How to live for Christ even if you are a nobody

(The sermon on Titus 2:7, 8 seems to be missing somewhere)
Text Titus 2:9, 10 Time 29/09/10 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church

"I woke this morning with a taste most foul in my mouth. Funny how sweet on the lips the grape’s first kiss; how betraying then beneath the heat of the rising sun. But the success of the Prefect’s new building project has made him most generous of late and the wine flowed ... Any musician of The Empire surely envies the station I’ve achieved.
"Though Romana by status, I am Hiberni by birth. Inside this tired old chest beats the heart of a Celt - proud and ancient. My people, the Cruithin, dwelled in the Hibernian Highlands for a thousand years or more. But that all ended with the great Romana Invasion of Fromhoire in which my tribe was taken into servitude. I never again saw my mother, father, brothers or sisters after that fateful day. I was a young man of 12.
"Though craftsman by trade - an artisan most skilled in tooling fine leather - my father was, like his father before, our clan’s poet-musician. Countless nights around the village fire he would regale with tales of our people past, their conquests and defeats, all performed with a talent all said none could compare. ... I was to follow in his footsteps. I’d practised long and hard these magical tales, all to the accompaniment of the pipes, the subtleties of which I’d strove to master. And it was this that the Romana general found to his liking that darkest of days. So unlike my fellow clansmen taken in shackles back to Roma, I slept in the officers’ tents at night while my kinsmen lie on hard, cold ground. By the gods, for many years I felt myself a traitor.
"Upon arriving in the Imperial Capital, a visiting Prefect from Pompeii, Gaius Secundas, seemingly fascinated by my storytelling, ordered me brought to his palace. Most treacherous a man to those who displeased him - Romana and slave alike - he appeared to marvel at my clumsy attempts to entertain. He would summon me to Court both day and night to recite the magical tales that enlivened my now scattered clan - ... And through the years I grew in his favour; each year dedicating more of my repertoire to his many campaigns. And as reward for my cleverness he granted me my freedom at the age of 25. Though an ageing man was I, it was then that I became a liberi of Roma. A free man of the Romana Empire. And though I could have many time easily stolen away, back to my beloved homeland, I had no home to which return. No land to plot or plough. And so it is 40 years since I was first taken from the rich, green land of my memories."
This is part of James Coffey's attempt to give us an insight into the life of a British born Roman slave in the time of Jesus.
We are looking at Titus 2 and the way that Paul instructs Titus to teach various members of the congregation. We have looked at what he has to say to old men, older women, young women, young men and to Titus himself.
This week we come to what he has to say in verses 9 and 10 to slaves. This is one of four main passages in the New Testament that deal with the matter of slaves. The others are in Ephesians 6, Colossians 4 and 1 Peter 2. The book of Philemon and Paul's remarks in 1 Corinthians 7 are also germane.
It is important to remember when we come to such passages that slavery in the first century Roman Empire was quite different to slavery today or for example in America before the civil war. There are at least 4 things to note.
1. In the Empire slaves were either taken as the spoils of war or got into financial difficulties and sold themselves into slavery. Some of them were very well-educated. For example doctors and tutors were often slaves.
2. Although their masters had absolute rights over their slaves, they generally showed them respect and often treated them with dignity. Beating was allowed but was not common.
3. Unlike slaves in other times, they could marry, accumulate wealth, purchase their own freedom, run a business, etc. Cicero noted that a slave could usually be set free within seven years; in any case, under Roman law a slave would normally be set free by age 30. After the revolt of Spartacus in 73 BC, however, slaves in the west were generally treated more harshly than those in the east.
4. About a third of the Empire was made up of slaves. By the first century AD an increasing number of slaves were being freed - so much so that laws were drawn up to govern the procedure!
The New Testament pattern was not to condemn slavery outright or encourage rebellion. Rather, they instructed slaves (and Masters for that matter). There are no real equivalents today of New Testament slaves, though many can identify with them - those working long hours, especially for low wages, others in dead end jobs or people saddled with debt. All of us who earn our living by working, especially outside the home, can identify. Here in Titus 2:9, 10 there are at least three things that come out.
1. No-one must be ignored but all must be taught how to live
The first thing is easy to miss. Verse 9 begins Teach slaves. It doesn't sound odd to us perhaps because we have read it before or other passages addressed to slaves but when you think about it, it is quite striking. We made the point that everyone should be taught some weeks ago but it is worth underlining it here. Paul's attitude is not that certain members of the congregation are to be taught but not others. No, he wants them all taught, including the slaves.
In the world of education today you will often hear people talk about “inclusion” or “inclusive education”. There is some debate about what that actually means but the basic idea is that even students with special education needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled students. Inclusion tends to be about the child’s right to participate and the school’s duty to accept the child. The idea of special schools or classrooms separating students with disabilities from students without disabilities is rejected. All students learn together.
