When I was growing up, I used to love watching the old Candid Camera shows, in which the producers set up a hidden camera and caught people doing the goofiest things. In one episode, an actor on a busy sidewalk began looking at the ground. He walked around a bit with his eyes glued to the sidewalk. A few people passing by gave him some strange looks. Then, after a couple minutes, he decided to get down on all fours and begin feeling around with his hands. That’s when some people slowed down and noticed what the man is doing. Finally, one person stopped and started looking at the ground. Then another one began searching the sidewalk.
In a few minutes, the camera showed about a dozen people looking down, some even on their hands and knees! At that point, the actor, who got all this started in the first place, quietly got up and walked away. No one else noticed that he has left. They were so intent in their search that they never even bothered to ask what it was they were looking for. (Brian Bill, Breaking Free from the Past, www.SermonCentral.com)
That describes a lot of people in our world. They’re looking for something, but they’re not quite sure what. They just know there’s got to be more to life than what they’re living, but they don’t know what it is or where to find it. A lot of people are looking for a new life, but they don’t have a blessed clue how or where to find it.
Well, the Bible is very clear. If you want a new life, don’t look down; look up! If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Colossians 3, Colossians 3, where it shows us how to find a new life.
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. (NIV)
We who are believers in Christ have already been raised with Christ to a new way of life. We came alive when He did! So if we want to find that new life, we must look up to Him where He is seated in the place of all authority and power. We must…
SEEK THINGS ABOVE.
Namely, we must seek Christ’s rule in our lives. Set your hearts and minds on Him. Diligently center your life on the risen, ascended, and glorified Lord Jesus Christ. And just in case we missed it, the Bible says it again.
Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (NIV)
Literally, think or ponder, concentrate on things above not on things upon the earth. Verse 1 emphasizes a diligent, earnest striving to find Christ’s rule in our lives. Verse 2 emphasizes a concentration or a focus of our attention on Him. In other words, Don’t stare at the ground; stare into heaven. Don’t look down; look up! Be so heavenly minded that you ARE some earthly good. Get your direction from Christ in heaven for the practical, everyday affairs of your life.
Why? Because your identity is wrapped up in Christ, not in the amount of stuff you have, not in how popular you are, nor in any other thing this world has to offer. Look up to Christ, if you want a new life…
Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. (NIV)
Our past died when Christ died. In other words, we are no longer under its control. Our past life can inform us, but it doesn’t have to influence us anymore. Our past is dead with Christ. Our present is hidden, or secure, with Christ in God, and our future is glorious with Christ.
Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (NIV)
Our past died with Christ. Our present hides with Christ, and our future shines with Christ. We are all about Christ – past, present and future. So concentrate on Him. Seek His rule in your life if you want a new life.
I like the way Jessie Rice put it in what she called, “An Open Letter to My Fear of What Others Think.” Here’s what she wrote:
“Dear Fear-Of-What-Others-Think,
“I am sick of you, and it's time we broke up. I know we've broken up and gotten back together many times, but seriously, Fear-Of-What-Others-Think, this is it. We're breaking up.
“I'm tired of overthinking my status updates on Facebook, trying to sound more clever, funny, and important. I'm sick of feeling anxious about what I say or do in public, especially around people I don't know that well, all in the hope that they'll like me, accept me, praise me. I run around all day feeling like a Golden Retriever with a full bladder: Like me! Like me! Like me!
“Because of you, I go through my day with a cloud of shame hanging over my head, and I never stop acting. The spotlight's always on, and I'm center stage, and I'd better keep dancing, posturing, mugging, or else the spotlight will move, and I'll dissolve into a little, meaningless puddle on the ground, just like that witch in The Wizard of Oz. I can never live up to the expectations of my imaginary audience, the one that lives only in my head but whose collective voice is louder than any other voice in the universe.
