Shaped by God's Grace

Father, sometimes your word reinforces what we just long to hear and long to do

and things that we really just want to celebrate.

And sometimes your word seems to go against the grain.

Sometimes, Father, we're afraid of your word and we don't even want to look at it.

We worry, Father, that your word will hurt us, that your word will diminish us, make us less.

So, Father, we bring these things before you.

We confess, Father, that we often don't even articulate that we have these different dynamics going on within us.

But we come before you, Father, acknowledging our frailty.

And we ask, Father, that you would pour out your Holy Spirit gently upon us, but deeply upon us as we read your word.

And, Father, we ask that you would make us disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel,

learning to read your word so that we will bring you glory in our everyday lives.

And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

Amen.

So, for some of you, that's not a good beginning, is it?

One of the commentaries, I always read some academic commentaries as part of my preparation for my sermons.

And one of the commentaries that I read was written in the late 1950s.

And when he came to this part of Titus 2, which was just read a couple of minutes ago,

when he came to Titus 2, I'm not making this up, he said,

this contains such uncontested common sense that I do not know what to say about it.

And I thought to myself, my, the world has certainly changed in 60 years.

I don't know how carefully you were listening to the text as it was written,

but for many people, as they're listening to the text,

they think the first thoughts that come to our minds,

maybe not yours, but to many people's minds,

or maybe another way to put it is, even if you thought that it's a fairly simple text,

imagine reading it in a Tim Hortons or a Starbucks.

Imagine taking it to your office and reading the text.

And inwardly, you would know that people are bristling.

This text treats men and women unequally and is discriminatory.

This text is an abomination because it tells women to submit to their husbands.

This text is an abomination because it seems to legitimize slavery.

And then, imagine having a text that gives advice to the different genders

in the day and age of Caitlyn Jenner.

And of trans bathrooms.

And for some people, they would just say,

this text is so completely and utterly hopelessly unhelpful at the best,

oppressive at the worst.

Why on earth are you even paying any attention to it?

One of the things we do here at the Church of the Messiah

is we read through books of the Bible.

When we read through books of the Bible and we preach through books of the Bible,

it means that we can't just pick and choose the little bits and parts of the Bible

that we like to read.

And it's part of a way of modeling.

In a sense, it's an attempt for the congregation to embark on a journey of common discipleship

where we learn to read the Bible together

and look at parts of the Bible that, left to our flesh,

we would probably avoid reading.

In fact, there's whole parts of the Bible in today's world.

And it's probably true in every culture, in every generation.

I mentioned in my blog, the thing in the bulletin today,

that if the Bible is in fact God's word written,

it means that it's always countercultural in every culture.

In a very, very militaristic or violent culture,

things about turning the other cheek might be deeply offensive.

It's going to be different in different cultures,

but there's always going to be, if in fact it is a word from God

and not just a word from our culture,

there in fact are always going to be things in the Bible

which are countercultural and hard for the culture to listen to.

And so there are parts of the Bible that are an undiscovered country

because we don't want to enter into them and reflect upon them

and meditate upon them and talk about them with each other

and try to learn what it is that this undiscovered country

is calling us to enter into and live in and flourish.

So that's what we're going to do.

We're looking at Titus 2.

So get your Bibles.

It'd be a really important Sunday to have your Bibles

to look at this for yourself.

And I'm going to do something a little bit.

Andrew, could you just put up the first of those Bible passages?

I think it's the one for older men.

Now, I'm not expecting you necessarily to be able to read it.

Some of you have eyesight that can read this quite effortlessly

and some of you can't.

But that's fine.

You should have your own Bibles or you can look up there.

What I want to make it first right off the bat as we get into it

is it's actually from a literary, as soon as I say literary,

I know that some people go like this.

So just the text, the Bible text is written in a,

if you wanted to sort of, I don't have a, I need a really big screen.

But it would be as if, you see at the top there it says,

verse 1, but as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

And you'd almost want to have a colon there.

And then what's going to happen is after the colon,

he's going to say, here's a few specifics for older men.

Here's a few specifics for older women.

Here's a few specifics for younger women.

Here's a few, here's one specific for younger men.

Here's something for leaders.

Here's something for slaves.

And then he completes the thought beginning in verse 11.

So one way to read the text is if you're an older man,

in fact, maybe if you're going to meditate upon the text as an older man,

is to look at it in this particular way.

You'd read verse 1, then verse 2, then you skip down to verse 11.

And you get all of the weight of Paul's thought to you.

And if you're an older woman, you'd read verse 1,

and then you'd read verses 3 and the first few words of verse 4.

