NOTES for Ti1 5:22-25; Ti1 6:1-11

Words that sooner or later all secret will necessarily be manifested can be considered already a commonplace. And although they are said by the Savior, today they are usually understood as something, which is not at all what Jesus said, and that is what apparently indicates the apostle after Him. Today it is usually about the fact that, as it is said, the history sooner or later will put every thing in place. In a certain sense, it is certainly the truth: sometimes even today are made the archaeological discoveries, which shed light on the secrets of the past (more often, it must be recognized, for the crimes, than for good works).

Here is only that we today, we do not worry about the deeds of people, who lived centuries, and sometimes millenniums ago, and also about their crimes. In this sense we could say that their bad deeds remained a secret, also however as the good, of which, it must be recognized, the fallen man always shows much less interest. But Jesus, quite as Paul, had certainly another thing in mind, and it is clearly not "about the judgment of people" or "about the judgment of history". Indeed for Jesus, quite as for Paul, the Kingdom and its history were always in the first place.

And in the Kingdom, their laws differ from the laws of the non transformed world. Here it becomes visible what in the non transformed world remains hidden. In the non transformed world, one can be a scoundrel, a villain or a scamp, while keeping a completely decent appearance. Such thing is impossible in the Kingdom: because here the substance is completely dependent of the spirit, and the body cannot hide the spiritual quality of man, just as what takes place in the non transformed world, the material which is inert enough not to reflect every change in the spiritual state of man.

And since the history develops such that the Kingdom sooner or later, having opened totally, will seize the whole world, having transformed it and having made it one of its part, so sooner or later everyone will be in the position of a person who can hide nothing. Of course, this applies not only to the evil deeds, but also to the goods. But the good deeds, becoming part of the Kingdom, immediately after the fulfillment can really turn out known to all those who have a relation with the Kingdom, before the evil deeds, which probably will be discovered only on the day of the judgment. However, no deed can be hidden for ever. Neither the good, nor the evil.

Turning to the topic of social relations, Paul especially emphasizes that unity of faith must not become a pretext for bad faith when social obligations are involved (vv. 1-4). Evidently, Christians who owned Christian slaves treated them not as slaves are usually treated, but as brothers, and it is possible that some of these slaves began to think such treatment gave them the right to neglect the duties imposed on them by their position. The apostle, as is clear, was a decisive opponent of such behavior. He does not think that unity of faith and a shared spiritual life free a person from the responsibility he bears as a member of society; he only required that a person's fulfillment of social obligations not contradict the Torah and not destroy the Christian's spiritual life.

For Paul, however, this abuse of spiritual relationships turns out to be only one particular case of another, more general spiritual problem: using spiritual relationships and spiritual life in general for the sake of profit and for achieving various goals of this world. The apostle defines this kind of practice as "love of money," which he decisively condemns (vv. 9-10). And the point here, as is clear, is not that the acquisition of earthly goods is evil in itself, and not even only that abusing spiritual relationships is inevitably accompanied by violation of the Torah, but that such behavior entails the destruction of the system of priorities needed for life in the Kingdom, about which the Savior Himself spoke with perfect clarity: first the Kingdom, and then everything else; it will be "added." In every other case, the one who seeks the Kingdom loses it.

In practice, this means what Paul writes to Timothy: a person has nothing to acquire and store up here; in our still untransfigured world there is nothing that has value in itself, and everything here is only a means for acquiring the Kingdom and bearing witness to it. If a person has what he needs to live, that is enough for him to solve the Christian's main task; to seek more means being distracted from the main thing by the secondary, from the goal by the means (vv. 6-8). And Paul urges Timothy not to forget the main thing and not to let others forget it, so that the Kingdom may remain for every Christian the goal and meaning of life.

Today’s entire passage from the epistle to Timothy seems to unfold from the sixth verse: be godly and content. It would seem to be simple advice, confirmed by the recommendations of a succession of doctors, yet how difficult it is to put into practice. Contentment is so rare that meeting someone who is truly content with his life and with what he has is a rare and happy occurrence. Food, clothing, a roof over one’s head, one’s own health and that of loved ones, and the ability to work—that is all we need, Paul tells us. What is there to be discontented with when all this is present?

What the apostle means, by saying that to be godliness with contentment is a boon to the faithful? And is it easy? At first sight it can seem that it is not so difficult. Godliness people (at least, the outside) and of more very content are more than enough in the religious environment. Here is, they are usually content, particularly, only for themselves and their Godliness. Hardly Paul wanted to say something similar, otherwise, his sentence would sound probably a little bit differently: godliness with self contentment is great gain. However the apostle said nothing like that. However, it succeeds easily and without effort to the fallen man to be always content only of himself.