“And all of this is especially evil because if I really stop and think about it, and let things go quiet and listen patiently for the voice of the God who made me and the Savior who died for me, in his eyes, it turns out I'm actually – profoundly – precious, lovable, worthy, valuable, and even just a little ghetto-fabulous. When I find my true identity in Christ, then you turn back into the tiny, yapping little dog that you are.
“So eat it, Fear-Of-What-Others-Think. You and I are done. And no, I'm not interested in "talking it through." I'm running, jumping, laughing you out of my life, once and for all. Or at least, that's what I really, really want. God help me.” (Jessie Rice, “An Open Letter to My Fear of What Others Think,” Church of Facebook blog, 11-23-11; www.PreachingToday.com)
If you want a truly new life, stop concentrating on what others think, or on what money you can make, or on anything this world has to offer. Don’t look down on the things of this earth. Look up to Christ who IS your life. Seek things above. Then…
SLAY THINGS BELOW.
Put to death the evil desires of your earthly nature. Exterminate those worldly passions that alienate you from God.
Colossians 3:5-6 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming [upon the sons of disobedience]. (NIV)
The New International Version leaves out that last phrase, but it is found in all but a few Greek manuscripts. To be more precise: the wrath of God is already on its way towards those who refuse to be convinced of the truth, i.e., towards those who willfully disbelieve. You see, that’s the way all of us were before we came to know Christ.
Colossians 3:7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. (NIV)
Before we knew Christ, we all walked about in the filth of our lust and greed. But now in Christ we’re better than that, so put those earthy passions to death. Kill them in your life. Take extreme measures (if need be) to stop indulging those worldly appetites.
According to a recent survey published in USA Today, people will pay for an exterminator when the following pests are in their home: 24 percent of adults (that’s 1 in 4) will pay an exterminator to kill spiders. Roughly the same number, 27 percent of adults, will pay to annihilate ants. With the next pest the percentage jumps to just over half, as 56 percent will pay to banish bedbugs. The same percentage, 56 percent, will pay to get rid of rodents (That's mice and rats). 58 percent will pay to kill cockroaches. Then the number jumps again when we talk about a bug that can bring the house down: termites. 87 percent of adults (that's 9 out of 10) will pay to terminate termites.
That’s all well and good, but did you notice that except for termites, almost half of all adults will choose to live with some of these creepy, crawly creatures rather than pay a professional to get rid of them? It’s seems that a lot of people are willing to tolerate certain pests in their homes.
And that’s often the way it is in the spiritual realm too. Many people are willing to live – or feel like they have to live – with spiritual ants, spiritual spiders, spiritual bedbugs, spiritual cockroaches, spiritual mice, spiritual rats, or spiritual termites. (Anne R. Carey and Keith Simmons, “Calling the Exterminators: Critters that bug us most,” USA Today Snapshots, May 22-25, 2011, 1A; based on survey of 1,253 adults by Global Strategy Group for Orkin; www.PreachingToday.com)
Some sins we tolerate in ourselves, but we don’t have to as believers in Christ, because we have the resources in Him to exterminate them all. We don’t HAVE to indulge our lust and greed. But the problem is we don’t WANT to kill them. Instead, we want to keep them around as little pets, which we think we can control.
Look at a little porn here. Spend more than I can afford there – just some little pleasures to enjoy every once in a while. No harm in that, is there? Well, nothing can be further from the truth. If we don’t exterminate those worldly passions when they’re little, they’ll grow into big dragons that will dominate and control our lives. No! If you want a new life, slay those dragons before they slay you!
In his book, The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis describes a busload of people who travel to heaven on their way to hell. These people appear thin and almost ghostlike in the robust atmosphere of heaven, and most of them immediately flee back to the comfort of their bus. One man however, ventures out into the plains of heaven. Only that man is plagued by a talkative red lizard, which sits on his shoulder.
A mighty angel approaches the man and asks, “Would you like me to make the lizard quiet?”
“Of course I would,” says the ghostlike man.
