Adorn

This week in Teen Church in I preached through 1 Timothy 2. It was a sweet time together as we looked at the way Paul tells Timothy to order life in the church. Men are to raise their hands in prayer not anger, women are to focus on their hearts and not their appearance. I told our young men to stop getting angry (not that they necessarily have a problem with that) and our young women not to dress to draw attention to themselves (not that they necessarily have a problem with that either, i'm thankful for the work the Lord is doing in all of our teens' hearts.)

As an aside, can i tell you that young people can handle serious Bible teaching, so stop trying to sell me fluff curricula. 

But what really grabbed my attention was this, women are to adorn themselves... with good works. I read it again this morning in Titus 2:10, and Paul tells the slaves in the church to work hard, so that they may adorn the doctrine of God (their) saviour. To adorn something is to decorate or add beauty to something. Don't decorate yourselves with expensive earrings, but with good works. Decorate your faith with what attracts people. With good works.

So good works should decorate right belief. Paul wants Timothy to know that if the women in his church are saved, they'll be at least as attractive on the inside as they are on the outside. He wants Titus to know that slaves who are saved will be harder working and more obedient.

Our good works are our faith made visible. Almost. It's not quite that simple is it, because you can have the good works without the faith. Someone could be pinning apples on a dead tree. But the opposite is a more troubling problem. If we don't have good works? Where's our faith? There's no dichotomy here, your works decorate your faith. They don't make it objectively better, but subjectively more attractive. People will see your good works and give thanks to your Father in Heaven.

So could the women in Ephesus be saved and still dress to be the center of attention? Maybe. If they showed up the next week in sackcloth and ashes is that a way to show that they are following Jesus? Maybe. If slaves steal, is their baptism void? Maybe. Should only the hard working slave receive communion? Maybe. What about men who get angry? Once a week? Three times a week? Every time they get in a car?

And this is the marvel and the mystery of Christian ministry. This is what makes our work so indiscriminate, we can't read hearts, we just look at the adornments and pray they're not made of straw. How do you know when you're going in the right direction? Probably when the liberals are calling you a legalist, and the legalists are calling you a liberal.

Grace Appeared...and Appears

Paul's account of the Christmas story, in Titus 2:11-14 is, as you would expect, all business.

No angels, no shepherds, no wise men. Paul shares the nativity with Titus in just two words; 'grace appeared.' What happened at Christmas? The grace of God appeared. Jesus came, and He brought salvation for all people.

I was thinking over these verses on Wednesday morning as i got ready to share them in junior chapel. Here's the Christmas story that you need, grace appeared. Here is the greatest gift that there is, Jesus. Grace isn't something seperate from Jesus, some object or feeling He puts into us, Jesus is grace. More grace in our hearts equals a greater and deeper knowledge of Him, and great appreciation of His love, and deeper response from us. This grace teaches us how to live. We're are to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. We're not to worship our work and play at our worship, but labour to be brought close to God, worship and pray so that the centre of the universe would be the centre of the universe would be the centre of our lives. We are to be self controlled, Godly and upright. We're supposed to behave differently because of what we believe.

But there's something else in these verses that i hadn't ever really let hit home yet. Verse 13 tells us we're to do these things 'waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of our great God and saviour Jesus Christ.' As we look back on Christmas, we are to look forward to the second coming. As we remember that Jesus has come, we need to remember that Jesus will come again. We need grace to live godly lives, and we need grace to remember that Jesus will come again. We need to think and love and live differently because Jesus has come, and think and love and live differently because Jesus will come again.

In many ways, you and I live at the end of Isaiah. Isaiah is talking to the Jews in exile. He promises them that God has not forgotten them, that someone better than Cyrus will come with a better deliverance. But in the mean time, people sin, God's people mess up, and sometimes this hope seems a long way away, hard to believe even. But the exile did end, and then when Jesus came, the exile really ended. This is where we are isn't it? Fighting to keep our eyes fixed on the return of the King. Trying to live upright and Godly lives as a response to the amazing grace given at Christmas.

Well what a great reminder Christmas is. As the world celebrates Christmas, and as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, let's pray that we would look forward to a real celebration, one that makes the wildest super bowl parties look like tea with grandma. One with something real and eternal to celebrate. Just as sure as Jesus came, Jesus will come, just like grace appeared, grace will appear again.