Title: Embracing Change: A Life Transforming Walk with Jesus
Text: John 3:3; II Corinthians 5:17; and Philippians 1:6
Thesis: Although change is not always fun, it is something that Jesus wants his followers to embrace as we are being transformed into the likeness of Christ in character and behavior.
A year ago we met here in the sanctuary for a Veritas (Truth-Telling) Experience. Our facilitator drew a diagram on a white board representing four different kinds of churches. There are:
• Healthy Missional Churches
• Stable Churches
• Critical Moment Churches
• At Risk Churches.
The objective of the At Risk Church is not to become a Critical Moment Church. The objective of the Critical Moment Church is not to become a Stable Church. And the objective of the Stable Church is not to remain a Stable Church. The objective is to always be moving toward Congregational Vitality, i.e., becoming a Healthy Missional Church… a church that is pursuing Christ and Christ’s priorities in the world.
In order to understand what being a Healthy Missional Church looks like, we are unpacking a series called: The Marks of a Healthy Missional Church. Researchers have found that there are at least ten marks, characteristics, traits, qualities, etc., that are consistently found in Healthy Missional Churches.
Series: The Marks of a Healthy Missional Church (Pursuing Christ and Christ’s Priorities in the World)
• Compelling Christian Community
• The Centrality of the Word of God
• Life Transforming Walk with Jesus
The first mark is Compelling Christian Community. We looked at Acts 2:42-47 as a prototype Compelling Christian Community. Last week we unpacked II Timothy and found a second mark, The Centrality of the Word of God. The Bible is a primary way that God guides his Church and his people through life. Today we are looking at a third mark. In Healthy Missional Churches people are experiencing a Life Transforming Walk with Jesus. They are growing and becoming more and more like Christ.
So if we were to do a self evaluation as a Church and as people, are we experiencing Compelling Christian Community, is the Word of God Central in our lives and in the life of our Church and are we experiencing a Life Transforming Walk with Jesus?
Introduction
Whenever we use a word like transforming we immediately think “change.” If, for example, we are somewhere between being a Stable Church and a Critical Moment Church and we need to move toward becoming a Healthy Missional Church, we have to be willing to change in ways that will make that transformation possible.
There’s an old light bulb joke that seems particularly pertinent to our discussion on A Life Transforming Walk with Jesus… it has many variations depending on who you want to skewer. So to play it safe I’ll just go with the standard version:
Q. How many psychiatrists does it take to change a light bulb?
A. Only one, but the light bulb really has to want to change.
There is always a wise guy who cracks, “Why should I change? I’ve learned so much from my mistakes that I’m thinking of make a few more.” Then there is the uncomfortable reminder, “If you don’t change directions you may end up where you are headed.
Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin.
In order to survive a species, albeit a species of churches, must be responsive to change and the only way to respond to change is to adapt. It is imperative that we be willing to change in order that we be a Church marked by Compelling Christian Community, The Centrality of the Word of God and Life Transforming Walks with Jesus.
A Life Transforming Walk with Jesus begins with what Jesus called being “born again.” I think of that as the initial change.
I. Initial Change: New Birth
“I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3-8
Birth is how we make our grand entrance into the physical world…
I read about a young Irish couple who were wanting to have an initial change in their lives. So they told their parish priest they were hoping to start their family soon. Their priest was pleased and promised to light a candle for them at the Altar of St. Peter while he was in Rome on sabbatical.
Nine months later, when the priest returned from Rome he heard the lady had given birth and was pleasantly surprised to discover that she had birthed quintuplets.
“Oh my, bless the Lord!” he said. Then he asked about her husband. “Where is your husband, I heard he has left the country?” To which the woman replied, “Yes, he’s flown to Rome to blow out your bloody candle.”
Quintuplet births are pretty unusual and interesting but being born again… that is really unusual.
When Nicodemus came to Jesus to talk about spiritual things Jesus made an amazing statement. “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
That was a puzzling thing to say. We’ve had centuries to think about it but it was shocking to Nicodemus… the thought of reentering his mother’s womb was absolutely preposterous. But then Jesus explained, “Just as humans reproduce human life, the Holy Spirit of God gives birth to spiritual life.” Being born again is not a physical birth, it is a spiritual birth… just as a newborn breathes his first life-giving breath outside the womb, when we become Christians the Holy Spirit breathes life into our spirits and we are born again in Christ and make our grand entrance into the spiritual life.
The initial change in our spiritual lives begins with the new birth or being born again when we receive Christ as our personal Savior.
