Living like Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Sermon 2: Living like Jesus
Titus 2.
Leadership in the home
Big Question: How are we to live?
FCF: V1. Teaching unsound doctrine
Good News: V.11-14 The Grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people
Jesus our Savior: V10 and V13
Structure:
Godly Character needs...
Godly Character exemplifies...
Godly Character is Motivated by...
When I was teaching a class of 11 and 12 year-olds in the school workshop (Slide), I had the hardest time motivating the smart kids, the one who were really good at maths and reading. They were my greatest challenge. Not the rough and tough kids, they were my best students. So I would have to find ways to get these smart kids working in an environment that wasn’t directly clear as to how to succeed.
One particular challenge the students face was putting two pieces of wood together, now there’s like 20 ways to do it with just a saw and glue, there’s many 100’s of ways of doing it if you throw in hinges and other joining tools too. So when a kid asked “Mr Carey, how do I attach these pieces of wood together?” I would say, “well, how do you want to do it?”
Now my smart kids, always stumbled here, because they looked to get the perfect answer. The one that got them the good grade in the end. They demanded a straightforward step by step response in order that their project would be perfect upon completion, which I kind of understand.
However, in my classroom we were not driven by the end result, rather we were driven by the journey, so I would show them three options, and said choose one to copy. They would always respond to say, which one is best? I would say, well, which one has connected the two bits of wood? And they all had done that, so it really was a matter of choose one and getting on with it, give it a go I’d say, you can really only fail if you don’t try.
(Slide) And I’ve been reflecting on this moment as I’ve thought about Paul and his letter to Titus,
And so often, like the smart kid, we too want clear instructions, that is to say we want to live in such a way that at the end, we will be counted as having lived a good life. So we want to know the specifics of how to live that we can do it right. That at the end of our lives we can be graded for our efforts and feel a sense of success about how we did this thing called life.
But the reality is, that’s not what the Christian life is about. The follower of Jesus is not about looking to the end, and living in such a way that will enable us to make the grade to enter heaven.
No, The Christian life is more about looking to the examples of the wood connections and trying to copy what has already been done. That at the end of the effort we will simply have two pieces of wood attached together. You see, if those kids just copied either example, then their work would look either exactly like the model, or look something very close to it.
And so Paul, in this letter is giving the people of Crete, an example of how to join two pieces of wood together. Except it’s not wood, in Paul’s letter its lives, our lives and the life that reflects God’s grace
We will see this explained as we unpack the passage by looking at
what Godly Character needs....
what Godly Character exemplifies...
and what Godly Character is Motivated by...
So what does Godly character need?
Godly Character needs...
To start with, Paul is giving us an example of a model of what good character is. And the goal for Paul is not that at the end of your life you will get a great result and cross the stage of heaven to receive your merit award from the principal. No, the goal is that you would get on with connecting your life to the life that reflects God’s grace, Living a life that shows it has been redeemed and purified by the work of Jesus and his grace, that others would be able to observe and copy your example of life and they too would brought into a life with Jesus.
And so what model of life does Paul give us to copy in order to connect our two pieces of wood together?
Well, Paul gives us the lives of men and women, that each gender would have a model to aspire towards.
We have the older man and woman, and the younger man and woman.
The first thing to note, is the importance of Character for all groups.
Now understand that character does not result in the same performance in each person but rather Character reveals the heart and motivation of a person in any given scenario. Which is to say, we are all different to each other. What you do in your day is different to what I do in mine, I’m not Darryl, and Darryl is not Becky. So don’t seek to focus on the performance of Paul’s teaching here, rather focus on the heart and motivation that he is teaching.
Because each of the groups of people to be taught by Titus, (Slide) first and foremost are to be taught, and therefore each person is to be teachable. Which you might think is a strange way to look at these lists of character that Paul is giving to Titus. But ultimately, this passage will simply serve as a academic exercise if each of us don’t open our hearts to the opportunity to grow through the teaching of God’s word.
Because sometimes opportunities are hard to recognize...
