Sermon September 27, 1998 Unlimited Patience based on 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Paul's Evil Background

Mark Twain once wrote: "Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." Paul lays himself out as an example in our text. He invites us to consider his situation so that we might see God's unlimited patience. If God can and has forgiven Paul, think of what He can do for you and I.

Paul had been a good example of one who rejected Christ. In the text he calls himself a blasphemer, persecutor, and a violent or insolent man. A blasphemer is one who acts with contempt toward God, is irreverent and impious. It is one who takes God, who is Holy and deserving our respect and honor, and treats Him in a degrading way. The persecutor is one who oppresses or harasses another. A persecutor pursues ill treatment of another. Paul also said he was a violent or insolent man. This means one who behaves in insulting ways toward another. Insolent carries the idea of arrogance and superiority which leads to the mistreatment and violence toward another.

These are quite the charges which Paul lays against himself. What did he do? You may remember that there is a brief mention of Paul in the Bible prior to his conversion to Christianity. In Acts chapter 7, the stoning or execution of Stephen is reported. One little mention is made there, that those who were witnessing this execution laid their clothes at the feel of Paul, who was then called by the name Saul. Stephen was among the first deacons of the Christians. Paul had consented and even assisted in the execution of this Christian. A few verses later, it reports that Paul was the leader of a great persecution that spread far from Jerusalem. He entered people's houses and dragged off men and women to prison.

Paul didn't stop there. He had continued to be a chief persecutor of Christians up to his conversion. At that time, he was on his way to Damascus, about 150 miles North of Jerusalem, to try to locate Christians there. His intention was to take them prisoner back to Jerusalem to be punished for being Christians. So, he was quite the persecutor of the followers of Jesus Christ.

Even more than persecuting Christians, our Lord saw Paul's actions as persecution of Himself. At his conversion, when Jesus struck him down he said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Jesus spoke of Paul's persecution as persecution of Christ Himself. Paul had earned the titles: blasphemer, persecutor, and violent man.

God Uses Paul as an Example

As a result of Paul's evil past, he would make a wonderful example of God's patience. To see one who was so evil be turned around was a dramatic demonstration of God's power. However, we really shouldn't be surprised that God had the power to turn around Paul's life. If we ever think there are limits to God's power, we are surely wrong. If you ever place a boundary around what you think it is possible for God to do, you have set the boundary too close.

The main reason we should be surprised at God's power converting Paul is because we would not expect that God would want to do so. Why would God desire to turn around Paul, after all the persecution and blasphemy coming from him? Why would God choose the worst sinner?

Imagine the situation of a school teacher setting rules for her classroom. When a student breaks the rule, there is a punishment. Perhaps this teacher will show mercy from time to time to students who only slightly broke the rule. Maybe they won't always be punished, or maybe they will get a reduced punishment. Can you imagine the teacher showing mercy to the most blatant offenders? Would she ever not punish those students who deliberately broke the rule and never made an attempt to follow it?

How about our criminal justice system? We give criminals "time off for good behavior." We give them parole which reduces their sentence. Would we ever give them time off for poor behavior? Would we let the most unruly, difficult inmates go with a reduced sentence?

Paul shows us just how extreme God's mercy is. It shows us how God is willing to forgive the worst of sinners. Yes, the conversion of Paul demonstrates God's unlimited patience for sinners. God would save the terrible sinner that Paul was. Through that example, we have an idea of the extremes to which God would go to save people.

One sentence in our text from the New International Version perhaps needs special explanation. I am not sure it does the best job of communicating, and so I am concerned that you might be misled by it. In verse 13, the New International Version says, "I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief." The word "because" must be understood carefully. It is not an indication that this was a cause and effect. If you say, "I got wet because I fell in the lake," you are saying that falling in the lake caused you to get wet. Paul, in our text, is not saying that his acting in ignorance and unbelief caused God to show mercy. It is not saying that Jesus looked at Paul and realized he was ignorant and because he really didn't know what he was doing, then he decided to show him mercy. Rather, it is saying that Paul's ignorance and unbelief made him one who needed God's mercy. Being unbelieving put Paul in the category of those who needed God's mercy.

We might want to also understand that word "ignorance" here more as "disregarding." It wasn't a case of Paul never having heard of Jesus Christ or knowing anything about him. No, he wasn't dumb to Christianity. He knew what it was about, and still, he chose to disregard it. He chose to ignore what was right in front of him.

An Example of Unlimited Patience

Paul was shown mercy. However, because of his especially evil state before this mercy came to him, Paul could be an especially bright example of God's complete, unlimited, all encompassing patience. So also the text describes the mercy as being poured out abundantly. The original language describes the mercy as being overflowing.

You can probably remember the scenes from many a TV comedy where the actor is distracted and continues to pour a beverage beyond the point when the glass or cup is full. They often keep pouring to the point where the liquid runs on to the table and floor. The cup overflows.

