GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH Gaithersburg, Maryland

“Canonical Letters More or Less Read” A I Series – 2021 The Fourth of Eight Sessions The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost – July 4, 2021

“ Paul’s Letter to Titus”

I. So Who in the World Was Titus?

Titus is not mentioned at all in Saint Luke’s record of the , which includes a rather detailed record of the missionary journeys of Saint Paul. One must do some digging. Even the New International Version of the ’s brief introduction to this short Letter of Paul tells us only that “Titus was another friend and helper of Paul’s.” 1 This said, we can learn more about Titus from Saint Paul himself. In :2-3, we learn that Paul went up2 to Jerusalem to present the “” he preached to the Gentiles. He took with him Titus, a man of faith who was a Greek believer, who “was not compelled to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.” 3 Titus would be “Exhibit No. 1" to validate Paul’s contention that the Spirit Had been given to Gentiles without the Jewish rite of circumcision. 4 Saint Titus, and Martyr • It is Titus upon whom Paul calls to organize and

1. The Holy Bible, New International Version, Textbook Edition, Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 1984. p. 1046.

2. Jerusalem is said, in faith at least, that Jerusalem sits on the highest among the hills. Therefore, from north or south, east or west, it was always said that one “went up to Jerusalem.”

3. Galatians 2:3.

4. In , Paul’s position would be affirmed by the Jerusalem Council.

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 1. later complete the collection in Corinth for the in Jerusalem. (II Corinthians 6:6, 10) • It is Titus whom Paul calls “his true child in the faith “ (:4) strongly suggesting that Titus was a convert of Paul to the faith. He brought joy to the heart of his father in faith. • It was Titus whom Paul calls him “brother” in II Corinthians 2:13, and a “sharer in work and toil” in II Corinthians 8:23. He is more than a son, but rather an equal. It seems Titus was originally a convert of Paul, one whom he now calls his “brother.” • It was Titus about whom Paul will say “He walked in the same spirit.” (II Corinthians 12:18). • And now, as we move into the Letter of Paul to Titus, Paul has given to Titus a huge task. He has left Titus behind in , “not to talk to them about what a Christian should be, but to show them what a Christian should be.”5 And what a task he will be undertaking! The Cretans will be a tough crowd indeed. Paul warns Titus of their reputation reported by one of their own, about 600 years before: “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 6 • The Rev. Dr. William Barclay has written: “There are two kinds of people. There are the people who can make bad situations worse, and there are the people who can bring order out of chaos and peace out of strife.” Titus was the man to send to the place where there was trouble.” 7

II. When and By Whom? Not until this fourth session in our series of “Canonical Book More or Less Read” have we come upon a more challenging series of issues in determining the writers and dates of this series of four very personal letters known in the corpus of Pauline Letters as The Pastoral Letters.. • According to the late Dr. Raymond E. Brown, 80 to 90 percent of contemporary scholars believe that Saint Paul’s Letter to Titus and Saint Paul’s First Letter to Timothy were written by the same author. • It is further believed that they should be dated between 80 and 90 of the 1st Christian century. They appear to deal with issues before the Christian communities that are not thought to have been issues earlier, when Saint Paul was yet alive. (It seems fairly certain that Paul was executed by Emperor Nero in 67CE.) • It is further believed, however, that the Pastoral , with the probable exception

5. William Barclay, The Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, The Daily Study Bible, Westminster Press:Philadelphia, pp. 266-267.

6. Paul’s quotation is from Epimenides and is dated at or around 600 BC. It was widely known in the ancient world. The Island of Crete had a “reputation.”

