Display His Kindness - Titus 3:1-7

If we have not met before, my name is John Whitaker and I get

the honor of teaching out of Titus Chapter 3.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

This morning we have been walking through the book of

Titus as a church, thinking through what it means to be a

well ordered church. We're going to look at Titus

Three One through 7 from that vantage point today as we begin

just to kind of get our mind thinking in the direction that

this text takes us. I just want to ask you like,

have you ever had this experience where somebody kind

of walked up to you and chuckled a little bit and was like, oh

man, you need to go look in the mirror?

Ever had this experience? Usually it means you got

something on your face or something's amiss, right?

And it's like, oh, you need to go look in the mirror.

A couple weeks ago, my son-in-law and daughter were out

siding in her new hunting rifle South of Kuna out in the desert.

We had all the grandkids while they were out there doing that,

and when they were done, they came back to pick up the

grandkids. My daughter walks in.

It was a windy day out in the desert.

Maybe she had put on some lotion before she went out, I don't

know. But when she walked in the door,

her face was completely covered in dust and sand from the

desert, right? And it's like, oh, man, you need

to go look in the mirror and look at yourself, right?

Ever had this experience? Or maybe maybe it's more someone

doesn't tell you that, but you've been out and about

running errands, doing what you got to do, interacting with

people. You come home and you walk into

the bathroom and you see yourself in the mirror.

And in that moment you're like, oh, man, I went out looking like

that, right? Ever have this experience?

It happened to be on Friday. I had a really busy week.

I was out of town Wednesday and Thursday.

We had all six of the grandkids at the house on Friday morning

and I had to go pick up two of them fairly early.

And so I got up and I thought, you know what, I'm just going

to, I'll skip the shower and I'll do before I have to do

anything public and I'll go pick up the my 2 granddaughters.

So I go pick up my 2 granddaughters and I take care

of some stuff around the house. And then I tell my wife, all

right, I'm going to run to the post office and I'm going to go

to the bank. Without even thinking about it,

I, you know, hopped in the truck, grabbed my dog, took him

with me. I'm driving into Kuna to hit the

the post office in the bank and stop by my daughter's house on

the way there to help her with something real quick.

Go to the post office box, go to the bank, get back in the truck,

adjust the rearview mirror. And as I look in the mirror, I

look over my dog and I'm like, oh buddy, we should not have

gone out looking like this. Normally I have fairly short

hair, right? But I was due for a haircut.

I hadn't showered. My hair was kind of sticking out

all over the place. And I'm like, oh, man, I really

should have looked in the mirror before I went out and about.

Well, after first service, you know, I shared that in first

service. After first service, my daughter

says, yeah, when you stop by your house on the way to the

post office, I noticed your hair was looking pretty like.

And I thought, should I tell them?

And I didn't want to embarrass you.

And I'm like, Ashley, you let me go out into public looking like

that to the post office box, right?

Like, I should have looked in the mirror.

And I was like, I should have showered before I ran my

errands, right? Reason I bring that up is

because of this, one of the dominant metaphors that the

Bible uses for itself is a mirror.

It's a mirror for our soul, a mirror for our person.

And today, Titus chapter 3 verses one through 7, I think

Titus 3 · chapter mention

provides us as a church, as the people of God, an opportunity to

look in the mirror and to take an honest self-assessment to

look at ourselves and say, man, who am I particularly?

Who am I in relationship to the people that don't yet know

Jesus? You see, one of the things

that's really easy for us to kind of get confused about or

easily to forget is that like being part of a church, being a

Christian and part of a church has a whole lot more to do with

the rest of our life than just attending church on a Sunday

morning. That being the church is not

just a service you go to on a Sunday morning.

It's being part of a people that belong to God.

And as such, we have a different set of values.

We have a different set of priorities.

We have different standards, different ways of thinking and

behaving than people who aren't part of the people of God, who

aren't part of his, his congregation, his people.

Right. And this text out of Titus

Titus 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3 verses one through 7, is an opportunity for us as the

people of God to look into the mirror of his word and say, OK,

how am I doing? And in some regards, it actually

feels a little bit like weighty. In fact, I was talking to my son

earlier in the week about this passage and that I'm preaching

that this Sunday, and I was sharing with him some of the

things this text says. And my son, he's 29.

