Waiting for our Blessed Hope
Titus 2:11-14
Christmas is a time of the year that is full of symbolism. When you think about it, there is probably no other time of the year that has generated so many meaningful symbols as Christmas. The decorations that we put up at Christmas time give us a good example of what I mean. As you look around the church you can see shapes and colors that are rich in meaning for Christians who are celebrating the birth of their Savior. Our trees for example are decorated with a simple color scheme that says a lot about the purpose of the Savior coming into the world. The white lights and decorations remind us of the purity of Jesus, who lived a perfect life for us, but the white also tells us what we are like now as a result of what Jesus did for us. We are reminded of the prophecy in Isaiah 1:18 that says, “Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow.” The color green that is so prominent in our decorations is the color of life. The use of evergreen trees for Christmas even adds the meaning of everlasting life which is ours through the coming of the Messiah. Wreaths remind us of eternity with their round shape. The circle has no beginning and no end. So it is with the love of God. It will never end. Certainly we would have to agree that the decorations and colors of Christmas are rich in meaning.
Sometimes we don’t even realize what the meanings are until we stop to think about it for a while. That is often the case with certain Bible passages. There are some passages that we know are especially meaningful for us and at the same time there are some passages that we either don’t understand or they just don’t seem to say much to us. Our Epistle lesson for this Christmas Eve is one of those passages that might be passed by because of the company it keeps. It is a rich passage of the Bible but yet we might pass it by because the other passages with it are so rich themselves. The Old Testament passage is a familiar prophecy about the Messiah. The Gospel lesson is the beautiful Christmas story from Luke 2 that you heard before. The words of Paul to Titus express to the early church and to us the real purpose of the coming of the Savior into the world. To celebrate Christmas without focusing on the real meaning of the event for our lives would be like putting up a lot of decorations without understanding what they meant. That would seem like a great waste of time if the decorations had no meaning. Without understanding the purpose of Christ coming into the world, Christmas would seem like a waste of time and money. All we would be left with would be a modern version of the pagan festivals that were so prominent in the world before the celebration of the birth of Christ was established by the church. As we celebrate Christmas this year, as we look at the decorations, as we share gifts, as we light candles, may our hearts turn first to God in thanks and praise that He loved us so much that He sent His Son to earth to be our Savior. Let us also understand and appreciate what that gift of a Savior means for us not just during the Christmas season but throughout our lives.
Paul’s words to Titus in our text seem to be addressing this very issue. The letter to Titus shows a concern for life of the church. It touches on such things as the requirements for pastors, standards for teaching and relationships with those around us both inside and outside the church. All of this instruction has as its center an appreciation for the grace of God. All we do as God’s people is possible only because of His grace. These verses that serve as our text for tonight revolve around two uses of the word, “appear.” Paul talks about two appearings that ought to be the focus of our relationship with God. The first is described in verse 11. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.” That could be called Paul’s Christmas message. That verse is one of the truly rich passages in the Bible. The grace of God tells us that our God is merciful and loving to people who in no way deserve the goodness that He brings. Grace means undeserved love. Our disobedience, our selfish attitudes, our rebellion against God is put aside because the overwhelming love of God sees through the sin and focuses instead on our need: our need for rescue and our need for eternal salvation. His grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men in the form of God’s Son, made flesh, made under the Law, the Word, Jesus, born of Mary. He came for all people. This is almost an echo of the message of the angels to the shepherds that we heard before. “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David
That is not the end of that sentence though. That is not the end of what God intended when He sent His Son into the world. We do not just pack up the decorations after Christmas and forget about Jesus. His coming has meaning and implications for our lives each day. Paul goes on to say in verse 12, “For the grace of God has appeared training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” Does that come as a surprise? When we think about the coming of Jesus we usually think about the fact that He came to save us, which of course, is true. But He also came to call us to repentance. His ministry involved teaching about the Kingdom of God
Much of what Jesus had to say to the crowds, especially to the Pharisees, the so-called religious men of His day, was instruction about living a God-pleasing life. Paul summarizes Jesus’ teaching very well in this one verse. He taught that we should put away ungodliness and worldly passions, in other words, all things that our selfish, worldly nature would try and get us to do, say and think, and instead we should live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we are here on earth. It doesn’t mean that our lives are to be spent in a monastery, shut off from the world around us. We must live in the world in order to witness to the grace of God through Jesus Christ to those around us. It does mean that our lives have new priorities. We can draw on another passage from Paul’s writing to emphasize that point. In II Corinthians 5:15, Paul writes, “He died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.” Having seen the grace of God in the person of Jesus Christ, we now praise Him for our salvation by living our lives for Him, for His purposes. Serving God with lives of obedience and humility should be our first priority. Jesus came to serve and His example gives us direction for our lives. His Word also gives us the power to be able to make such a transformation in our lives. He promised His disciples the power of the Holy Spirit and we know that through the Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments, the Holy Spirit works in us to empower us to live the kind of lives that Paul describes here as living lives that are self-controlled, upright and godly.
The reason we do this it to, first of all, give praise to our gracious God with our lives. We show our gratitude for our salvation through our godly lives. But we are also looking forward to the second appearance that is mentioned in the text. The first appearing of the grace of God came when Jesus was born. We also look for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, to use the words of our text. We wait in hope for the time when Jesus will come again. This will not be in a humble stable with only a bed of straw. When He comes again it will be glorious as Paul says. The angels will once again announce His coming but this time He will call all His faithful to the mansions of heaven. The time of repentance will be over. The present world that Paul spoke of will come to an end. Paul’s message then for Titus and the early church is the same essentially as the message of John the Baptist and Jesus. Now is the time to repent and prepare yourself for the next appearing of Jesus Christ.
That is the essence of Paul’s Christmas message. As you sing your songs of joy, remember that the joy does not end tonight or after church tomorrow morning. The songs of joy continue all throughout your life as you live for the Lord who redeemed you, who purified you, and who empowers you to do His will. Christmas is a time of renewal as you once again reflect on the appearing of the grace of God. May the light of the candles also have a rich meaning for you as you thank God for sending you the Light of the World, that light that shines in the darkness and may the flames remind you of the power of the Holy Spirit in your life through Word and the Sacraments to strengthen you for your life of righteousness and godliness as you wait with hope for the glorious second appearing of your Savior Jesus Christ. In that we you can keep the true Christmas spirit alive in your heart throughout your life. Amen
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