OPEN: In the first part of the 1900s, New York City had two major league baseball teams.
One was called the New York Yankees (obviously)
But in the early 1900’s what was the name of the other team? (NY Giants)
In 1957, the Giants decided they liked the climate better in San Francisco… and they moved.
New York was shocked by this loss of their team and appealed to the National League to allow them to create the first expansion team of the century. In 1962, they got their wish.
What was the name of that team? (NY Mets).
Since its inception, the Mets have won 2 World Series championships and 6 National League pennants.
But things didn’t start out so well.
In their first year (1962), the team lost 120 games. The only thing that stopped that from being an all-time record was that in 1899 the Cleveland Spiders lost more games in a single season than they did.
For the first few years the Mets gained the title of being the lovable losers.
They lost so often that when they beat the Chicago Cubs in May 26th of 1964 by a score of 19 to 1, legend has it that a fan called a NY newspaper to get the score of the game.
When he was told “They scored 19 runs” he allegedly asked:
“Did they win?”
They lost repeatedly because, as a new team, they had to take whatever players they could find. And they ended up with a roster of has-beens and wannabees. They lost their games so often and so miserably that their manager – Casey Stengel - noted:
“The Mets have shown me more ways to lose than I ever knew existed.”
But Stengel never gave up on the lovable losers.
Year after year he kept hammering away at the basics.
He reportedly took the team out for a stroll around the diamond during the 1st practice and he turned to the players and said: "Them are the bases".
He pounded away at the basics again and again… and by 1969 – 7 years after the Mets became a team – they won their first national pennant AND a World Series.
Stengel realized he didn’t have much to work with but eventually he managed to turn the lovable losers into the Marvelous Mets.
He turned a team filled with losers into a team of winners.
And that brings us to the theme of our text this morning:
Titus 3:3-7 tells us the church has always been filled with losers.
“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. 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. 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, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”
Titus 3 declared that God built His church completely from a roster of losers.
And it seems that’s exactly how God has always – and will always - build His church.
Now lots of churches don’t think like that.
There’s lots of churches who prefer to build their congregations on the winners.
They want the big ticket players.
They want only the best.
They seek out the prominent, the powerful and they wealthy
Because… well, no one really wants the LOSERS.
ILLUS: Do you remember what it was like back when you were in Elementary school and choose up teams on the playground? Did you ever notice who the “last ones” picked were? They were the losers. Nobody wanted those kids on their team.
And it’s the same at church.
The losers can’t pay the bills.
The losers can’t help church members impress their friends.
“Hey come to our church. We’re a bunch of losers!”
That just doesn’t have a winning ring to it.
But I can tell you from experience - the moment a church becomes known as the in-place to be… once a congregation becomes a magnet for the rich and famous - they’re going to have problems.
ILLUS: I loved my home congregation. We had great preachers and teachers and that was where I first learned to love Jesus. But it was the “popular church” in town. Anybody who was anybody went to that church – Doctors, Lawyers… we even had a State Senator.
It was kind of the mega-church of its day with over 600 members and they insisted on getting the best of everything.
And as I grew up I watched my home church splinter and shrink. And being popular was part of what destroyed it.
Now, don’t misunderstand me.
Jesus died for the rich and famous too.
God has nothing against rich people.
The Bible has lots of wealthy & powerful men and women in its ranks.
• Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all wealthy.
• Esther was a prominent queen.
• And David and Solomon were powerful leaders.
God has nothing against the Rich and Powerful.
But Jesus told His disciples: “… it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Matthew 19:24
Jesus’ disciples were shocked.
The wealthy were seen as shoe-ins for salvation.
So why would Jesus say these rich folks wouldn’t get in?
Well, because the prominent, and the powerful and the wealthy of this world have a hard time relying on God.
They have their wealth and power to keep them warm and safe and secure.
They’ve worked too hard and too long to get what they have, and to be what they’ve become… to surrender it to God.
Jesus knew that weakness.
That’s why He spent His time with the tax collectors and the sinners.
These were people who understood that they needed God.
They struggled with their lives.
They’d failed and fallen short too many times to believe they had anything to impress God with.
That’s why one of the major things a person MUST DO to become a Christian is to admit that they are sinners… and then to repent.
At Pentecost, the Jews asked Peter what they had to do to be saved
“Peter replied, ‘REPENT and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” Acts 2:38
And later in the book of Acts we read where Paul told audience of prominent citizens at Athens
“… (God) commands ALL people EVERYWHERE to repent. Acts 17:30
You cannot belong to God if you do not acknowledge your sin… and repent of your past.
