2 Timothy 1:5-10 (NRSV)
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you. For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
When I’ve heard this passage taught, the focus is often on removing our own “spirit of cowardice,” sometimes translated as “a spirit of fear” or “a spirit of timidity.” I’ve never heard teaching on the positive alternative, which focuses on the intergenerational witness of faith, power, love, and self-discipline by the women Lois and Eunice.
As he provides encouragement in this passage, Paul does not point to Timothy’s male lineage but to his mother and his grandmother. If given the opportunity to speak, grandmother Lois and mother Eunice could probably write their own epistles of faith, but we do not have these letters. 2 Timothy 1 is the only biblical reference that directly acknowledges these women’s influence by name. But how many more times is the power of their faith and personhood unspoken in the background of other biblical narratives?
Timothy’s own faith is revealed to him through the faith of his foremothers. He is reminded of his faith, and perhaps comes to better understand it, by way of Lois and Eunice. In this season of Epiphany, our passage teaches us not only about the revelation of the incarnate Christ, but the revelation of faith passed down through the generations.
As Timothy looks to Lois and Eunice for faith, we all look to the incarnate Christ for grace and for God. Verse 10a reads, “[grace] has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus…” This verse conveys the Epiphany that God is revealed through Christ—that by the miracle of Incarnation, we can have faith like Lois and Eunice.
There are incredible mystical aspects of the Epiphany and of the Incarnation. But we cannot overlook the physical interpretations that these seasons bring. God is enfleshed and understood by way of the body.
The seasons of Christmas and Epiphany are inherently bodily. In On the Incarnation, St. Athanasius writes, God “took to [Godself] a body, a human body even as our own. [God did not] will merely to become embodied or merely to appear; had that been so, [God] could have revealed [God’s] divine majesty in some other and better way. No, [God] took our body…”
God took our body, claiming that the body is good. That the bodies of our mothers and grandmothers are good. That our bodies are good.
I can’t help but think about Lois and Eunice, physically and spiritually growing their descendants in faith. And I think about the women who came before me and the ways they grew me and fostered my own faith. Perhaps this passage should invite us all to reflect on intergenerational influence of our foremothers.
In this season, God is revealed to us in flesh. And our own faith is revealed to us through the faith of our mothers, grandmothers, and all the women who came before us.
Laura Ellis is Project Manager for Baptist Women in Ministry.
This blog series made possible in part by a gift from Myers Park Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC.
If you or your congregation is also using Year W this liturgical year, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at meredithstone@bwim.info. Further resources and online conversation about using the Year W lectionary can also be found at Wilda Gafney’s website: https://www.wilgafney.com/womenslectionary/