Titus 2:1-14 - He Has Redeemed Me - July 22, 2018

For several weeks, we have been studying in considerable detail the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Only one question remains: why? There must have been a good reason for the Son of God to leave his thrown in heaven, be born and live in this ugly, broken world, and offer himself up to be crucified at the hands of wicked men. And there was. In the Creed the “why” is contained in two little words: “our Lord.” Martin Luther offers a beautiful and brief explanation: all this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. Or, as the Apostle Paul wrote to Titus: Jesus gave himself to redeem us from wickedness, for himself, that we might be eager to do what is good.

Titus was a Greek convert to Christianity who had become Paul’s right hand man after he and Barnabas went their separate ways. (Acts 15:40) Having brought the Gospel to the island of Crete sometime after he was released from his first imprisonment in Rome, Paul left Titus on the island to organize the churches, train and appoint pastors (1:5), silence false teachers (1:10-11), and, above all, teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. (Titus 2:1) This involved three things: 1) convicting people of their sins; 2) pointing them to their Savior from sin; and 3) giving instruction in Christian living. And verse 14 contains a summary of that sound doctrine and answers the question: why did Jesus die for us? Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

It’s no secret that for decades now, church membership and attendance in our country has been declining. This has been especially true among the millennial generation (roughly those age 18-35). [1] We’ve even experienced this right here at Risen Savior, where much of the membership business our congregation has handled over the past several years has involved releasing, removing or disciplining young people who were baptized and confirmed, but now have no interest in attending worship, listening to the Word, or receiving the Sacrament. While there are dozens of theories as to why this is happening, the reality is that there is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer. Each individual has their own reasons for abandoning their faith and there’s plenty of blame to be shared by them, their parents, pastor and the church at large. That being said, there is one fairly obvious and fairly common reason people leave the church. One that people don’t seem to like to admit or talk about. This reason is that while many are willing to accept Jesus as Savior – gladly receiving his forgiveness and the eternal life he promises – they refuse to accept him as Lord. While they want the benefits of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection – they are unwilling to change and amend their lives to serve him. And this is more than just a theory concerning shrinking numbers of church members – this strikes right at the heart of the Gospel. Why did Jesus die for us? Did he die so that we could go on living as we did before?

No! Paul writes Jesus Christ gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness. The Greek is literally “from all lawlessness.” Christ bled and died to redeem us from a life of lawlessness, of disobedience to God’s will and rebellion against his commands. The question we must ask ourselves is: has Christ’s sacrifice had its desired effect on our hearts and tongues and lives? If we were to audit how we spend our time, money, and energy every week would the results confirm Jesus’ lordship in my life or would it expose the idols of myself, my job, my family, my pleasure? As Christian men and women do we cherish and uphold the distinct roles God has given us, or do we resent and arrogantly think that we are so enlightened that we know better than our Creator? As Christian parents look ahead to sending their children to school this fall – some for the first time – have we really placed the priority on their spiritual growth well-being, or has God’s will for his children been sacrificed on the altar of our own convenience? Does the way we dress, the way we joke, the things we watch and the websites we visit testify that we honor God’s gifts and rules for sex and marriage or that our hearts are ruled by passionate lust? (1 Thessalonians 4:5) Do we trust God’s promise to provide our daily bread enough to be generous in giving to the work of his Kingdom or do we effectively steal from him by giving only the leftovers? (Malachi 3:8) If God were listening to our conversations in the car, at the dinner table, right here within these walls – and he is – does he hear speech that builds others up or tears them down? To put it simply, does my life match my confession: is Jesus the Lord of my life? Because, let’s be honest, if Jesus’ sacrifice hasn’t had any impact on our lives – then what did he die for? There is no middle ground; either Jesus is your Savior and your Lord or he’s neither. Either he is the Lord of your life, or something else is. No one can serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24) If you, like me, must confess that too often I have rejected Jesus as Lord and replaced him with something else, then join me in heartfelt repentance – and then rejoice that Jesus has paid for those and every other sin and has given himself to purify us as his own people.

That concept takes us back to the Old Testament, when – out of all the nations of the world – God chose the children of Abraham; the nation of Israel. (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 14:2) God took great care to ensure that his chosen people were pure and set apart from the world for himself. And he did it, in large part, through the ceremonial laws – laws that dictated what the Israelites could eat and wear, how they must cleanse themselves and their homes, and how they must worship. These laws served as a hedge or wall around Israel – keeping them pure and distinct from the unbelieving world as God’s chosen people.