His response was that that's just not really where we're at

right now as a culture. It's not really, we're not

really good at that. And so I want to invite you with

me this morning to look into the mirror of God's Word and just be

honest. Take an honest look at yourself

as a part of God's people, particularly in view of this

question, how are we supposed to relate to the people who are

outside of the church? How are we supposed to interact

in public with those who don't yet know God?

That's the question that this text is addressing this morning.

So Titus chapter 3 picking up in verse one, Titus has just been

Titus 3 · chapter mention

told at the end of chapter 2 by Paul to teach and exhort these

things with all authority. And in that context, Paul says

to Titus, remind them to be subject to rulers and authority.

Remind them when he says them, he's talking about us, he's

talking about the churches, talking about the people of God.

Remind them as Christians, as part of the people of God, to be

subject, that is, to arrange themselves under, to be

submissive to rulers like political rulers, mayors,

governors, national rulers, to arrange themselves under that

and to authorities in general, to whoever's in charge, like be

subject, be submissive to whoever's in charge, like your

boss or your teachers or the president of your HOA or

whoever's in charge, right? Like arrange yourself under them

and be submissive to them. Excuse me?

And then he says this line, to be obedient, to be obedient.

Wait, wait, isn't obedience for small kids to be obedient as the

people of God, to follow the rules, to listen to those who

are in charge, to do what they ask you to do, to be obedient,

to obey those in charge. And remember, he's speaking this

to us as the people of God about our public life, our

relationship with those who don't yet know Jesus to to

listen to them and to follow their rules and their policies

and their procedures. And then he adds to be ready for

every good work, to be prepared and equipped and ready to do

whatever you can to be helpful, benevolent, kind, to meet needs

wherever they need to be met. Be those kinds of people and it

reminds me of what Peter says in first Peter chapter 2 and

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

following where Peter writing to a group of churches where they

the the outside world, those who aren't yet Christians, those

outside the church look at the church with a little bit of

suspicion as if their beliefs are weird, their values are

different. I don't get those people.

I can't figure out why they think that in in, in, in a

culture where the the church and Christians and Christian ideas

are kind of marginalized or seem out of place and outside Peter

in first Peter chapter 2 says you should be known for doing

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

good. That's Peter's, one of his

primary vices to to Christians needing to kind of like live

their faith in public. Be known for doing good, being

helpful, being useful, being good neighbors.

That's what we have here. Be ready for not just some, but

every good deed. Where can you meet a need that

needs to be met in relationship to your neighbors or your

coworkers or whoever else it is. Be ready for every good work.

And then he says in verse 2 to slander no one, to slander no

one, to run no one down, to speak badly about no one, to

gossip about people, to run no one down.

We're talking about people who don't yet know Jesus.

Don't run them down. Don't slander them.

Don't gossip about them to slander no one.

Don't be contentious. In other words, don't be hard to

get along with. Don't be argumentative and

quarrelsome. Like don't be difficult.

Be the kind of person who other people are like, man, I always

appreciate when they're around because they're just helpful and

they're they're not argumentative and they're easy

to work with. Be that kind of person, Be

peaceable. And then he says to be gentle.

The word gentle most specifically means like

forbearing. In other words, to be able to

put up with people, put up with people who are maybe hard to get

along with or difficult. Be forbearing, be patient.

And then he says showing every consideration for all people.

And literally that word consideration, that's the word

that's more often translated, gentle, showing all gentleness

to everybody. Be gentle, don't be a bull in

the China shop. Don't be a bully, right?

Like don't always have to get your way.

Don't always, you know, fight to prove your point.

Just be willing to defer and and be sensitive and thoughtful to

the feelings of other people. Just be willing to let some

things go. Be gentle to everybody and we

just heard Connor give some announcements about various ways

as a church that we want to, you know, do various outreaches, the

homeless outreach. We want to be mission and we

want to be doing some things to reach out to people hopefully to

to give opportunities to share the gospel with them.

Right. And all those things are good

and important. But here in these first couple

verses of Titus 3, when Paul is giving Titus instructions for

how to organize the church, the churches in relationship to

unbelievers and those outside the church, notice he doesn't

focus on outreach events. He doesn't focus on, you know,

specific projects. Not that those things are bad

and not that we shouldn't do them, but what he focuses on is

our own way of being with those outside of the church, our own

way of interacting with people outside of the church.

In other words, our public life matters.

