I must confess to you that I am a child of the 70’s.  I know I was born in the 50’s, was a boy in the 60’s, but it was in the 70’s that I acquired this identity that I simply cannot shake.  When I think of who I am, I see a skinny kid with long hair, chipped teeth, bell bottom jeans and blue suede sneakers walking down Main Street in Findlay, Ohio singing the songs of the day – songs that I cannot get out of my head.  One of those songs was by a group known as The Five Man Electrical Band.  Now this is the audience participation part of the sermon so when I gesture to you, you add the next word or expression if you know it.

Verse 1 - And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply.

So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why.

He said you look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do. 

So I took off my hat I said imagine that, huh, me working for you woah!

Chorus: Sign Sign everywhere a sign.

             Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind. 

             Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?

Verse 2 - And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight.

So I jumped on the fence and yelled at the house, “Hey! what gives you the right. 

To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in?

If God was here, he'd tell you to your face, man you're some kinda sinner.”

Repeat Chorus

Bridge: Now, hey you Mister! can't you read, you got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat. 

You can't even watch, no you can't eat, you ain't suppose to be here. 

And the sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside Uh!

Verse 3 - And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray.

But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all, I didn't have a penny to pay.

So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign. 

I said, “Thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine.”

Repeat chorus twice.

© 1970, 2002 Five Man Electrical Band

What a great protest song!  However, as I have gotten older I have become sign dependent.  We have been spending some time in this summer series of sermons on Roadside Attractions.  I know that most of you have GPS devices in your vehicles, but when I am on the road, I need signs to tell me what to do, what not to do, where I am, and where I am going.  I would even beg the Five Man Electrical Band, who are older than I am to rewrite the chorus to read, Sign, sign everywhere a sign, pointing out the scenery, framing my mind  Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign.

We find a series of signs in the third chapter of Titus.  Listen to these words and look for the signs revealed in them.  Hear now the word of the Lord:

¹Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, ²to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. ³For 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. ⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵he 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. ⁶This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ⁸The saying is sure. 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. 

                                                                                            Titus 3:1-8

             In this passage Paul instructed his young friend, to remind his congregation of where they’ve been, where they are and where they are going.  As I mentioned earlier signs are more beneficial to me now than they were in the 1970’s.  They tell me what to do, what not to do, where I am and where I am going.  I couldn’t help but think of a few signs with me to illustrate this point. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign; pointing out the scenery, framing my mind.  Can’t you read the sign?

Signs tell us what to do

I typically look at speed limit signs as just that, limiting.  However, when you think about it, they also tell us what we can do.  Somewhere around Hempstead the speed limit signs go from 45 mph to 55 mph to 65 mph.  They actually encourage me to speed up.  Paul begins this passage with two quick verses of what to do.  Now a little side note on Titus’ congregation – they were Cretans.  Literally.  Titus pastored a people on the island of Crete and they were notorious for being fiercely independent, emphasis on fiercely.  They were always fighting and creating upheavals.  Paul reminded them that as Christians they had a different code of ethics.  They were to be subject to authorities, this in itself would indicate a change of heart.  They were to be obedient.  They were to be ready for every good work.  They were to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling and to be gentle.  I have never been to Ireland, but I have to believe that this message has been preached there more than once to that independent people who are renowned for their scuffles.  Lastly, they were to show every courtesy to everyone.

Last month a group of us went to Israel and Egypt on a Holy Land tour.  There we saw many signs.  Two that told me what to do were, “Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem” and “Go in Peace.” I seek to obey those signs along with these signs found in Titus 3.

How different would your life look if you followed the directions on these signs? Is it difficult for you to speak evil of no one, when the most successful talk shows on radio and television seem to have this as a main staple?  Are you ready for every good work?  Something will present itself this week – I guarantee you that. It may even happen today – be ready.  Do you show every courtesy to everyone?  Our world is just as hungry for this as ever.  Sign, sign, everywhere a sign; pointing out the scenery, framing my mind.  Can’t you read the sign?
 

Signs tell us what not to do

Paul got out of the pulpit and into the pews when he began this one verse of prohibitions from the past in verse 3. 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. Thomas Oden, a professor of theology at Drew University, wrote in his commentary on this passage, “We may think of our own era as inordinately burdened with violence, resentment, self-hatred and the hating of others.  Yet, with just these terms Paul described what, ‘we ourselves were once.’”  Oden goes on to state that with this one verse we can “track the history of sin, summarizing the predicament in that condition prior to hearing of the grace of Christ.” These are things that are now to be avoided for they never lead to satisfaction.  The phrase “led astray” means to be guided by a false guide. 

