“A demonstration plot”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Saturday, February 25, 2023

Titus 3:1-15 (Forward, p. 27) CEV p. 1254

Something that was used to great effect in the earliest years of agriculture on the prairies, and is still used even today, is the demonstration plot. It shows farmers and gardeners what a particular crop or vegetable actually looks like when it is growing. As such, it has a great visual impact on the viewer.

Paul counsels his fellow Christians to act in the same way, albeit this time with their lives. John the Baptist demanded of his hearers that they ‘show fruits as befitting their repentance’ and Paul is basically saying the same thing to those he is addressing in Crete. God has saved them, not because of any of the good things they had done, but simply because of His mercy. They have been washed by the power of the Holy Spirit and given a new birth and a new beginning, and so they should reflect all that with their lives.

Accordingly, he is quite specific about what he expects of them, the Lord’s ‘demonstration plot’:

-they are to obey the rulers & authorities and not be rebellious;

-they are to always be ready to be helpful to others and be given to performing good deeds, things that are useful & worthwhile;

-they are not to say anything cruel or get caught up in arguments, especially ones about ancestors or about the Lord of Moses;

-they are to be gentle and kind to everyone;

-they are not to be stupid, disobedient or foolish as they once were;

-they are no longer to be slaves to various desires & pleasures;

-they are no longer to be given to jealousy;

-they are not to be known or seen as troublemakers.

Notice, will you, that all of these injunctions have to do with relationships, both public and private. There is nothing overtly religious or spiritual, nothing to do with public worship or private devotions. Let me suggest then that those two latter things were to be the soil, the seed bed, that was to nurture and give growth to what was above ground, what was seen. And so their own prayer and worship would result in their being the kind of ‘demonstration plots’ that Paul expected and God wanted. Let our inner spiritual lives do the same for us this Lenten season. Amen.

Forward notes: “And let people learn to devote themselves to good works in order to meet urgent needs, so that they may not be unproductive” (verse 14).

“I am one of those people who needs to be doing for others. I think this desire is part of what compelled me to become a teacher and to be involved in youth ministry. As I watch the news or hear of a need in town, my first thought is always, ‘How can I help?’ New baby? I’ll grab a bag of diapers. Tech week? I’ll take food to the theater rehearsals. I once heard a student in North Carolina was living in a car, and I made my husband go riding with me to find her. (No luck, but she is okay now.)

“My house isn’t always clean, and I am not always caught up on the current Netflix binges. Some may say that I’m unproductive when it comes to housework and pop culture. But I’d rather be driving a group of eighth graders to an escape room for fellowship than washing dishes. I pray to be open and responsive to the urgent needs of those in the world around me—and to make those good works the measure of my productivity.”

MOVING FORWARD: “Do you consider yourself productive in the manner suggested in Titus? How can you respond to the urgent needs in your community?”