Then you go down to verse 11 to 14 to get the full weight for it,

all the way through.

And that's the way that the text is set up.

And you'll see that everything which he's going to say,

all of the advice for older men, all of the advice...

So when he says...

So here, I'll just read it as if I'm an older man,

because that's probably what I am.

By the way, I just, out of curiosity,

I checked the King James Version.

And rather than the word older, you know what they use?

Age.

Aged.

So for aged men.

You know, the nice thing about the King James Version

means that all of us are reading the stuff for younger men and younger women,

because there's no aged people here.

But anyway, so here's how you...

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

That's what he's going to say.

Okay, going to give you an example for some specifics for older men,

in verse 2,

older men are to be sober-minded,

dignified, self-controlled,

sound in faith and love, and in steadfastness.

And just before I read verses 11 to 14,

sober-minded,

I think some of your translations might say temperate or something like that.

Another way to translate it is

having an unclouded mind.

An unclouded mind.

Our minds can become clouded by lust,

by ideology,

by greed,

by anger,

by envy,

by hatred,

by alcohol,

by drugs.

There's a whole range of things

that can cloud our minds.

And here,

speaking to older men,

sober-minded means,

in a sense,

an unclouded mind.

Like,

just on a second here,

before we get in first,

isn't that a good thing to want?

Like,

it's really,

really interesting.

I was having a real hard time

trying to deal with this scripture passage.

I really was.

Somebody was saying,

I don't know why,

George,

it looks really simple.

I'm having a hard time with it.

And then I was starting to pray,

Lord,

what word is there in here for me?

And then it was like,

duh,

look at older men.

And then I read the first thing,

sober-minded,

and I said,

Lord,

I need an unclouded mind

to read this text.

Lord,

grant me an unclouded mind.

And,

so just go back again.

So,

verse one,

but as for you,

teach what accords

with sound doctrine.

Okay?

Older men,

you know who you are,

are to be sober-minded,

dignified,

self-controlled,

sound in faith and love,

and in steadfastness.

Now,

jump down to verse 11.

For the grace of God,

God has appeared,

bringing salvation for all people.

Pause,

I'm going to read it again.

So,

for every group,

older men,

older women,

younger women,

younger men,

leaders,

and slaves,

the specific advice

is always justified

or explained

or put in the context

of verses 11 to 14.

It's the same for everybody.

Same for everybody.

For the grace of God

has appeared,

bringing salvation

salvation for all people,

training us

to renounce

ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live

self-controlled,

upright,

and godly lives

in the present age,

waiting

for our blessed hope,

the appearing

of the glory

of our great God

and Savior,

Jesus Christ.

Our Savior,

Jesus Christ,

why is he our Savior?

He gave himself

for us,

to redeem us

from all lawlessness

and to purify

for himself

a people

for his own possession,

a peculiar people,

if you read

the King James Version,

who are zealous

for good works.

And here was this challenge

to me all week,

verse 15,

declare these things,

exhort and rebuke

with all authority,

let no one disregard you.

So while I,

in my Canadian flesh,

wanted to run

from the text,

Paul says,

be a man,

be upright,

have a clear mind,

and exhort

and teach this text.

But here's the thing,

verse 11 to 14,

that's so important,

for the grace of God

has appeared,

bringing salvation

for all people,

the same grace

that's going to save us

trains us

to renounce

ungodliness

and worldly passion.

It trains us

to live self-controlled,

upright,

and godly lives

in the present age.

It trains us

to wait for our

blessed hope,

the appearing of the glory

of our great God

and Savior,

Jesus Christ,

who gave himself

for us.

He gave himself

for us

to redeem us

from all lawlessness

and to purify

for himself

as his treasured

possession,

a people

of his own possession,

treasured possession,

a peculiar people,

zealous for good works.

In the Second World War,

we all know about

Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The war in the Pacific

had been very,

very brutal.

Missy,

who comes to the service,

she's part of it,

she's not here today,

she's part of the congregation.

If you never met,

it's too bad most of you

had never met

her husband Bruce,

but her husband Bruce

was an Australian,

and this is,

of course,

before he met Missy.

He fought the Japanese

in the Second World War,

and he had lots of stories.

I had the privilege

of doing his funeral

a few years ago,

and he had lots of stories.

It was very formative,

and it was a very,

very bloody and violent war

against the Japanese.

And on July 26, 1945,

the Allies called for Japan

to surrender

and warned them

that they had a weapon

that could level cities,

that they could not withstand.

And the Japanese

did not believe them,

or even if they believed them,

they did nothing about it.