I frequently am mistaken in the store for someone who works there.  Can you imagine if I went along with it at somewhere like Home Depot and started directing someone around a store that I cannot even figure out?!

We did see some curious signs telling us what not to do.  There was a “No Picnic” sign on the lawn where Jesus fed the 5,000.  There was a sign in the museum that holds a 2,000 year old fishing boat that limits photography and umbrellas.  There was a sign where the Sermon on the Mount was preached that simply read, “Holy Place.  No Shorts.” 

None of the signs seemed as profound as those found in Titus 3:3.  Let us avoid being led astray, being slaves to those things that only increase dissatisfaction. passing our days in malice and envy (wasting our time in meanness), and being hateful.  Sign, sign, everywhere a sign; pointing out the scenery, framing my mind.  Can’t you read the sign?
 

Signs tell us where we are

I love the flow of verses 4 and 5.  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 is a picture of us floundering in the whirlpool of negativity and hate from which we could not escape, and the saving hand of God rescuing us solely with his mercy, not based on anything we had done.  That’s why baptism is such a holy moment.  Whether infant or adult receives the gift, it is a sign of God’s grace active in our life, not because of us, but because of God.

At the Jordan River our group remembered our baptism.  I told the group that though it was very meaningful to be at the river where Jesus was baptized by John, it is even more meaningful to realize what Christ has done in our lives and though we may not remember the day of our baptism, we do remember the gift of our baptism and that covenant relationship with Christ.  Every time we witness a baptism, every time we see water, it is a sign telling us where we are – in the middle of the mercy of God our Savior.  It was a meaningful time to be standing in the Jordan River and inviting the others to the banks of the Jordan to remember their baptism.  The serenity was broken when one member of our group said softly, “Kip, there’s a beaver coming toward you.”  I looked over and saw, not a beaver, but a huge rat!  I went from recalling Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan to remembering him walking on water.  I got out of there.  The mood was broken.  Finally, the nutria left us and started toward the group being immersed.

After getting my breathing once again regulated and my voice returned from being that of a frightened little girl to that of a grown man, we continued our service of remembering where we are.  I realize that this often happens. There are so many things that can distract us from remembering and realizing where we are in our relationship with God.  How pitiful when all we can see is the rat and not the children of God at the bank or the voice of God from the heavens declaring, “This is my son, with whom I am well pleased.”  I invite you to look carefully at this sign that declares where you are – saved, in the state of justification, in the arms and care of a merciful God. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign; pointing out the scenery, framing my mind.  Can’t you read the sign?
 

Signs tell us where we are going

Paul reminded Titus that this gift of salvation included a promise of eternal life and expectation of good works.  They were not to sit idle or be indifferent.  They were to change the world so that it looks more like the kingdom of God of which they were citizens.  Look at verse 8, “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.”  Did you notice the “so that”? The mercy of God is what saves us, not our own works, but once we have experience this mercy, we are to extend it bountifully toward others with good works.

The inspiration for this sermon series title came from the four summer trips that I took as a child to California and back to Ohio.  The first trip followed Route 66.  I remember seeing then a sign that I saw only a couple of years ago.  It was a sign inviting us to dine at the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo.  The curious thing about this sign as that it is posted just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico, over 250 miles away from the Big Texan Steak House.  I am not sure if we were able to avoid it on that first trip or not, but I do know that the last time I went down that road we stopped.  It seemed apparent early on that this was where we were headed the moment we left Albuquerque.

Sometimes we forget to look up and see where we are headed.  As recipients of God’s grace and mercy, we are headed to eternal life.  Our lives ought to reflect that with a commitment to good works, not so that we can have eternal life, but because we have been given eternal life. 

There is still one more sign that I want to share with you.  It was just outside of Jerusalem and read, “Welcome to Jerusalem”.  The sign was affixed to the wall that restricts movement into the Holy City.  There seemed to be something incongruent about it.  It did not reflect its very expression.  I wonder how often our lives are like that.  We declare one thing, but somehow it just doesn’t look right.  Sign, sign, everywhere a sign; pointing out the scenery, framing my mind.  Can’t you read the sign?

I invite to be aware of how many signs there are around you this week.  As you do, remember the signs in this passage: signs that tell you what to do (be ready for every good work), what not to do (wasting time in meanness), where you are (in the middle of the mercy of God our Savior), and where you are going (toward eternal life, already reflecting its characteristics).   I may never be able to get this song out of my head, but I think I’m OK with changing a couple of words, Sign, sign, everywhere a sign; pointing out the scenery, framing my mind.  Can’t you read the sign? Amen.