Obedience Is Your Part.
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning. I want to let you know about an event coming in about a month, that we will be talking more about. We have talked recently with another restoration movement church, Northpoint Christian Church about having our youth groups do some activities together and thought wouldn’t it be great it our congregations got together every once in awhile and out of those thoughts was born a joint worship night. On Wednesday, September 9th, our worship teams are planning a night of worship and fellowship. We are encouraging everyone to plan to attend, as we learn that body of Christ extends out to our neighbors.
I also want to thank Jay for the way he handled Ephesians 4 on Wednesday night. He has matured so much, since I would get together with him as a teen. It is amazing to see his growth and understanding of God’s word. Let's begin by reading the passage that has been our focus the last few weeks.
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
I want to make sure I stay in my lane, but I want us to see how Paul show us that growth and maturity come in the body as, “Each Part Does Its Work,” by beginning with this question...
What Is Your Part?
When Paul says that the church grows ‘as each part does its work,’ what do you picture? Most of us probably think about church service—teaching a class, helping with worship, visiting someone, working with children, or volunteering for a ministry and all of that matters. A church cannot function without people filling those roles.
But I wonder whether Paul’s words reach further than the jobs we perform inside this building.
Can a person fill a church position and still fail to do his part? Can someone attend every service and still weaken the body through uncontrolled anger, dishonest behavior, careless speech, or spiritual immaturity?
Ephesians 4 tells us that the body grows when each part works properly. Titus 2 shows us what that looks like in ordinary life. Paul speaks to older men, older women, younger women, younger men, a teacher, and bondservants. Their circumstances are different, but their responsibility is the same: to live under the lordship of Jesus where God has placed them.
If you tune out the rest of the lesson, this is what I want the main concept I want you to walk away with this morning… Each part does its work when every Christian faithfully obeys Christ in their present relationships and responsibilities.
Paul left Titus in Crete to help strengthen the churches there, and in chapter 2 he tells Titus what mature Christian living should look like throughout the congregation.… Let’s begin in Titus 2:1:
You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the 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 wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
Paul is helping Titus to learn to teach his congregations the things that will lead to maturity. This is the foundation that bridges Ephesians 4 and Titus 2. If we desire to mature and do our part, we must recognize that our growth is grounded in grace and obedience.
To see these concepts, let’s start at the end of this chapter before we go back to the beginning. Titus 2:11-12
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.
It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
What is the it Paul say teaches us? It is God’s grace that appeared, it is the grace that came through the incarnational Jesus..
God’s grace, through Jesus, is not only what saves us from our past; it trains us for the life Christ calls us to live now.
When we recognize the depths of God’s love and the sacrifice of His son for all humanity, our response to that gift as disciples, is to live a life of obedience that leads us to maturity.
So what follows is not a list of ways to earn God's grace. It is a picture of what God's grace begins producing in people who have received it. So, when we go back to the beginning, we see Paul instructing Titus to teach older men...
to become steady men—temperate, respectable, self-controlled, sound in faith, love, and endurance.
Some of you are carrying enormous responsibilities. Work, family, finances, aging parents, church responsibilities. Paul is not saying, ‘Add ten more things to your calendar.’ He is saying: in the middle of all of that, become a man whose life is steady in Christ.
Older men, you are called to lead the church. You are called to lead your families. Mature into those men. Become men who are a beacon for others to emulate. Be the men others can look up to and say I see Jesus in…
This, among other things, is doing your part as you mature in Christ.
Your part may be the calm voice when everyone else is panicking. The man who refuses gossip. The man whose family knows what matters most to him. The man a younger Christian can call when life gets complicated.
Older men, ask yourself: Is my life becoming steady enough that someone else can become stronger because of it?
This does not have to be complicated. It could be as simple as getting a meal or coffee with someone and being a listening ear and a voice of reason. I will be honest, I have failed more than I have succeeded, but that has given me wisdom that can help someone else. So why should I or you keep it to ourself.
Now ladies, I don’t see a church of busybodies that Titus was addressing, women addicted to wine or slanders, I see women being reverent in the way they live. You are women who have decades of experience. The call here is to be one who influences the culture, not just in how you live, but in what you teach. Your maturity is a gift to the next generation.
