The Worst

Scripture: 1 Timothy: 1:12-17

One of the unfortunate realities of competition is that in order for their to be winners, there must be losers.  While everyone is trying to be the first person to cross the finish line first, there will also be someone who crosses last.  For every person who is the best at something, there will be someone else who is the worst.  To save face and protect the dignity of the competitors, these facts are not often dwelled on or highlighted.  The exception to this is professional baseball.  Baseball has always been a sport that is obsessed with statistics and record keeping.  So, while baseball statisticians can tell you who has been the best in dozens of different areas, they can also tell you is the worst.   Sometimes those labels can stick with a player.  Consider a player from the 1920’s who was dubbed the strikeout king.   This is because this player struck out a lot.  He set the record for career strikeouts and this record stood for almost 30 years.   In the 1923 season for instance, he struck out 93 times.  He led the league in strikeouts that year, just like he did in 1922.  In fact, from 1921-1924 he struck out more than 220 times.

 This player drew a lot of critics for his batting record, which is where the strikeout king nickname came from.  If George Herman Ruth, better known by his nickname Babe, had ended his career in 1923, then he might still primarily be known as the strikeout king.  However, in 1927 Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 60 home runs in a single season.  That record stood for 34 years.   He also set the record for career home runs and that record stood until Hank Aaron famously broke it in 1974.  Today, Babe Ruth is better known as the homerun king, he is regarded as one of the best players to have ever played the game, and his swing for the fences style completely changed how baseball is played. 

If someone were to focus just on a single statistic, the number of strikeouts, then Babe Ruth might look like one of the worst baseball players in history.  However, that is not the full story.  This is true in life, not just baseball.  There is always more to the story.   In this morning’s scripture, Paul identifies himself as the worst of sinners.   Yet, that is not his full story.  In the same way, every single one of us has sinned.  We have all fallen short of what we know is right.  We have all made choices we wish we could undo or we have said words we wish we could take back.   Those failures and shortcomings are not our full story either.  Because like Paul, our story has another aspect where grace changes everything.  Just like Babe Ruth is known for his hits not his strikeouts, we can be known for how grace has changed our lives.  

This morning’s scripture comes from the beginning of 1 Timothy.  This is a personal letter that Paul wrote to a young person he was mentoring.  He wrote this letter towards the end of his life.  Throughout 1 Timothy he is extremely reflective of his life and ministry.  We see that in this scripture Paul recounts how he was awakened to grace.   In the book of Acts we can read about Paul’s conversion, how we went from someone who persecuted Christians to a follower of Christ after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  However, in this scripture we get his personal account, not of the event, but of the feelings he had due to having his life turned upside down by grace.   Paul’s words here are powerful as they are a firsthand account of how one man experienced the life changing, saving grace of God made known through Jesus Christ.  As we consider this morning’s scripture and we consider Paul’s experience with grace, I think we can gain a better understanding of just how amazing grace is.   

We find a great statement of grace in verse 15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- Of whom I am the worst.”  The phrase, “trustworthy saying” only appears in the two letter that Paul wrote to Timothy and the one he wrote to Titus.  Biblical scholars believe that the intention by emphasizing this, is that the trustworthy sayings were meant to be the first standardized doctrinal statements.  So, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners was and still is a foundational standard of belief for Christians.  However, Paul then adds his own extra commentary, by saying he is the worst.   This does not feel quite right.  I mean, it feels like I could watch the news for like ten minutes and see stories that feature at least five sinners who had to be worse than Paul. 

It seems odd for Paul to call himself the worst of sinners. Because this is a man who started dozens of churches.  Through him miracles were done.  The book of Acts even recounts a story of when through Paul a young man was brought back to life.  It is hard to think of someone that righteous as the worst sinner.  However, that is kind of the point.   There is a common occurrence that happens across all academic disciplines or fields of study.  The more advanced someone gets in their knowledge, the more acutely aware of what it is they do not know.  In the same way, the closer one gets to Jesus, the more aware we become of how much we are not like Christ.  The more aware we become of our constant need for grace, the more aware we become of just how prone our heart is to wander from the savior we love.    So from Paul’s point of view, he knew just how much he stood in need of forgiveness and grace.   From Paul’s point of view, he was the worst sinner that he knew, because he was the sinner he knew the best.  
 
