WEEKLY SERMON

First Sunday after the Epiphany / Baptism of our Lord
Titus 3:1-8 – And Now I would Like to Introduce to You . . .
January 9-11, 2009      by: Pastor Wessel 

Titus 3:1-8 – ¹Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, ²to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. ³At 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. ⁴But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he 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, ⁶whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸This 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.

Introduction – When you meet someone for the first time, it can be helpful to have someone who knows the person introduce that person to you. What words do you use? “Janet, I’d like you to meet Bob Adams. He is a manager of our store in Milwaukee.” “Bob, I’d like you to meet Janet Thompson. She is the account representative for our main office.” It’s the polite thing to do, if you know someone, to introduce that person to others, so that those people don’t have to face the awkwardness of silently trying to figure out who people are and maybe being a little embarrassed to make the first move so they can find out.

            In regional news this past week, someone very important was introduced to those who follow the Roman Catholic faith. The new archbishop, Jerome Listecki, was installed to oversee the Roman Catholic churches in the area. Many people seemed pleased to be introduced to him, others not so sure. His introduction dominated local news.

            Perhaps more significant for us, there will be a similar introduction made on January 31^st at Good Shepherd’s Lutheran Church, our sister congregation about a mile down the road here in West Allis. They are going to be installing Pastor Patrick Wilcox to serve as an associate with Pastor Tom Knickelbein, who is currently serving there. We thank God that he has provided another full time minister of our church body to proclaim the gospel here in West Allis and serve the saints over at Good Shepherd’s.

            As Christian ministers begin their work in our world today, it reflects in a small way the very important event recorded for us in today’s gospel. Jesus Christ was baptized by John in the Jordan River. This event marked the beginning of his public ministry of proclaiming the good news of God’s mercy that he showed to the people of this world. The baptism of Jesus was part of his fulfillment of God’s will. Christ our Savior did not need to be baptized along with everyone else because he needed to have his sins washed away. But he told John that it was right for him to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Christ came to walk this earth as one of us and put himself under God’s commands. By his baptism, he identified himself as our human brother who submitted himself to God in every way.

            And just as the leaders of the Jewish people were anointed with oil to show that they were specially chosen for a job, like David anointed as king, so Jesus’ baptism, when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit, shows us that Jesus was chosen for the special task of being our Savior, appointed by God himself.

            There were some who knew about Jesus and his work before his baptism. His parents Mary and Joseph, as well as their relatives Zechariah and Elizabeth, had been told about his work before he was born. The shepherds who came to see the newborn Christ knew because the angels told them. The wise men knew, because the prophecy and the star told them. John the Baptist knew, because his whole life’s work was to get people ready for Jesus. But it was really at the baptism of Jesus, at the beginning of his public ministry to the people that his disciples would say, “the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared.” The appearance of Jesus Christ is his epiphany. It is his introduction to our world, the source of our never ending hope of living with God in heaven.

            When Christ began that ministry that would end with his innocent death for our sins and his mighty resurrection from the dead, God the Father said to Jesus: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:22) Basically, God was speaking to the whole world and saying,

And now I would like to introduce to you . . .

I. The One who shows you my kindness, love, and mercy

II. The One who by grace renews you and makes you an heir (beneficiary) of eternal life

 I. The One who shows you my kindness, love, and mercy

            Pastor Titus had a job to do. Like all pastors, he was called to guide the people in his flock in their spiritual life. That guidance was about showing them how to live in this world while they enjoyed the blessings and promises of God. So the Apostle Paul, who wrote this letter to Titus, reminds Titus to emphasize the will of God among his people. He reminds us of the attitude that should be on display in the life of his people every day: an attitude of obedience, not rebellion; an attitude of humility, not arrogance; an attitude where we are free to say no, not slaves to ungodly passions and pleasures. God commands us to willingly obey authority and do good, not to hate, not to be become bitter because of the good things someone else has that we don’t.

            Why would this not just be a natural way of life for the people of God that Titus was to shepherd? Because the nature of human beings is a nature that has been corrupted. It is a nature that is pulled as if by a magnet to all that God says is wrong, but the enemies of God say is better than what God wants. Some say that it is okay to rebel if you think you are being treated unfairly. Some say that it is okay to be arrogant if you know better than everyone else. Some say it is okay to give into ungodly passions and desires in our to be happy and fulfilled in life, as long as no one gets hurt. That is the nature of sinful people who do not believe that God has made us and we belong to him and we are ultimately accountable to him for everything in our life. That is our old dirty self, which still stinks in our lives every day, as much as we try to clean up our thoughts and our mouth and our imagination. The old dirty self likes to stay dirty and gets angry when someone points out just how dirty that old self is.

