Family Matters 
                                            Titus 2:1-4 (#5) 
  
This is a true story, told by a driver. 
 
      “I was sitting at a stop light this morning.  The lady in front of me was  
       going through papers on the front seat of her car. And when the light  
       turned green, she did not obey it.  A green light is a commandment, not a  
       suggestion. When the light turned red and she still had not moved, I  
       began, with my windows up, screaming epitaphs and beating on my  
       steering wheel.   
 
       My expressions of distress were interrupted by a policeman tapping on  
       my window. ‘You can not arrest me for hollering in my own car,” I said.  
       He ordered me to get in the back of his car. After about two hours in a  
       holding cell, the arresting officer advised me I was free to go.  
 
       “I knew you couldn’t arrest me for yelling in my own car,” I responded.  
       “You haven’t heard the last of this.”  
 
The officer replied quietly,  
 
              “I didn’t arrest you for shouting in your car. I was actually behind you  
              at the light. I saw you screaming and beating your steering wheel  
              and I said to myself, ‘What a jerk. But there’s nothing I can do to him  
              for throwing a fit in his own car.’ Then I noticed… 
 
              …the cross hanging from your rear view mirror  
              …and the bright yellow boarder around your license plate that read  
                      ‘Choose life.’   
              …and the ‘Jesus is coming soon’ bumper stick,  
              …and the fish symbol on the back of your truck.   
 
I was sure you must have stolen the car. 
 
And that, my dear friends, is why I would never put a Christian symbol on my pick up, ever. 
 
Symbol or not—we are being watched.  When was the last time you pondered the fact that… 
 
…Invisible angels that hover about us and above us are watching 
…that demonic hosts, just as invisible, so insidious, and so often effective in 
        their attack, observe your every activity as you go about your day. 
 
…We are being watched by children who are forming opinions about life, not  
        only the family but adults outside the circle of the family.  
 
    They are such imitators, aren’t they!   
 
…We are certainly be watched by people of the faith, those growing and  
        learning from observing you how life is handled, how adversity is  
        endured, how grief is experienced and worked through.   
 
…And never forget that we are being watched by those who have never met  
        the Savior, who have never in their lives read a verse of Scripture, they  
        are reading us.   
 
The sobering truth is, we are being watched when we aren’t even thinking about that. There is nothing wrong with that; we should expect it. That’s what Jesus was saying, “You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.’ 
 
He was reminding us that our mission is to add taste to an otherwise tasteless, bland existence; and add light in an otherwise darkened place. 
 
In “The Message” I found this paraphrase, “You are here to be salt seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth.  If you lose your saltiness how will people taste your saltiness?”  
 
And later, “You are called to be light, bringing out the God colors in the world.  God is not a secret to be kept, we are going public with this.”   
 
I don’t know how this grabs you, but it helps me focus on the significant  responsibility placed upoon each of us who names the name of Jesus.   
 
I was sitting around the table recently with some acquaintances who don’t know Him yet.  As we talked and laughed together, as I listened to the things they talked about, I breathed a prayer, “Lord, how am I going to share what you are doing in my life?  How am I going to make You known?” 
 
These questions were on the Paul’s mind in the opening verses of Titus chapter 2.  In the closing verses of the last chapter, he talks about some in the churches on Crete who professed to be saved, but “in their works they deny Him.”  They were giving the faith and the church a bad rap!  They were causing non-believers to despise Jesus and the very truths He taught!  . 
They were in the church, but not in Christ.  They were false professors.  I wonder if they thought they knew Him. 
 
You are aware that the church in America as a huge credibility problem!  I’m not talking about just the liberal denominations; but bible-quoting, bible carrying people. Choose any category you please… 
 
…morality 
…ethics 
…finances 
…priorities 
…general lifestyle 
 
…the statistics are telling:  Generally speaking, there is little difference  between the lives of those who profess Jesus and those who don’t. 
 
There is a law firm in Dallas, TX, who gives all their people a turkey at Thanksgiving.  The employees appreciated it, except one guy—an attorney— who, for some reason, had an aversion to turkey.  His colleagues suspected that each year he threw it away, or it ended upon in the freezer on top of the 7 freezer-burned turkeys from past years.   
 
So they decided to play a practical joke.  They took his turkey, cleaned all the meat out of it and filled it with rocks, and wrapped it back up.  Thanksgiving week, when the turkeys were distributed, he got it.   
 