7. Barclay, op. Cit. Pp. 266 - 267.

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 2. of Saint Paul’s Letter to Philemon, were written by a close to Saint Paul, not a disciple of a disciple, and therefore may genuinely be called “Pauline.” Such a person may well have been working with fragments of letters no longer available to us. • Why an associate of Paul? Perhaps this passage from William Barclay will help us understand. We might call it a “ vocabulary and style study.” Dr. Barclay shares this revealing information about the . “The total number of words in the Pastoral Epistles is 902, of which 64 are proper names; and of these 902 words, no fewer than 306 never occur in any other of Paul’s letters. That is to say 36 % , more than a third of the words of the Pastoral , are totally absent from the 14th Century Icon of The Twelve Apostles vocabulary of Paul in his other letters. In fact, 175 Pushkin Museum, MOscow words in the Pastoral Epistles occur nowhere else in the at all. On the other hand, it is entirely fair to say that there are 50 words in the Pastoral Epistles which occur in Paul’s other letters and nowhere else in the New Testament. Further, it is true that when the other letters of Paul and the Pastoral Epistles say the same thing, they say it in different ways, using different words and using different turns of speech to express the same idea.” 8 • Saint Luke and the Book of the Acts of the Apostles provide two especially vexing issues for us in the Letter to Titus, who, according to the Letter of Titus itself, tells us that Paul has left Titus on the Island of Crete to finish the organizational work among the young congregations there.. There are two problems. 1. Saint Luke ends Acts and its accounting of Paul’s missionary work without telling us about the remainder of Paul’s life. There are hints in Paul’s letters that he expect ed to be released from prison and of his desire to make a missionary journey to Spain. There are many of the Early who have written of Paul’s release from Prison and of his journey to Spain. But, there is no evence whatsoever in Spain that Paul was ever there. None! 2. There is no record in Luke’s account in the Acts of the Apostles that Paul and Titus ever went to Crete. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul’s only visit to Crete was due to a storm on the Mediterranean Sea while Paul was on his way to Rome, as a prisoner. • But, there has been, beginning in the late 1st century, a tradition that Paul was indeed

8 . ibid. pp. 11-12.

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 3. released from his house imprisonment in Rome, and did indeed venture upon his long planned 4th Missionary Journey, this time to Spain . . . and on his return went to the Island of Crete, along with Titus. He was later arrested again and ultimately imprisoned in Rome, but this time in a large and brutal Roman prison. He would later be executed in Nero’s persecution of Christians in 67 CE. Saint Luke includes in his account of the Acts of the Apostles neither Paul’s release from house arrest nor his death. Nor does he include a missionary visit to Crete in the Acts of the Apostles, but our New Testament Canon includes Saint Paul’s Letter to Titus. He leaves us to wonder whether, in fact,, Paul did make that 4th Missionary Journey to Spain, and to Crete upon his return.

III. “You Gotta Know the Territory” The above is a line from “Music Man” a Broadway Musical from a few decades ago. It is a part of a conversation of two salesmen traveling by train to a new field of sales. One says to the other: ”Ya gotta know the territory” to be successful in sales. Paul must have thought the same thing. He is brutally honest in telling Titus about his new “parishioners.” Let’s read some of Paul’s words from Titus 1:10-`16. There are also many rebellious people, idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision; they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach. It was one of their very own prophet, who said, ‘Cretans are always liars, vicious brutes, lazy gluttons.’ That testimony is true. For this reason rebuke them sharply, so that they may become sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths or to commandments of those who reject the truth. To the pure all things are pure, but to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure. Their very minds and consciences are corrupted. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Titus 1:10-16 These Cretans had a reputation. It was a Greek poet whom Paul quoted. The phrase regarding the Cretans being liars is also quoted in a Greek hymn to the Greek god Zeus. It reads like this: “The Cretans are chronic liars For the Cretans built a tomb, O King. And called it thine, but you die not; Your life is everlasting.” The Cretans said it was the tomb of Zeus! But Zeus cannot die. He will not be in that tomb. Cretans are such liars! Paul’s counsel is simple. He usually begins with a firm imperative. Tell the truth. Begin with basics. But as for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 4. in faith, in love, and in endurance. Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in behavior, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us. Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to answer back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior. Declare these things, exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. :1-10, 15 Paul urges Titus to teach sound doctrine supported by specific and positive patterss of behavior. All of this is because the . . . “grace of God has appeared for the salvation of men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, , who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. Titus 2:11- Saint Paul is busy teaching through Titus the very basic details of the implications of the Gospel and the pattern of living in gratitude for God’s gracious redemption. He is specific in the smallest of details of what it means to live “in Christ.”