And on the 6th of August, 1945,

the Allies dropped a bomb

on Hiroshima

and called upon the Japanese

to surrender.

They would not surrender,

and they did not surrender.

On the 9th of August,

the Allies dropped

the Americans and the British,

with the permission

of the British and the Chinese,

dropped a second nuclear bomb

and obliterated Nagasaki,

killing hundreds and hundreds

of thousands of people,

instantly and then eventually

as well through a variety

of cancers.

Still, the Japanese

did not surrender.

In fact, it was only

six days later,

on the 15th of August,

and even then,

it was when the Soviet Union

declared war

the same day upon Japan,

and faced with two nuclear bombs,

and now the Soviet Union

declaring war on Japan,

then the Japanese surrendered.

Now, here's the thing.

Why am I telling you

an old Second World War story

at this point in time?

If God sent Jesus

down to earth

to show us,

to drum some sense into us,

to show us that resistance

was futile,

that he was going to win,

that he was going to triumph,

that bad people

were going to be punished,

you better get in the program,

and you better start

a vain God,

and if God had sent Jesus

to earth for that,

you know what?

A lot of us would probably

still want to fight

against God.

I mean, if you think about it,

the Japanese continued

to fight the Americans

after they dropped

nuclear weapons.

Jesus wasn't nearly

as deadly as a nuclear bomb,

just cursed a few

fig trees.

But if you think about it

for a second,

if Jesus had come down,

if God had,

in a sense,

sent Jesus

to show that

he was going to win

and he was going to have

victory,

then we might still want

to continue to resist him.

But Jesus did not

come to earth

the way a nuclear bomb

came to Hiroshima

and Nagasaki.

Jesus came

because he loved us.

He said that he came

to die for us,

to bear in his person

everything that keeps us

separate from God,

that he came

to live the life

of perfect righteousness

that we could never live,

and that he came

to live a life

of perfect righteousness

and to die

the doom that we deserved.

He came to do

all of those things

for us

so that when ordinary people

put their faith

and trust in him,

they can be made

right with God,

that God,

through Jesus,

would make ordinary people

right with him.

And this is a completely

and utterly preposterous story.

Who on earth

should possibly believe it?

The only reason

we possibly believe it

is because of the resurrection.

because Jesus,

who said that he was

coming to earth,

that he had come to earth

to do all of these things,

to give himself,

his life as a ransom

for many,

that Jesus,

on the third day

after dying upon the cross

as a condemned man

of no status,

on the third day

he rose from the dead,

appeared to many witnesses,

the tomb was empty,

and that's what launched

the Jesus movement.

And the resurrection

of Jesus vindicates

that God,

who had promised

throughout all of Scripture,

both that he would judge

but also that he would save,

had begun and dealt

with judging human beings

in the person of his Son,

and that he would save

through his Son.

It vindicates who Jesus is.

And it means

that Jesus came

to make us right with God,

to do what we could not

possibly do

by our own power

and our own efforts

as a pure gift

that we receive

by faith alone,

trusting in Jesus alone,

that God's gracious power

is at work in Jesus alone

to make us right with him.

And that's why Jesus came.

That's why he died.

Not to be like Hiroshima,

not to be like Nagasaki.

Human beings continue to resist,

they might continue to rebel,

but he came

to make us right with him.

And if the resurrection

really happened,

it changes everything.

It changes everything.

It vindicates who he is.

It vindicates his message.

And the Bible here is saying

that even though,

at first glance,

some of the things

which are said in this text

seem very scary to Canadians,

in a sense,

this justification

is asking us to say,

one second,

let's just

get off our high horse

and maybe set aside

our anger

and acknowledge

for the fact that,

God,

if you'd seen the way

that I've been treated

by so many human beings,

Father,

if you'd seen the way

I was treated by my dad,

if you saw the way

I was treated by my boss,

if you saw how I was treated

by my husband,

if you saw how I was treated

by the bullies

who laughed at me

because I was interested

in more artistic things

and not macho things,

God,

if you just knew

how I was laughed at

by coaches

and at gym classes,

if you just knew

how I was treated,

then you would understand

why when I read passages

like Titus 2,

I get very, very worried.

And God says,

you know what,

I know you by name.

And Jesus didn't die.

My son didn't die

for a principal

or for a class.

He died for every

particular individual.

And he knows

all of those things.

I know all of those things.

And I'm just asking you

to go back

and to look at this text

and bring your anger

and bring your worry

and bring your fears to me.

But all I want you to do

is just understand

the context.

My son gave himself

for you,

the real you,

not the imaginary you,

the real you.

He gave himself for you

to redeem you.