He was riding home on the bus that afternoon.  He met a man and began to talk to him.  He was obviously very poor; he shared with the stranger that he had six children. The attorney said to himself, “I ought to give this turkey to this man.”  Then he thought, ‘No, he’s too proud.’  So he sold the bogus bird to him for $6.00. 
 
After Thanksgiving, when he returned to work, he told the office about the man and the turkey.  They were mortified!  Together, they spent the next five weeks riding the buses in Dallas, looking for a man who had paid $6.00 for a Thanksgiving turkey packed with rocks. 
 
Somewhere in that city was a very bitter man who was bitter for the wrong reasons. 
 
Friends, there are a lot of bitter folks around who have been handed a bill of goods by us.  Because we promised more than we delivered; we don’t live out the reality we have found. 
 
The German atheist, Friedrich Nietzsche, said:  “Show me the results of your redemption and I will believe in your Redeemer.”  
 
Is that fair?  Should people expect less? 
 
In the Greek text, verse 1 opens abruptly:  “YOU”— is the first word.  It’s a present imperative (a command)…   “In contrast to the status quo; the empty profession of some…You be different, because you are different!” 
 
We are being watched. 
 
As I read these first 10 verses, I take out my pen and underscore five categories of people who are to be careful to walk the talk! 
 
…older men 
…older women 
…younger women 
…young men 
…slaves (employees) 
 
Every group in the church family is mentioned (including children—verse 4), except one: Who is missing?  Teenagers.   Youth culture is a recent American phenomenon—a detrimental occurrence—precipitated by affluence, unknown in developing countries; and on 1st century Crete.  Teens were included in “young women” and “young men.” 
 
In the first two verses, two key concepts that run parallel through the book, like two golden highways, merge together. 
 
…Titus was to “speak”—…a present imperative, stressing continuing action  
     and priority…  To speak what?   
 
The first golden highway is “sound doctrine”— A phase that appears 4 times beginning in 1:9.   (Trace the term.) 
 
“Sound,” you may remember, is a medical term, from which we get the terms “hygiene,” “hygienic.” It means “teaching that promotes good health.” 
Titus was to speak. 
 
People in each group were to “be” 
 
The second path is “good works”— found 5 times.  Look at 2:7  (Map) 
 
These concepts are inseparable. 
 
Doctrine is about information (the communication and hearing of truth); Good works is about in-formation (it getting on the inside—our minds, conscience, heart, volition (will)—giving power and transforming your character. 
 
You can’t live out what you don’t know.  And what you truly believe the truth, you will enviably live it out.. 
 
In a relativistic, immoral society, where people don’t respect God or the Scriptures, “good works” is the signpost that gets their attention first. It’s the bar that pries open a closed heart…the laser beam in the darkness that can’t be ignored forever.  Out there, it is good works, then doctrine. 
 
What is “good works”?  Suppose one of you moms needed to run to the supermarket, or pick up your husband or a friend from work. The kids are old enough to stay by themselves for a little while.  You let them know where you are going and how long you expect to be gone. And the last thing you say as you are going out the door is, “Kids, be good while I’m gone.”  
 
When you return, you walk in the house and say, “Kids, were you good while I was away?”  “Yes, mommy!” they say. Now, does that mean they did the dishes, vacuumed the floors and gave the dog a bath?”  No, you are really asking, “Did you argue or hit each other?  Did you eat sweets before supper?” 
 
There is a difference in not being bad and being good.  So many people in the church measure the reality of their salvation by what they don’t do. I know people who make no profession of faith in Christ at all who are good, moral people, who don’t do bad things.  
 
I heard about a youth group that got together one summer afternoon and showed up at the mayor’s office, volunteering to do whatever he might need them to do.  (Do you think that made an impact?) 
 
Warren Wiersbe said,  “We are lobbying instead of serving.” 
 
After exhorting Titus, he moves, first, to the older men in the congregation.  Huh. This group has a very special place of leadership and influence in the church.  This is true whether they hold a formal office in the church. 
 
Indulge me.  You know this is enviable, but I promise to keep it in moderation. (Picture of five month old granddaughter on the screen.) A couple of weeks ago, when Olivia and Robbie were baptized, there was a person in the congregation, a new-comer to the church family, who witnessed her first baptismal service.  
 
When the group clapped and cheered unannounced, she was caught off-guard.  Sitting on her grandpa’s lap, she turned instantly and looked in the face of mom and dad. The unspoken question on her face is: 
 
    “You didn’t warn me about this!  Should I scream now?” 
 
