When the Bar Fight Breaks Out

6 · Alcantar previews the sermon's structure: four pieces of advice from Paul that will guide the exposition

We explore that in four sections. Paul's going to give Timothy four pieces of advice that we will need to heed ourselves.

7 · Alcantar introduces the first principle (look at the goal) by expounding verses 20-21

The first piece of advice is this. Look at the goal, Timothy, look at the goal. What are you trying to do? Look at verse 20 again. Now, in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable use. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. Now the thing about saloon fights or bar fights in those Westerns is nobody remembers why they started fighting in the first place. And nobody really has a goal in the fight other than getting a few good punches in, right? And Paul is telling Timothy, Timothy, as you're about to go in there, you're going to walk through the big swinging double doors. When you walk in, remember that you have a goal. And your goal is simple. Does this honor the Lord? Your goal is to bring order by asking the question, does this honor the Lord? That's Timothy's goal.

8 · Alcantar unpacks the household vessel metaphor from verse 20, explaining the cultural background and identifying the spectrum of vessel types in a Roman household

Now, Paul speaks of using the metaphor of a household. So imagine in a moderately well to do Roman household, this would hold true in a colony like Ephesus. I think there would be a variety of vessels like jars and things in the church. And some of them would be for everyday use like a wooden bowl. Some would be for special use like a, a beautiful piece that maybe is handed down through somebody's family. It comes out for that once a year party. And some of them were, well, cheap clay or, or just old kind of pieces with wood rot in them that they use for, for, you know, dirty buckets of water or things like that, that, and the metaphor is actually strikingly uncomfortable but memorable here. The metaphor is that this house represents God's church. And in God's church there will always be some vessels fit for honorable use that are useful for that, the service of the house. And then there'll be some vessels that are gross or distasteful or should be put away and are not useful. And really the metaphor in view here is the metaphor of a chamber pot.

9 · Alcantar recounts a childhood memory of learning what a chamber pot was at a historical site

Now when I was a kid, I don't remember where it was, but I remember we went to some, you know, one of those historical places like maybe on the east coast, you know, Colonial Williamsburg or something like that. And, and they have some in San Diego, they have a western town. So one of those old towns. And you go in, you say, oh, this is how they used to live. And here's the bowls, and here's, you know, where they hang their. Their. Their pistols. And here's the fire. And then I remember being a kid and seeing, like, a little pot in the corner. And I was like, oh, what's that? And they, you know, my parents were like, that's a chamber pot, son. And then, undeterred, I'm like, what's a chamber pot? What goes in there? And now my parents are like, all the tourists are looking like, all right, let's see. Go ahead. Parents, explain that to them. And I remember my parents relaying to me, oh, that is where you notice in this room, there's no toilet. Oh, yeah, that is the toilet. No, you know, I'm like, that's. That can't be real. And I remember thinking, so what? That. That's what that was used for. And then what would they do? They would just throw it out the window, usually. And I was just like, oh, my goodness. Like, I never was so grateful for the 20th century. I just like, yes, indoor plumbing. Here we go. Great job. Human race.

10 · Alcantar completes the exposition of the vessel metaphor by driving home the application: the goal in conflict is to ask whether our actions honor Christ and make us useful in his service

And yet Paul. This is the metaphor Paul is using. He's saying, look, in your household, you've got a range of vessels between chamber pot and the honorable special thing that you bring out when you have important visitors. And Paul is saying this. When you look at the household of God, your goal is to see as many people as possible be useful and honorable, not gross, detestable, and dirty. And. And you notice what he does. He shifts the perspective from the horizontal to the vertical of God's perspective, looking down on the fight going on. And God's perspective is dividing people into two groups. Those acting dishonorably and grossly, you could say in the metaphor, and those acting honorably. That he's like, those are useful parts of the household. And so the. The key in the middle of a conflict is not, I want to win or I want to score points or is our side doing better than their side? It is, what does God see when he looks down on this? Does he see honorable or dishonorable? Does he see useful or needs to be thrown out? And, friends, this is so helpful in clarifying in the middle of conflict, does acting like this help me honor Christ? Does acting like. Does saying that make me useful in the service of Christ? That's the key question. That's the goal. All these people are brawling, But Paul's saying, step back. Look at this from God's perspective and say, Timothy, intend that you will be an honorable vessel and intend to seek to make the church full of honorable vessels.

11 · Alcantar signals the completion of the first point and prepares the listener for the second principle

That's the first thing. Look at the goal.

12 · Alcantar introduces the second principle (look at yourself) by exposing Paul's unexpected move: before addressing the opponents, Timothy must examine his own heart

Second, look at yourself, Timothy. Look at verse 22. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness. Now I love what Paul does here. It is so unexpected because we've seen from the kind of the divine perspective down and now we're looking horizontally, right? And you think that Paul is going to tell Timothy, all right, so those guys, those are dishonorable guys. You should throw them out. Here's a three step process for, you know, how to excommunicate these losers. And so you know it's gonna be great when they're gone. No, he doesn't start there. He actually says, timothy, before you walk in, start barking commands, look at yourself. Before you look at the other people in the conflict, look at your. Because the reality is this, as soon as we enter that environment, as soon as we walk through those saloon doors, what we want to do is start throwing punches. What we want to do is be like, I can't believe he did that. I can't believe she said this. And Paul's saying, no, no, no, no, no, no, Timothy, do not walk in. I think every parent has had this experience. Don't walk in like a parent looking down at their toddler saying, you will not be angry at your sister, right? And you're like. And some part of you is going, I don't know if this is helpful. Don't be like dad angry. That's essentially what's happening. And Paul knows that's the temptation for Timothy. Timothy's gonna waltz in, start yelling at people and not check his own heart first.