April 26, 2026
We’re in a message series called, “I believe in you!” I do believe in you! We live in a time when it is so important for us in our church to encourage each other and the next generation spiritually.
Moses was a great man of God in the Old Testament. He was a great leader who led the Israelites out of slavery. God gave him the 10 commandments and Moses gave them to the people. He led the people for 40 years in the wilderness. He raised up leaders when he couldn’t do all the work himself. Moses appointed Joshua to lead the people after he would die. Moses did so much to strengthen the next generation in their faith, and to encourage them for when he would be gone. There’s a lot of chapters in Deuteronomy where Moses gets the people prepared to continue following God after he dies.
When Moses passes away, Joshua leads the people for many years. He dies at 110 years of age. But listen to what Judges 2 says about after Joshua and his generation die, “another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” When Joshua died, they didn’t know God, they didn’t know his goodness or what he had done for them. Joshua didn’t prepare the next generation to follow God, and they turned away toward evil. It’s a lesson for us that we need to take seriously preparing the next generation.
So today we’re talking about mentoring: how you need to be a Paul mentoring a Timothy. Who are Paul and Timothy? Paul was a giant in the faith of the early Christian church. He started churches and wrote letters to them, encouraging believers to follow Jesus. Timothy was a young guy, a Christian with a mother and grandmother who were full of faith. The believers spoke well of Timothy, and Paul was also impressed by his faith that he decided to take him along on missionary journeys. Paul said there is no one like Timothy, who shares genuine concern for the churches. Paul said Timothy was like a son to him. Here is some of the wisdom Paul gives Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young!” He built Timothy up!
Somebody needs you to be a Paul! So be a Paul and mentor someone else! Or be a Timothy and find someone to mentor you. But there are things that make us hesitate to share our life stories and encourage others. One of them is you think I don’t have anything to offer. But you’re wrong!
You’ve had so many experiences in life! You’ve gained a lot of wisdom. You have a unique treasure to offer. You might say, “I can’t help anybody with their marriage. My marriage is not a model marriage.” But that means you know marriage isn’t easy, that it takes work, and you have deep empathy for a struggling couple. Maybe you say, I’m in my second marriage, I don’t have anything to offer someone. That’s wrong! Because you know the pain of divorce, and you’re compelled to figure out a way to help a couple in their marriage, so they don’t experience the pain of divorce.
By midlife, you’ve made a certain amount of money. You’ve saved money, wasted money, maybe invested money, and lost money. You don’t realize how much you know about money until you sit down and talk about it with someone younger who could use your perspective. For example, you know all about negotiating when you go to buy a car. You know they need to prepare themselves before they buy a car so they don’t end up with something they can’t afford! All of you have had to deal with conflict in life. Conflict in marriage, conflict at work, conflict with your parents. You know what you regret saying in an argument. Your failures are what give you a better perspective on conflict. A person you mentor can say, “I guess I’m not so bad, I haven’t messed up nearly as much as you did!” You learned to calm down and listen in a disagreement. All of you have some sort of spiritual background. Many of you grew up in church, left the church, and then came back. That equips you to share the value of staying plugged in to a spiritual context. Many of you have wrestled with faith, and that gives you the ability to speak to people who are wrestling with their faith. You might think, “I’m not like you, pastor! You went to church and believed all your life, and you’re from a family that always believed and went to church, it’s in your genes probably going back all the way back to Jesus. You can’t possibly understand why I have a hard time believing!” That’s why if you have struggled with your faith, you are a gift to someone else who is struggling. Many of you have raised kids. Some of you have lost kids. Some of you have had a prodigal son or daughter. Some of you don’t want to tell the story of your children because you think it makes you look bad. But sharing your story helps someone dealing with the same thing to know they’re not alone!
It turns out the things we don’t want to talk about: bankruptcy, learning disabilities, addictions, getting fired, those things are what give you a voice with the generation coming after you. We think people only want to hear our stories of success, but you learn far more from failure than you’ll ever learn from success. I remember when I was a kid and we went to visit my mom’s aunt and uncle in Tennessee. I found out my mom got in trouble as a kid! My aunt Mary said my mom and her cousin put dirt in the milkman’s truck! That meant so much to me! I didn’t know my mom got in trouble! I didn’t feel so bad about all the trouble I had gotten into! Our difficulties aren’t just trials with no purpose. Our failures have a purpose: they make us seem human, like everybody else! They also bring us to our knees and teach us to pray and reach out to God. Through our trials we learn He holds us in His hands.
You have a treasure of experiences. What are you going to do with it? Remember Joshua? He died and was buried, and all he experienced, all he learned, all he knew about God was buried with him. The next generation was lost. The value of his life ended with him. You have an opportunity, because of the treasure you have, to share what you have learned with the next generation. You have the opportunity to share it, so that the treasure of experience you have gained doesn’t end with you but continues on. You have a treasure that can be a life saver if you give it away. Be a Paul and share your life experiences.
When I went to college a Priest, Walter Burkhardt, preached many Sundays in the chapel. When I first saw him, I thought he looked frail. He was 67, young, right?! But he looked much older. When he preached, he came alive! He was a great preacher. He was even on a list of the 10 best preachers in the U.S. He drilled down in his messages on how a Christian needs to love their neighbor. He preached often on serving. So, when I graduated, I went and worked in two homeless shelters in Seattle for a year and a half. All because he had preached over and over, “You need to serve,” I served! He made a big impact on my life.
Walter Burghardt lived to be 94. And in the last years of his life, he couldn’t walk well. He couldn’t see well. But he felt strongly the next generation needs to learn to follow Jesus and love their neighbor. So, he would lead 5-day retreats for young people. He wasn’t walking well, he couldn’t see well. But he was determined! His treasure didn’t die with him. He gave his treasure away to many people during his life!
What a treasure you have! My challenge for you this week is to ask God to prepare you to become a Paul to someone.
3000 years ago, Moses heard God speak from a burning bush. Moses didn’t think he would be able to do God’s work. But God wanted him anyway! Moses worked miracles and served God. Before his life was over, he spoke to the next generation about the need to follow God. He had a treasure of experiences, and he gave it all away to his people, and to us in the many chapters of Deutronomy! Moses encouraged and raised up spiritual leaders to carry on the faith after he was gone.
You have also have had so many experiences! You have a treasure of stories to share, and a heart to believe in someone. So be a Paul, and you can save someone from feeling hopeless and helpless. You can fill them with hope and energy, so they follow God and get the courage and faith to joyfully climb the mountains of their life and share their faith with the next generation. Amen.
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