Our public life matters to God. Our public life matters to being

and living as the people of God. Our our public life matters to

being the light of the world. If we want to be the light of

the world, then the things Paul just wrote here in Titus 3-1 and

two matters. To be the kind of people who are

ready to be helpful and doing good and be good neighbors,

right? To be the kind of people who

aren't argumentative, but peaceable and easy to get along

with. To be the kind of people who

don't constantly run other people's down and say negative

things about other people. All that matters.

It matters in person. It matters online.

It matters if we're going to be the light of the world in this

world. So think about, just take a

second and think about where you live.

Maybe. Maybe it's an apartment.

Picture your apartment complex and maybe picture the people who

live in the apartments right near you and around you.

Maybe it's your neighborhood, your subdivision.

Think about your house. Picture your house.

Just imagine it. Picture your neighbors on the

right and on the left. Imagine where you live, like the

way you are in your neighborhood or your apartment matters to

being a faithful follower of Jesus.

Like when your neighbors go to work the next morning and and

all of a sudden people start talking about their neighbors,

what might they say about you? And would it be the kind of

thing that would honor Jesus or would it be man, my neighbor is

just so difficult to get along with.

My neighbor is just like just hard frustrating, right?

Or is it man, I have great neighbors.

Like in the neighbor lottery, I scored.

What would they say about you as a neighbor?

Or maybe think about your workplace where you work and and

your coworkers and your supervisors as an employee.

Think about maybe your relationship to them and what

would your supervisor say about you like she is just a fantastic

employee. She's always ready to help.

She follows the instructions. She she works hard man.

He is great to work with and to work for what?

What do your fellow workers think about you and say about

you? Does it match what Paul just

wrote in Titus 3-1 and two? Think about maybe your the

teachers at your kids school. Think about the pick up line at

your kids school. What is your way of being in

your public life with people? Think about your your YouTube

feed or your Facebook feed or your Instagram feed and the

comments you read. You read comments on YouTube and

I'm like, and some of y'all call yourself Christians.

Contentious, slandering, argumentative, like I don't know

that I would ever want to meet you.

And this is how you represent Jesus to the watching world.

Our public life matters to living as the people of God.

If we want to be the light of the world, if we want to exalt

Jesus in this world, then how we are in relationship to the

unbelievers we interact with day in and day out matters a whole

lot more than maybe a one off church sponsored outreach event

that we we volunteer for or serve in.

And I can sort of anticipate the objection to that because I've

heard it. Yeah.

But you don't know my neighbor. You don't know what he's like or

what she's like. You don't know my boss.

You don't know my Co workers. Like like they're jerks.

They're hard to get along with. OK, all well and good.

I get it. Remember, they don't yet know

Jesus. And remember, as you look in the

mirror, remember where you came from.

Look what Paul says in verse 3-4.

We too, we too were once foolish.

We too, once didn't actually know the best way to live.

We too didn't once know maybe the wisdom of God.

We too didn't always make good choices.

We too did some stupid things over the course of our life.

We too were once disobedient. We, we too were once, you know,

people that didn't obey the rules or God.

We once were deceived, had silly ideas or things.

Now we look at and think, man, I can't believe people actually

think that way. Guess what?

We once thought that way. We once had some crazy ideas.

We once were enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, right?

We once lived for whatever felt good and whatever we felt like

doing. We once lived that way too,

spending our life in malice. What's malice?

Malice is like ill will. Malice is like, you know, I sure

hope they get theirs. Malice is wishing harm on other

people. We once were like that.

We, we looked at people and like, man, they're such jerks.

I sure hope, right? We once did that.

We were envious. We, we went around wishing we

could have what everyone else had and it kind of consumed us.

We were hateful or maybe more despicable is the idea we hated

other people. We once lived that way.

So as we look in the mirror and we're like, here's the kind of

person I'm supposed to be in relationship to those outside of

the church. What Paul says is and guess

what, we once were outside too, and we didn't know the way of

God either. But then something happened.

What happened? Well, look at verse 4.

Here's what happened. But when the kindness of God our

Savior appeared and his love for all mankind, when that appeared,

when God's kindness and the person of Jesus appeared on the

the stage of history, and God sent his Son in his love on the

stage of history. And when that appeared, what did

he do? He saved us.

He saved us. He rescued us and delivered us

from all these kinds of ways we used to live.

He delivered us from being those kinds of people who didn't know

the truth, who had crazy ideas, who weren't obedient, who were

driven by our own desires, pleasures, and passions.

