that Paul says the Bible is that which is able to give wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Jesus Christ. Do you know what Paul is saying? He is saying that knowing, understanding the Bible is what makes a person wise unto salvation in Jesus. Paul was saying what the Psalmist wrote... Psalm 19:7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. Teaching your children the Bible is the means in which to lead them to the Savior. Now, I want you to understand that this is no guarantee they will be saved, but there is a guarantee that we can know for sure. They will never grow wise unto salvation if they never hear the truth of sin & salvation, and Jesus from the Bible. That is the guarantee. So we do all that we can as a 6
parent and then trust God to open their eyes unto salvation. That must be our credo as parents. Illustration: Karsten s peanut allergy What if he received some peanuts and his throat started to swell shut and we have a shot that could probably take care of the situation. But what if we failed to give him the shot. Most people would consider us responsible for what would happen to him. The shot does not guarantee that he will not die or have terrible problems, but not giving the shot would probably guarantee that he would die. The same could be said of the Bible and your children. They have swallowed a deadly toxin, in fact, it has consumed all that they are, they are dead people walking. The deadly toxin is sin! The only possible cure is the Word of God and His grace. Giving them the Bible is never a guarantee that they will be saved from their sin problem, but one thing is guaranteed: They will not be saved without it. So, dads and moms here today, why are you not giving your child the Word of God? The only reason I can think of is this. Maybe, possibly maybe you do not think that it carries the authority that I am talking about. Maybe you think it is not that important. Listen to some other parts of Psalm 19... Psalm 19:8 11 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Mothers, I beg of you, follow the example of Eunice, and when your child is old and looks back on life maybe they will say, I will continue in the things I have leaned and become convinced of, I know from whom I have learned them, for it was my mother that taught me the Bible that gave me the wisdom that led me to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus! My bet is that none of you would send your children to school without feeding their bellies. But how many Christian parents would send them to school without feeding their spiritual bellies with the food of eternity? Let s be fair, maybe mornings aren t your thing. What about after school snack? Give them the words that will never fail. How do you do it? When they are young, help them memorize, spend time having Bible hour with them throughout the week, come up with clever times to spend with them teaching them the Bible. Make it part of your everyday, tell them things you are learning from the Bible. Ask them on the way home 7
about their Sunday school lessons. Teach them how to handle adversity. Counsel them from the Word. Sit under the Word in your own life and let that overflow into your conversations. When they are older, maybe take them to coffee and ask them what they are doing for their devotions. Parents of teenagers, do you know what your kids are reading in their Bible? Do you know what the High School or Junior High ministry is teaching through? Read books of the Bible with them. Eunice was a mother of faith, she was capable of handling adversity & she was convinced of biblical authority. Thirdly... 3. A PARENT OF FAITH IS CONCERNED ABOUT LEAVING A LEGACY (ACTS 16:1 3) Books and books have been written about the fathers leaving a legacy for their sons or maybe even their daughters. But I would say the same things are true for moms. What kind of legacy do you want to leave for your children? What is the goal in being a mom? What s your goal as a father? Some of you might like to answer that the goal is survival! But in reality, the goal of the Christian parent should be to prepare their children to love God and to live in this world, submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ. Vs. 2 Now, I don t want to make too much out of this. If you notice, you will see that Timothy was well-spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. People talked highly of this man. Sometimes this will happen, by the grace of God without the help of parents or mothers who work to instill this in their children. But most of the time, it is the parents and particularly the mothers who work to instill in their child behavior that produces children who are well-spoken of by the community and by the church. It is the job of the parents to instill respect of authority in the lives of their children. If you grew up in the south, this would mean that you teach them to say, Yes sir or no ma am. Maybe it is as simple as teaching them the respect of cleaning up after themselves. Maybe it is teaching the children that making rude noises at the dinner table is not acceptable. But before we emphasize this too much, I want us to remember, that the ultimate goal is not their behavior. We are not trying to produce externally righteous individuals. It should never be our heart s desire that people speak well of our children as a representative of us, but that they speak well of our children as a representative of God. My greatest desire is not that my children will be perfectly obedient and never make mistakes in church. I want my children to love Jesus. Now, if they love Jesus, I truly believe that will influence their 8
behavior. But we cannot get the cart before the horse. God comes to change us from the inside out, not the opposite. But there is one thing here that strikes me deeply to my heart. It makes me think long and hard about my children. And I think this is the key to what it means to leave a legacy with your children. Are you ready? It is living in light of the reality that our children are not ours. That might seem shocking. I mean, if you have ever seen J.T., it is obvious that he is my son. I am not talking about DNA. What I am talking about is the reality that we are going to have let go of our children sooner or later... it is going to happen. Some of you can t wait for that day and some of you are dreading that day. Some of you parents are facing HS or College graduations in the near future. I forget who it was, but at the open house this weekend, someone was saying that when they look at their older child, all they see is a little 5 6 year old. I get that. I am soon to have a teenager (please pray for me). There is no way time is going this fast. But no matter how difficult it might be for us, I want you to really think about the example Eunice gives to us of what it means to give your child up. Vs. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him. Don t miss the context. Paul is on his second missionary journey and comes into town hearing about this young man who is highly spoken of by the Christians in town. Paul saw this as an opportunity to expand his current mission trip, that this man would be beneficial to the ministry of God. Now, what did Eunice know about Paul. Let s see, she knew that people were not scared to chase him down, even from other cities. She knew that he was stoned and left for dead in the city in which she lived. She knew that he lived a dangerous life that his physical condition would always be in trouble. Maybe she had a mom s intuition of what his life would become, what Paul writes later in life... 2 Corinthians 11:23 28 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one I am talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 9
This is what she knew about Paul and this is the guy that wanted to take her child with him. Reality time, parents, what would you have done? I have asked myself this question over and over. Would I let them go follow and obey the calling of God if I knew that their life would be in imminent danger? The godly answer would be, sure, send him! But, what is the realistic answer? What I notice about Eunice is that we are never told that she tried to stop it. We are never told that she opposed it. We never see a glimmer of doubt from her, even though, how could you not? But she seems to be okay with Paul taking her son for the work of the ministry. Do you want to know why? I think that she raised her son with the expectation that her son was not her s, but God s! And if God has something for him, then let God have him and use him. If you really want to leave a legacy for your children, teach them that there is something more important in their life than Lego s. Pray for them to be a missionary. Pray and lead them in a way that shows them that they are God s. I guarantee you that if you believe they are not yours, but God s, it will change the way you parent them. It will change the way you bring your son or daughter up in the way of the Lord. If you are concerned about them way beyond your life and death, train them and turn them over to the Lord. My guess is that some of you hold onto your children too tight. Please remember that you are raising them up to send them off, not raising them up to take care of you in your old age. A parent of faith. I won t even ask you if that is you. But let me ask you this question in conclusion: What do you need to do to make that you? I cannot imagine what the parents that lost those children are thinking and doing right now. But I also do not know how someone would handle that apart from a perspective of Jesus Christ. It is tragic. It is painful. And yet, I suppose, that my prayer would be that God would redeem it for His glory! 10