ILLUS: Years ago a man expressed the desire to be baptized into Christ. As I often do I just asked a few questions to make sure he was making a proper decision.
I asked him if he believed that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God.
“Yes,” he replied firmly.
Then I asked “Do you accept that you are a sinner and that need to repent of that sin?”
He paused for a moment... “Well, I haven’t really sinned all that bad.”
“Well then,” I replied, “I’m afraid I can’t help you. If you haven’t ‘sinned all that badly’ then you’re saying that you’re ok without Jesus. You’re saying Jesus didn’t need to die for you because you’re ok just the way you are. Thus, if Jesus didn’t need to die for you, you can’t become a Christian. And I can’t help you.”
Suddenly he backpedaled and sputtered “Ok. Alright. I admit that I am a sinner.”
Let me repeat: In order to become a Christian… you must repent.
Now… why would Paul need to remind us that we’d been losers in the past?
He writes:“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.” Titus 3:3
Why remind us of that truth?
Haven’t we moved on from that?
Well, the problem is - people tend to forget where they’ve been.
It's an unpleasant memory.
And then (because they forget what they’ve been) they tend to view themselves as more important than what they really are.
ILLUS: Back in 2006 the Washington Post conducted a poll,
• 79% of Americans believed they were “above average” in appearance,
• 86% feel they were above average in intelligence,
• and 94% believed they were above average in honesty.
It kind of reminds me of Garrison Keillor and Lake Wobegon.
Keillor always starts out telling his fictional stories of that community by saying
“Welcome to Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."
And you know why that is so funny.
The idea that ALL the kids at Lake Wobegon were above average is absurd.
By definition – average is 50% of everyone.
That means that 50% of a sample has to be below average.
But here – in this poll the Washington Post conducted, over 80% of those interviewed believed they were above average in their appearance, intelligence and honesty.
That’s just not possible.
Yet, that’s precisely what these people believe.
And why would they believe that?
They believe that because all of us tend to view ourselves as the HEROES in our own stories.
And as the heroes… we view ourselves as BETTER than the other people around us.
We are “above average” because all heroes are above average.
It’s a trap… and it’s a trap that even Christians can fall into.
If we’re not careful, we can become like the Pharisee in a parable Jesus told:
"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men…”
Now notice what that Pharisee is saying: “I’m above average. I’m not like other men.”
Then the Pharisee explains who he is comparing himself to: “I’m not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’”
Now, is there anything wrong with fasting?
Of course not.
It’s not commanded in Scripture, but Isaiah 58 implies that if we fast and give the money se’d have spent on our food to the poor that God will be so impressed he’ll put our prayers on speed dial. Fasting is a good thing.
The Pharisee also noted that he tithed on everything.
Is tithing a good thing?
Of course it is. God honored that practice in Scripture.
The problem here is that this Pharisee is using these good things as a yard stick of his superiority. The Fasting and Tithing are all about impressing God and deserving God’s attention.
But then Jesus turned his attention to the Tax Collector
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:10-14
The man who remembered his sins, who didn’t try to rely on his own righteousness when he stood before God… THAT MAN was acceptable before God.
Paul understood that reality… and so he wrote this:
“… Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners— of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience…” I Timothy 1:15-16
Even Paul, one of the most impressive Christian leaders freely acknowledged his own shortcomings and sinfulness.
You see, God continually reminds of us where we’ve come from because – if we forget that – we may start to view ourselves as BETTER than others. Then our faith becomes all about us and not about God. When that happens, we’ll tend to maximize OUR righteousness and minimize GOD’s.
That’s why Jesus said the Pharisee stood and “prayed about himself”... because his religion was all about him.
One person rightly noted that the difference between the religion of men and the Gospel of Jesus is this:
• Religion is the story of what a sinful man tries to do for a holy God;
• the gospel is the story of what a holy God has done for sinful men. Roy Gustafson
Now that brings me to what God DID to save me.
“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. Titus 3:4-5a
The 1st thing we need to recognize is that we’ve been saved by the kindness and love and mercy of God. God was motivated to save YOU and ME because He loved us.
He didn’t do it because we deserved it.
He didn’t do it because we earned it.
It had nothing to do with any righteous deeds that bought His attention.
He simply loved us.
And because He loved us He offered us the opportunity to accept a free gift.
A gift of mercy and forgiveness.
ILLUS: Years ago a preacher named Carl Ketcherside (non-instrumental Church of Christ) moved to St. Louis and began working with a group of teenagers he described as "a crew of ripped off long haired kids." Most of them had a history of drug addiction.
But he loved them and he listened to them, and one by one baptized them into Christ.
