2020-01-12 1 Timothy 1:1 Called to Splendor

CALLED TO SPLENDOR (I Tim 1:1) January 12, 2020 Read I Tim 1:1 – Two cows were grazing when a milk truck passed. On the side of the truck were the words, “Pasteurized, homogenized, standardized and Vitamin A added.” One cow said to the other, “Makes you feel sort of inadequate, doesn’t it?” No one wants to feel inadequate, do they? We all want our life to have meaning. V 1 addresses this. Usually a throwaway verse. But, in fact, Paul reveals the source of true greatness – to be in the service of Christ and under the command of God. There’s no higher calling in life. Can you imagine a life where absolutely everything is right and good – where even the pitfalls have value? Well, guess what? That is the privilege of every believer. Rom 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things – all things – work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” For those who love God there are no mistakes, no missteps, no wasted moments. Even the bumps count for good! We may not live like it, or fully appreciate it, but we are on a triumphant march to Glory. So let’s examine why is it great to be among the called of God? Here’s why? I. The Smallness of the Called Paul is a great champion of the Christian faith – 2nd only to Jesus perhaps. But Paul never looked at himself that way. He knew himself for what he was – a small instrument through whom God chose to do great things. Paul was born into a Jewish family in Tarsus, and named after King Saul, the most famous member of his tribe of Benjamin. He was sent to Jerusalem to study under Gamaliel, the most noted teacher of the day. He was fanatic in his faith: Gal 1:14, “And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.” That zeal made him the most hated enemy of the Christian faith. He helped in Stephen’s execution and devoted his life to the persecution and martyrdom of others. So feared was he that when he went to Jerusalem 3 years after his conversion we find in Acts 9:26, “And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples. And they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.” This all changed, of course, when Paul met Jesus face-to-face on the road to Damascus and eventually became the greatest advocate of the Christian faith he had sought to wipe out. 1 But tho chosen by God for great things, Paul never saw himself great. Not long after his conversion, he took the name Paul. From Saul, the king, to Paul -- “small.” One 2nd-century writer described him as “a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhere hooked, full of friendliness.” Greatness was his goal before Christ; but after, he saw himself as small and God as great! I Cor 15:9: “For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Small! Eph 3:8: “I am the very least of all the saints.” Not just least of the apostles, but least of all believers. I Tim 1:15b, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” This isn’t just rhetoric. This is how Paul saw himself. God uses those who are small in their own eyes – humble people. Moses sought to deliver Israel on his own. But his murderous rage caused Israel to defy rather than embrace him. God sent him to the desert to herd sheep for 40 years to get perspective. When God re-called him, Moses said Ex 3:11: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring he children of Israel out of Egypt.” When small in his own eyes, he was perfect for God’s plan. When God needed an earthly mother for His own Son, He sent Gabriel to a little 13-14 year-old-girl from the Nazareth, the armpit of Palestine. He said, Lu 1: 28) “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” 29) But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.” Just the kind of humility God prizes. Want to know who God chooses and uses? I Cor 1:27) But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28) God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29) so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” God doesn’t call big people for one simple reason – there aren’t any! We did not make “Who’s Who?” We didn’t even make “Who’s Not?” When God chose us, He went to the bottom of the barrel. He made us first round draft choices for one reason – so He’d get the glory. Small Paul knew that; he gloried in it. Pastor Loren used to say, “Service is little people, doing little things in a fine way for the great God.” That’s our calling, Beloved. But it starts with seeing who we are. Paul says in II Cor 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” It’s the message that’s great, not the messenger. So glory goes to the right place. To Him! 2 Graeme Keith, treasurer for BGEA was on an elevator once with Billy Graham when a man recognized him and said, “You’re Bill Graham, aren’t you?” Graham said, “Yes.” The man went on, “Well, I just want to tell you that you are a truly great man” to which Graham replied, “No, I am not a great man. I just have a great message.” Just like Paul. Small doesn’t mean insignificant. Paul says, Rom 15:17: “In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God.” But our pride is “in Christ”; we’re His doing. II. The Splendor of the Call So God uses little people – but He calls us to magnificence! It is first and foremost a call to eternal life, and it doesn’t get any better than that. Rom 8:30) And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Wow! But salvation isn’t just a one-time event – not if its real. Tim 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God.” Paul’s call to salvation was also a call to mission – apostleship. A few times “apostle” is used in a general sense in the NT of those sent to bring the message of the gospel – people like Barnabas (Acts 14:14), and Jesus’ brother, Jas (Gal 1:19). But most often the term refers to the special group of 12, commissioned by Jesus, eyewitnesses of the resurrection and sent as His special envoys to spread the gospel of Jesus. They’re singled out in Lu 6:13, when after a night of prayer, Jesus “called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.” To this group Matthias was added in Acts 1 after the betrayal of Judas. Then -- one more – Paul, by special appointment after he saw the risen Christ on the Damascus road and was named special apostle to the Gentiles (Rom 10:13). Paul often refer to himself as an apostle “by the will of God” (Eph 1:1). Here he takes it step further – “by the command of God.” He clearly expects this to be read to all, including the trouble-makers, so he is adding authority to his words. They come by the command of God. But the point is, when Paul got saved, life took on a new purpose. He no longer lived by the dictates of self, but by the command of God, exercising the giftedness that God had imparted. And, Beloved, it is the same for all of us. To accept Christ is to accept His authority. And He instructs us to use the divine giftedness that came with our salvation to the edification of others and the glory of God. This is the splendor of our call. From the moment of faith, we’re on a divine mission. 