He saved us and rescued us from that.

The only reason that maybe we're different now than those outside

of the church and we can look at those people outside the church

and scratch our head sometimes is because the kindness of God

appeared in our life and He saved us and rescued us and

changed us. And and he did so because we

were so great, right? He did so because we were so

perfect. And he was like, man, if if I

need anybody a part of my family, it's I, I need him and I

need her because, you know, they're so great, right?

No, look at the rest of the verse.

He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we had done, not

because our resume, you know, made us appear attractive to God

and made us so great. He saved us not on the basis of

deeds which we had done in righteousness, but in accordance

with his mercy, in accordance with his compassion.

God took pity on us. That's the force of that word,

mercy. God took pity on us.

He, he knew we were confused. He knew we were lost.

He knew we had made mistakes. And he, he had compassion and

pity on us. And as a result, he rescued us

and delivered us and saved us. And he did so it says God saved

us through or by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the

Holy Spirit. What's he talking about?

Well, it's an allusion to to Christian baptism.

Like in the early church, when someone put their faith in

Jesus, first thing they did was get baptized.

Often times when you read the book of Acts on the very same

day, they put their faith in Jesus and they got baptized.

And so now through the work of the Spirit that's marked out by

that concrete, tangible act, we've been made alive.

We're renewed. We're we're somebody different.

We're not the same person. We have new life at work at us.

Why? Because the Spirit himself

washed us and made us new and made us a new person.

And the text goes on and says verse 6 whom he that is God

richly poured up out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior,

that God now has filled us with his very spirit, given us new

life, given us new ability, given us new eyes to see, given

us a new mind to think differently.

And we look at the world and we live differently.

Why? Because God washed us, renewed

us and made us new God the Father through the Spirit

because of the Son. All three members of the Trinity

involved in making us new people.

So that verse 7, so that being justified by his grace justified

means to be like pardoned. It's like to being declared not

guilty to being granted A favorable verdict that's

justified. So that being given a favorable

verdict of not guilty, God justified us by his grace, like

love, mercy, grace for people who aren't deserving, people who

really have done wrong to be acquitted and pardoned of their

crimes against God. By his grace, we would be made

heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We, we have this glorious promise of an eternal life that

we're going to get to enjoy, and we get to inherit that as God's

children, God's sons and daughters, simply because God

justified us by his grace. We are God's people, saved by

grace, because God took pity on us and we're made new.

So why in the world should we actually be be peaceable and

patient and forbearing and kind with all those people who don't

yet know God? Why?

Because God was kind and patient and forgiving to us.

That's why the question that this text, I think, begs us to

ask as we look in the mirror and want to take an honest, good,

hard look at ourselves. The question this text is really

begging us to ask ourselves is in my interactions with the

unbelievers that I interact with on a daily basis all week long,

in my interactions with unbelievers, does it display the

kindness of God that I've experienced in salvation?

Do my interactions with those outside of the church, does it,

does it reflect back into the world the very goodness,

compassion, mercy, and kindness of God that God showed us as his

sons and daughters in saving us? That's what this text is calling

us like. Be subject to ruling

authorities. Be obedient.

Be ready for every good deed. Slander no one.

Don't be contentious and argumentative.

Be patient and forbearing. Show all gentleness to

everybody. Why?

Because God did that for you. God did that for you.

So do my interactions with the unbelievers in my neighborhood,

at the bank, at the grocery store, at the restaurant, with

my waitress, with my Co workers, with the people in my school or

my kids school. Do my interactions with all

these people display the kindness of God that we've

experienced in salvation? So because we've been saved, we

submit to those in charge. Because we've been saved, we

obey the rules and the regulations that come into our

life. Because we've been saved, we're

ready and willing for every good deed that our neighbor might

need for us. Even if our neighbor has been a

jerk in the past, we're ready to help.

Yeah. What can I do for you?

What do you need? Because we've been slaved, we

slander no one. Even in our comments section on

our news feeds, we slander no one.

Because we've been saved, we're patient and forbearing with all

people. Because we've been saved, we

show gentleness and deference to all the people we interact with

on a regular basis. Do our interactions with the

unbelievers in our life? Do they display and reflect the

wisdom and the kindness and the goodness of God that we

ourselves have experienced when God saved us?

That's the question of Titus chapter 3, one through 7.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

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