So,

let my son

put you on his shoulders.

Let my son

hold you in his arms

or sit beside you.

And let's look

at some of these things

which are so troublesome

for you.

And let's just look

at the text.

If you could put up

the first point,

Andrew,

in some ways

this first point

is the whole point

of the chapter.

In fact,

it's part of the whole point

of the book.

It's a slight rewording

of a point

that I gave you

last week.

Jesus came to earth

to save ordinary people

who put their faith

in him.

He calls each person

by name

to come to saving faith,

know the truth,

live a free

and godly life,

and begin

to live with him

forever.

He knows

whether you're gay,

he knows

whether you're

transgender,

he knows

whether you're

an abuser,

he knows

whether you're

abused,

he knows

whether you're

a bully,

he knows

whether you're

a victim

of bullying,

he knows

if you're rich,

he knows

if you're poor,

he knows

the dreams

you have

at night

that when

you wake

up in the

morning

you can't

remember,

he knows

the things

that keep

you awake

at night

in fear

and the things

that keep

you awake

at night

in anticipation,

He knows that some of the things that you fear are good things

and some of the things you fear are evil things.

He knows that some of the things that keep you up at night in anticipation

are because you want to do evil.

And he knows that some of the things that keep you up at night in anticipation

are because you want to do something really good.

He knows all of that and he knows you by name.

And he sent his son to die for you.

That's the gospel.

Jesus came to earth to save ordinary people

who put their faith in him.

He calls each person by name to come to saving faith,

know the truth, live a free and godly life,

and begin to live with him forever.

Okay, George.

It's okay.

We're going to maybe just pause here for a sec.

But, George, what about trans people?

You don't get this text today.

What about people who identify and just...

And I'm going to use this example

and I'm not using this example to cause...

to have anybody to laugh.

Okay, I'm really not.

Nobody...

I don't want to...

And people are now wondering what I'm going to say.

What if I were a person here

who looks like a male

but they would understand themselves

and identify

and understand that their identity

is that even though they might look like a male,

the real identity is a woman

understood in a non-binary way

who is in love with women

understood in a non-binary way.

And they want to take steps

or have begun to take steps

in terms of their social context,

in terms of how they demand to be treated

and expect to be treated

and how they dress

and maybe drugs and surgery

to have that inner identification

as a woman

understood in a non-binary way

who is in love with women

but who also understand

being a woman in a non-binary way.

And they want to move towards that.

How on earth do you understand a text like this

if you're here

and that's how you understand yourself?

Let's look back here again

at verses 11 to 14.

For the grace of God has appeared

bringing salvation for all people

training us to renounce ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live self-controlled,

upright and godly lives

in the present age

waiting for our blessed hope

the appearing of the glory

of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ

who gave himself for us

to redeem us from all lawlessness

and to purify for himself

a people for his own possession

who are zealous for good works.

What this text is telling us

is that when Jesus came

to redeem people

he came in a body

and he lived a fully human life

in this created order.

He entered into this created order

and when he died

he experienced

what we experience of death

which is the separation

of the soul from the body.

And he experienced

all there is to experience

of death

at the level of his soul

and his body

experienced what normally happens

when souls leave body.

His soul,

his body would have begun

immediately to decompose.

And then on the third day

when he rose from the dead

he rose from the dead bodily.

The tomb was empty.

It's a very, very important thing

in all of the Gospels.

And one of the things

which this whole lesson teaches us

of the death of Jesus

entering in with the incarnation,

his bodily death upon the cross,

his experiencing death

which means the separation

of the body from the soul,

his resurrection

which isn't just a spiritual resurrection

but he now has a body again

and he has both a soul and a body

and he's defeated sin

and he's defeated death

and he's on the far side of it.

And even this thing of us

waiting for him to come again,

he's going to come to this created order

and what he's doing

when he comes to the created order

is not to take us all

to be like ghosts

in a spiritual realm

but when he comes again

our blessed hope is

that there will be

a new heaven

and a new earth,

that there will be,

that we will live there

with bodies

and there'll be a created order

and there'll be a planet

and there'll be stars

and we don't entirely know

what it is.

It'll be far more glorious

than what we experience right now

but it's an embodied existence

and the body matters.

And so here, Andrew,

if you could put up the second point

that would be really great.

The true and living God,

and I don't have time

to argue through it

throughout the whole Bible

about this,

but if you read,

if you read the Bible,

if you read the Bible

from cover to cover,

if you read Genesis 1

and you read Genesis 2

and you just look at the imagery,

you'll see that this is

the consistent message

of the Bible.