But Jesus did not come a new law-giver (John 1:17), to set us apart with a list of do’s and don’ts. He came to purify us once and for all with his own blood. (1 John 1:7, 9) Having received that gift of purification through Baptism (Titus 3:5-7), through Holy Communion, and through the Word, we belong to Christ – not by virtue of obedience, but by virtue of having our sins forgiven. In Israel, God changed them from the outside in. In the NT Church, Christ changes us from the inside out.

Which leads to an issue that may be troubling some of us right now: do I really belong to Christ – even if my life doesn’t always show it? Is he still my Savior even if I don’t always serve him as Lord? The good news, the comfort we have is that we don’t belong to Christ because of what we do, we belong to him because of what he’s done for us! It’s not something we need to work toward; it’s what we already are! In his Smalcald Articles, Martin Luther gave a beautifully brief summary of what it means to belong to Christ, to be a member of his Church: Thank God, today a seven-year-old child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd (John 10:11-16). [2] Belonging to Christ doesn’t rely on what we do for him – it rests on what he wants to do and give to us. Belonging to Christ means listening to what Christ says. (John 8:47) That’s how he rules in our hearts and works in our lives so that we might be his people, living in his kingdom now and forever in heaven.

Because when Christ is ruling in our hearts through his Word and Sacrament, then we will be the people he died to make us: people who are eager to do what is good. In our severely morally challenged society, “good” can be hard to define. “Love” and “tolerance” are used as excuses for all sorts of wicked behaviors. The devil has been especially successful at corrupting God’s institutions of marriage, family, church and government so that everything has been turned upside down. As redeemed children of God, we have an advantage over the rest of the world in that we have the law and the gospel. Not only do we have and know God, our Creator’s, perfect and unchanging will (the law), but the grace and love he demonstrated in sending Christ (the gospel) motivates and empowers us to do it.

Paul gives brief, insightful, and amazingly relevant guidance to help Christians in all stages of life know what is good. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Older men, you to be the leaders and examples the rest of the church looks to. You should be sensible and sober, not easily shaken and not liable to overreaction, and especially to be “sound” or healthy in three areas: 1) in faith – trusting God; 2) in love – serving others; and 3) in endurance – understanding that God uses both the ups and downs of life for the good of believers. (Romans 8:28) (Illustration: like ballast in a ship.)

His guidance to older and younger women is weaved together: likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Older women, you too are leaders and examples in the church. Therefore, Paul says that you should be dignified – living in a way fitting for believers, to avoid wasting their time with gossip and drunkenness – and any other selfish leisure activities, in order that you may be teachers – not only of children but of younger women; encouraging and instructing them how to build and maintain distinctly Christian marriages, families and homes – which is the good that younger women should be eager to do. (Is there any more practical, relevant guidance than this? In a time when being a wife, a mother, a homemaker is maligned as being one step above slavery, Paul is saying that being a wife, a mother, a homemaker is a noble task! And let’s be clear, Paul is not forbidding women to work outside the home. But he is saying that when a Christian woman chooses to get married and chooses to have children – building and maintaining a Christian home is to be their top priority. A Christian woman’s role is not to be determined by godless society, but by the Lord who created and redeemed her.)

Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. Do young men only get one sentence because that’s the limit of their attention span? No. But for young men who are filled with energy and ambition and testosterone and strength and desire; who can build cities or tear them down; who can save lives or take them; who can cherish women or abuse them; who can raise children or abandon them; who can be the church’s greatest resource or her greatest weakness – Paul’s advice is all-important: keep your tongue and your desires and all of your body parts under the control of your converted mind that is ruled by Christ.

Next, Paul turns to young pastor Titus, and, by way of application, to all pastors: In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. Pastors are to be examples not only to young men, but to the entire congregation. They are to be pure in their motives (not wanting to become wealthy or famous), they are to speak and act in a manner that demonstrates the serious nature of the spiritual things they are called to proclaim, and when they speak, they are to proclaim the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of God.

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted. In a world that is constantly trying to pit employees against their employers, Christian employees are to be hardworking, obedient, respectful and honest. Why? So that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. We are not all called to be prophets in the workplace. But, hard work, respect, obedience and honesty will speak volumes to the unbelieving world around us – perhaps even drawing them to see and trust Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

None of the guidance Paul gives here is easy to do or follow. It is countercultural to our godless world and it chafes against our own sinful nature that wants to be in total control. It means completely surrendering ourselves, our desires, and our lives to Christ. It means making him Lord. But how could we give anything less than everything we are and have to the one who gave himself for us? Jesus died to redeem us from all wickedness, to purify us as his own people, people who are eager to do what he defines as good. May his boundless love for us lead us to always live for him. Amen.

[1] http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/05/12/millennials-increasingly-are-driving-growth-of-nones/ - in which Pew reports that 35% of Millennials are religiously “unaffiliated”

[2] SA XII:2