Titus 2:1-13 Sermon 22/09/09 It is wise for us to learn and grasp onto Godly teaching
As a society Crete was a dog’s breakfast, morality was poor, examples being culturally sanctioned and promoted same sex relationships as a form of population control and piracy, woman drank and gossiped, boys were grouped together to train for warfare and protection. The church in Crete was a going concern but somewhere down the track the Christian people had not realised that salvation was not just a one off event but was something that effected every day living.
Paul’s letter to Titus was written as a Pastoral letter, written to help Titus in his leadership role as to how he should instruct and lead the people he was dealing with in the church on Crete. The part of the letter I am focusing on today is Chapter 2: verses 1-13.
What follows is an exert that I have taken from an online article on the influence of culture.
In Paul’s letter to Titus, we learn that Cretan culture was very bad. In Titus 1:12, Paul wrote: “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, ’Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” We can be sure that Paul was not just being uncouth. Neither was he addressing the integrity of every single Cretan. He was, instead, reminding Titus of the persuasive influence of culture. In Cretan society, there was a general lack of integrity among the people. By and large, they were a cruel and savage people who would selfishly push everyone out of their way in order to gain an advantage for themselves. In addition, they were pleasure-loving (viz., they loved to eat) and lazy. “Cretinism” or “Cretan behavior,” in the ancient world meant “lying.” According to the ancient writers, the Cretans were experts at lying, cheating, and stealing……Their forte, according to Titus 1:11, was “dishonest gain.” Consequently, it should not surprise us that the Philistines, who are still listed in our modern dictionaries as a rude, crude, vulgar, and barbaric people, were, according to (the prophet) Amos 9:7, descendants of …Crete.
This is why Paul cautions Titus to warn the Cretan {Christians] of the terrible influence of their culture (Titus 1:13). If they were going to be “sound in the faith,” they were going to have to be “rebuked sharply.” We can almost be certain that some were more than willing to misunderstand Titus’ “sharpness” (cf. II Corinthians 13:10). Nevertheless, we are sure Paul did not prescribe this remedy for the destruction of the Cretan brethren. Instead, he imposed it for their edification. For the Christians at Crete, as it is for Christians everywhere, the New Testament, not their culture, was to be the benchmark of their behavior
Well it appears that Titus had his hands well and truly full and it was going to be a real effort to complete the work that Paul had started on Crete.
A bit about Titus, Titus was a Greek convert to Christianity, Titus had previously been sent by Paul to Corinth to participate in a collection for the Judean believers, and also to help straighten out the church in Corinth (when I refer to church I am referring to the body of believers in that place not a building). It was after these events that Titus was at work on Crete. Titus was a well travelled and sound teacher in the early church.
Now that I have looked at the background, let’s look at the second chapter of Titus verses 1-13.
Firstly Titus is told by Paul that he must teach what is in accordance with sound doctrine. Here’s a question what is doctrine? We hear of cults indoctrinating people, mind washing them, until they come under their control.
Doctrine and doctrines are mentioned using these words, only seven times in the bible. Doctrine means information, instructions, matters taught and precepts. What Paul is instructing Titus to teach is only, sound information.
Groups are addressed in The Apostle Paul’s letter and how these various groups should be taught.
Many of these situations relate directly to the world we live in. They are as relevant in 21st century Christchurch, as they were in 1st century Crete. The people were to be taught these things as Paul in his travels realised that they were not living lives that were in line with sound Christian principles.
Let’s look at them; verse two, teach older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self controlled, and sound in faith, in love and endurance.
These older blokes must have been living lives that were well short of where Christian men should be living. What Paul wants Titus to instruct these older men to do is live lives that are not lives of drunkenness, that they should be worthy of respect not just demanding it as they could often do in their culture, or as sometimes people with a bit of status do, they needed to be self controlled not just controlled by external factors, such as laws or agreements, what the court or how other authorities instructed them to live, but to have control of themselves. How often men do we need to be controlled by an external factor? I know that I check my speed every time I pass a cop car parked beside the road.
To be sound in faith, in love and endurance, that means pure and uncorrupted in faith, in love and endurance.
Let’s pull this apart I think this whole being pure and uncorrupted in these three areas is something all Christian men should be.
Firstly uncorrupted faith; why introduce aspects of faith that are contrary to the teaching of scripture or hold onto old pagan ideas and ideals. When we look at our own time, this can happen, I’ve meet false prophets, and “God told me is a favorite line with these people.” That’s not to say that everyone who has a word from God is a false prophet. If the word does not align scripture it is not of God!
I think there is also that human thing of getting hooked into some teaching or behavior that is contrary to what we know is right, well lots of good people are doing it. I think that one goes back to a certain tree in a certain garden, do I eat the fruit, not eat the fruit?
There are also those that hedge their bets going to church and to the local clairvoyant, or as someone I talked to during the week mentioned praying Buddhist prayers as well as praying to God just in case.
