The Power to Change a World
ľ The eyes. They eyes tell it all. There is an entire world within every eye we look into. These amazing beings God has created, these humans, each represent for us an entire cosmos, a galaxy of potential beauty, of ability, of love, and creativity. As we gaze into the eyes we gaze into the window of the immortal soul but what often looks back at us is a frail shadow of what could be.
ľ Look into her eyes on a Sunday afternoon as the shadows break through her window. She lies on her dirty bed at seven, a child sex slave since the age of five-she has learned to watch the crack below her bolted door for the shoes of the next man who will rape her for pay.
ľ Her eyes tell it all. An entire world of pain, a history of suffering, a heart void of hope.
ľ C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory said "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations-these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-immortal horrors or everlasting splendors."
ľ But if I may be so bold as to correct C.S. Lewis, may I say to you that as we look into the eyes we see both immortal horror and everlasting splendor. What we see as we gaze in is both horrible as well as beautiful.
ƒæ It is into the eyes of immortality that we look as we look into the eyes of people-people, these amazing objects of God’s love. You, here, beloved of God, are amazing, each in her own way with her own history and hang-ups and cares and concerns-you are amazing-and God loves you!
ľ But the truth of the matter is that we need power-power to resurrect and bring life where there is death.
ľ The brokenness of our world and the brokenness of our souls are the result of sin, of a soul-sickness. Sin has contaminated all that is good and darkened the window of our souls and we need power to be free, to be cleansed, to be made whole.
ľ We need light to overcome the darkness of the world out there and the world in here and I want to tell you today that there is such a power.
ľ There is a power to change her world as she crouches by the dirty bed praying to a God she does not know.
ľ Power for a world filled with anguish for a childhood lost. Power for a world of sickness as sticky men dump their disease into her 7 year old body. There is a power to change her world.
ľ The despair of the AIDS orphan in Africa, the fear of the homeless child in Mexico, the hopelessness of the child sex slave in Indonesia, the despondency of the Congolese child soldier-there is a power to change their world.
ľ You see there is a power that can change a world-the world of the individual, the immortal soul of those lost in this soul-sickness, in sin.
ľ And as we take this power and apply it to their lives we change their world. May I say to you today that when we change a world we change the world?
ľ There is a power that can change our world as well-the world impoverished American spirituality-of the emptiness and consumption that calls us to turn inward to our own lusts and away from a life of communion with Jesus Christ.
ľ There is a power to change the world of the cosmos that is shell-shocked and decaying because of all that is evil.
ľ The great news is that Jesus Christ has come into this world not only to take away the soul-sickness of men but also to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth.
ľ God calls every Christian to this work, the work of evangelism, to take this power into the dark world as heralds.
ľ We are all heralds of this great news! The word "herald" is an antiquated word that goes back to the days prior to the printing press when news would be verbally delivered by designated messengers. A herald would be the one who would go to the street corner and hilltop and shout to a town or village, announcing what was of utmost importance for the people to know.
ƒæ We are all God’s designated messengers of the ancient good news for a new age. Regardless of what campus you are on, Christian or secular, we are to herald the good news in a culturally relevant way.
ƒæ We live in a world of blogging, of vlogging, of posting and texting, of satellite and cable, and it is into this new digitally connected global village that we’ve been sent to not only announce God’s great news about Jesus Christ but also to demonstrate its power.
ľ Paul, in I Thes. 1:5, says, "...our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction."
ƒæ This idea of telling and doing has unfortunately been two separate halves of the Church. We have those who would merely evangelize the lost while failing to address the historic inequalities that left Blacks floating in storage bins after hurricane Katrina-those who would be content with a sinner’s prayer while cowardice and tyranny perpetuate the bondage of poverty.
ľ We also have those who would merely serve vaccines and food rations to the war-torn streets that run fresh with blood while failing to recognize that real change comes when the souls of women are transformed from the inside out. We have those who would fill the belly, cloth the back, and educate the mind while the souls of men march into hell.
ľ When I was a child, the urban sulfurized air filled my nostrils at the end of my dead end street. Starring out my window was the shell of a burnt out neighborhood littered with prostitutes and drug dealers. To look into my eyes would be to look into despair, hopelessness and fear. I needed power.
ľ There were many who came into our world with expressions of grace, with clothes and food, with financial aid and a kind word-but they had no power-no real power to change my world.