The true and living God

made human beings

to be a biological,

psychological,

social,

and spiritual unity

as either male or female.

And I would say,

and that's it.

That's what the Bible would say.

It didn't really sound good

on a point.

But the Bible teaches

that God made human beings.

We're not a product of accident,

but God made human beings.

He made human beings,

male and female,

equally in his image and likeness.

And he made human beings

to be a biological,

psychological,

social,

and spiritual unity

as either male or female.

That's how God made us.

Part of the fall

is that these things break down.

Their unity is the unity phrase

and in some cases,

for some people,

it's not just that there's

a frame of this unity,

but that there's a complete

and utter break with the unity.

And as you know,

if you live as a,

if you experience

same-sex attraction,

if you experience yourself

as maybe being in a male body

or a female body,

but identifying in some other form,

that's not necessarily

something that you chose.

it's a very powerful reality

maybe in your life.

But the biblical teaching here

is not dependent upon you

having chosen certain things.

The Bible tells us

what God made us in creation

and what will be restored to us.

And in the new heaven

and the new earth,

what will happen is,

if I,

the person that I just described

at the beginning,

the man who understood,

the male who understood,

biological male

who understood himself

in all of these other ways,

what will happen

in the new heaven

and the new earth

is not that you will be a woman,

but that you will be a male,

that you will be a man.

That's the direction

and trajectory of redemption.

And here's the,

if you brought up

the next point, Andrew,

no human being

can be free and whole

if they base their identity

in rebellion against God.

No human being

can be free and whole

if they base their identity

in rebellion against God.

And by the way,

even though I'm connecting this

to particular sexual matters,

if your identity

is based on being

a soccer mom

in Canada,

in Canada,

it's the same type of thing.

All of us,

if your identity

is based on being a liberal

or being a conservative

or being a professor

or anything

that doesn't involve God

in some ways,

you'll never really experience

wholeness and freedom.

So what this text

is saying as a whole

is that if you are

biologically male,

you should read it.

If you're an older

biological male,

that's the part

you should read.

If you're an older

biological female,

that's the part

you should read.

And if you say,

George,

that's going to be

really, really, really

hard and difficult for me,

I mean,

that's partially

what the church is for,

is to walk with each other

and to love each other

as we try to wrestle

with how hard it is

sometimes to walk

on the Jesus way

and how lonely

it can sometimes be for us

to walk on the Jesus way.

And if Jesus

comes into your life

as your Savior

and your Lord,

it doesn't necessarily mean

that you will no longer

experience yourself

or identify as a woman.

I have no idea

whether or not,

I have no more idea

whether you would be

healed of that

or whether you would be

healed of your

same-sex attraction

than whether

you're going to get

a promotion next week.

I have no particular

knowledge about that.

Some people are.

But sometimes

when people pray

into these particular matters,

it ends up becoming

something that's going to

shape what holiness

looks like in your life.

And all I can tell you,

because I don't suffer

from those types of things,

but all I can tell you

is that struggling

and seeking

to abide by God's word

is a blessing.

I mean,

for every man here,

I'll just talk to the men,

and the more common

heterosexual male's

way of experiencing

sexual brokenness

is that they find

too many women

attractive.

And it clouds their mind

and affects their body

and affects their time.

And it breaks them

in all sorts of ways

and harms their marriages

and harms their relationship

with their kids.

And that's the common way

that heterosexual men

experience their brokenness.

And for us men,

when you cry out

and call out to God

that you would be

a Proverbs 5 man,

that you would take

delight only in your wife,

and you call out to God

and pray that you would

be an Ephesians 5 man,

that you would start

to move towards

the sacrificial love

of your wife.

And there might be times

where that's really,

really, really hard

and really, really difficult,

but it's always worth it.

It's always worth it.

And for people,

maybe even who experience

very, very powerful

lusts,

whether it's lust

for multiple women

or very powerful lusts

if you're a man

who experiences

very, very powerful lusts

for every other man

or a man who's

identified as a woman,

who's attracted

to other women

and finds in a way

which maybe for those

of us who are

completely out of sight,

that's very, very hard

to understand.

But the desire

is very, very strong.

The longing

is very, very strong.

But as Jesus

comes into your life,

not that he's going

to deal with that

right away,

he might deal

with your pride,

your anger,

your envy,

your jealousy,

all sorts of other things.

But at some point in time

he will deal with that

and as he starts

to deal with that

by walking with you

and as you start

to walk with him,

I don't know

what will come of that,

but I know

that it can be good

and will be good

and can be glorious.

