Titus 3:4-7 * January 11, 2004 * Baptism Of Our Lord * Pastor Pagels

In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:

An American soldier in Iraq is homesick. It has been weeks since he has heard from his pregnant wife. Months have passed since he has seen his two-year old son. He has a few pictures, but he is beginning to wear down. He needs something, anything to boost his sagging spirits.

And then he sees it. He sees a letter from home lying on the bunk in his tent. He picks it up, tears it open and begins to read. He learns about all the new things his son is able to do. He skims over the part about how everyone in his family is doing. He is relieved to hear that his wife has been able to manage all of her extra household duties in his absence.

Finally he gets to the part of the letter he had been searching for from the beginning. His wife had written in very small print on both sides of five pages, but what the soldier wanted to read more than anything else was just three little words: I love you.

The text for today is four verses long, and in the NIV, it is made up of seventy-one words. If you remove all the modifiers, if you take away all the dependent clauses, if you get down to the main thought of the paragraph, only three words remain. God doesn’t say, “I love you,” at least not in so many words. Instead, these three words explain how God put his love into practice.

One Bible scholar called them “perhaps the fullest statement of salvation in the New Testament.” And even though some people might consider it difficult to preach an entire sermon on a single phrase, these words are so rich with meaning, so full of application, that we will only be able to scratch the surface.

Paul first wrote these words to Titus, his friend and colleague in the ministry. Today he shares the same thought with us, a thought that is simple but essential for every child of God…

“HE SAVED US”

I. The need for salvation

II. The source of salvation

III. The means of salvation

IV. The goal of salvation

Most people don’t like hospitals. I don’t know anyone who really enjoys going to the doctor. As a general rule, people seek out the services of a physician only when they are sick. Spiritually speaking, the same is true. People call out to God for help only after they realize that they can’t help themselves. Or to put it another way, “He saved us” won’t mean much to a person unless he is first convinced that he needs a Savior.

Paul understood that. That is why he gave his readers a bitter taste of the law before he introduced them to the sweetness of the gospel: “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another” (3:3).

Notice that Paul didn’t put himself above his readers. He was in the same boat. He was foolish. He was disobedient. At one time, he was full of malice and envy. In fact, there was a time when Paul hated Jesus and anyone who followed him. He persecuted, prosecuted and even executed Christians. Paul knew that he was sick.

And so were the people who were on the receiving end of this letter. Titus was working in Crete, an island on the Mediterranean Sea just south of Greece. The people of Crete had a reputation that was well known all over the Roman Empire, not as great sailors, not as skilled craftsman, but as unsophisticated, unreliable, unscrupulous scoundrels. Listen to what one of their own poets had to say about his countrymen (as quoted by Paul earlier in the letter): “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons” (1:12).

The Christians at Crete were far from perfect. A perverse, pagan world recognized them as the worst of the worst. They were not proud of this dubious distinction. Because the law of God had done its work, they recognized that they were sick.

And so are we. Paul doesn’t get very specific in his accusations. And maybe that is by design. He forces us to take a good, hard look at ourselves. He makes us fill in our own blanks. What sinful passions enslave you? Is the pursuit of pleasure your master? Have you ever been envious of or malicious toward another person? Did your anger ever get the best of you?

Since God is omniscient, he knows. He knows our personal answers to these general questions. He knows what skeletons are hanging in our closets. He knows our personal weaknesses and pet sins. He knows that we are sick. He knows how desperately we need a Savior.

But the Great Physician is able to do much more than diagnose the problem. He has the cure. He is the cure. In those three little words, “He Saved Us,” God reveals himself as the source of salvation: ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (3:4,5a).

Think of the kindest, most loving person you know. Do you have someone in mind? Now ask yourself why you chose that person. I am guessing that it is someone you know personally, and probably someone who has done something, maybe many things, for you.

