Prayers and the Quiet Life -- Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 15C/Proper 20 (1 Timothy 2)

1 Timothy 2:1-8 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. ³ This is right and acceptable before God our Savior, ⁴ who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For

there is one God;

    there is also one mediator between God and humankind,

Christ Jesus, himself human,

⁶     who gave himself a ransom for all

—this was attested at the right time. ⁷ For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth.

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                This is the second of three readings from 1 Timothy, one of the three Pastoral Letters traditionally attributed to Paul, but whose authenticity as Pauline is questioned by a majority of scholars. This passage is a call to prayer, that includes everyone but special mention is made of those in high positions, including kings. The reason why those in authority are lifted up is related to the concern expressed in the letter that the readers live in such a way that they do not bring attention to themselves. This is a letter written to people who might not be facing overt persecution, but who need to be careful about how they present themselves to the larger world. There is also a word here about Christ’s role in the salvation of the world. As for the author, whether it’s Paul or not, the commission involves teaching the faith to Gentiles.

                There are some interesting elements to this brief passage, but I need to take note of the closing verse. The verses following verse 7 take us into challenging territory, which is one of the reasons that more progressive/liberal preachers avoid it. While verse 8 begins with a call to prayer, for the men to lift holy hands in prayer, it goes on to direct women to dress modestly and more. So, what follows after that directive to the men, is problematic for those of us who embrace gender equality and support the call of women to ministry. These verses have been used to suppress the ministry of women and so it’s not surprising that the creators of the Revised Common Lectionary cut things off where they did. Otherwise, we would have before us a word to the church that suggests women should dress modestly, not braid their hair (a common hairstyle of the day), wear gold or pearls, or wear expensive clothes. Then, to top things off, the author tells the church that he (it’s definitely a he) doesn’t permit women to teach or have authority over men. Women should keep silent. Why is this? Well, it’s Eve’s fault. She is the one who was deceived, but fortunately, she’ll be saved through childbearing. One of the reasons why this letter is seen as post-Pauline is that it doesn’t seem to reflect Paul’s views of women in the church. After all, some of Paul’s most important co-workers including Phoebe, Junia, and Priscilla, were women. Priscilla even taught Apollos the Christian faith more fully. I think it’s important to take note of these verses just in case someone continues reading past the comma!

                Now, back to our passage. The chapter opens with this call for the readers to offer up prayers, supplications, intercessions, and thanksgiving for everyone. That includes kings and all those in authority. While Caesar wasn’t officially crowned as a “king,” everyone knew what was meant here. The emperor is a king, and as it is said by the king in Mel Brook’s History of the World Part 1, “It’s good to be the king.” The reason for these prayers for those in authority has to do with the position in society experienced by the readers. Note that “Paul” doesn’t tell them to pray to the emperor or those in authority, but rather for them. Perhaps the reason for this is that Paul was addressing the critique of Christians that they weren’t patriotic. Remember that Christians refused to pray to the Roman gods, leading to the charge that they were atheists. So, we can say that this passage is rooted in or at least compatible with Jewish monotheism. However, Christopher Hutson suggests that this call to pray for the leaders of society wasn’t merely a matter of survival but was evangelistic in nature. He writes that “this directive offers Christians a way of living in harmony with the Roman imperial ideal of piety (eusebeia) while maintaining a Jewish understanding of true piety as ‘fear of YHWH’ (Prov. 1:7;Isa. 11:2) and a monotheistic commitment to the God of Israel” [First and Second Timothy and Titus, Paideia, p. 49]. While this wasn’t only a matter of survival, the passage does emphasize the valley of the quiet life of prayer.

                We see the evangelistic element present in verses 3-4. We’re told that when we live a godly and dignified life, we please God, who desires that “everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Now, we can interpret this in several ways, but I see it as a counter-proposal to the idea espoused by Calvin and others that God chooses to save some and not others. A literal interpretation here suggests that at the very least God wants everyone to experience salvation. There is, at least, in this message the possibility of some form of universal salvation. After all, wouldn’t God want to do what God can do to make this happen? Whatever the author means by salvation, that message is accompanied by a second piece, which is knowledge of the truth. Of course, the question of the ages has been “what is truth?” Pilate asked Jesus what truth is. That question came after Jesus identified his mission as that of being the witness to the truth and that those who know the truth listen to his voice (Jn 18:37-38). Thus, here we might assume that knowledge of the truth involves hearing and heeding the voice of Jesus.

                This revelation leads to what appears to be a confessional statement.  Paul writes this: “For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human,

who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5-6). The first phrase in this confession roots Paul’s theology in Jewish monotheism. There is one God, a truth affirmed in the Shema (Deut. 6:4). If, as Paul reveals, he is an apostle to the Gentiles, this is an important first statement. The world of the Pauline mission was distinctively polytheistic. This makes clear that Paul’s message is rooted in the prior revelation of Judaism. Secondly, not only is there one God, but there is “one mediator between God and humankind.” That mediator is Jesus, who is, according to this message human. If Jesus is the mediator between God and humanity, then the king/Caesar isn’t. Note here that Paul confesses that Jesus is human. He is like us in every way. Finally, he gave his life as a ransom for all.

                This reference to Jesus as ransom is interesting. A ransom is a payment, so the question concerns to whom this ransom is being paid. Remember that this ransom is Jesus’ life.  which is Jesus’ life, paid. In context, we might think in terms of the ubiquitous nature of slavery in the ancient world. We’ve already encountered slavery in an earlier reading from Philemon. Ransoms/payments were made to free slaves. Could that be what Paul has in mind? In this case, Jesus traded his life for every other human.

                With this confession having been affirmed, Paul reminds the readers that he had been appointed the herald of this truth, with a special emphasis on reaching Gentiles. He wants the readers to know that he’s not making this up. This is who and what he is. This is the message he proclaims. Thus, a reason to pray and offer words of thanksgiving to God.  In fact, as Justo and Catherine González remind us, Paul is concerned about “the content of our prayers.” That is because Paul envisions the church being a priestly people who are called upon to intercede for the entire world. Thus, they write that for Paul, “Christians are to pray for all people, especially those whose actions have great effect on others, even kings and other rulers.” There are two reasons for this: “First, we need to pray that those in power will have such wisdom that they will let the society be peaceful (v. 2). Second, we pray because God is working toward the salvation of all (vs. 3-4)” [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, pp. 397-398]. The emperor could be persecuting the church, but that’s no reason not to pray for the leaders. We do this because our prayers are to be broadly focused and not just narrowly on ourselves. That’s not easy, as we all know, but this serves as a reminder! (Just be careful if you read beyond verse 7. That will take deep care).  

Image Attribution: Dürer, Albrecht, 1471-1528. Praying Hands, or Study of the Hands of an Apostle, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59708 [retrieved September 10, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Praying_Hands_-_Albrecht_Durer.png.