Cliff Loesch October 7, 2007 2 Timothy 1:6-14 Kindle Afresh the Gift of God Anna Mary Moses was born in 1860.  She really enjoyed embroidery work, but when she was in her seventies her arthritis had gotten so bad that it was difficult to sew-so she took up painting.  In 1938-when she would have been about 78 years old-an art collector saw one of her paintings in a drug store window.  A year later an art dealer exhibited some of her work in his gallery in New York City.  "This brought her to the attention of art collectors all over the world, and her paintings were highly sought after.  She went on to exhibit her work throughout Europe and in Japan….  She continued her prolific output of paintings," and the demand for her work never diminished during her lifetime.  She lived to be 101 years old and you very likely have heard of this well-known painter who was known as Grandma Moses.  (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses) Elizabeth Layton was another woman who also took up painting a little later in life.  She was a Kansas native-and lived in Wellsville.  In 1977 at the age of sixty-eight she took an art class and began to paint.  Her reason for painting was different than Grandma Moses'.  It was not arthritis that brought her to painting, but depression.  Elizabeth had struggled with depression for thirty-five years-and also bi-polar disorder.  She took one art class to try to find some help for her profound depression.  The class taught her a particular technique called contour drawing.  With this form of drawing you focus on the subject that you're drawing and do not actually look at the paper as you are drawing.  In fact you look at your subject's reflection in a mirror.  The result is some pretty unusual shapes and perspectives.  But Elizabeth was good at it.  The Washington Times said, "She is the Van Gogh of contour drawing."  A reviewer for New York Magazine said, "I am tempted to call Layton a genius."  Many people see Layton's work as commentary on many social issues including capital punishment, homelessness, hunger, racial prejudice, and aging.  She believed her art cured her of her depression.  "Her drawings and writings…have been displayed at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art and in more than 200 art museums and centers throughout the U.S."  (See http://elizabethlayton.com/) 2 Timothy 1:6 says, "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you."  Or "fan into flame the gift of God" as some translations put it. Someone said that we might not know all that lies within us.  We might not yet realize the possibilities that could emerge through us.  We could have gifts that we never imagined.  What if someone said to Grandma Moses when she was 50-"Thirty years from now you will be a famous painter"-what do you think she would have said? What if someone had said to Elizabeth Layton when she was 60 years before she started painting, "You know, when you're in your seventies, the Washington Times will write reviews about you and will call you the 'Van Gogh of Contour Drawing.'"  It's not too likely that either of them would have believed such wild predictions.  But when we read this verse that tells us to fan into flame the gift of God-whether we are a young person a middle-aged person or a person well beyond middle-age we should realize that there could be more possibilities than we might think.  You never know what lies ahead.  And you never know what ways God might use you-what new ways God might lead. It's interesting that Paul did not name Timothy's gift.  He didn't tell him to rekindle his gift of teaching, or fan into flame his gift of administration or of mercy or of hospitality.  No, he simply said, "Fan into flame the gift of God that is within you."  Perhaps this is a way of recognizing that God can work through us in different ways at different times.  Paul was not presuming to say how God might work through Timothy-realizing that God can start something completely new at any time. As a side note, when you think about the two painters that I mentioned this morning, it's interesting to think about the things that led them in new directions.  With Grandma Moses, her advancing arthritis made it difficult to continue the embroidery work she had done for so many years.  And the difficulty led her to seek a new avenue for her creativity.  And her gift for painting turned out to be even stronger than her gifts in other areas.  For Elizabeth Layton it was her struggle with depression.  She experienced many ups and downs in life-but as she was going through a particularly rough spot, somehow she mustered the energy to take an art class to try to break out of that bout with depression-and her life was forever changed.  I think we can ask ourselves are there events or circumstances in our lives (whether positive or negative) that might turn out to be the stimulus to help us discover a new direction, or to find a new gift? I also ask, what was Paul's role in Timothy's life?  Paul told Timothy, "Rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands."  So was Paul the one who imparted the gift-whatever it was-to Timothy in the first place?  No.  The gift came from God.  Paul, in my view, was a catalyst who helped call forth Timothy's gifts.  And we can and should do that for one another.  We can encourage one another; we can help each other see the possibilities in our lives.  We truly can be catalysts to help call forth the giftedness in others.  I love the imagery in this chapter of the glowing embers placed there by God ready to be fanned into flame.  The embers were not put there by Paul.  It was God who started the fire within.  But what to do with those glowing embers?  There is such potential.  Don't squander this opportunity.  Fan into flame, we are told-rekindle the gift of God that is within you. This passage is full of beautiful imagery and powerful encouragement.  We are told that we were not given a spirit of cowardice but of power and love and of self-discipline.  We are reminded that this gospel-this good news-is worth whatever it costs us.  Never mind about any suffering along the way.  Our service to Christ is worth whatever inconvenience we might encounter.  We are also told that our calling is a holy one and that this grace we're experiencing was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.  And we are told that our trust in Christ is completely secure.  Paul says, "for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him."  But the phrase that I want to call to your attention this morning is in verse ten and says that Christ Jesus has "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light."  What a beautiful phrase: has "abolished death and brought life and immortality to light."  And this is the work that we're called to be part of.  So fan into flame the gift of God that is in you.  And don't be surprised if God can use you in ways you never imagined.