Titus 2:1-10
Short sermon, not much needs to be said about women! On the contrary! Much needs to be said, few have courage to say it. Let’s start with some images – mental ones, that is. How does our society present women – what images used in media, fashions promoted in stores, adjectives used to describe various public figures? Ideal or stereotype woman portrayed as one whose allure sells pickup trucks, is equally at home in board room and locker room, can do all a man can do and probably better. Now what do we see in the church? Any different? Not really. Talk about “Today’s Christian Woman” like she should be different from yesterday’s Christian woman. Speak and think of successful women, professional women, liberated women, in the church, no less!!
Be honest, now, some of you have probably thought in those terms, perhaps even aspired to be considered that way. “My Beautiful Princess Bible”; “Homeschool Mom’s Bible”; “Military Wives Bible”; “Faith-Filled Catholic Women’s Bible”; “One Year NT for Busy Moms”. 453 Women’s Bibles on CBD. STOP IT! Don’t think that way! For sake of the church and your own growth in godliness, don’t live that way! Those are wrong categories, unbiblical ways of defining what it means to be a woman pleasing to God. Women in the church need to first smarten up, then smarten up the next generation of women. How’s your blood pressure doing, ladies?
World has been sending strong message about identity, role and value of women for 1000’s of years. Not only strong message, it’s wrong message – turns what God has said in his Word on its head. If we as people of God, committed to inerrancy and authority of his Word, are to live pleasing to him, have much work to do. Must first get our thinking in line with God’s thinking, then speak strongly on this issue so we don’t lose another generation to the world. As we work through our text, ok if you disagree with my opinion; not ok if you disagree with God’s Word. So,… listen carefully, think carefully, ask God’s help to identify and correct areas where your worldview must change to more closely match God’s.
A. older women
“older women as mothers, younger as sisters” 1 Tim. 5:2
two categories stated, one implied: older, younger, in training – all of female gender fit one of three
problem in Crete, problem in Gorham, all over world: people adopted into family of God, need to be taught how to behave; same true for those born into godly families – need training
as with older men: target are chronologically older, farther down road of life experience; has application to those more spiritually mature
one from godly heritage may be better equipped to help older woman who is new to the faith
character v.3
“reverent in behavior”; better translation: “exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy”; best (mine!): “behaving like one devoted unreservedly to God’s use”
not successful, professional, exceptional, modern, useful, intellectual, fulfilled; holy, reverent, devoted without reserve to God’s use
identity: daughter of God; role: faithful bond slave of God; value: priceless, bearing image of God
expected to teach what is good, must be living what is good: exemplary living
showing by action that thought and desire are captive to Christ – slander, expression of wrong thinking; drunkenness, expression of wrong desires
ministry v.4a
“admonish”; “train”; “bring them to their senses, to their right mind”
on basis of God’s Word, God’s working in their life – older women to persuade young women to live “devoted without reserve to God’s use”
will be evident when they practice following five behaviors
inverse also true: women who do not exhibit these behaviors not showing their unreserved devotion to God’s use
not qualified to teach younger women either; talking general character of life-if perfection were demanded, no one would be qualified
B. young women v.4b-5a
attitude and character
receptivity to older women as God’s teachers, his gracious gift to them for their good and his glory
commitment to live so God’s word, the message of the Gospel, will not be discredited
ultimate goal: that model of holy living found in older women be reproduced in young women
duties
love your husband –
told in Eph. 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her.”
could rightly say: young women, love your husbands, just as the church loves Christ
no qualifications, no if/then statements; nothing can make up for missing love in a home – is to be mutual love, “let each esteem others better than himself” (Phil. 2:3)
love your children –
“Few women realize what great service they are doing for mankind and for the kingdom of Christ when they provide a shelter for the family and good mothering—the foundation on which all else is built. A mother builds something far more magnificent than any cathedral—the dwelling place for an immortal soul (both her child’s fleshly tabernacle and his earthly abode). No professional pursuit so uniquely combines the most menial tasks with the most meaningful opportunities.” Dorothy Patterson, B.A., Th.M., D.Min., contributor to the NIV Women’s Devotional Bible, etc.
be self-controlled and pure –
sees herself as God’s temple (1 Cor 6:19, 20) – you don’t belong to you, belong to God
work on the inside – beautifying “the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves” (1 Pet. 3:4-5)
busy at home
doesn’t mean never leaving the home – barefoot, pregnant in the kitchen
does mean home including husband and children are priority; want to serve God? serve family first, they’re the ones God has entrusted to you
“Homemaking—being a full-time wife and mother—is not a destructive drought of usefulness but an overflowing oasis of opportunity; …it is not a rope for binding one’s productivity in the marketplace, but reins for guiding one’s posterity in the home; it is not oppressive restraint of intellectual prowess for the community, but a release of wise instruction to your own household; ….it is neither limitation of gifts available nor stinginess in distributing the benefits of those gifts, but rather the multiplication of a mother’s legacy to the generations to come and the generous bestowal of all God meant a mother to give to those He entrusted to her care.” Dorothy Patterson
submissive to your husband –
fighting words in today’s culture; result: sad consequences for the family and the church and the world
3 basic principles come into play (Eph 5:21-23; 1 Pet 3:1)
“submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” – show love for Christ by mutual submission
“husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body” – show love for Christ and his body by modeling relationship of Christ / church in your marriage
“so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives” – show love for Christ in love for husband and submission to him
but you don’t know my husband – God does…. it’s God’s command, not mine
I could do that if only he were more like….
umm, Jesus submissive to Joseph & Mary Luke 2:51 without complaint or reserve
will be subject to the Father 1 Cor. 15:28 when this age comes to an end
Lord Jesus is our example, even in submission in human relationships
C. motivation v.5b, 10b
world’s idea of greatest motivation – “It’s all about you”, “You deserve it”, “You have right to spoil yourself”
God’s Word says it is not all about you; it is all about others – first God and his Gospel, then others
again, our example, Lord Jesus – cross not about what he did for himself, it’s all about how he gave himself a sacrifice to God for others
honor God’s Word
living lives that demonstrate transforming power of God by Word and Spirit
“…it is not the nominal Christian who is fully aligned to society’s mainstream, who suffers discrimination. It is those who strive to live according to the high ethical demands of Christianity, who experience a clash. Those are not the majority.” Dr. Gudrun Kugler, Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians (a nonprofit group based in Austria)
unbeliever reads Bible, looks at character of your life, what does he / she conclude?
that you take Bible seriously, that you are the way you are by power of God?
adorn the Gospel
“so living as to show to all around them that there is a reality in the gospel, and to lead others to love it” Barnes
living so when you make the claim “the Gospel will change your life” you have credibility
Living transformed life in conformity to God’s Word a goal men, women, boys, girls should all have. Giving up claim to our stuff, surrendering to Jesus is good start. But requires more than that – must surrender world’s ideas and priorities and values. Must embrace not only God’s Word but also God’s ways, in all things, in all of life, not just what happens on Sunday morning or during daily devotions. Must fill our minds with his Word, be filled and taught and guided by his Spirit, surrender our way of doing things to his leading. May God by his grace and Spirit enable us live Christianly, to “adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things”.