Paul knew the depths of his sin.  Paul was honest about his proclivity for violence, and he knew how we actively persecuted and breathed murderous threats against followers of Jesus.  If the story of Paul stopped there, then perhaps today he would be remembered as the worst of sinners.  Yet, that was not the end of Paul’s story.  As he wrote in this morning’s scripture, “I was shown mercy” and “the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.”   The grace of Jesus added another side to the story of Paul.   He may have viewed himself as the worst of sinners, but because he was saved by grace, he was also the apostle to the gentiles.  This is a story that has been repeated over the centuries and decades.  Time after time, the grace of Jesus Christ takes the worst and reveals the best of a person.  

One story that illustrates this is the story of John Newton.  Newton, an Englishman, lived in the 18th century.   He grew up in the church with a devout mother, but he left that behind and found himself pressed into naval service.  In that profession he earned the nickname “the great blasphemer”.  Newton could curse, drink, and be crude enough to make other sailors blush. After not seeing eye to eye with his original captain, Newton found himself serving aboard a slave ship.  It was while on one of those ships he was caught in a fierce storm for over a week.  Everyone, including Newton, thought they were going to die.  This brush with death, got Newton’s attention and he began to turn back to God.  Over the course of the next several years, Newton drew closer to God, found Jesus to be his Lord and Savior.   He left sailing and the slave trade.   He became ordained clergy in the Anglican church, and he became an outspoken opponent of slavery, writing about the evils he had seen and perpetuated.  Newton’s writing and advocacy put him in contact with William Wilberforce, England’s great abolitionist.   Newton’s efforts helped contribute to England outlawing the practice of human slavery in 1807. 

Once John Newton came to faith, he also wrote several worship songs.  Newton thinking over the depths of sin he was in, and the love that God had for him despite his wickedness led Newton to write a specific song, we still know today.  Newton wrote “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found.  I was blind but now I see.”  In old age Newton struggled with senility and a failing memory.  However, he was quick to say, “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”

We should be willing to be honest about how we have fallen short and how we have sinned.  If we are being honest then like Paul, we also could say that of all the sinners we know, we are the worst.  Because we are the sinner that we know the best.  While that should be a sobering truth for each of us, the good news of grace is that it is not the end of our story.   Babe Ruth is known as the homerun king, not the strikeout king.  Paul is known as the apostle to the gentiles, not the great persecutor.  John Newton is known as a hymn writer, not as a slaver.  In the same way, you are not known and should not be known by who you were at your worst.  The mistakes you have made, the ways you have let people down, the ways you have hurt others, the sins you have committed.  They do not define you. 

Because friends, here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  So here the good news, in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.   Guilt and shame over what has happened in the past should not be something that continues to pull us down.  Like Paul all of us have been shown mercy and like Paul our story does not end at our worst.   If we are saved by grace in Jesus Christ, then our story is still being told. 

In this morning’s scripture Paul states, “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”  Because of grace Paul’s worst, became an example of his best.  We found the same thing in the story of John Newton, the former slaver helped bring about the end of British slavery.  We can find the same truth in our lives.  The place of our greatest past hurt is often the place where we can help other find the most healing.  The place of our greatest brokenness is often the place we can help others find wholeness. Because we have been forgiven by grace, we can have a new chapter where what was once a dark spot in our lives becomes a testimony to the goodness of God.    

In this morning’s scripture, we get some insight as to how Paul understood the way grace changed his life.   For all who follow Jesus, grace has added a new chapter to our story.  Our worst is not the end, but it is starting point for living our best.   So may we be willing to be honest about our own sin, but may we not let that hold us down or hold us back. Like the Apostle Paul, may we claim that the grace of our Lord was poured out on us abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.   May our lives be a testimony to how the grace of Jesus has changed our lives for the better.   May we be quick to point that even though we might be great sinners, Jesus is a greater savior; thanks to him I once was lost, but now I am found.  I was blind, but now I see.  Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.