Certainly, it sometimes happens also here to try hard, but such efforts usually bring to people only joy. But here is, even if to be content not with oneself, but with somebody or something else, succeeds for us, it is only for certain time. Then there is a natural question: how and of what can we be content always? And for what godliness is here? Of course, if we understand it in a purely religious sense, it is really for nothing.

Besides: it is in particular the self-contentment of religious character, when man with pride and self-contentment looks at his godliness and is proud of it, that the Savior condemns unequivocally (it is enough to remember the parable of the publican and the Pharisee). In a certain sense such "godliness" religious self-contentment can be considered as the direct opposite of what Paul says (although its external manifestations sometimes call back the manifestations of genuine humility and godliness). But for a genuine contentment, apparently, is needed all the same in particular a genuine humility. Also, however, as for a genuine godliness, properly spiritual, and not religious.

In fact, true humility supposes indeed, above all, the refusal of one’s own will and full surrender to the will of God. It does not mean, of course that all the reasons for discontentment (often, by the way quite reasonable) will disappear from our life, but, in any case, they already will define no more our spiritual state: because, this affair is now at the first place God’s, and only after ours. The only reason for discontentment in such a state of things can be for us only our sins, which prevent us from walking on the way of righteousness. But this is also, by God’s help, repairable.

What do the apostle's words mean: "to be godly and content"? Content with what? One's own godliness? Other people? Everything in the world? And what, in fact, is godliness? The corresponding Greek word, as well as the Hebrew word it implies, means first of all what we sometimes call fear of God.

Of course, one can fear God for different reasons. Many fear Him only out of fear of punishment, whether in this life or after death. The corresponding Greek word suggests rather what we today would call sacred awe, the awe caused not by fear of punishment but by the presence of Someone infinitely higher and better than any person, even the most wonderful one, who moreover loves us as no human being can, although we do not deserve such love at all; in God's presence this becomes especially clear.

It is not accidental that the Greek word translated as "godliness" corresponds to a Hebrew word whose meaning is connected with the concept of merciful love, a love that is always ready to do more for a person than he deserves. Without such love of God for the human person none of us would have any hope of salvation, and without our answering love for Him the Kingdom would be closed to us forever.

Such godliness, inseparable from love and sacred awe, can be considered the foundation of spiritual life. But no human being will be able either to acquire or to preserve anything like it if his life is accompanied by constant discontent. The corresponding Greek word means "self-sufficiency."

The issue is not such self-sufficiency in which a person needs no one except "his beloved self": neither God nor people. It is the ability to be content with what one has, without attaching special importance to it, what the apostle expressed in another of his letters with the words, "I know how to live in abundance, and I know how to live in need."

Even before Christ came into the world, such a skill was considered a necessary condition of righteous life; otherwise a person's righteousness would depend on his material situation. For Christian life this was all the more necessary: here, in any circumstance and condition, the Kingdom had to be first, and only then everything else. Thus the apostle describes in two words everything necessary for Christian life and for salvation.

Paul speaks of greed, of striving for profit and wealth, as one of the most serious spiritual problems. Strictly speaking, the Savior says the same thing, reminding us that it will not work to serve both God and mammon. The issue here is not only that striving for profit and wealth often forces a person to violate a whole series of commandments given by God. The issue is also that a person who has made wealth and profit the goal of life acquires a rather peculiar view of those around him. He is surrounded not by neighbors, but by competitors.

Or by partners, but this does not change the essence of the matter: dividing those around him into partners and competitors fundamentally changes neither the general picture of the world nor the attitude toward others. And one or another social order, one or another social structure, determines nothing here by itself. Paul, for example, calls slaves to treat their masters precisely as masters, even when they are Christians, and then doubly so, as masters. For when you treat a person as a brother, you no longer perceive him either as a competitor or as an "oppressor." And class struggle is in essence nothing other than competition, only collective and relying on large masses of people.

With truly brotherly relationships it becomes impossible - not because all social problems are solved at once or all contradictions disappear, but because in such relationships they can be solved outside the traditional paradigm of "partners - competitors." This, strictly speaking, is what the apostle calls Christians to, and what he advises Timothy to train his fellow believers in. And not even because the alternative almost always turns out to be social struggle, sooner or later inevitably leading to war and bloodshed, but because in every other case a person becomes a servant of mammon, not of God.

Of course, there is a certain necessary amount of what today we would call social goods, without which one cannot live; Paul does not dispute this. He says only that one should not chase after more, after what one can fully do without but does not want to do without because others, those who are richer, can afford it. A person who has stepped onto the spiritual path, and all the more onto the Christian path, cannot chase wealth, not because it is destructive as such, but because while chasing it, it is impossible to follow God. This is what the apostle reminds Timothy of.