“Then I will kill him,” says the Angel, taking a step forward.
“Oh—ah—look out! You're burning me. Keep away,” says the man, retreating.
“Don't you want him killed?”
“You didn't say anything about killing him. I hardly meant to bother you with anything so drastic as that.”
“It's the only way," says the Angel… “Shall I kill it?”
“ Look! It's gone to sleep of its own accord. I'm sure it'll be all right now. Thanks ever so much.”
“May I kill it?”
“Honestly, I don't think there's the slightest necessity for that. I'm sure I shall be able to keep it in order now. Some other day, perhaps.”
“There is no other day…”
[Suddenly] the Lizard begins chattering loudly: “Be careful,” it says. “He can do what he says. He can kill me. One fatal word from you and he will! Then you'll be without me for ever and ever. I'll be so good. I admit I've sometimes gone too far in the past, but I promise I won't do it again…”
“Have I your permission?” asks the Angel to the ghostlike man.
“You're right. It would be better to be dead than to live with this creature.”
“Then I may?”
“Blast you! Go on can't you? Get it over,” bellows the Ghost: but ends, whimpering, “God help me. God help me.”
The next moment the Ghost screams in agony. The Burning One closes his crimson grip on the reptile: twists it, while it bites and writhes, and then flings it, back broken, on the turf.
Then, unmistakably solid but growing every moment more solid, the Ghost materializes into a man, not much smaller than the Angel.
At the same moment something seemed to be happening to the Lizard. At first it looked like the operation had failed. So far from dying, the creature was still struggling and even growing bigger as it struggled. And as it grew it changed into a great stallion, silvery white but with mane and tail of gold.
The man, now free from his torment, climbs upon the stallion that had been his sin and rides into the glowing sunrise towards the Savior. (Adapted from C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce, HarperCollins, 2009, pp. 106-112; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, we cannot let those lizards of lust and greed sit on our shoulder all the time, even if they do go to sleep sometimes. No! We must kill them though there might be pain in the process. For then, and only then, will we be able to conquer our ugly past and ride it into a glorious future with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Start by looking up to Jesus. Ask Him to help you. Then kill those dragons. If you want a new life, 1st, seek things above, then slay things below. And finally, if you want a new life…
SHED THINGS THAT DIVIDE.
Throw off those things that destroy relationships. Get rid of those angry words and lies that tear people apart.
Colossians 3:8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. (NIV)
These are the things that destroy relationships, and the Bible says we are to throw them off like a dirty shirt.
Colossians 3:9-10 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. (NIV)
You see, we’ve already had a change of clothes. When we trusted Christ, we threw off an old way of life and put on a new way of life. And that new life is constantly being refreshed and renewed through our knowledge of Christ. God is at work in us making us more and more like our creator, Jesus Christ Himself.
It’s a wonderful work, this new life in Christ, but it’s more than just a work in us individually. It’s God’s work in us corporately, as a body of believers. It’s a work where God brings individuals, who don’t normally get along, together in one body.
This is the “new man” that Christ created when He died on the cross for our sins. Ephesians 2 says, “His purpose was to create in himself one NEW MAN out of the two (i.e., out of Jew and Gentile), thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (Ephesians 2:15-16). This “new man” is the church, where all believers are “created equal” regardless of their nationality, former religion, culture, or economic standing.
Colossians 3:11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. (NIV)
The only thing that matters is Christ, who lives in every believer. It doesn’t matter how much money you’ve got, or where you came from, or even what your religious sensibilities are. All that matters is that you know and love Jesus Christ.
This IS the “new man” or the “new self” that we put on when we came to faith in Christ. God put us in one body, the church, and now he expects us to get along with each other no matter what our differences are.
That’s why we have to throw off the angry words and lies like a dirty, smelly shirt. We have to shed the anger, slander, and filthy language, because these things destroy relationships; these things tear us apart and divide churches, as well as families and whole communities.