3 I Cor 12:7: “To each is given a manifestation [gift] of the Spirit for the common good.” We’re all gifted. If you don’t have a spiritual gift, you don’t have salvation. We are privileged by God to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Rom 12:6: “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them.” Whether your gift is helping others, administering, giving, exhorting, teaching – lists in Rom 12, I Cor 12-14, I Pet 4 and Eph 4 – whatever it is, get on with it. This is life’s most priceless privilege. The splendor of our calling is the ability to contribute to what Christ is doing on earth today. Your call is not just about eternal life; it’s about present life. You’re one of a kind for His service. A sign outside a middle school in NH said, “You are unique – just like everyone else.” Well in the body of Christ you are unique like no one else. If you’re not operating, we’re all missing out – but so are you. So find your gift and get on with it – like Paul was doing. Henry Fonda once told Larry King how he loved playing Mr. Roberts (an endearing naval officer) on Broadway, bc he was nothing like his real life. He said, “I’m an alcoholic and carouser, but my image is such that people raise their kids to be like Henry Fonda. I can’t live up to that image – except as Mr. Roberts.” He said, “There were times when it would be 3:00 in the afternoon and I would think, ‘Gee, I wish it was 8:00 so I could be Mr. Roberts again.’” Well, Beloved, in the body of Christ, you don’t have to be anyone else – just yourself – living out God’s mission specially for you! III. The Supremacy of the Caller This is special. We’re called by 2 persons. First – God our Savior. Normally, we think of Jesus being our Savior. The angels announced at Jesus’ birth in Lu 2:11: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Eph 5:23 speaks of Jesus being the Savior of the church. Phil 3:20: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Bible teaches the Holiness of God the Father demands a perfection not possible after the Fall, so a Savior was needed to satisfy His holy demands. Jesus died to satisfy the righteous demands of a holy God. That’s wonderful theology and He’s a wonderful Savior. But for some that leaves a skewed vision of God as fearsome tyrant who is only placated by Jesus – a wrong view entirely. It is true that God in His infinite holiness is an awesome reality with which we must content. But it misses that it is Father, Son and HS together who plan the way to satisfy the justice that is inherent to all of them, thru self-sacrifice. In Jesus, God satisfied 4 His own holy demands for righteousness making acquittal available to all believers. Jesus implemented the solution, but He was sent by the Father, to pay a price that tore through the whole Trinity we can never comprehend. I Jn 4:14: “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” Father, Son, and HS were all in this -- together! Did Jesus suffer to become our Savior? Yes. But we forget that the Father suffered equally. We’ll never know what it cost Jesus as the only sinless man to take every lie, gossip, betrayal, murder, rape, child abuse and more His own person. We can’t comprehend the pain of that. But imagine what it cost the Father to insist on that plan even when Jesus in His humanity asked for relief. Imagine how the Father felt when He turned His back on Jesus and poured out the penalty for our sin on His Son. Imagine the price the Father paid. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, Dick marries a psychologically troubled Nicole and then sacrifices his own emotional well-being, medical career – his whole life to help her recover. Then she turns and divorces him for another man. She has a moment of remorse, thinking how much she drained from him, but her sister, Baby, callously says, “Don’t worry. That’s what he was educated for.” Wow! But isn’t that how we are with God? “Of course, God forgives. After all, that’s His job, isn’t it?” Or as the skeptic Voltaire said, “C’est son métier” (It’s His business). And so it is. But not without cost! The cost was just like you willingly sending your child on a suicide mission to save the lives of others – multiplied by a billion, billion. The price of forgiveness was infinite to Father and Son; we must never forget that. Paul didn’t. He was happy to be commanded by God His Savior. And then he speaks of Christ Jesus our hope. Such an appropriate title for Jesus. Paul’s world was without hope. Religion, even Judaism, was a morass of demands that no one could hope to meet. Philosophy had proven to be a dead end street – just like today – all questions; no answers. The human condition is ultimately a hopeless condition with no hope beyond the grave. Like the Charlie Chaplin silent film, where he’s a prisoner being transported on a boat that is shipwrecked. He ends up on deserted beach with a ball and chain around his leg. The entire film deals with his relationship with this ball and chain which he treats as a living thing as he seeks to escape its weight. He tries humor, making little jokes to distract it so he can dash away. But when he reaches the length of the chain -- bam! Down he goes in the sand. So he decides to distract. When it’s not looking he’s off, but when he reaches the end of the chain – bam! Down he goes. So he decides to reason with the 5 device. He thinks he’s talked it into releasing him. But again, when he gets to the end of the chain – bam! Down he goes. He finally tries one last strategy – to ignore the ball and chain – deny it’s there at all. He covers it with sand, and indeed, it looks like problem solved! But when he reaches the end of the chain – bam! Down he goes – and now the light finally dawns. He realizes he can’t solve his problem alone. If he’s to be rescued, he needs help from outside. For the first time, he looks upward, hoping for something that will bring relief. What a metaphor for the impossibility of solving our guilt problem. It can’t be done by us alone. We must look up! Rom 8:24: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25) But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” What is that unseen hope? It is what Paul calls in Col 1:27 the mystery of the ages – “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Not just Christ – but Christ in you. Therein is hope – hope that covers both body and soul. So we are Titus 2:13: “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.” This Christ “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Phil 3:21). It doesn’t get any better than that. Conc – So – our splendid calling is to know and live for this amazing Triune God. Orchestra leader Paul Whiteman tells of the wisdom he got from his father who said, “I’ll tell you why Toscanini is such a great conductor. It is bc his orchestra never plays for Toscanini, nor does Toscanini reach out selfishly for credit. First, Toscanini always conducts the music as if Beethoven himself were listening. And second, Toscanini wants Beethoven to hear it done correctly." With eternity at stake, that is our calling as well – to live for God as tho he were watching (He is) and wanting Him to see it done right. “Service is little people, doing little things in a fine way for the great God.” What an unbelievably splendid calling. Let’s pray. 6