What the apostle means, by speaking about the love of money, because of which many have erred from the faith and received many problems in life? It is of course hardly about the fact that somebody sold literally his convictions. It is rather about another thing: about the material well-being, which becomes an end in itself. Actually, the Savior Himself said that we cannot serve God and Mammon at the same time. But what had been said was it insufficient, and among the Christians even in the first generations there were those who wished to try? It is of course not very probable, that someone in sound mind and in good memory would have begun to experiment on himself such an experience. The problem is in another thing: often it occurs by itself.

Apparently, the economic life, the economy in general represents a system of auto-organization, which tends to grab people and subjugate its laws. And not only that in the fallen world it constantly gives failures, but also in more and suppresses completely the freedom of man, if only this man allows it to have a power over his soul. Certainly, the apostle calls not at all to the total poverty, he speaks only about the limitation of needs by a certain reasonable limit, of which it is impossible to go farther.

But here is the problem, that the man whose soul already was under the power of what Jesus calls Mammon, is not in the state to stop. Today in the world many is said about drugs, but to the look not of the modern world (particularly in its part, which we traditionally call Christian) it becomes obvious that the money is the main drug for it. Money, as the drug, is necessary for him already not for a defined purpose, but as an end in itself.

But what became too obvious today, was in a certain degree natural to the fallen world in all the times. It is appropriate to individuals, quite as to the whole communities. And even the Church in its history turned out, regrettably, not to be at all free of it. Although the problem here is not even in the wealth as such, but rather if it (or, more exactly, the desire to preserve it and keep) defines the whole life of man or of the society.

If yes, then we can really forget about the Kingdom. Even if everything justifies itself (like it often happened and is happening in the life of church) with references to the good of the Church and to the necessity of solving the tasks and the problems being in front of it. Indeed, the only task as for the Church and as for every Christian is the witness about Christ and the Kingdom. If that is not, no task is necessary, or important. Even the most significant and ambitious.

Paul holds the ministry of presbyters, or elders, in high esteem, especially those engaged in the “ministry of the word,” the ministry of a teacher or rabbi. Such people quite often became members of the council of elders: a teacher's ministry involved more than studying the sacred books and teaching others to do so. Its chief purpose was to gain experience of living according to the inner Torah, as well as experience of the process of shaping that inner Torah itself.

This was very serious and demanding spiritual work. A person who wished to acquire the inner Torah and learn to live by it first had to become aware of themselves and their intentions, and then learn to govern those intentions with the same awareness.

Moreover, a true teacher had to be ready to share their experience of life in the Torah and of the Torah's path with anyone wishing to learn. This meant always being open to conversation and to any questions concerning spiritual life and the spiritual path. Such a ministry was far from easy, and the experience it provided was truly priceless for the Church. That is why teachers often became members of the council of elders, sometimes at a relatively young age, like Timothy himself.

Naturally, such a teacher, constantly in the public eye while leading an intense inner life, could easily become the victim of slander or false accusation: it is impossible to be good in everyone's eyes and to please everybody. Discontented people could emerge easily and did so quickly, but Paul urges Timothy to examine their testimony critically. Understandably so: any accusation, if true, in fact showed that the teacher was unfit for his ministry.

For many, removal from ministry was equivalent to spiritual death. So the apostle advises that every accusation against a presbyter, especially a presbyter who teaches, be examined as the Torah prescribes for accusations that may lead to a death sentence. In such cases, the Torah requires an accusation to be confirmed by at least two witnesses, whose testimony, after detailed examination and cross-examination, must be established beyond all doubt. Paul extends this rule to every presbyter, especially those who teach: the responsibility of those who decide about them and their ministry is no less than that of those who confirm a death sentence.

Returning to the theme of the presbyterate and the laying on of hands, Paul calls Timothy to special caution regarding accusations brought against presbyters (vv. 17-20), as well as to prudence regarding the laying on of hands (v. 22).

These instructions are not accidental; they are connected with the very essence of the relationships that bind the members of the church community to one another. The Church consists of those who seek the Kingdom and live in it, but each has his own measure of rootedness in the new life. Until the end of time, no Christian can be absolutely sure of his salvation, just as no Christian can be completely freed from the power of sin. A constant struggle must be waged against it both by individual members of the Church and by the church communities of which the Church actually consists.

In a certain sense there is always something of which each Christian can be accused and convicted, because full freedom from sin still lies ahead even for members of the Church. And while the war with the forces of darkness continues - for the Church as a whole, and with personal sins for each Christian - the stumblings, breakdowns, and failures of those who are most visible, who most often and for the longest time stand in public view, become especially noticeable. Such are, for example, the presbyters mentioned by the apostle, those who labor "in word and in teaching" (v. 17). That is why caution in judgment and condemnation is especially important here. It is no accident that Paul requires accusations brought against presbyters to be accepted only if they are confirmed by no fewer than two witnesses (v. 19).