This is how it is for us with God's mercy. He just keeps pouring past the point where the cup overflows. We think of the familiar words of Psalm 23, "My cup runs over." God keeps pouring the mercy out. He has unlimited patience.

God poured out His mercy through Jesus. Jesus went to the cross to face death as a punishment for crimes He didn't commit. He faced the cross with conviction of His purpose. He endured death for us and rose again to prove to us that we also will rise. As our substitute, Christ proved His unlimited patience.

This unlimited patience should not, however, surprise us, because it reflects what God came to do in Jesus Christ. That is the statement Paul gives us as a trustworthy saying. It deserves our full acceptance. That means it is worthy of being accepted 100 percent. It is a valuable statement. It is the Gospel. The statement is: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." It is worth repeating. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." It is worth memorizing. It is worth keeping handy for those times you come face-to-face with your sinfulness and guilt.

Jesus didn't come to save the righteous or those who don't need a doctor. Rather, He came to save those who needed saving, the lost sheep. This, of course, ends up being the group of all people. All are sinful and lost without Christ. All people need to be saved because all are sinners. Christ came to save us all.

Worst of Sinners

Right on the heels of this trustworthy saying, Paul again confesses his sinfulness. Jesus came to save sinners, and Paul says he is the chief sinner. He is the one who needs the most saving, the most forgiving, the most cleansing. Notice, also, how Paul realizes he still is a sinner. He doesn't say, "of whom I WAS the worst." Paul says, "I AM the worst." For Paul, he still sees that he is a sinner. Sure, after his conversion he stopped persecuting Christians and blaspheming the Lord. Yet, in writing to Timothy in our text, near the end of his career, he still says he is the worst of sinners. This is his own confession after examining his life. He sees where he still fails God and falls short of the Law's requirements.

Even being the chief of sinners, Paul was shown mercy. This is the chief of examples of God's mercy for us to see. Paul may be the chief of sinners, but our Lord is the chief of forgivers. Then through this example, a witness would be made for all those who are yet to come to faith.

This is an example for those who are yet to come to faith. They are the ones to yet believe into eternal life. All of us can take comfort in the example God made of Paul. He showed mercy to the worst. The world would expect that mercy might possibly be shown to those who deserve it. The ones who try hard and yet fall short would fit our standards for those who should be given mercy. God's standards are different that the worlds. No, rather than showing mercy only to the best, He shows mercy to all, even the worst.

As Paul writes of this wonderful unlimited patience and mercy, he cannot help but break into praise of God. He says, "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen." He praises God as our eternal king, a ruler who will have no end. He is alive forever. He is invisible, that is powerful enough to work among us without needing to be physically present. He is the only God. All idols and false gods are not really God. There is only one God, and to Him Paul directs his praise.

What About You?

Perhaps you have a hard time putting yourself into Paul's place. Did you come to be a Christian after persecuting Christians? Probably not. Most of you were probably baptized, reared as a Christian, and have never really turned in opposition to your faith. Maybe you stopped coming to church for a while. Maybe you've had doubts. Maybe you've said some bad things about how God is treating you when things don't go the way you would like them to.

Still, you can recognize God's unlimited patience in your life. Even though you may not have persecuted Christians, you still fall into sin. Even if your actual sins, your specific acts of disobedience may not top Paul's, you still needed to be rescued by God from your original sin. Original sin makes us all the worst of sinners. Original sin is that which you are born with, apart from any particular actions. Our original sin makes us enemies of God. Romans 8:7-8 says "...the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." By our original sin, we are just as hostile toward God as Paul was.

Even our actual sins are enough to qualify us as worst of sinners. Think about your own life. Where would you rank yourself? We do tend to rank ourselves against other people, don't we. We identify others who we consider as worse sinners than we are. "At least I am not as bad as so and so," might be our statement to ourselves, or to others. An attitude of pride would leave us thinking there are others who sin more than we do. Pride would lead you to think you are better than others. Sin may lead us to evaluate Paul's claim to be the worst of sinners with a sense of relief. "Wow, at least I am not the worst sinner, Paul has that spot tied up."

In our own self-evaluation, we must consider ourselves in relation to God and His laws, not in relation to each other. We should not rank ourselves against others, but rank ourselves against God's standard of absolute obedience to all His laws. When we do this, we will each realize we are the chief of sinners.

Being chief sinners, we then see the need for God's unlimited patience. We then take comfort in the trustworthy saying, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Knowing ourselves as chief sinners, we can know Christ as the chief forgiver. He came to save sinners, just like us. He came to demonstrate His unlimited patience with each of us.

God's unlimited patience goes with us in our lives too. He mercy is overflowing into all our days. He keeps us strong in the faith which trusts that mercy and patience. By the Holy Spirit, at work in our lives through the Word and Sacraments, we are kept strong in this trust. May you remain in this trust in the unlimited patience of God demonstrated through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.