Men our love should also be pure and uncorrupted; many get hooked into believing that lust and love are sisters when in reality they don’t even belong to the same species.
Endurance in this case meant that when standing up to hostility, to do this in a way that was in keeping with pure and uncorrupted living. How easy it must have been, and is, under pressure to loose your cool and act out of the heat of the moment. We don’t often run into true hostility in New Zealand, but how do we behave when the Ref’s made a dodgy call or some clown fails to indicate in the traffic, a Christian should wave with an open hand not a fist. The instructions Titus had for this group were to teach wise Christian teaching; lets put the boot on the other foot it is wise for us to learn and grasp onto Godly teaching.
The older women were to be instructed to be reverent in the way they lived, that means to have ‘a sense of awe of God’ in the way they lived. Think of something truly awesome, something that would take your breath away when you first saw it, what comes to my mind is Mount Sefton in the Mount Cook National Park, mind blowingly fantastic. Shear cliffs somehow covered in ice, seem to hang over the glacier below. PP 1&2
Do you have a picture of something awesome in your mind/older women are to be instructed to live before God, reverencing his awesomeness, not to be slanders, that’s gossips, and liars, and both are extremely destructive things to be involved in. Lately I’ve seen the pain that gossip can cause, I can tell you a secret men can be gossips as well, one place where I worked we would start a rumor and see how long it took to come back to us.
Older women were also instructed not to be drunkards, but to teach what is good. I think that living with an awe filled understanding of God’s Holiness and majesty is a really healthy thing for any Christian as it gives a realistic perspective of who they are in their relationship with God.
The instruction here is to teach older women to step up and take responsibility for training younger women, this is an interesting issue as many older people are actually younger in their faith journeys, where does responsibility for teaching and learning belong, it is wise to accept our own personal responsibility for learning and grasp onto Godly teaching. No ifs, buts or maybes.
We as a faith community also have a responsibility to one another. I don’t know about you but if someone was to see me walking blindly towards destruction I would like them to guide me away from my fate.
Paul’s instruction to Titus was to have older women train younger women. To have them train them to love their husbands and children. We might see this as a strange instruction, but in Crete this was counter cultural as marriages were not always founded on a loving relationship, love was often something that had to be learned in this society as was respect for one another. Interesting to think younger women might need to be instructed to be busy at home, and to be kind.
What about this one; interesting to think women would need to be instructed to be subject to their husbands, what an unusual world the people of Crete lived in.
I know that is almost another ‘Tui’ advertising banner in the day and age we live in.
Wives be subject to your husbands / Yeah Right! What however is this about? Is it about equality, is this about men dominating women; is this about women’s lib? The answer is none of the above; this letter was written to Titus in a particular situation. This is about the word of God, “so that no one will malign the word of God” Malign means to slander, or defame. Christian women were asked to be subject to or to submit to their husbands, who of course were treating their wives with respect and love, because to do otherwise is contrary to scripture: out of respect for the word of God. This was so that no one would malign the word of God. This is an instruction in Christian living for Christian people, in Crete at that time. This was never intended to be a, “me man, you woman get into line thing.” I think a parallel today would be for wives to treat their husbands with respect. On a personal note any man who thinks he is a superior being to his wife, is an egg, in fact a number seven because that’s about the biggest egg you can get. While we have to acknowledge certain gender differences, In Christ we are equal. Also Christians we need to treat everyone as being of equal value before the throne of God.
It is so easy for us to look at a passage of scripture like this and arrive at our own conclusion, without looking at the context that it was written for and how it relates to us today it is wise to learn and grasp onto Godly teaching.
The young men of Crete were to be instructed to be self controlled. Titus was to set them an example, in the same way that those of us who have been walking the faith journey should be an example to those who are new to the faith. As people who claim Jesus as our Lord and Saviour we are to live - lives worthy of our calling.
God interacts with ordinary people, broken and damaged people to do extraordinary things; two examples that we have spoken or heard about over the last couple of weeks are David and Abraham, Paul was giving Titus instructions that to those hearing would be countercultural quite different to their pagan roots.
As people of God, Christians are not to live as the people of the world live, Paul goes onto say that “it is the Grace of God that brings salvation”, and “it teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and Godly lives in this present age,…”
Within this passage we are able to see that people still needed instruction on Godly living, the grace of God in our lives reinforces this instruction. God through his Holy Spirit is with us as a constant helper, encourager, comforter and friend.
As those who follow Jesus, who call ourselves by his name it is wise to learn and grasp onto Godly teaching. To live in ways that are in keeping with his word, not in keeping with the morality that we see around us.
The challenge today is how we respond to God, who is responsible for our journey towards a better understanding and relationship with God. We are told in this letter that the people “must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good…( Titus 3:14) .” More about that next week but in the meantime we all have a responsibility.
Responce.
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