ľ There were also those who came with religious platitudes, with phraseology, with pie in the sky, but they had no real power. I needed to be saved from the hell I was in as well as the hell to come-and Jesus Christ is able to save us from them both!
ľ And because Jesus Christ has come for that boy in that window, there is now a power for his world, both to save him from the hell that filled his eyes but also to save him from the hell to come.
ľ This idea of saving people from sin and hell has become almost entirely divorced from the idea of activist mission. May I say to you that there is no mission without both the message of Jesus Christ and the power of His Kingdom? Again, "...our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power!"
ľ The message of evangelism is that transformational message that can save us from hell. It is the message that Jesus Christ came into our world and stared into the dark window of our soul and did not look away!
ľ As He peers into our darkness, He reaches in and took our soul-sickness upon Himself.
ľ As He peers in, He goes to the cross. See Him now hanging, dying on two pieces of wood, blood streaming down with spit onto the ground of our world, forever giving life and power to transform the soul and to transform society.
ľ The blood of Jesus is that power that can change our world. In all His suffering, with each pang and thrust for breath and heave came the release from our sickbed of suffering. This bloody message is the message of evangelism and it is our privilege and duty to proclaim it.
ľ This Jesus has the power to change a world! This Jesus, not the safe, castrated knick-knack Jesus that hangs on the walls of gift shops across America, but this Jesus with calloused hands and dirty feet.
ľ This Jesus calls every one of us to follow Him into the world of darkness and suffering and look into the eyes of the hopeless, the poor, the sick-into the eyes of immortality and to proclaim good news! This is the work of evangelism and this is the work of every Christian.
ľ This Jesus calls us all to follow Him not only to the cross. This has been an error of the Church in America. He calls us to suffering, to sacrifice to death, yes. But to follow this Jesus ultimately brings us to an empty tomb. He calls us to follow Him past the cross, past death and into the resurrection.
ľ Jesus is alive! Let me say it again, "Jesus is alive!" When we follow this Jesus into this dark world, we follow Him who has conquered death, who has overcome the world! We have real power to offer her on her bed, to him in the window because we have the resurrection power of Jesus Christ!
ľ Is this good news!?!? I want to end by saying that not only is this the good news that all of us are to take to our campuses and into the world-this is also the good news you are to take into your soul.
ľ Many of you have come knowing about Jesus, knowing about this power, about this good news but you are still in the dark. God is calling you to come into the light. God is calling you to recognize your darkness, your sin, and to ask for His forgiveness, to come into the light.
ľ Many of you have joined InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, you are here from a church or a Christian school. You know much about Jesus but your soul has not been cleansed. Today, you have the opportunity to make the decision of your life, the decision to become a follower of this Jesus-a new leader for a new world.
ƒæ Many of you have come and like me you did not grow up in the church. You’re more comfortable at the frat party, the step show, the pub’s wet t-shirt contest then you are in a church service but there is something about this Jesus that has brought you here to St. Louis and I want you to know that it is for this divine moment that He has brought you-to receive His light, to take the blood of Jesus and apply it to your world.
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ľ Jesus has the power to change the world, but He also has the power to change your world if you will let him. When we become followers of this Jesus, we turn our eyes away from the darkness of our sin and we allow Christ to shine on us as it says in Eph. 5:13-14, "But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, "Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you."
ƒæ Allow Him to shine on you now-to look into the window of your soul, into your eyes. He will not look away not matter how deep you’ve buried your sin, no matter how dark it is, He will not look away.
ƒæ In just a moment, I’m going to ask you to make the decision of your life, the decision to become an authentic follower of this Jesus. In just a moment I’m going to ask you to stand where you are on the floor or in the stands or sitting in front of your computer at home watching this webcast.
ƒæ In just a moment I’m going to ask you to stand to make a commitment to Jesus Christ. Standing here today means you are asking God to come into your life and bring His light. You are asking Him to forgive your sin, to cleanse you and to become your leader. Standing here today symbolizes a change of heart about the direction of your life-you are committing to follow the way of Jesus as your new Lord or leader.
ƒæ Right now, I want you to stand all around this auditorium to confess your sin and ask Jesus to be your leader. You are standing now to recognize this story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is your story, the story you will live in and own and proclaim. You are standing now to become an authentic Christian, a real Christ follower, turning your back on the empty shell of religiosity. You are standing now to allow Christ to shine on you, to cleanse you, to forgive you.
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