Such a procedure is prescribed by the Torah for cases in which the accusation allows the possibility that a court may impose a death sentence (Deut 17:6). As is clear, the apostle looks at accusations brought against presbyters as accusations deserving death. Of course, in this case the issue was not capital punishment, but rather possible excommunication. Yet the point was not only that. The point, above all, was that a presbyter who consciously does something that profanes his ministry loses the Kingdom and the gifts he received during the laying on of hands. That is why it was fundamentally important to understand, in each concrete case, whether the matter concerned an involuntary sin, which is practically inevitable for everyone, whatever spiritual gifts a minister may possess, or a conscious sin after which the minister ceases to be a minister.

And the issue is not only that an error in judgment could turn into monstrous injustice for the accused. The point is that a false accusation in this case destroys the spiritual space, the space of the Kingdom, inside which alone the Church can exist. Of course, a church community where such an injustice has occurred can outwardly continue its existence, but it will inevitably lose what constitutes the foundation of the Church. Only an appearance will remain, one that can sometimes deceive seekers, but can never give them what it promises. And Paul warns Timothy against committing this terrible mistake, a mistake that can destroy the Church by depriving the faithful of the Kingdom.

The apostle Paul instructs his disciple, calling him at the same time a "man of God." But does a person of God need instruction? He does. Our belonging to God begins with a small seed and grows. This growth is nourished by grace sent from God, and in just this way righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness enter and increase in our life. But all this is like what happens in our schooling: knowledge is given to us by teachers, but we must make progress so that the knowledge becomes ours. So Paul speaks of progress, of acceptance, of aiming at the gifts of grace, of the heartfelt labor, the struggle, of faith, and of constant awareness that this life here and now is the beginning of eternal life.

In instructing Timothy, the Apostle Paul uses a very characteristic expression in today's passage. Unfortunately, the Synodal translation renders it imprecisely as "hold on to eternal life." The Slavonic "take hold of eternal life" corresponds more closely to the Greek original: "seize, hold fast to the eternal life to which you were called." The Apostle says that the faith granted to us by the Lord Jesus can be a support to which we can cling and thus escape from the abyss of hell and death. It is significant that we read this passage as the celebration of the Nativity of Christ draws to a close. In a text dedicated to the Presentation, St Cosmas of Maiuma expresses this thought very vividly. He places these words about the elder Simeon the God-receiver on the lips of the infant Jesus: "It is not the elder who holds Me, but I who hold him, for he asks Me for his release." When we receive the infant Jesus, we discover in Him, in a wonderful way, not a burden that we are called to carry, but a support to which we should hold fast.

As he concludes his letter to Timothy, Paul reminds his disciple of the main task of a servant of the Church. It is also, however, the main task of every Christian: the task of bearing witness to the Kingdom so that the world may see it, and so that everyone seeking new life may know where to look for it (vv. 11-16).

Returning to the theme of wealth, the apostle, adding to what he has said already, by no means closes the door of the Kingdom to the rich, just as the Savior Himself did not close it when He said that it is hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom, but never claimed that it is impossible. The apostle, as we can see, explains what the difficulty consists in: in order to receive the Kingdom, a rich person must stop thinking of his wealth as something on which he can lean in life (vv. 17-19). The point is not only that, when he dies, the richest and most influential person in the world can take no more wealth with him than a beggar who has lived all his life on alms. Many understood this and spoke about it long before the Savior came into the world. The point, above all, is where the rich person's spiritual attention is focused, toward what his will is directed, or, in Gospel terms, where his treasure and his heart are.

Wealth really does provide support and power in our world that is being transformed, but it provides them precisely to the extent that the world has not yet been transformed. The habit of relying on such support, as well as using such power, can play a cruel trick on the possessor of wealth when it comes to spiritual life in the proper sense of the word, to life in the Kingdom and the relationships that define it. On coming into contact with the Kingdom, everyone discovers his own unreadiness and inadequacy. Yet a person who has already had to experience something similar, a person with the relevant experience, finds it easier to pass through the disappointment, inevitable for fallen human nature, that usually accompanies such an experience, and perhaps even through resentment. Meanwhile, both disappointment and resentment, though not fatal in themselves, can easily drag on and become, at the least, a serious obstacle on the spiritual path, and at the most, turn a person away altogether from the Kingdom and from spiritual life. Paul warns the rich against this mistake, a mistake that can cost them the Kingdom and eternal life.

As he concludes his letter to Timothy, his testament, the apostle Paul urges his disciple to “keep the commandment.” He does not specify which one, because it is evident to him that there is only one commandment. It can be expressed in different ways: one can speak of love for one another, of love for God and neighbor, or of the good confession like Christ's confession before Pilate... In one way or another, it means living—living a genuine Christian life (“not I, but Christ in me”), living in constant communion with God, living by the power of the Holy Spirit. Such a life extends beyond earthly life toward the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the entire fullness of the Kingdom of the One who is “King of kings and Lord of lords” will be revealed, as Jesus Himself also said.