Festival of St. Timothy, Bishop and Confessor
Posted on January 24, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 17:5-10 (NKJV)
17:5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”
Devotion
The apostles asked the Lord to increase their faith because they had just been tasked with a particularly difficult duty: they must not be the cause of anyone’s stumbling from the faith. They must, instead, rebuke their sinning brethren, and forgive them when they repent! Their plea and Jesus’ answer shows how easy it is to misunderstand what faith is.
“Give us special gifts so that we can fight off the impulses of our flesh toward both sloth and revenge, so we can live as you say! Increase our faith!” Yet, Jesus says the tiniest faith can accomplish far more than we can comprehend. There is not a need for more faith, so much as for being returned to the understanding of what faith is and, therefore, what faith does. Faith does whatever is commanded, because faith reckons that all it has and all it will ever need is given by grace—by God’s favor to an unworthy sinner for the sake of Christ.
It is why the Divine Service revolves around repentance and faith, and why St. Paul tells St. Timothy that godliness is a mystery. The focus is not the development of good behaviors, but faith in Christ’s Incarnation and Passion (1 Tim. 3:16). Patience, perseverance, holy living; these require no more than what is given to a new Christian, no more than what is given to an infant at the font. They simply require being kept in mind that faith is God’s gift through the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, and letting these do what they do.
Prayer: Almighty and Everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities, stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty, to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Festival of St. Timothy, Bishop and Confessor
O Almighty God, Who hast knit together Thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical Body of Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, grant us grace so to follow Thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those unspeakable joys which Thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