Coincidental with the New Birth is an Immediate Change in terms of beginning a new life. I think of this change as commencing immediately.
II. Immediate Change: New Beginning
“Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” II Corinthians 5:17
The Bible tells us that long before we were, even before God created the world, God looked down through time and saw us, loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 2:4 Using the Biblical terminology, God predestined us or in simpler language, it has always been God plan that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29
Upon becoming followers of Christ we begin a spiritual pilgrimage or quest to become like Jesus Christ. We begin that quest by turning from our old way of life that was not leading us toward Christ-likeness to beginning a new life… toward becoming a new person in Christ.
When Jesus called his first disciples he simply said, “Come, follow me,” and they dropped everything they were doing and followed him. Their lives changed as they began that new chapter in life.
In August of 2005 Thelma and Victor Hayes won the Canadian Lottery… over 7 million dollars. Thelma and Victor had been married for 63 years and they were both 89 years old. When interviewed by the media they were asked what they planned to do with their grand prize winnings.
No one expected they’d become “giddy high spenders” but no one expected Thelma’s answer. While Victor was planning to buy a new Lincoln Town Car, Thelma was going to buy a new pair of nylons. She had just won a fortune and the only thing she was going to change was her nylons. (Jack Pot Winner to Splurge on Nylons, MSN.com, 8/6/05)
Being “born again” and beginning a new life in Christ is like hitting the spiritual jackpot of all time and that kind of good fortune calls for change of life style consistent with that good fortune. The Bible says, “The old life is gone; and a new life has begun.”
We are initially born again and immediately begin to live our new life in Christ.
Sometimes we get the idea that being born again and beginning a new life is it… they think they have arrived.
In the Church we have a rite that we call Confirmation. Middle School students spend time with me in a course we call Discipleship and Confirmation. At the conclusion of the class students are Confirmed and receive a Certificate of Confirmation for having completed their studies and come to a place in which they affirm their faith in Christ as their own.
If I have a disappointment in my ministry it is when Confirmation Students have the mistaken idea that Confirmation is a completion rather than a beginning of a life-long, life transforming journey with Jesus.
When students graduate from High School or the University they participate in a Commencement Exercise in which they are conferred their Diplomas or Degrees or Doctorates. To commence means to begin… when a teacher receives his or her Degree and Teacher’s Certificate that is not the end of the journey. It is the beginning of a life-long career in education.
When we begin our Life Transforming Walk with Jesus we need to understand that it is a life-long process.
III. Incremental Change: New Work
“And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6 (2:13; II Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:22-24; and Romans 8:28-29)
It is always appropriate to acknowledge and praise the accomplishments of others. But inherent in praise is the potential for the person being praised to assume he or she has arrived.
I can’t say that I am a big fan of TV programming like American Idol or America’s Got Talent. I did get into The Voice last season so I would be disingenuous if I said I never watch that kind of TV. That said, probably the one kind of act I most dislike is a “child act.” The reason for that is not a dislike for children… I love children. And it kills when this little kid, who has been receiving praise intravenously all of his brief life, is suddenly introduced to reality. The judge says, “Yes, you are cute. Yes, you are a talented little boy. But no, you are not ready to be a Headliner in Las Vegas.” And then you see the chin begin to quiver and the eyes begin to water and it is all downhill from there. The child is sobbing. The parents are mad. And the judges feel like meanies. And the audience wonders, “Why did those parents do this to their kid and to us?”
I really like the way the Apostle Paul praised the Christians in the church at Philippi. He was not disingenuous when he told them how grateful he was for them and the joy he felt in his heart because of them and his appreciation for their hard work in partnering with him in ministry. But then he said, “And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Jesus Christ returns.”
He essentially said, “I am so proud of you. You have come so far in your faith since you first believed and I just can’t wait to see what God is going to continue to do in your life in the future.”
Initially, we are born again. We begin with an understanding that becoming a Christian is likened to a new birth. In John 3 Jesus taught that humans produce human life… “flesh gives birth to flesh.” But then Jesus went on to say, “the Holy Spirit [of God] gives birth to spiritual life.” So, just as we experience a physical birth, when we become Christians we receive a spiritual birth. Jesus calls that being “born again.”
Immediately, as a new born Christian, you then have a new beginning or the beginning of a new life. You had an old, pre-Jesus life but now you have a new life in Christ. The old life is gone and now you have the beginning of a new life.
But being a new born with a new beginning does not a Headliner Christian in Las Vegas, make.