            Which is why we needed to be introduced to our Savior. God our Savior saw us when we were filthy and he could not stand by and watch us from a distance. He could not just walk away and let us be, because nothing good can come to our filthy souls. So he stepped in, literally. Step after step, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, did what was necessary to rescue us. Jesus is the living, breathing, walking example of God’s perfect kindness, love, and mercy. Jesus shows God’s attitude toward people who didn’t want anything to do with him or who were clueless about who he is. Instead of showing God’s power and his anger; instead of crashing thunderbolts to destroy us, Jesus Christ showed us the way out of the filth by following him.

            “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.” God had mercy in his heart to save us ever since the beginning, but the way for us to be saved wasn’t made clear until he introduced his Son Jesus Christ to us. Nothing we do, no matter how good it might seem, can ever get us into heaven. But the kindness, love, and mercy of God gives us what we could never pay for.

            The kindness, love, and mercy of God our Father put Jesus in as a substitute to walk in step with God’s will, to submit to God’s law and to submit to God’s punishment that every lawbreaker deserves. God’s feelings for you and me were so strong, his commitment to bring us to heaven so great, that he spared no expense. Merciful, loving, kind – those are words that describe our God who saw us helpless and lost and reached down and lifted us up to his side, as his own family.

 II. The One who by grace renews you and makes you an heir (beneficiary) of eternal life

            By itself, the introduction of Jesus may have seemed like a relatively unimportant event in our human history. Most of the people around the world did not know that God had sent our Savior. And even many of those who talked to him and saw him did not believe that he was our Savior. But some did. And we do. Why?

            “[God] 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.”

            There is another very important step, isn’t there? God’s love reaches beyond our eyes and ears and into our hearts. Although God shows kindness and love to all people, he has presents for everyone, forgiveness through Christ and eternal life, yet the hearts of many people remain like stone, cold and hard when it comes to God, because of the corruption of their human nature. They have not believed it and have continued in filth.

            But, by God’s grace we have believed because we have received the washing of rebirth and renewal. The washing makes us clean and new, not just on the outside, but all the way through. How is this possible? Christ our Savior has poured out the Holy Spirit on us. It is his power that acts in our Baptism, the promise of forgiveness through Christ connected with that splash of water that we can feel and believe that God has shown us mercy. As the Holy Spirit works in Baptism, he works to give spiritual renewal and rebirth, to give a new life where we know and trust in God, and will inherit eternal life from him.

            Through the washing of rebirth, we stand before God in Christ, washed clean of all our filth, not because of good deeds we have done, but because of God’s mercy. We stand before God in Christ, justified by his grace, without any spot of guilt on our permanent record – no rebellion against authority, no disobedience, no foolishness, no record of those times where we have given into the passions and pleasures of our sinful nature. God has forgiven it all. We stand before God pure white, like the deep winter snow.

 Conclusion – By grace, God does for us what we cannot do. It is by grace that he sent Jesus to rescue us from foolishness, disobedience, deception, slavery, malice, envy, and hatred. These evil deeds have no power to control you anymore, because through Jesus Christ, they are all defeated and disarmed. It is by grace that Jesus our Savior washes young and old clean with the water and the power of the Holy Spirit in the word, making us new people, no longer dirty inside and out, but having a new self that “ready to do whatever is good” and will bring a smile to the face of our Creator.

            What do you say when someone is introduced to you? “Nice to meet you.” “I’ve been waiting to meet you.” Or if there is a large crowd and a speaker is introduced, often nothing less than applause or a standing ovation is a appropriate, maybe a few shouts that don’t seem to fit as well, but might be okay, depending on the circumstances.

            God has introduced someone whose whole life shouts to you and me, “I love you more deeply than you can know!” How can we respond to such a wonderful introduction? “Nice to meet you” won’t do. A standing ovation doesn’t seem good enough to welcome the One who is in a category all by himself (unless that standing ovation never ends). How about responding with . . . “Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store. Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for thee.” Total and complete dedication to our loving God and Savior, now and forever. No human being deserves our worship, but the One God introduces as our Savior certainly deserves all honor and praise. Only through the grace of God the Holy Spirit can any of us do that. But by God’s grace, renewed, reborn, baptized, we will welcome the introduction of Jesus into our lives every day until he introduces us to all the saints in glory. Amen