The point is this: Kindness and love are not just feelings that stay on the inside. They are the kinds of qualities that translate into actions, into deeds of kindness and acts of love. And when Paul used these qualities to describe God, he had the same thing in mind.

The kindness and love of God “appeared” when the Son of God appeared. For thousands of years of human history God promised to produce a Savior, but it was much more than an empty promise. It is a historical fact. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…(John 3:16). God put his love into practice when he set his plan of salvation in motion.

And why did he do it? “Not because of righteous things we had done.” Salvation is not God’s payment for services rendered. Salvation is not an obligation God owes to us. Salvation is not our personal reward for personal righteousness because there is no one alive who meets God’s righteous standard.

So if we don’t deserve salvation, if we can’t earn salvation, then why did God save us? “Not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” We can’t understand it. We can’t explain it. But we can embrace it. His mercies are new every morning. His love endures forever. And if you want proof, look no farther than the next verse in our text, where the source of our salvation provides us with the means of our salvation.

“He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (3:5b, 6). What is the most precious commodity on earth? Diamonds? Gold? Platinum? Uranium? Some scientists are warning that because of drought and changes in the environment it won’t be long before the scarcest, most valuable substance in the world is water.

Two thousand years ago Paul might have said the same thing, but not for the same reason. Two parts hydrogen joined together with one part oxygen are not able to bring about the kind of washing that Paul is talking about here. But when those molecules are connected with the powerful Word of God they produce something that is priceless.

“Baptism works forgiveness of sin, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare” (Luther’s Small Catechism).

In baptism the Holy Spirit washes away sin. In baptism the Holy Spirit creates spiritual life. Through the water and the Word Jesus pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts. These means of God’s grace are the means of our salvation.

As powerful as baptism is, as wonderful as baptism is, as valuable as baptism is, it would be a meaningless act without those three little words, “He Saved Us.” Regeneration is only possible because of Jesus’ crucifixion. Salvation is only possible because of Jesus’ resurrection.

The Lord who commanded his disciples to baptize all nations is the Lord who died to pay for the sins of all nations. The Lord who creates new life in baptism is the Lord who was raised to life on Easter morning. The Lord who poured out his lifeblood on the cross is the same Lord who pours the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

Since God establishes the need for salvation, since God is the source of salvation, since God himself provides the means of salvation, you could say that God is responsible for our salvation from beginning to end. But we haven’t reached the end, at least not yet. Paul’s final words bring into sharp focus the goal of our salvation: “so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (3:7).

“Are you saved?” Some Christians like to ask people that question. Whenever I am asked that question, I am quick to say: “Yes. I am saved because Jesus saved me.” And I hope that is your answer too. But if you are like me, you probably have some of those days when you don’t feel saved, when you are running on empty, when life is a struggle, when God doesn’t seem to be listening.

I am convinced that God allows us to have days like these for a reason. He doesn’t want us to get too comfortable. He doesn’t want us to get too attached. He wants us to remember that this world is not our final destination. He wants us to keep our eyes on the goal.

Three members of St. John’s died since last Sunday. I had the privilege to preach at one of the funerals on Thursday. In my sermon I did not say something like this: “This person had a good life. It’s too bad that she had to die, but at least she’s in heaven.”

Heaven is not some kind of consolation prize for believers. Eternal life is the goal. Eternal life is the ultimate goal. Right now those St. John’s saints are wearing the crown of glory for which we all strive. They have finished the race. They have reached the goal. And they are waiting for the rest of us.

I got the idea for this sermon theme when I was at Walgreens last week. I was shocked to find that the aisles were already filled with stuff for Valentines’ Day. Maybe it won’t be today, maybe it won’t be this week, but soon many of us will be buying cards and candy that are imprinted with three little words: I love you.

These words are personal. These words are meaningful. As nice as it is for us to hear those words, God does us one better today. He doesn’t tell us that he loves us. He shows us how much he loves us. And he does it in three little words: “He Saved Us.” Amen.