More broadly, the term is used to refer to the breaking down of religious, racial, ethnic and linguistic barriers as well as distinctions based on gender, ability, number, etc. The aim is to remove barriers and enable all students, including previously excluded groups, to learn and participate effectively within general school systems.
When it comes to teaching Christians how to live then none are to be excluded. They all have a right to learn and must be taught.
It is important for preachers to keep this in mind when they preach and for all of us to be thinking in these terms if we are to be biblical. Here again is an argument for Sunday Schools and women's groups, etc. What is true of those within the church is also surely true also of those without – we must try and reach all sorts, regardless of social, linguistic, ethnic or religious barriers.
2. We need to be ready to be submissive and to show integrity
Paul lays down some five things that slaves must be careful to do – three positive and two negative. There are many situations that we face today where these rules apply.
1. Be submissive
Slaves are to be subject to their masters in everything. Submissiveness – the doffed cap and tugged forelock of yesteryear – are rather sneered at these days. Many people complain about the general rudeness that marks our society today and so being submissive to those who are above us is just not something we see much of. A submissive attitude is seen to be a mark of weakness and so people are slow to show it and there is little encouragement for people to act in that way. Yet this is what Paul calls on from slaves, however, - subjection in everything. No doubt he would also expect it from children to adults, students to teachers, workers to their bosses, wives to husbands, citizens to those in authority such as the police, people to preachers, etc.
So here is a question for us – do I ever show subjection or submission? How easy do I find it to be submissive?
2. Try to please
Secondly, he urges them to try to please them. Now this, on one hand, seems eminently reasonable. The slave belongs to the master. Surely his one main aim should be to please his master. Yet, you know what human nature is like. “Why should I try to please him?” There is a rebellious streak in all of us that makes us resist authority. “Why should I stand up when the teacher comes into the room?” “Why do I have to take my hands out my pockets when I'm speaking to an adult?” “Why should I do what he says when he's not watching me, even though he is the boss?” “What right has he got to tell me where I can go or not go?” “Who is he to tell me I ought to be more submissive and try to please people?”
So here is another question for us – do I try to please those who are over me? How easy do I find it to do that?
3. Do not be insolent
Then negatively, slaves are not to talk back to their masters. The temptation to say something clever or that puts the other person down can often be strong especially when the other person already has the upper hand. It must have been especially tempting for salves who had become Christians. The master says something like “Do what I say because my word is law” and you wan to say “But it is God's word that is the only law that really counts”. Don't do it, says Paul. You must refrain. No back-chat, no answering back. Curb your tongue.
Again this calls for self-examination. Are there situations where we are doing this sort of thing? It must not go on. We must learn to bite our tongues and more than that to avoid all insolence. There is such a thing as dumb insolence, where no words are used but the very look you give says it all. That is not on for the Christian.
4. Do not pilfer
Paul's other negative comes in verse 10 where he warns slaves not to steal from their masters. Because of their position many salves were in the position where the temptation to steal was very strong. It is difficult when the goods are there before you and the arguments for not stealing seem very weak. The temptation is there today in the work place too.
Millions of pounds are lost annually from businesses today because of employee theft. Estimates in America show that 75% of all employees steal from their employers at least once in their careers. The same statistics show that at least half of these 75% steal multiple times from their employer. Employees steal money, supplies (paper, pens, computer equipment, cabinets, etc.), goods on sale and sometimes valuable information. Sometimes customers are overcharged and the money pocketed. Time can also be stolen in various ways, such as being at work and not working or falsifying time sheets, etc. The MPs expenses scandal is just one example of the sort of thing that can happen.
Again, it is not on and we need to examine our lives to be sure that we are no falling into anything of that sort.
5. Show that you are trustworthy
The final point is positive but to show that they can be fully trusted. Immediately one thinks of the integrity of a Daniel or a Joseph especially and the way they showed themselves to be so highly reliable. Many a Christian no doubt has shown similar integrity and even in this life they have received some sort of reward.
In all our dealings with others this is the sort of integrity we should show. We should be those who people can trust, who they can rely on. We must seek to be, in these respects, like the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
3. The reason we need to live in this way
So that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive. Again, we have drawn attention to this in the past. We must underline it, however. This is the way to make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive. It is not the matter of clever posters or some big campaign. No, as we go about our daily business we should show submissiveness, try to please people, avoid insolence or petty pilfering and show in every way that we are trustworthy. That is the way to draw people to Christ.
I have mentioned to you before how the person through whom Dr Sinclair Ferguson was converted was himself converted. Apparently he worked in a place where they had what was known as a typing pool. This was a room full of women sat at desks typing whatever needed to be typed up. Being near the typing pool he noticed simply by ear that one woman was obviously very conscientious. That created an interest. First he found out the woman's name and then the fact that she was a Christian. It led eventually to his own conversion. It is an unusual example perhaps but a reminder of the powerful impact that even the most lowly of us can have in God's providence.