We’re here at the RSL today because of the renovations over there
Our church building is getting cleaned up a new floor built
As the physical building work is being completed over there
We are going to be thinking about the spiritual building over here
You see God has been building
God has been bringing together a group
Who He’s purposed for this place and this time
God’s building a community, scarily a community characterised by us
This community is shaped and identifiable
By the individuals who comprise it, although we are unique in nature
God building isn’t limited to us here, but communities everywhere
Over the last 2000 years, communities forged together around Jesus
As the physical building work continues for the next few months
We’ll be focusing on the spiritual building that God’s doing
To find God’s purpose for us, we are going to be worked on by God
As we work our way slowly through 1st Timothy
A letter written by the Apostle Paul to his friend Timothy
Timothy was leading a young church in Ephesus,
They were facing tensions about what they were becoming
And how they were getting there
They already existed, like us they weren’t a clean slate
They had practices and values, there was a culture and norms
Paul writes this letter to guide Timothy
On how God’s people should behave and organise themselves.
The letter of 1 Timothy is timely for us
But God’s building this community not us
So it’s essential for us to align our community
With the purpose that God has for us
Aligned so we grow strong and fulfil God’s purpose for us here
Each week as we work our way through this letter
We are going to consider not only what God is building but
How He is building it and why He is building it at all
And sometime we’ll all consider why He is building it this way
God is in the business of building communities around Jesus
It’s a community within a world of other communities
Church isn’t the only community you belong to, well it shouldn’t be
People come together for a whole range of reasons
And each community has foundations that hold people together
Sometimes they’re obvious or even stated, stories or principles
Our family aren’t like that, remember where Grandpa came from
Other times they’re more vague except when you see the contrast
In job interviews, they wouldn’t be a good fit for us
Community is appealing when we have energy and capacity
Having a place to belong and people you know is desirable
Sociologist Hugh Mackay wrote a book called The Art of belonging
It’s a good read, insights into Australian culture and the West at large
He’s not a believer in a god, but someone who grew up in the church
In many ways he gleans of the good stuff of Christianity
And removes the confrontational or messy bits, he doesn’t like
To develop his own outlook on life
Mackay sees that community is essential for good living
Hugh Mackay’s hypothesis is
The Good Life: a ‘good life’ is not lived in isolation or in the pursuit of independent goals; a good life is lived at the heart of a thriving community, among people we trust, and within an environment of mutual respect.
The goal according to Mackay is living the good life
The necessary means to achieve that is belonging to a community
The foundations to establish community is trust and respect
Seems fairly reasonable, good things to aim for
Trust and respect aren’t too abstract to demonstrate
Not too extraordinary that only the talented can obtain them
Trust and respect seem realistic foundations to build community
So if that’s the kind of community you want to build
How would you go about doing it?
Well firstly we’ll start to establish what trust and respect looks like
You’d need to describe and demonstrate what it looks like
You’d celebrate it when it’s shown, reward those who exhibit it
You’d correct those who contravene it, punish those who break it
Foundations for any community are forged
By what’s internally affirmed & validated
The foundations of a community shift or change
When the behaviour is different to the rhetoric
And the big factor that drives our behaviour is why
Ask Junji about Simon Sinek he’s got some interesting thoughts
About how people align themselves around shared values
And how tapping into why builds culture and motivates behaviour
So the why behind Mackay’s community of trust and respect
Is a motive, of living the good life
Community is the means of us living a good life for us and others
So the behaviour we should build is trust and respect
The reason why people build a community
Will eventually shape how and what community is built
Now if we think about the physical building work over there
It’s been many years in the making
Keeping that building rather than selling it
Was decided on the why, we want a place for a church to gather
As we thought about the whole site
Information was presented about what it could be used for
Possibilities were considered and will continue to be
Decision made based on who we are
Answers needing to be framed by what God’s says about us
God’s purposes must shape God’s people
It’s not about what we want or what’s possible with us
But rather God’s desires and God’s capabilities
As options came up from selling the site to full development
A whole range of experts provided information to give us scope
The person who knew what information needed to be considered
Who provided the plan of all that’s possible, was the architect
The architect didn’t decide what we should do or why we would do it
But they were given authority to investigate and provide options
They spoke with a delegated authority, similarly to Paul’s we see here Paul, appointed an apostle by the command of God
Directing Timothy about God’s building project in Ephesus
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul’s authority was divinely appointed, widely recognised
He’s now establishing the credentials of Timothy
This letter was public domain not a personal note
Paul is validating Timothy as the designated leader to be listened to
And he’s directing Timothy to the problem that needs to be addressed
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.