Your lives are to be reverent, your speech trustworthy, and you are called to teach what is good. And then Paul immediately connects you with younger women.
In other words, mature faith is supposed to travel from one generation to another.
Older women, somebody needs what God has taught you. You. like older men, have been matured by years of exposure to various circumstances, some you handled well, others you learned how to handle better the next time.
Younger women, somebody has already walked roads you are walking now. They can help you learn how to love faithfully, navigate relationships wisely, walk with integrity, and remain a light for Christ.
This is just a part of how the body works. We don't just sit beside one another on Sunday. We help one another learn how to follow Jesus.
Ask yourself: Who am I learning faithfulness from, and who am I helping become more faithful?”
Ladies, if you are younger, seek out an older woman whom you respect and get together with them. Older ladies, look for someone to mentor. You each have something you can learn from one another and Paul is calling us each to be seeking a Godly life. Remember, its about living like Christ.
Then Paul gets to the younger men, and his instruction is almost startlingly simple, yet does not surprise anyone who has raised boys: be self-controlled.
Young me, learn that you do not have to act on every impulse, say every thought, follow every desire, or respond to every emotion.
Maturity means Christ increasingly governs what I do with my body, my words, my anger, my sexuality, my money, and my choices.
And younger men, don't try to figure that out alone. Find somebody whose life you respect and invite them into yours.
Ask yourself: Where in my life does Christ need greater control than my impulses currently have?
This is what us older guys are called to be doing, helping those coming up to mature in the faith. To make good choices. Younger guys look for an older man you respect and ask them to coffee. Older guys, don’t wait begin to get to know the young men in this body and see how you can help them. I encourage you to find someone you have been wanting to talk with and ask about their life after service today.
And then Paul turns to Titus himself. The teacher doesn't get an exemption. Titus' life has to match Titus' teaching.
Those of us who teach, lead, parent, mentor, or influence others need to hear that.
The credibility of our words is affected by the integrity of our lives.
Ask yourself: Does my life reinforce what I say I believe?
I want to read the next section, because today, most of dismiss this section, because fortunately, we will probably never be exposed to slavery and yet, there are still those in our world who do not have much of a choice in their circumstances.
Let’s acknowledge the historical difference. We should not pretend that Paul's bondservants were simply modern employees. Many of that time lived with very little power over their circumstances.
Yet today, even though circumstances are not the same, the principle is true...many live with very little power over our circumstances. An illness that won’t let go. A soldier under orders. Unemployment, causing hardships and hard choices. There are countless more, but in all of them, when we face them, we feel like we have lost all choice, but Paul wants us to know...
Even when we do not control our circumstances, we remain responsible for how we represent Christ within them.
It is how we talk to the nurse taking care of us. It’s how respectful we are to the teacher we disagree with. It is how we react to an unsure future. Each group is given particular responsibilities. They are not all told to do the same thing, but:
Ask Yourself: When I cannot control what is happening around me, what would obedience to Christ look like within what I can control?
I cannot address this section without talking about abusive people and relationships.
And let me add an important qualification. You may find yourself for a time in circumstances you did not choose and do not want. In those moments, you are still called to follow Christ faithfully. Faithfulness does not mean remaining quietly in abuse or pretending injustice is acceptable. Seeking safety, help, accountability, or a way out of a destructive situation is not disobedience. Following Christ means responding with truth, courage, wisdom, and faithfulness—not pretending evil is good.
Do you see what Paul has done? He has moved through the whole church. Different ages. Different responsibilities. Different levels of influence. Different circumstances.
But behind all of them is the same grace.
Grace has appeared.
Grace saves us.
Grace trains us.
Christ is forming a people who are eager to do what is good.
And that brings us back to Ephesians 4: the body grows as each part does its work.
What Do I Want You to Remember?
Each part does its work when every Christian faithfully obeys Christ in their present relationships and responsibilities.
My Challenge For You.
Ask Yourself: What does faithful obedience to Christ look like in the part of life you are living right now?
