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“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” Titus 3.
There are two types of people contrasted in the above verses. Those people who have accepted Jesus Christ and have conformed themselves to his teaching and those who have not.
- The behavior of those who have not are…
- insubordination to authority… government and otherwise.
- not caring about doing good.
- Slanderous speech against others
- troublemakers and being inconsiderate
- treating others harshly
- lives characterized by following after passions and pleasures
- maliciousness and envy
- hating others and receiving hatred
The text says we all used to be like that but then something happened… God saved us by his mercy and that’s the only way it could happen. We couldn’t find salvation because we deserved it because we were totally undeserving of it.
Some have the idea that all we have to do to be saved is just to be good… sorry… goodness does not deserve mercy. Goodness does not earn mercy.
Mercy is conditional, he saved us through…
- the washing of rebirth.
- the renewal by the Holy Spirit who comes through Jesus Christ.
- we are then justified by his grace and become heirs and then (and only then) have the hope of eternal life.
Remember and cause others to remember to behave in a manner worthy of this wonderful, merciful gift.
Here are three or four cases on greetings and my observations on them.
I think the worst kind of greetings are the ones I have experienced at local convenience stores. You walk in and the cashier has been trained by corporate policy to say “hello” they don’t look up, no eye contact and they don’t really mean it… they’re just following corporate policy.
I thought that was the worst until I walked into a store recently and they had an electronic greeting.
The second worst kind is what I experience at the local athletic facility. There’s always 2-3 people at the front desk. You scan your member card… they make eye contact and smile and say hello. They do that when you leave too. It’s certainly better than the convenience store but for crying out loud they have your information on their computer screens right in front of them. They could at least greet you by your name and pretend that they know you.
My third example is the front desk at our office. They have been trained to recognize not only our clients but the names of their pets. Most of our clients make appointments so our receptionists have all the clues they need to make a personal greeting. When the client walks in they say “hello Mrs. Brimerlee… how is Barney today?” (for example). As they are checking out our receptionists ask about the visit and thank them.
Greeters and greetings are very important in congregations. Of course what happens in between the Howdies and the Adios' are also important but greeters at the beginning are the first impression and greeters at the end are the last impression. So… like really important.
The reality in congregations is that everyone is a greeter. Greeting is layered and somewhat continuous from the time the visitor walks through the front door, as they run the gauntlet through the foyer and finally when they find their seats.
I was told by a practice consultant that at the front desk you hire for personality and then teach front desk skills.
The skill of greeting can be taught and learned and as we engage in greetings and observe other greeters our skills are honed.
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor.
Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement… that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost.
Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life… ” 1 Timothy 1:12-17.
Paul was the worst of sinners… the very worst of sinners. He was guilty of Blasphemy because he insulted Jesus Christ by saying he was not God that Jesus was just a pretender and Paul treated with great violence those who disagreed with him.
Paul should have been punished with death but Jesus had other plans for Paul so he extended mercy to Paul and he was patient in doing so. Jesus let Paul continue to blaspheme and violate with violence true believers for some period of time.
You see when the world views a sin like “Blasphemy” it instantly judges and condemns the guilty and the verdict is as good as carried out. We treat them like they are dead. Predictable, Logical and Biblical.
But Jesus is not all that predictable (as illustrated by these verses.) He unpredictably extended mercy because he could do something we can’t… he could look into a heart and see faith and what the seed of faith can become.
Lesson #1… Jesus is patient. Probably much more patient than we are. Jesus doesn’t give up on people… even the worst.
Lesson #2… it doesn’t matter how bad you have been or how long you have been bad. If, like Paul, he “considers you to be faithful” he can extend mercy and erase all of those bad things.
Jesus extended mercy to Paul to demonstrate these concepts to the world so that the world might be encouraged that if God could extend mercy to the worst of sinners… then he could also extend mercy to those who are not the worst… people like you and me. Super encouraging.