The problem in Ephesus had to do with teaching
The teachings content was leading to speculation and distraction
But there was also a problem with the attitude of the teachers
6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
There are teachers in the church who are arrogant in attitude
And ignorant regarding the topic in which they teach
This doesn’t seem to be their intention
They’ve got good motives, teachers, directing people to God
But good intentions don’t negate destructive behaviour
The seriousness of this situation is seen in Paul’s urgency to discuss it
Forget the usual introductions and formalities
Paul is on the front foot with Timothy about the task at hand
Paul doesn’t pull any punches in his assessment of this teaching
It’s false rather than true, concerned with myth rather than fact
It spirals endlessly rather than reaching conclusions
Now over the centuries and even today
Many criticise Paul for similar and varied issues
Teaching from arrogance rather than humility
Majoring on the minors, dividing rather than uniting
Make your own conclusions on that hypothesis
Work your way through openly and diligently with this letter
Paul is calling Timothy to address these actions in Ephesus
Because the teaching threatens the foundation of God’s building in
V5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
Timothy’s charge to censor was to produce love.
Timothy is going to silence certain persons from teaching
Not as power play or to protect a faction but because of love.
Now that sounds strange doesn’t it, when we think of love
We think of empowering people to the best version of themselves
Love is usually positive and got to be encouraging
Rarely corrective or discouraging
Well anyone whose had a pet dog, a child or a trainee
Knows that loving words aren’t always positive words
Loving words can be soft or hard, uplifting or deflating
What makes words loving or not, is more determined by
The motive behind them than the content within them
The false teaching has come from hearts that’ve wandered from love
The foundations of the sound teaching is to produce love
Timothy is to carry out his task with love
If love is so central, where will that love come from?
Well the source of love Paul describes is internal
A heart cleansed of sin, a conscience clear of guilt,
and faith devoid of hypocrisy.
These are what the others teachers have departed from
It’s a bit circular, but love is the source, means and goal
So let’s unpack this love described in v5
A pure heart believes and pursues God’s agenda above self
A good conscience is functioning not inactive
Noticing wrongs, aware of intentions, a moral compass that’s used, Sincere faith isn’t showy or superficial but sturdy & reliable
The foundation for God’s community is sound teaching
What’s built on that foundation is loving hearts and lives
And so the manner in which Timothy should call out false teaching
Is also characterised by love
The goal isn’t that Timothy comes out on top
But that the foundations are firm
So where have these teachers gone wrong?
We start to get some clues of what they’ve replaced love with from v8
8 Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient,
False teaching can either remove the boundaries or enforce them
It seems that in Ephesus some enforcement is going on by the law
Defining what’s expected, standards of behaviour being enforced
The law is good for producing an outcome, conforming behaviour
Paul suggests that was its very purpose
To draw wandering people back into line
To define what behaviour was outside of God’s intent
To remove ambiguity and provide clarity on God’s way
God’s law was established because humans wander off track
There’s a whole range of ways that wandering is expressed
Paul provides a comprehensive but not exhaustive list from v9
Descriptions of life outside of God’s design
Paul moves from general to specific,
Describing our orientation towards God and interaction with others
We read from v9 the law is for or lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers.
