THANKFULNESS ON DISPLAY
1 Timothy 1:12-16 (p 839) Nov. 6, 2011
INTRODUCTION:
If I asked you to name the “Worst” person whose ever lived…what names would you throw out…”Hitler” Sure! Nero? Saddam Hussein, Osama Ben Laden?
Maybe one of the terrorists on September 11, 2011….Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacey, How ‘about Ted Bundy?
Anybody here this morning put themselves in the same category as these individuals?
“No way, man…they were responsible for the death of millions…they butchered people and did unspeakable things…I’ve never done anything nearly as bad as them….!”
King Herod was responsible for the deaths of most of his family and the annihilation of thousands of babies under 2 years of age….
The Apostle Paul knew all this and yet he wrote….”Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners---of whom I am the worst”
We know Paul’s post isn’t a flattering one! He summarizes it like this: “I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man.”
The first time the Bible mentions “Paul” was when he was still called Saul…a man of Tarsus, and he is holding the cloaks of those who are stoning a man named Stephen to death…He is in full approval of this death. He even takes a leadership role in the persecution of Christians…He’s breathing out threats…He’s going from house to house and dragging them out and off to prison….Paul believed he was fighting a “Holy War”. He believed he was doing God’s will….
And then he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus as he was on one of these missions. He not only encounters Jesus, but is transformed. Scales would fall from his eyes, physically and spiritually as he is baptized into Christ…Saul dies….Paul arises anew in Christ…the terrorist has become an instrument of the good news.
Jesus Christ has appointed Paul to His service….we know all this…or at least we are somewhat familiar with the story…but how is Paul able to write he’s the worst…He’s not as bad as Nero, right?…King Herod was much more evil, right?
Here is one of the most essential truths when it comes to understanding God’s grace and living out our salvation on that grace…It’s the only way our thankfulness can be put on display.
I WHEN GOD SAVES US HE DOES NOT COMPARE US TO OTHER PEOPLE (Neither should we!)
Because of the way God’s justice works Paul was correct in saying “I am the worst sinner.”
And by the way this phrase is written in the present tense…which means he wasn’t just referring to the past…but still “I am the worst sinner”
When God calls us to give an account for our thoughts, our words, our actions he does not compare us to Nero or King Herod, or Ted Bundy…He compares us to Himself…
And what does God expect?
“Be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect” (Matt 5:48)
Every one of us wants to minimize our sin…every one of us wants to make the blackness of our evil look more charcoal grey. And we want our good deeds to appear to be brighter than others…our 100 watt bulb is certainly brighter than his 25 watt bulb.
But what if you compared that 100 WATT bulb to the face of the sun…and then realized that’s just the creation of the one who is real light!
So when Paul writes to his son in the faith Timothy…and with gratitude for his salvation oozing out of every pore in his body…he’s telling the truth when he says….”When it comes to sin…I’m the worst.” Because he’s not comparing his life to Nero…He’s not comparing his evil to King Herod…He’s looking at every thought, deed, motive, and word in comparison with the holiness of God.
When we approach sin in light of God’s holiness, repentance becomes possible in His grace…When we approach sin by comparing it to the sin of another we feel proud that we are not like them…we’re pretty good really…I don’t even need that much grace…like they do!
Comparing our sin or our goodness to others is the most worldly way of thinking possible…2 Cor 5:16 says “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”
How did the world and Paul view Jesus at one time “A Worthless, illicit child of a carpenter from the back water town of Nazareth? A false Messiah with a few deluded disciples…”
Paul on the other hand…A Hebrew of Hebrews….A leading Pharisee, member of Benjamin’s tribe, a devout keeper of the law, A zealous fighter against this so called “False religion of Jesus”.
In Paul’s mind “He was awesome”…”Jesus a Loser, as well as His followers!” This is what is going through his heart, mind and mouth
Acts 9: 1-6 (p 777) Watch what happens when…
II THE GRACE OF GOD IS PUT ON DISPLAY.
Paul says in our text…that the very reason God showed him mercy, as the worst of sinners (a huge attitude change huh?) was so that the unlimited patience of Jesus Christ might be on display…Paul is example “A” for grace and forgiveness.