And maybe you will be

the one who will write

spiritual poetry

or autobiography

or write music

or songs

that will influence

the church

and influence

many countless people

for generations

and generations

of Christ's territories.

I don't know

how it will work out

in your life,

but I know

that it's worth it.

And the start

to walk to Jesus

in the direction

of redemption

is always worth it.

And we should pray

that we would be

a church

not filled

with condemnation,

not filled

with mocking,

but willing to walk

with other people

as they struggle

with real brokenness,

to walk towards freedom.

Because as my very

first point was,

Jesus came to earth

to save ordinary people

who put their faith

in him.

He calls each person

by name

to saving faith,

to know the truth,

to live a free

and godly life

and begin to live

with him forever.

I'm going to have

to go real quick

over the last

of these points,

but hopefully

this has been helpful

to you.

What about the text

being discriminatory?

What about the text

being discriminatory?

Different things

are held up

to older men

than there are

to older women.

Different things

are held up

to younger men

than are younger women.

What about that?

Why isn't it the same?

Well, actually,

if you look at it

for a second,

you'll see that

there's an interesting

balance of sameness

and difference.

Remember,

once again,

every single person

is called

to verses 11 to 14.

So even if you say,

well,

one moment,

like,

you know,

talking about younger women

and being married

and I'm not married

and all,

there's,

everybody is found

somewhere in this text.

Everybody in this text

is find something

in this text.

Even those parts

of being a younger woman

that doesn't involve

the family life,

there's still other things there.

But everybody

is caught up,

is called for 11 to 14.

Look at 11 to 14 again.

For the grace of God

has appeared,

bringing salvation

for all people.

For every person,

it doesn't matter

if you're single,

if you're married,

if whatever,

training us

to renounce ungodliness

and worldly passions

and to live

self-controlled,

upright,

and godly lives

in the present age,

waiting for our blessed hope,

the appearing of the glory

of our great God

and Savior,

Jesus Christ.

That applies to everybody.

And if you look

at verses 7 and 8,

I think the way

to understand this,

because now here's Paul

talking to Titus,

and I think the way

to understand verses 7 to 8

is to understand

that it's talking to leaders.

And everybody,

on one hand,

is a bit of a leader

because we have

some influence

over somebody.

Maybe it's even

just our neighbor,

but a lot of people

have a lot of influence.

And so if you're a leader,

you might say,

show yourself in all respects

to be a model

of good works,

and in your teaching,

show integrity,

dignity,

and sound speech

that cannot be condemned

so that an opponent

may be put to shame

having nothing evil

to say about us.

And that has obviously

a special meaning

in a church,

but even outside

of the church

in terms of the type

of teaching

and leadership

that you're called for,

you're covered there.

People are covered

all the way through it.

And there's a commonality

of the teaching,

but there are specifics.

There are specifics.

And I'm going to confess

to you that I don't

entirely know why.

I don't know why.

But I'm going to suggest

that in the modern church,

we're so afraid

of texts like this,

and maybe some of the reasons

that we're so afraid

of texts like this

is that some of us

are refugees

from a type of brutal

and unthinking

traditionalism

masquerading

as biblical Christianity.

And now we're afraid

of the texts.

But I'm just calling us

that there's this profound

undiscovered country

because surely,

if we're honest,

isn't this a time

when we need advice

to figure out

what it means

to be an older man

or an older woman

or a younger man

or a younger woman?

Isn't this a time

for us to be able

to be gripped

by the gospel

and think of Jesus'

death upon the cross

for us

and maybe start to listen?

And it's not macho.

This is really interesting.

You know,

as I was struggling

with this text,

asking for God

to give me some clarity

about it,

it's really funny.

You know,

sometimes God answers

prayers right away.

So here I am.

I'm in a coffee shop.

You can guess the one.

And I'm in a coffee shop

and I'm praying about this.

And just as I'm praying

about this,

I am not making this up.

Father,

help me to understand

how to explain this.

And just as I'm praying this,

the next thing I know,

I look up

because I hear a rumble,

like a lot of rumbles.

And there's like six Camaros

or Mustangs

all muscled up,

all in a row,

right in front of me,

all driven by a man

who looks like he's

between 45 and 55.

Big, beefy forearms,

big, beefy arms,

big, beefy guy,

serious looking face,

one hand on the wheel,

right type of sunglasses.

I'm a man who has nothing

to forgive or forget.

I drive a kick-ass car.

I'm a man.

And then you look

down at verse two.

Older men are to be

sober-minded,

dignified,

self-controlled,

sound in faith,

in love,

and in steadfastness.

I thought,

thank you, Jesus.

Sometimes that prayer stuff

works really quick.

