Titus 3:1-11[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, February 6th, 2011
Two men in their 50s go up to their local high school and hold the doors for, greet, and welcome students to school at the local high school in their town. One of them told me they know most of the kids' names, and they greet with them by name with a smile every morning. The principal at this school will not let one youth pastor go on this campus; he welcomes these two guys. They gather weekly with a group of 25 men to pray for these students; they have the latest yearbook and they pray for all 1600+ kids by name each week. These are grown, mature men who gain nothing financially from this move; one of them is a life-long single man who has no children. Their desire is that no high-school student in their county is not prayed for by name - weekly. One of these guys also goes weekly to a very broken home and reads good books to children.
A few college students (and one graduate) in a good-sized city use their Saturdays to plan, purchase, prepare, transport, and share a good, healthy, home-cooked meal with the homeless people in their city. It costs them money, work, and their only free day each week. But at 3:00pm every Saturday you'll find them at a street corner where poor people have learned they will be, sharing this meal with all who come. You would be surprised to hear how much these young Americans know about homelessness in their city.
A couple of empty nesters I know have for years looked after their elderly neighbor. Lately his needs have increased drastically, but they still serve him diligently – as if he was their father! I mean moving his stuff, taking care of his house, making decisions about his healthcare, spending hours weekly to care for dogs he doesn't really need – and this old man is not a relative, just a neighbor. They literally do more for him than most people I know do for their own aging parents, and with no complaints at all; it's just part of their lives, it is to them – normal.
Who profits when people do such things? Why do these people do such things?
How can one devote so much to people who can never pay them back? Who made these people want to do such work?
Why are they happier than most Christians who live largely for themselves?
Now let's bring this up to look at this thought process from God's perspective:
Why does God want you to do good works? How does God expect you to be and do good?
Who did this converting, this changing in these folks' lives to make them care so much?
Let's finally read our text for today, Titus 3:1-11
1 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,
2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.
10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.
Did you hear this? We are to be ready for and devoted to good works. Let us be careful with this little letter to Titus; it is dangerous. If we read it too much, or hear it read too often, we might start hearing it, believing it, and obeying it. Let me attempt to summarize this portion I've just read…
1. 3:1-3 Be a good respectful slave with a positive attitude. You know, the kind people love to call, use, and to be around. Slaves think everybody is their boss; they're humble, submissive, and respectful; but a willing slave is also positive.
2. 3:9-11 Get yourself away from arguments, boastings, and controversy. Stay far from people who debate every single point of every little rule. One pastor's wife said to me once, after her husband took a new church full of old people, that they had their daily devotions with the church constitution and by-laws; they could quote it section and paragraph; but they didn't know their Bibles. Get away from such foolish, divisive people; they can only bring harm, and God's wrath is aimed at such as those.
3. 3:4-10 Here's why: because God brought you to life by His Holy Spirit. You, my dear church-going, Christ-following people, had nothing to do with your conversion to faith in Christ. It was God our Savior (a title often used of Jesus, pointing out the unity of the Son and the Father) by His Holy Spirit who regenerated you. We were dead, lifeless, useless, numb to God (Eph 2:1-4) when God, by His own free choice, made us alive! He did spiritually to us what He did physically to Lazarus at the tomb in John 11:43 – brought us from death to life. Praise be to God, who alone gives us new birth! This faith in Christ – and we are saved by grace, through faith – is a gift from God given to those whom He has made alive.
So, since you've been saved, made new, and given eternal life with God in heaven, go do good works, church family. Paul would tell us, 'When you get your rear-ends out of these church chairs, go serve and bless others. Do GOOD TO OTHERS. First to the body, but then to the lost and dying world; your neighbors! Jesus would too. In fact, He DOES tell one man that. Let's read it, in Luke 10:25-37.
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?"
27 And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
28 And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"
30 Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side.
32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.'
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?"
37 He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise."
The Priest? Well, the pastor walked around him; too much to do, too much at stake to get dirty wasting some heathen in a ditch; he probably brought it on himself.
The Levite? Yeah, the music guy walked around him too.
The Samaritan? He made time, money, and effort to help the man. Only the most despised low-life short of tax-collectors to a Jew in that day, and considered worse by some. Jesus chose a very extreme example for the lawyer! So Jesus DOES say, "Go serve and bless others. Do GOOD TO OTHERS. "
Church family, I confess to you that I too easily speak evil of others; I too easily take too much effort to bless me and not others. Verse two is very convicting to me; too easy to do! This passage has ripped me up, and God has to change the man in front of you. I'm sure some of you are in this broken boat with me; together, let's consider this passage this way…
1. In the beginning: be ready for every good work; stop the foolishness that you once were enslaved to!
2. In the end: be devoted to every good work; get away from false teachers and self-absorbed, greedy fools that God will judge.
3. In the middle: because God has saved and changed you.
The men at the school doors are Alan Levi and his brother down in Hamilton, Georgia.
The college students and one grad are Andrew Najdowski and his roommates.
The husband and wife caring for the old man are Craig and Julie McCaw.
What are you doing for others? Who are you doing good works for? What has God done for you, church member, church attender? Does that life in you ever escape out into good works? Titus was taught to teach his church, Be Ready for and Devoted to Good Works.
Now consider…Who will you bless? What good work is God giving you opportunity to do?
[1] All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved. I paste them in red for distinction.
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