INTRO.- Remind the people. Remind the teenagers.
ILL.- A teenager is:
- A person who can't remember to walk the dog but never forgets a phone number.
- A weight watcher who goes on a diet by giving up candy bars before breakfast.
- A youngster who receives his/her allowance on Monday, spends it on Tuesday, and borrows from his/her best friend on Wednesday.
- Someone who can hear a song by Lady Gaga played three blocks away but not his/her mother calling from the next room.
- A whiz who can operate the latest computer or Iphone without a lesson but can't make a bed.
- A youngster who is well informed about anything he doesn't have to study.
- A connoisseur of two kinds of fine music: Loud and Very Loud.
- A person who is always late for dinner but always on time for a rock concert.
- A boy who can sleep until noon on any Saturday when he suspects the lawn needs mowing.
Why define a teenager? Because we’ve all had them and tried to raise them. And to raise them we had to constantly REMIND them about life and things to do! We’ve had to remind them to clean their rooms, carry out the trash, pick up their dirty clothing, do their homework, be careful in driving the car, etc.
Reminding is a part of life. It’s a bosses’ job to remind their employees to do their work. And it’s a part of a preacher’s job to remind his people of what the scriptures teach and their Christian responsibilities in this world. This is why Paul said: II Timothy 4:2 "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."
I believe in preaching but I have discovered that I still need to refresh my memory over and over in order to do a good job of preaching.
I have one preacher friend who tells me that he’ll get his Sunday morning sermon done by Thursday then he says he will put it on his desk. He said, “I won’t look at it again until I get in the pulpit on Sunday morning.” All I can say is, he must have a better memory than I have!
I have to go over my sermon at least twice on Sunday morning before I ever preach it from the pulpit. And I do the same thing for the evening sermon. I want to get it in my head the best I can. I want to saturate my mind with my message so that I can preach it the best I can! I WANT TO REMIND ME SO I CAN REMIND YOU!
PROP.- Paul tells Titus what he should remind the people.
1- Remind them to be in subjection
2- Remind them to do good work
3- Remind them to be humble
I. REMIND THEM TO BE IN SUBJECTION
1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient...
ILL.- Do you remember Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid as played by Paul Newman (Cassisdy) and Robert Redford (Sundance Kid) in that 1969 movie? Well, here’s the real Butch Cassidy. “Butch” Cassidy and his Wild Bunch comprised the last of the outlaw gangs in the West. His real name was Robert Leroy Parker, and his father was a devout Mormon who owned a ranch in Utah.
Unfortunately, young “Butch” hero-worshipped one of the ranch hands, a gunman named Mike Cassidy. When Cassidy was killed in a gunfight, young Parker took the name of “Butch” Cassidy, and soon he was learning the outlaw trade as a member of the Tom McCarty gang.
As a train robber, “Butch” relied on trickery rather than blazing guns to get the job done. In a typical case, several of his outlaws would buy tickets and board the train. Then, at some lonely spot along the way, other members of the gang would flag down the train on the pretext that the track up ahead was blocked by a rock slide or a loose rail.
When the train stopped, the outlaws who were already aboard would surprise and overpower the guards in the express car, haul out the safe, and blast it open with a stick of dynamite. Within minutes, the Wild Bunch would grab the loot and be gone.
By 1901, dozens of railroad detectives and lawmen were hunting Cassidy’s Wild Bunch. So “Butch” decided to clear out. He fled to South America with the Sundance Kid and the Kid’s girlfriend, Etta Place. There, it was said, they robbed banks and mines in Peru, Chile and Bolivia until 1911, when they were ambushed and killed by Bolivian soldiers.
Butch Cassidy was a rebel! He rebelled against man and God! But we’re all guilty. (Rom. 3:23) Some people are just worse than others in their rebellion. We think nothing of rebelling against authority in this life. I worked in the grocery business for 9 years, early in life and I saw rebellion all the time.
ILL.- I remember when about 5 or 6 of us were locked in the Safeway store at night to work all night. Well, not everyone worked all night. I remember that as soon as the boss pulled out of the parking lot that one guy pulled out a lawn chair, laid down in it and slept most of the night. He may have worked 2 or 3 hours is all that night. THAT’S REBELLION! It’s rebellion against the authority that says you are to work a full 8 hours for 8 hours of pay!
ILL.- I remember a young girl who worked for a home decor company where I was once the assistant manager. She would leave for lunch but wouldn’t clock out like she was supposed to. Then when she came back from work she would clock in and then write in the time she supposedly left for lunch.
She was taking an hour and a half for lunch instead of an hour. THAT’S BOTH LYING AND REBELLION!
But it’s not just at work that we see rebellion. It’s everywhere and in every sphere of society. At home, at school, in the military, in politics, and in the church. Rebelling against certain authorities will get a person in trouble very quickly. That would be rebellion against the military, the law and God!