Like,

this text isn't calling me.

I mean,

there's not that there's

anything particularly

wrong with that,

okay?

But the problem is,

right?

I mean,

this is the Bible.

Just,

like,

let's just listen to the Bible.

Not be afraid of it.

But some of you can say,

okay, George.

Okay.

Let's just look at

the older women

for a second.

Verses three to four A.

I'm just going to say

a few things about this.

I really have to watch

my time.

I know.

Older women,

likewise,

are to be reverent

in behavior.

Not slanderers

or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach

what is good

and so train

the younger women,

and we'll talk about

the younger women

in a moment.

I don't know why

they particularly

warn women

about the slaves

to much wine.

I know that

in North America

there is a huge problem

for women on drugs

to control their moods

and for painkillers.

I have no,

I'm not an older woman.

I'm,

but the text is there.

It would be really

interesting for older women

to talk with each other

amongst themselves

and say,

what do you think?

Like,

and you know,

it could be that

some of you say,

well,

I have no problem

with that.

Well,

that's good

that you have

no problem with that.

I don't know how,

but the word is addressed

to older women

and the word reverent.

Another way to describe

what the word reverent means

is practice the presence

of God.

That's what reverent means.

It doesn't mean

having a long face.

It doesn't mean

never laughing.

You know,

it doesn't mean

walking around

looking like you're

constipated.

it means

practicing

the presence

of God.

Like,

what's wrong with that

as a piece of advice?

If you're an older woman,

you're entering

into a time

of your life

where you should

call out to God.

And by the way,

in verses 1 to 5,

the verb tenses,

they're all aspirational.

This is an invitation

as to something

to aspire to.

That you have

so begun

to learn

the practice

of the presence

of God

that you see

every one

of your waking moments

is being done

in the presence

of the living God.

That it affects

the way you live.

I think that's

a wonderful thing

to aspire to.

In fact,

you know where

the first imperative

comes?

To the young men.

They only have

one imperative.

Get your life

in order.

Learn self-control.

Learn self-control.

Don't let anger

rule your life.

Don't let pornography

rule your life.

Don't let hatred.

Don't let envy.

Don't let your temper.

Don't give me

any excuses.

Learn some self-control.

Be gripped by the gospel.

Learn some self-control.

That's the first imperative

in the text.

The rest of it's

aspirational.

What about submitting

to your husbands?

I was actually saying

I'm going to run out of time

so I can't talk

about this now.

I'm just joking.

Oh, look at the time.

I guess I can't talk

about this.

Figure it out

for yourselves.

No.

No.

Let's look at it

four being

through five.

And so train young women

to love their husbands

and children

to be self-control,

pure,

working at home,

kind and submissive.

Working at home

doesn't mean

what we mean by it today

about not having

a job outside.

It means

a specific responsibility

for the home.

Kind and submissive

to their own husbands

that the word of God

may not be reviled.

Now here's the thing

about submissive.

slave.

It's a curious word

and it's the same word

that's going to be used

for slaves.

How do I have

a consistent reading

for both?

That's going to be

the exact same word

that's going to come

a few words later

for slaves.

And here's the thing

about it.

Women and slaves

have a very different

social context.

If they don't,

you should.

Women aren't slaves.

Married women

aren't slaves.

Here's the thing

about submissive.

It's both on one hand

a far weaker word

than obey

and a far

tougher word

or deeper word

than obey.

Those of you

who work in bureaucracy

know that there's

a way to be obedient

that can cause chaos

in an organization.

That there's a way

to be obedient

that can stick it

to your boss.

Am I allowed to say

that in a sermon?

I just did.

Any one of you

who work in a bureaucracy

know there's ways

of being obedient

that undermines everything,

causes chaos.

And the word here

is an obedient.

It's submissive.

It's submit.

Here's the thing

to understand

about the text

and to look at the text

very carefully

and quietly.

The thing about

submissive

is in this particular text,

it's something

that's enjoined

upon the young women

to offer as a gift

to their husbands,

but they maintain

complete and utter control.

The husband

has no right

or authority

to demand submission

or to describe

submission

or to complain

about the behavior

of his wife.

The husband

is given no authority

to command.

The wife

is enjoined

to submit.

It's an appeal

to her freedom

and she gets

to determine

what it looks like

and the extent.

If she has a husband

who's violent

and abusive,

that's going to look

very, very different

than a husband

or it should look

very different

than a husband

who's very loving

and self-sacrificial

and attentive.

But it's a gift

that she offers

that it comes from God,

it's an obedience

to God.