An affluent member of the church apparently wasn’t pleased with having these young folks come to their church building and he asked Ketcherside, "How are you making out those long haired, sad looking specimens you have been meeting with?"
And Ketcherside replied, "Those aren’t specimens, they are children of God. You are talking about my brethren in the Lord."
The other man smirked and said, "They look to me like something the cat dragged in."
And Ketcherside replied, "No. They look like someone the shepherd brought home."
Ketcherside understood that Jesus didn’t love those kids because they were worthy of love. Jesus loved them because they needed healing and love… and forgiveness.
Now, notice HOW God brought about that change:
“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, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:5b-7
If you’ll notice, it’s a two part thing:
1. There’s the washing of rebirth
2. And the renewal by the Holy Spirit.
What is the “washing of rebirth”? (Baptism)
And what is the “renewal of the Holy Spirit? (When God places His Spirit inside of us).
It’s like signing a contract.
Our signature (accepting God’s forgiveness) is to allow ourselves to be baptized.
And God signs His part of the covenant by placing His Spirit inside us.
That’s what Acts 2:38 is all about:
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
When the crowd responded to God by repenting and allowing themselves to be baptized, God promised to give them His gift of the Holy Spirit.
That’s what Jesus was saying in John 3:5
Jesus told Nicodemus, “ "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”
To be saved we need to be born of the water AND the Spirit.
In this passage, Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about being “born again.”
Now that term “born again” was not new to Nicodemus.
In the days of Jesus, converts to Judaism were required to be watered baptized and when that happened, they were said to be “born again” (see footnote)
Thus, Nicodemus would have understood the water part of being “born again”… but not the Spirit’s involvement. Why? Because the Spirit had not yet been given. The giving of the Spirit didn’t occur until Jesus had ascended into heaven.
In John 7:38-39 we read that Jesus said: “‘Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’
By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
Jesus had not yet been glorified until He ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father… Thus, the thief on the cross could never be a good example of Christian conversion because (though Jesus did intercede to offer him salvation) the thief died before the Spirit was given. And you cannot be a Christian if you do not have the Spirit inside of you. (Romans 8:9 and Ephesians 1:13-14)
Now, why would God use our water baptism and His giving of the Spirit to give us a rebirth and renewal? Well, it’s very simple:
IN baptism we identify with Him (I walked over to the baptistery)
When I baptize someone they are “dying to their sin.”
What do you do with dead people?
You bury them don’t you? So I put that person down under the water.
Do I leave them there?
Of course not… it’s not healthy. I lift them back up out of the water as if out of a watery grave.
In the act of baptism, the convert identifies with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (Romans 6:1-5)
And IN giving us the Spirit, God identifies us as belonging to Him.
The Spirit is the mark of His ownership.
Ephesians 1:13b-14 tells us that when we were saved we “were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”
A preacher named Greg Nance explained how this works
“Only God can put a sinner under water and bring up a saint.
Only God can take slaves of sin and set us free in Christ.”
Baptism is OUR response to God – accepting His gift of salvation but all by itself, that water is meaningless. I could get people wet 20 times in a day and they wouldn’t change. The change takes place because of God’s Spirit inside of us that transforms us.
CLOSE: A preacher friend of mine named Mike told of his conversion to Christ. He told me his family was known throughout the community as the worst examples of humanity. The parents were irresponsible. The kids were troublemakers. They lived like animals, even eating food out of trashcans.
Everyone who saw them thought, "That’s just who they are. That’s all they’ll ever be. They’ll never change." But Mike did.
There came a point at which he heard the powerful message of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, and he decided that was what he wanted for his life. He believed in Jesus, repented of his sins, and was buried in the waters of baptism for the forgiveness of his sins. He eventually became a preacher and part of his ministry reached into his family – of whom he baptized several.
Then one day, Mike was at the funeral of his brother-in-law. One of the women there (and who had not seen him since his conversion) spoke with him and she said that she was amazed at the change that had taken place in his life. She was surprised at what HE had made of himself.
Mike responded: "Oh I really appreciate your compliment, but I really didn’t change myself. It was Christ IN ME that brought about the changes in my life."
INVITATION
Footnote: According to Jamieson, Fausset and Brown: "The Jews were accustomed to say of a heathen proselyte, on his public admission into the Jewish faith by baptism, that he was a new-born child. But our Lord here extends the necessity of the new birth to Jew and Gentile alike—to every one."
The Soncino Talmud states:
"As your forefathers entered into the Covenant only by circumcision, immersion and the sprinkling of the blood, so shall they (the proselytes) enter the Covenant only by circumcision, immersion and sprinkling of the blood" (Keritot 9a).