My oldest boy, likes to show me new things he can do with Lego, (Slide) now I don’t want to brag, but I’ve been around Lego for much longer than my son, I know a thing or two. So when my boy says hey dad, do you think you could make this?, the challenge is to not say yes I can, I’d just follow the instructions like you did. The challenge is to see the opportunity that is presented by this moment, see my boy wants to teach me about what he’s learnt and done, maybe he’s challenging my Lego skills, but really he’s teaching me that he’s growing, that he’s done something new, something for the first time. And that is special.
Seeing these kinds of moments in the younger generations as an opportunity to be taught about their hearts and growth, is an opportunity for us to build our relationships with them and in turn be respected by them.
Which is what Paul is doing for us. See we all know things, we are all kind of smart. You haven’t got to the age you are now without learning a thing or two. However, what we don’t know and will always struggle to understand is the heart of another. For that is what we must focus on. Therefore men and women, boys and girls, Paul says… Be teachable that you would display the heart of Jesus, learning each day new things about others that you would learn more about Jesus. Which will then be an example for others to see and to learn from.
For that is the first point of todays passage, Godly Character needs a teachable heart,
Thus when we read the lists of things that each group are to exemplify we are to notice the similarities and differences of Godly Character, for they each compliment one another, and therefore we must consider what the Godly Character exemplifies.
Godly character exemplifies...
Firstly, he starts with the older men, the character values listed in verse 2 together create a man who is worthy for the other groups to do what they are instructed to do. We must notice that as the passage continues, each group is reliant on the former group doing their part in order that the family dynamic produces the proper outwork of this teaching.
But hold on you might say, I don’t have a close family, or mine doesn’t include a father or mother. Well not to worry, Paul’s model for family, is also a template for the church relationship dynamics, its not a replacement of family, but church is a place for those who have never had a father or mother, to learn from older men and women, and those who’ve never had a sister or brother, to learn to grow in relationships with others that are safe and respectful.
So it starts with older Men, do these things, and do them well, that Older women, you also, do these things and do them well. In order that the young women and men would have the proper examples for them copy to do what they need to do.
See the family model for Paul is that men are to lead their homes, and that a wife is to submit herself to the leadership of her husband. (Slide) For that is the model of family life that Paul teaches us throughout his letters. Now depending on your experience with this teaching and the values that you’ve been raised with, that may bring up tension. However, it need not to.
Because there’s no forcing of authority by men over women here. Rather it’s a challenge to both sides within marriage. Notice that men are not instructed to assert authority or to claim it over their wives. No, men are to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love and endurance. For that is the exemplified older man. That is the man to whom a wife is encouraged to subject herself to the submission of. Because both the husband and the wife are not their own, but rather in Christian marriage both man and woman are subject to Christ as head of their lives. So therefore, no man is in authority on his own merits but rather as he exemplifies the Christ like qualities as described in verse 2. Qualities that when a woman finds such a man, submission should not be burdensome but rather, empowering.
Because as a husband lives in accord with Christ’s word, a wife will be encouraged to express all that she has been gifted with. Because in Christian marriage, both the man and the woman are to love one another fully. Not holding back anything of themselves from the other but rather joining together as one. Free to live and experience life together as both live dependent on God for his mercy and saving grace. (Slide)
But this passage is not strictly about marriage. It’s about each of us, at our different stages of lives. God has for each of us, a goal to aspire towards. That as we commit to exemplifying these virtues, we will promote the good of one another, building each other up. And not only for the benefit of our lives but for the benefit of those who live around us, in our families and our churches, older people are to teach and urge younger people.
But Paul’s teaching is not only to be focused on the relationships within the church, He’s also concerned for relationship outside the church community. Because its very clear here that Paul is concerned that people on the outside of the faith will see Christians as hypocrites. That Christians can easily put themselves at risk of saying one thing and doing something different.