And it's not to all men

or to the patriarchy,

it's just to her husband.

And on one hand,

for some people,

that's going to look

very, very weak,

but on the other hand,

this can be something

that goes very, very deep.

And it's beyond

the scope

of this one sermon,

all I can do

is hint at it

it comes to the

asymmetric relationship

often between

the sexes

and the commands.

And in fact,

actually,

if you even think about it

for a second,

you look,

who is it

who's training the women

to do this?

It's the older women.

The men are cut out

of the discussion

altogether.

Isn't that very funny?

You see,

one of the things

happens is

maybe in 1958

they would have read that

and they would have

just imposed

a patriarchal culture

onto the text.

But one of the benefits

in the sense

of our cultural moment

is that when you start

to question

a narrative

of patriarchy

and just try to read

the text

and listen to it,

you see that the mystery

in the text

is that the mystery

of the text

Actually,

I'm sort of running

out of time.

Could you just put

four and five up there,

Andrew?

The first one is

saving grace

is training grace

for everyday life.

You'll notice there

about women,

older women training

and also if you look

down in verses

11 and 12

where the grace of God

has appeared

bringing salvation

for all people

training us

to renounce ungodliness

and the same point

put in a slightly

different way

is verse point five.

The grace from God

which saves

also trains us

to live free

with others

for the glory of God.

So I just want to make,

I've already gone long

but I have to talk

about slaves.

Look at verses

9 and 10.

Bond servants

or slaves

are to be submissive

to their own masters

in everything.

They are to be

well-pleasing,

not argumentative,

not pilfering,

but actually

I'll go back here

read that again.

In the Greek language

there's two different ways

to put well-pleasing

and this version

is chosen one way

but I think

it's actually

more accurate

to read it

with a comma

in a different spot.

Bond servants

are to be submissive

to their own,

are to be submissive,

submissive,

comma,

to their own masters

in everything

they are to be

well-pleasing,

nether comma,

not argumentative,

not pilfering,

but showing

all good faith

so that in everything

they may adorn

the doctrine

of God our Savior.

Now,

here's the thing

about the Bible.

In the ancient world,

slavery was viewed

as normal.

You know,

in our culture

there's all sorts

of things

that are normal.

It's normal

that you have police,

it's normal

that you have an army,

you know,

it's normal

that there's money.

In the ancient world

one of the things

that would just be normal

was that there were slaves,

it was just normal.

One of the interesting

things about the Bible

is that the Bible

never once

argues for slavery,

justifies slavery,

encourages slavery,

never once.

But the Bible,

in fact,

puts in the seeds

to undermine slavery.

The Greek word,

when you look at words

that talk about

in other epistles

when it talks about

masters and slaves,

in English

they translate

the word,

the Greek word

as master,

but it's actually

the same word

that the word despot

comes from

in Greek.

And slaves

had no rights.

And

what the Bible

here does

is it

it awakens

within slaves

who have no freedom

and the Bible

is telling them

that they have

inner freedom.

That they have

inner freedom

and they have

an important

objective

for the good

of the gospel

that they can accomplish.

So that while

in their social location

it looks as if

they're just

under the thumb

or the rule

of their despot,

the Bible calls them

to exercise

an inner freedom

to understand

that they have

ways of submitting

that they can choose

and do

and offer

as a gift to God

and that they are

to try to shape

their submission

to their masters

in such a way

that the gospel

looks beautiful.

Now some of you

might say

that seems a little

bit insufficient,

but here's what

often lurks

behind the modern

mind when it's

complaining about

the Bible.

Imagine here

to bring it out

to the front,

imagine now

that we had a chance

to send a letter

to 150

North Koreans

in a prison camp

in North Korea

who had become

Christians.

They are in effect

slaves.

They have absolutely

no rights whatsoever.

No rights

whatsoever.

We would write,

wouldn't we like

to write and say

to them,

this is a terrible

evil.

You should cast

off your chains

and start living

as a free man.

Bear up your arms

in revolt.

Well, gosh,

that would make

us feel good,

but it would be

completely useless

advice to them.

In fact,

it's posturing

on our part,

not helpful.

What the Bible

here calls for

is something

which is

deeply helpful

for them.

From the eyes

of the world,

they are just

slaves.

There is maybe

nothing that they

will ever be able

to do about it

in a slave culture,

in a slave society.

They are a slave.

They will probably

die as a slave,

but their identity

is not slave.

Their identity

is one for whom

Jesus loved so much

and knew by name

that he died

for them.

And that they

have an opportunity,

even though they

are in a social

context of

unbelievably

restrained freedom,

freedom.

But the Bible