The idea of the text is, of course, that we are to be in subjection to all authorities. What’s the idea? It’s the right thing to do in God’s eyes. The Christian is supposed to be the most obedient and faithful worker and citizen.
Romans 13:1-3 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.”
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
II. REMIND THEM TO DO GOOD WORK
1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good.
Do whatever is good. This is what we’re supposed to do, for everyone and toward everyone.
ILL.- In a country where getting and having more seems so normal, people who choose to live with a lot less so they can help others seem, to put it mildly, is less than sane. Zell Kravinsky is one of those people.
Kravinsky got rich in the real estate business, and then gave away just about all of his fortune -- $45 million -- to charity. "A lot of people seem to feel I'm crazy," he said. Or could it be that he’s just generous?!
ILL.- Here’s another. Karen Pittelman also gave away her fortune to help others. She created the Chahara Foundation to help low-income women and girls with her $3 million trust fund.
At first, she said, it was difficult for her family to understand her decision. "It was hard for them because they put that money aside for my security. They did out of love, and so I think it was hard for them to understand why I wouldn't want it," she said. Pittelman's explanation was surprisingly simple: "I didn't need that much," she told "20/20."
"I would never judge or say how much any one person needs. But I knew for myself, in my life, that I didn't need this $3 million," she said. So, she gave her money to groups that help low-income workers and the disenfranchised, particularly women.
ILL.- Richard Semmler shares Pittelman's feeling that he doesn't need a lot to live well. For three decades, Semmler has been donating over half of his annual salary to support his favorite charities. "The total gift giving is at about $770,000 and it may be close to $800,000 by the end of this year," Semmler said.
His goal is to give away $1 million in his lifetime. A college professor who teaches algebra and calculus, Semmler has no trouble doing the math on how that commitment to charitable giving affects his lifestyle.
"There are a few personal sacrifices. It means a fairly small apartment. I am driving a fairly old car. That's a choice I have made. The choice not to have a large house. The choice not to have a pool. The choice not to have a boat on the Potomac River. The choice not to have a new car every two or three years. This way, I can use 55 [percent] to 60 percent of my income to support the charities," he said.
Semmler gives his time as well as his money to charity, serving meals once a week at the Central Union Mission and helping to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. Wow! What a guy! What a giver!
Obviously, you and I don’t have to do $3 million or $45 million dollars’ worth of good or even a million, but we do need to do all the good we can toward others. And if that includes giving some money, then we should do it.
Galatians 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
We need to do whatever is good in the sight of God and in the sight of others. And we to do all the good we can to everyone. And there’s a reason for this. We are servants of Christ and that’s what Christ did on earth.
I Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
III. REMIND THEM TO BE HUMBLE
2 To slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.
I Peter 5:5-6 "Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."
To show true humility or be humble toward all we must not slander anyone, instead we must be peaceable and considerate.We are not to speak evil of anyone.
ILL.- For example, our Vice President, Joe Biden, on June 26, 2010, visited a custard shop in Milwaukee, WI, to talk about jobs and made a stop at a Kopp's Frozen Custard outside the city. "What do we owe ya?" the vice president asked after enjoying some of the cold treats. "Don't worry, it's on us," the unnamed store manager replied, but then added: "Lower our taxes and we'll call it even."
A few minutes later, Biden indicated he didn't exactly appreciate the remark. "Why don't you say something nice instead of being a smarta-- all the time?" he said to the manager.
Most of the time, it pays to keep your mouth shut especially when you’re tempted to slander someone or say something bad about them. Instead we are to be considerate and humble toward all.
ILL.- High in the Andes Mountains when pack goats meet each other on a narrow ledge where passing is impossible, one goat will often kneel and let the other walk over him, to the safety of both. Occasions come when, for the best of all, we should kneel and let a person walk over us. Allowing someone to walk over us is not what most of us want, but there may be times when we should do this. Of course, it depends on what you’re talking about.
Maybe when someone purposely does evil toward us, we should just let it go and let God. Meaning, don’t try to see vengeance. Let go of it and let God handle the matter.
I Peter 2:20-21 “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
There are times in the Christian life when we must suffer even when we do what is right. Standing up for your rights is not always the right thing to do in God’s eyes.
ILL.- Someone asked Francis of Assisi how he could accomplish so much in life. “This may be why,” he said. “The Lord looked down from heaven and said, ‘Where can I find the weakest, littlest, lowliest man on earth?’
Then He saw me and said, ‘I’ve found him. I will work through him; he won’t be proud of it. He’ll see that I am only using him because of His insignificance.’ ”
God opposes the proud but He gives grace to the humble. And it may be that he uses the humble person the most in life. To be humble toward all men we must first be humble before God.
CONCLUSION----------------
Remind the people. We all need to be reminded of things to do, but the most important things to do are our relationship to God and Christ. We need to be thankful for godly reminders and we, too, need to do our part in reminding others!
Hebrews 10:24 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
Steve Shepherd, Jonesboro Christian Church, AR
jonesborochristianchurch@suddenlink.net