I’ve never been able to quite get into the X Men thing. I do think it would be kind of cool to have a mutant X gene that gave me special powers like the power to zap obnoxious people. (Unfortunately that goes to show you, I’m not very far along in the Christian life.) When we are born again and begin our new life in Christ we are not suddenly mutant Christians with a Jesus gene that makes us X Men and Women for God and the good of humanity.
The Christian life is an ongoing process…it starts initially with a new birth which immediately opens the way to beginning new life which continues as an incremental process of spiritual maturity into Christ-likeness.
So if you are beating yourself up for being kind of a yutzy Christian, you may not necessarily be bad at it… you just aren’t good at it yet. It takes time. It is a process.
The Bible speaks of the spiritual life as a process:
…to be conformed to the likeness of Christ. Romans 8:29
…but let God transform you into a new person. Romans 12:1-2
…the Spirit makes us more and more like him. II Corinthians 3:18
…let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Ephesians 4:22-23
… God who began a good work will continue. Philippians 1:6
…God is working in you. Philippians 2:13-14
Those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of the Son. Romans 8:29
So dear brothers and sister, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
…and the Lord, who is Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. II Corinthians 3:18
Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life… instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Ephesians 4:22-23
And I am certain that God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6
Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases him. Philippians 2:12-13 (Note how this speaks to our responsibility to cooperate with the work God is doing in our lives.)
Every reference I’ve cited speaks of the Christian life as a process. I use the word incremental to describe how it works.
When I worked on highway construction there was an old man named Truman Moore who always had a folksy way with words. And if you asked him how he was doing he would say, “Steady by jerks.”
I think that is kind of how we grow as Christians. We are always in the growth process. There are periods in which you feel like you are making no progress at all and then you have a growth spurt. But mostly it’s a day by day process that takes a lifetime.
So on one hand I want to encourage you to be patient with yourself. Remember the old “Please be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet” saying? It’s true, God is not finished with you yet.
But on the other hand I want to encourage you to “work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.” Put yourself in the place where God can work in your life… let God work with the grain, so to speak.
Think hot tub. I’ve never been in one and that is not to say I especially want to be in one, so please don’t invite me over to sit in yours. I know I am mistaken (if you pour in enough chlorine you can kill anything.) but it just looks a lot like sitting in someone else’s bathwater. However, I am aware that hot tubs and spas and whirlpool baths are wonderfully therapeutic for achy joints and sore muscles. Athletes spend considerable time in heated whirlpool baths to soothe and renew their battered bodies. They place themselves in a place where they are exposed to the benefits of physical renewal.
If you want to get big muscles you have to place yourself in a place where that is most likely to happen which is more likely a gym than the Dairy Queen Drive-Thru.
If you want to get an education you have to place yourself in a place where education is going to happen which is more likely a class room than in front of a Play Station.
If you wish to experience a Life Transforming Walk with Jesus you have to place yourself in places where it is more likely to happen…
• Church.
• Personal and group Bible studies in discussion groups or small groups.
• Learn how to pray and then pray.
• Hang with other Christians.
• Get involved in a ministry and serve God and others.
• Daily surrender your life to the Holy Spirit asking God to guide your thoughts, words and deeds.
As a Church family that wishes to encourage and nurture Life Transforming Walks with Jesus we need to be supportive and provide opportunities and pathways for those things to happen.
At the end of the day you need to be able to say, “I am not yet the person God wants me to be… but neither am I the person I once was. And by the grace of God I will continue this process of being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.”
Conclusion
Years ago there was an elderly lady who attended our church in Kansas and every so often she would call me and say, “I think he’s ready.” That meant she thought her husband was ready to receive Christ into his life. But inevitably when I arrived Newell was in no mood for being saved. And he usually had some stinging remark like, “I suppose you’re here to carve another notch in your gun handle.”
After a serious illness Newell softened a bit and received Christ into his life and one morning I came to their house and baptized Newell there in his living room… and that’s when I noticed the arms of his chair.
He was sitting in the chair he had sat on every day of their married life. It was his chair. It was a wooden rocker. There were two grooves worn by his middle finger as he had rocked and rocked in that chair over the years.
Little boys can wear out a pair of pants in one wearing but those grooves were not worn in one sitting. The Grand Canyon was not worn in one flooding. And our lives are not carved out and shaped into the likeness of Christ in one praying or one bible reading or one going to church…
Christ likeness happens as a result of one life-long Life Transforming Walk with Jesus!
One thing is certain… God is at work in each of our lives and in the life and ministry of our Church. So the individual challenge and the corporate challenge is simply, will we embrace and in the words of Scripture, “work hard to show the results of our salvation” through a Life Transforming Walk with Jesus?