Now the thing that probably jumps out for us is homosexuality,
It’s mentioned a number of times in the bible always in the context
Of behaviour outside of God’s design
It’s behaviour rather than identity, happy to chat more after about that
And as with the rest of this list, homosexual behaviour,
Alongside other kinds of sexual immorality
Any sex outside of a marriage bond, fantasises found in porn
Or even as Jesus says lust in your heart for another
Sits equally alongside other behaviours listed, lying & oppressing
Murdering or again as Jesus defined anger at another
All of which demonstrate life lived outside of God’s purposes
The very reason, that Paul says God gave the law in the first place
So what’s the problem with the law?
What’s wrong with these teachers affirming God’s law?
If the law is for lawbreakers, and we all fit within that category
Then shouldn’t that be the very thing that needs to be taught?
Shouldn’t these teachers be affirmed rather than silenced?
Well our natural tendency would be to think so
To keep God’s community strong, God’s way needs to be exalted
Surely God’s boundaries being clearly outlined and enforced
Would be the best foundation for the church
Well no, because rather than being a lack of nuance or degree
Focusing on the law is laying completely different foundations
Resulting in a church different to God’s purpose
What makes this teaching false is its contrast to what’s sound 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
The false doctrines weren’t just a variation of
But in complete opposition to the gospel, the true foundation
The good news about what God had done
The good news that Paul will scatter throughout the letter
The good news about Jesus that God’s building His church on
Timothy was to challenge what this false teaching was founded on
Foundations affirming human effort through compliance with the law
Rather than sound teaching that declare Jesus perfect obedience
As the foundation that establishes and remains the basis of the church
What does that look like?
How does a community founded on hope in Jesus differ?
Well lets take Hugh Mackay’s community founded on trust & respect
We could even have a deified version too
Trusting others, being trustworthy
Respecting others and being respectable
For a foundation to be laid there needs to be agreement
on what trust and respect looks like
Some might think trusting others means allowing them in for a meal, letting your kids play at their house, giving them a spare key, but others might suggest that you’re not really trusting unless
there’s no longer individual possessions but communal living
The problem for a community founded on trust and respect
Is that it’ll be an ever diminishing and homogenous group
As people fail to trust or prove themselves untrustworthy
It easier to respect people we don’t know than those we do
Any community that’s founded on human effort or character
Will either get smaller as it protects what defines them
Or bigger by broadening who’s included that its hardly identifiable
The outcome is either community so exclusive with high pressure
Or so diluted that belonging no longer means anything
Book Club …. Woolworths Rewards
What we all desire is a community that’s accessible and identifiable
Broadly accessible for anyone & clearly identifiable for belonging
Such a community needs foundations apart from those within it
Needs to be built outside of itself, so it can hold those within it
Many people find that in a sport, or a club they’re involved in
Many people have told me my sporting club is my community
Mackay notes the tension between independence & interdependence
And highlights sport as a great forum to balance the two
Of what we bring as individuals and how include those different to
A champion team beats a team of champions
Great local sporting clubs care for all members
Which is fine when everything is working
But when the bigger issues of life arrive
Often we feel ill equipped to help, or the support superficial
Or people push us out because we’re too difficult
Failure, conflict or crisis can break communities
That’s why foundations are so important
Paul wants Timothy to protect and promote sound foundations
Declaring the majesty and glory of Jesus,
The one whom we need because the law shows us our failings
Rather than foundations that drive us to try harder
That ranks and rewards human effort, true foundations….
Sound foundations… declare that Jesus is sufficient
Jesus grace is sufficient for our unworthiness
Jesus mercy is sufficient to cover our disobedience
Jesus peace is sufficient to still our insecurities
We need to avoid the danger of elevating obedience to God’s law
As the foundation of who we are, although probably we need to
To be more aware of avoiding the danger of removing God
And placing ourselves as the foundation that others can find hope in
Maybe you like Mackay’s trust and respect as a foundation
Give it a go for your own life,
Then compare it with giving it a go with Jesus
Try a month, trusting in Jesus, respecting Jesus as Lord
See how that holds up, we’d love to walk that space with you
As a church founded on the declaration of Jesus
People may find what they were wanting,
But hopefully they meet who they need
The best conditions for us & others to keep meeting who we need
Is if the church’s foundations remain soundly on hope found in Jesus