And so Paul recognizes that not all people control their environments. See verses 9-10 (Slide) address the slaves of a household. Slavery is something that the bible is not endorsing, but rather giving guidance to a situation that exists at the time. In Pauls day, slaves live in the houses of their masters. Therefore more than anyone, their conduct is going to be observed and the challenge they have is to exemplify Christ’s glory in these conditions. (Slide)
An encouragement for us is to consider the times when you don’t have control of your environment. Are you able make the teaching of Christ attractive to those who see you? Maybe thats a working environment, maybe that’s your living condition. Whatever the case, where we have no control, we too are to exemplify Christ’s glory through our character.
Because the main thrust of this chapter, is not how you live, but rather what you are living for. Which leads us to our last point
Godly Motivation for Character...
(Slide)which is that the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. Titus 2:11. . Because that is the most pressing point of the chapter. Nothing else is more important than God’s grace, displayed on the cross for all to see that God surrendered all for our sake, in order to bring us close to him. By dealing with sin once and for all.
See Jesus’ death and ressurection, is no small comment for Paul. This event is the gospel of God’s saving grace that Jesus took on all the unrighteousness and guilt that has impacted the world, he took on the punishment that sin deserves and he paid the price through offering himself as the sin offering. A perfect man, a perfect God, taking the punishment that we deserve.
This for Paul, is what we are living for. Therefore this is the motivation of our hearts that should guide us in all we do as we seek to exemplify the character traits that Paul has written earlier.
Because as we look back to the cross, we see that Jesus did this, (Slide) Titus2:14. to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do good.
So the emphasis from Paul, here is on God’s deed, the work that he has already done for us. We are to respond by understanding that we are redeemed and purified from our wrong doing, and therefore we ought to be eager to do good. on the basis of what God has done for us.
(Slide) Titus 2:12. So we can say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.
That is to say, God has redeemed us, and purified us by his work on the cross, so that we can say no to temptation and sin today.
For Jesus’ death and Resurrection is still powerful and relevant as we all still need to turn to it each day in order to say no to the temptations we face.
And therefore, as we live in the redemption of Jesus and his work, we (Slide) Titus 2:13 wait for the blessed hope - the appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ.
This is important to see here that our motivation for living godly lives is not because we hope to be found clean and righteous upon the return of Jesus. No. We want to always remember what Jesus has done for us on the cross. That we would live in light of his work.
And here that leaves us, like my smart kids in the workshop, asking the teacher, how do I specifically join my life with Christ’s glory. And here Paul is saying, look to the examples that are set before you. Copy them, as they copy Christ. Learn from one another as you journey together as you all, learn from the teaching of God’s word.
Set your heart on God’s model for family life as that is a good model. Granted It’s not the only way to do life, there will be many examples of Christian lives that have lived to different models forsure. But this is a good model.
And so for each of us. there are really two considerations that I want to encourage us in light of this passage:
Live as an example of Christ’s glory? Maybe on these lists, you feel in your heart a deep conviction to grow in a certain area. Maybe you struggle with others respecting you? Maybe you struggle to respect your father or husband? what ever your conviction may be:
To encourage you from this passage, please read and reread verses 11-15 again. Read and pray about what Christ has done for you as you consider how you might be motivated to grow to be more reflective of Christ’s glory. Therefore look at your own character to see if maybe you’re holding onto something too tight, maybe you want to prove yourself in someway. But when we consider Christ, and what he gave up for us, what he chose not to prove about himself as he took death upon the cross. Let us reconsider what we value as most important.
Have a teachable heart. Are we prepared to listen others when we may feel that we know more. Can we humble ourselves to grow in relationship with one another, as we all grow though the teaching of God. For Christian living is not just learning about God from God’s word, it’s learning from God’s word in community with others, and showing God’s grace to those around us who don’t believe.
Therefore whether we feel like a smart kid in class, or a wild child, or somewhere in between. Let us join our lives with Christ, by modelling our lives like those who are Christ like in their character whom have gone before us. And remember just like the kids in the classroom, you can really only fail if you don’t try.
So let’s pray together,