Only Luke Is With Me

2 Tim 4:5

It had been raining all day and we’d been walking in it for hours.

Up in the Lake District, it was and I’d had enough of it.

My walking boots were leaking.

The rain had soaked through my so called waterproof clothes.

It was dark. It was dull. It was cold.

We still had three miles to go until we reached Keswick.

I’d really had enough.

We splashed our way out onto a little lane.

And in the lane a Bus Stop – with a sign – regular buses to Keswick.

I really did want to catch that bus.

And as if on cue a little bus came round the corner and pulled up right in front of me.

Its doors swished open and I could feel the warmth.

I was just one step away from getting in the dry.

“If you catch that bus – Drew – you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life”

“We’ve never given up on any of our walks yet, and we’re not going to start now”

My walking companion knew that stern measures were called for.

“Are you getting on or what” called the driver “I’ve got to be in Keswick in ten minutes”

Whenever we encounter St Luke, the talk inevitably turns to his work as a doctor or as a writer of one of the Gospels.

In our Epistle reading though,  we celebrate another quality of this saint which tends to get overlooked.

His endurance.

Paul is writing to Timothy at a time when he is feeling low.

He feels as if life might be drawing to a close for him.

He feels a sense of desertion and loneliness which makes him long for the companionship of others.

Everyone else has given up or gone on their own sweet way and so he writes that memorable sentence.

Only Luke is with me.

I wonder how hard it was for Luke to be the only one to have continued at Paul’s side?

Paul may not have been the easiest of companions.

 The situations they encountered will have been dangerous and even life threatening.

 But Luke doggedly kept on going with him.

Maybe he took to heart the words he would later record in his own Gospel .

When Jesus said “I send you out as lambs amongst wolves”.

Maybe he realised as no other,  that the way of the disciple would be tough and require great endurance.

Only Luke is with me.

Great doctor, yes. Skilled with words and meticulous in recording detail..

But maybe the greatest thing about Luke was his loyalty.

 His determination to keep on going especially when things were tough.

We need similarly to be reminded of this for endurance is one of the gifts of the Spirit.

Something we should pray and hope upon.

It means never giving up on the Gospel and its proclamation.

Never resting content that the work of being part of the church should be a straight forward sort of thing.

Never giving upon people – even when they disappoint us.

Never giving up on the parts of ourselves about which we feel less than proud.

Never giving up on our relationship with God when we wonder about our worthiness.

Never giving up if our service in his name never hits the headlines and seems a bit ordinary.

As Christ looks down on his church today – do you think he is feeling a bit lonely or deserted by us all – or does he look gladly upon you and see that, yes, you , are with him and that your loyalty and your love is enduring.

And what would be the signs in your life that this would be true?

The driver sighed and the doors swished shut again and as the bus pulled away it sent up a jet of water from a puddle that made me twice as soaked.

I did not catch the bus and I did not enjoy the walk into Keswick.

But I didn’t give up and it was the endurance shown me by a friend that kept me plugging along the Way.

Knowing that someone was with me.

RH  19.10.08