After Paul is led blind into Damascus…for 3 days (like being in a tomb, huh) he waits (and God works in his soul) then Ananias shows up via the Lord’s instructions…this Godly man leads Paul to an understanding of God’s plan…Listen
Acts 9: 17-22 (p778)
Can you imagine anything more powerful than Stephen’s murderer….the chief threat breather against Christians…Now preaching “Jesus is alive…He changed my life…He saved my soul…He’s called me to serve Him”…
IN THE SYNAGOUGES OF THE JEWS…The one who raised HAVOK in opposition of the way…now says…”I WAS WRONG…JESUS IS THE WAY
He now says
“I Thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to His service.”
Most jewelry stores will put their precious diamonds on a black velvet backdrop because the diamond really pops in comparison with the black background. And Paul’s simple but elegant point is this, “the grace of Jesus pops in all its glory in comparison with the blackness of my sin.”
Here’s something really important for us to consider. Those who believe they’ve been forgiven little also forgive little. And those who realize they’ve been forgiven much, forgive much. Paul says, God you poured out your grace on me abundantly so I can be a diamond of your love and faith on display in a black and dark world.
Folks, it is this display of genuine grace that flows from a grateful heart that will win over the cynical and lost. Certainly not all of them, but when we allow the grace that Jesus poured out into us to pour out from us into others this is an example for those who can believe and have eternal life.
III He Provides the Strength, We Provide the Service
Mike Yaconelli writes in “Messy Spirituality” that “Spirituality isn’t a formula. It is not a test. It is a relationship. Spirituality isn’t about competency; it’s about intimacy. Spirituality isn’t about perfection, it’s about connection.”
Just like each of us who begin a new life with Christ, Paul had to forgive himself and truly believe Jesus had completely forgiven him. He would always remember holding those cloaks while the rocks smashed into Stephen’s flesh. He would always remember the sounds of wives screaming as their husbands were dragged from the house. God cast his sins in to the sea of forgetfulness to remember them no more, but it is impossible for Paul to purge his own memory.
I’ll always remember in the midst of my rebellion my dad walking into my room with a 357 magnum and handing it to me with the words “Kid, why don’t you go upstairs and shoot your mother. It would be a quicker way of killing her than you are now.” The memory is here but like Paul the person who lived then isn’t here. He’s dead. It takes the strength of Christ to accept that truth and then become faithful in his service.
Remember how Paul used to think? Remember 2 Cor. 5:16 “We once thought about Christ in this way, we do so no longer”? Well here’s the verse that follows it, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come.”
As we die to our old life in Christ He moves into our lives through His Holy Spirit. The strength to do what he has appointed us to do comes from that spirit, His spirit.
A couple of weeks ago I headed out toward Joplin, Missouri with about 25 of our folks, men and women. We knew we’d be working in two houses. One where a woman had lost her house in the May 22 tornado and bought another home that needed a lot of work. Her son, who had the skills to help in its refurbishing, was killed in a wreck just shortly after they moved in. The other home was a couple in their 90s. He had cancer and multiple health problems. They have been married 70 years. The house was falling apart. Not much had been done to the house or yard for 20 years. Sad stories, but names in emails…Deanna, Sidney, LaBretta. But then I watched the glory and grace of Jesus flow through this team. Both families became real. Deanna’s grief and pain became a motivation for us to love her more. The house became a project of grace. Sydney, 90 years old, walks into a new room and new yard and says, “I’ve never done anything good enough to deserve this.” And I thought, “I want to love him more. I want to crawl through the trees, bushes and trash to bring him a gift of beauty.” And I watched a team of men and women find real strength from the same source. It brought us together with a bond that is stronger than any glue.
(show pictures)
I want to always feel like Sydney when it comes to my salvation. Jesus, I’ve never done anything good enough to deserve this, nor will I ever.
But thank you, Lord, for saving my soul, thank you Lord for making me whole, thank you Lord for giving to me thy great salvation so rich and free.
Let’s pray.