IV. The Importance of Establishing Good Order It is not clear why Paul has left Crete so early in their maturation as believers in Jesus Christ. It sounds as if Titus is a platoon of one of the Navy’s Shore Patrol as they come ashore in a seaport town on the Island of Crete! One must first establish orderly government and then teach, teach, teach. Listen again, as we go back to the early verses of Chapter 1: I left you behind in Crete for this reason, that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you: someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching,

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 5. so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. Titus 1:5-9 Paul is most direct, almost as if giving military orders to begin to gain administrative and teaching control and authority over the towns on the island that may have numbered as many as one hundred. Then there is to be the appointment of a bishop over the idsland or over areas of the island. The or Elders were to be persons of respect. Tradition tells us that the age of 60 might have been required among the other qualities specified. The qualities for bishops are also listed. In both offices, respect is a foremost requirement. These passages are read yet today as officers of local congregations are installed and bishops consecrated. Comparasions have been made with the 1st century Didache, though that is given to yet more details, even a verbatim for the Eucharistic Liturgy which is rather much like the liturgy used in our congregations today. It goes something like this: The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts. We Lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God! It is good and right so to do. We give thanks unto you O Lord, Holy Father, Almighty and Ever living God . . . . 9

V. Civil Duties and Faith Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having

9. The Didache – The Didache is considered a second generation writing, of about the same time as those under our consideration in this series of sessions. Its full name is The Lord’s Teachings Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations. It includes Church Orders and liturgies, the Apostles Creed, etc. It has three main divisions (1) Church Ethics, (2) Rituals, such as Baptism and Eucharist, and (3) Church Organization. It is dated by most modern scholars in the latter part of the 1st Christian Century. It was lost for many centuries, but a Greek copy was rediscovered in Istanbul in 1879.

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 6. been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is sure. :1-9

The instructions of Paul to Titus are forthright, mixed with specific styles of living and solid “Gospeling” in support. “He covers the waterfront” as we sometimes say.

VI. “I Desire that You Insist.” Coming to the end, Paul continues his very specific Instructions. This time he appears to be addressing the problems with those who seek to confuse the new believers in our Lord. They may be sectarian variants of Judiaism. I desire that you insist on these things, so that those who have come to believe in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works; these things are excellent and profitable to everyone. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. After a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned Titus 3:8b-11

Here Paul may be finally confronting issues not all that unique to the Island of Crete. He might have called it “pseudo Judaism.” This may well also be issues by this time across the early Christian Church..

The Island of Crete is about 99 miles at sea from the Greek mainland. It is very near the same distance that the island of Bermuda is from the U. S. Mainland. The total area of the Island covers 3,219 square miles and there are 650 lineal miles of coastline. According to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Paul’s journey to Rome as a prisoner was interrupted at sea by a storm and they took refuge at “Fair Haven” on the “leeward” side of the Island of Crete.

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 7. OUR CURRENT SERIES “Canonical Letters More or Less Read” When was the last time you read Paul’s Letters to Jude, or Timothy, or the letters of Peter or John? These are all canonical books that are included in our New Testament. What do we know about them? It all sounds like fun to me. So, let’s try it. These are all short “Letters.” I have grouped some into one session. A fine goal for us would be to read the upcoming Letter(s) prior to the day of the class. May 30* “The Epistle of Jude” June 6* “The Epistle of James” June 27* “The First and Second Epistles of Peter” July 4 * “Paul’s Pastoral Letter to Titus” July 11 “Paul’s Letter to Philemon” July 18 “Paul’s First Letter to Timothy” July 25 “Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy” August 1 “The Johanine Epistles” Please note this modified schedule. SO WHAT COMES NEXT? That is always a question. This series of nine sessions will go for a while, but it is not too soon to search for suggestions for the next series and/or topics we can develop. Suggestions are always welcome, anytime! Blessings! + Pastor Ted OF INTEREST If you have missed a session, or a download of the paper for one or more sessions, you can find that paper by going to “goserve.net/live”, and scroll down the listing of previous Sunday worship and class schedules. Desired class papers can be printed directly. It’s easy! Pastor Dave has shared that all papers of this series and mostly ALL others are archived and can be made available! We are continuing, having begun several weeks ago, our sessions via live Zoom. We can gather our class electronically by this marvel. Or, you can simply catch us as we have been doing. Watch and listen on Sundays for “Sign-up details” for the Zoom connection. Now, for the first time since the Pandemic started, you can ask questions and offer suggestions live. NEW INFORMATION: Pastor Dave has shared that we shall soon begin being able to return to public services on Sundays, but in limited numbers for a while. During this time, we shall continue our class series via Zoom. Follow our Good Shepherd “BLAST” for exact dates, times, instructions, etc. Pastor Ted’s new E-mail address: [email protected]

Pentecost I Series – 2021 Session 4 of 8 Sessions Rev. 5 pdf Page 8.