When mom and dad remained calm and dad assured it that it was okay, she relaxed and went with the flow! 
 
The older men are the ones we look to. They set the tone spiritually; they are models for the rest of us. We often think of those older as wiser, more mature, stronger in faith. Let me add that that is not necessarily so.  There is nothing about age that automatically causes men to mature. Anyone can grow old without growing up spiritually. 
 
Job had a striking flash of insight.  (Job 39:2)  
 
           “Great men are not always wise, neither do the aged always  
            understand judgment.”   
 
One translation says, “Getting old doesn’t guarantee good sense.”  It’s true isn’t it? Age can make a man stubborn, less teachable.  Older men can become complaining, critical, negative, even lazy.  
 
A brother in a certain church was approaching his 90th birthday.  They decided to throw a party for him.  At the celebration someone said, 
 
   “Uncle Jeff, You’ve been a member of this church along time. I bet you’ve  
    seen a lot of changes.”  
 
    “Yep,” he said. “And I’ve been again’ every one of them.’ 
 
That need not occur.  When we grow older we can remain flexible and effective, a joy to be around.  I think of Moses. He didn’t go public until he was 80.  He led the people across the Red Sea at 120.   
 
Caleb at age 85, when others were looking for a place to rest, said, “I’ll take the hill country.  There are giants there.”  He had mental and physical vigor. 
 
Joseph lived a ripe old age, so did Abraham did.   
 
I love this:   
 
   “At the age of 83, having traveled approximately 250,000 miles on  
   horseback; after having preached more than 40,000 sermons, most of  
   which were prepared on the horn of his saddle. After writing more than  
   200 books and pamphlets, John Wesley regretted that he could no longer  
   write more than 15 hours a day without getting tired.  In fact he quietly  
   admitted to a friend on his 85th birthday, to an increasing tendency to want  
   to lie in bed until 5:30 in the morning.” 
 
Older, wiser, seasoned saints are a treasure to the body of Christ.  They add strength and stability and vigor. Lev 19:32, “You shall rise up before the white headed and honor the aged.” 
 
Buy who is in this category?  “Older” means difference things to different folks.  This word is used on only twice elsewhere.  Once of Paul himself in Philemon verse 9, where he refers to himself as “Paul the aged.”   If you do the chronology on Paul’s life, you know he is in his ‘60s.  So a man in his 60s qualifies.   
 
Zacharias and Elizabeth received an unexpected blessing in their old age.  
People must have looked snickered as they looked on in amazement at Zach and Elizabeth trudging along pushing a baby carriage through Wal-mart.  They named their son, John.   
 
When Zacharias got the news of his wife’s pregnancy, he says, “I am an old man,” then he says, “And my wife is advanced in age.”  There’s a smart guy.  So whatever “older” is, it’s beyond the child-bearing years.  
 
In extra-biblical literature, (literature of the time outside the Bible), it is used of a man who is 50.  So guys, relax. If you are 50 or older, you are in verse 2.  Don’t deny it!  Don’t… 
 
…draw hair on your head with a paint brush,  
…don’t wear a flowered-shirt opened to your navel, with a big medallion  
     around your neck, get an ear ring and drive a sports car. 
 
What is life supposed to be like for older men?  There are six guidelines.  
 
Have you seen any of the “Messages from God” billboards on the highway?    
The heavenly one-liners were commissioned anonymously and conceived by Charlie Robb, former creative direction for an advertising agency in Ft. Lauderdale. Some have criticized the signs as too flippant. 
 
Some sample messages, each signed simply “God.” 
 
“Let’s meet at my house Sunday before the game.” 
“Loved the wedding. Invite me to the marriage.” 
“Will the road you’re on get you to my place?” 
“That ‘Love thy neighbor’ thing—I meant it.” 
“Don’t make me come down there.” 
“I don’t question your existence.” 
 
There’s no question that Mr. Robb’s intentions are good. At the least the signs place the existence of God in people’s minds, if only for a fleeting moment. 
 
But is a reminder of the existence of God the great need?  Are signs placed on a highway somewhere going to do it?  How many people do you suspect give a testimony something like: 
 
      “I was driving down the road one day and saw this sign…and now I am  
       saved!” 
 
No, the pressing need…the top priority in a secular culture like Crete and Beckley—is a troop of believers, serious about their faith, who hit  
 
….the schools… 
…businesses  
…neighborhoods 
….and streets  
 
on Monday morning, walking the talk!