In September 2011, The New York Times ran an article about a small town in Missouri called Mountain Grove. Gossip and rumors have always existed in this tight-knit community, but before the days of anonymous social media websites, people traded stories at the local diner called Dee's Place. At Dee's Place you could usually find a dozen longtime residents who gathered each morning to talk about weather, politics, and, of course, their neighbors.
But of late [the article reports], more people in this hardscrabble town of 5,000 have shifted from sharing the latest news and rumors over eggs and coffee to… a social media Web site called Topix, where they write and read startlingly negative posts, all cloaked in anonymity, about one another. [Unlike Facebook, which require users to give their real names, Topix users can pick different names and thus remain anonymous.]
And people are not happy in Dee's Place. A waitress, Pheobe Best, said that the site had provoked fights and caused divorces. The diner's owner, Jim Deverell, called Topix a “cesspool of character assassination.” And hearing the conversation, Shane James, the cook, wandered out of the kitchen tense with anger.
His wife, Jennifer, had been the target in a post… which described the mother of two, as among other things, “a methed-out, doped-out [addict] with AIDS.” Not a word was true, Mr. and Mrs. James said, but the consequences were real enough… Now, the couple has resolved to move. “I'll never come back to this town again,” Ms. James said in an interview at the diner. “I just want to get… out of town.”
The article concludes with a warning about gossip: “The same Web sites created for candid talk about local news and politics are also hubs of unsubstantiated gossip, stirring widespread resentment in communities where ties run deep… (A.G. Sulzberger, "In Small Towns, Gossip Moves to the Web, and Turns Vicious," The New York Times, 9-19-11; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, such talk (anonymous or otherwise) will always destroy communities even with the strongest ties. Please, don’t let it destroy what God has created here at Bethel Church.
If you have an issue with somebody, talk TO them civilly and calmly; don’t talk ABOUT them. Get it resolved before things escalate and get nasty. Do it not only for your sake, but for the sake of the work of God in this place.
If you truly want a new life, seek things above, slay things below, and shed things that divide.
In 1505, Raphael painted The Madonna del Cardellino for the wedding of a friend, a wealthy Florence merchant. It portrays Jesus’ mother, Mary, and two children who are playing with a gold finch bird. The children are John the Baptist and his young cousin Jesus (show painting before restoration).
Unfortunately, 41 years after it was painted, there was an earthquake and the house in which it hung was destroyed. The painting itself, on wood, was shattered into 17 different pieces. Another artist tried to patch the pieces together with long iron nails. Then he tried to paint over it to conceal the breaks and make it look whole again. But over the years, there were so many layers of paint added and so much dust and grime that the original colors, the original art, was nearly obscured; and as you can see, the cracks started showing through.
Then, in 1998, 50 people undertook a ten-year project to restore the painting, which was completed in November 2008 and returned to its home at the world renowned gallery in Florence. It was a team effort, fixing the shattered areas (show painting during restoration) and removing layers of paint and dirt to get the colors back. Now, the cracks are gone. Centuries of brown film and grime are gone. The dulling veneers and patches have been stripped away, and the finished product just glows with the brilliant colors – the reds, the blues, and the golds – of the original work of art (show painting after restoration). (Mary Kassian, The Genesis of Gender; www.PreachingToday.com)
For me, the story of this painting illustrates what God wants to do in your life and mine. Originally, God formed us into His glorious and wonderful image. Then something tragic happened. Sin DEformed us, and we have been trying to fix ourselves ever since. We’ve tried to patch the pieces together and paint over the damage, but the veneers only made things worse. They collected layers of grime and dirt, and they couldn’t keep the cracks in our broken hearts from showing through. But then Christ came along, and now He wants to TRANSform us into His image again. Christ wants to make us new again.
That means YOU can have a new life. I can have a new life. We ALL can have a new life, fully restored to its original design. All we have to do is seek Him. Then with His help, get rid of the things that can only divide us and destroy us in the end.
