According to Chinese tradition 2012 was the year of the water dragon and 2013 the water snake
Malaysian Taxi Driver
I was invited to speak at a Church Convention in Malaysia, and a friend from college heard I was only a few hours from Kuala Lumpur and asked me to come do some training for his worship leaders/choirs and singers there. He arranged for a taxi to drive me from Malacca to Kuala Lumpur. I was surprised to see what looked to me like some Buddhist symbols as well as what appeared to me to be Christian symbols in his car. So I asked “are you a Christian?” “No!” He said “I'm Chinese”. That was the beginning of a an interesting conversation and an enjoyable few hours. That man seemed a bit confused about what it meant to be Christian (or what it meant to be Chinese). I think there are some Christians with a similar confusion. Tonight, as we welcome the new year, I’d like to invite everyone here to a year of authentic Christianity-a Christianity that knows no national, linguistic, genetic, or socio-economic boundaries. A Christianity that is biblical, obedient, and joyful.
The Year of the Bible
The problem with preaching from James: too many options! “Count it all joy” . . . “if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God” . . . the rich man will “pass like a flower” . . . “blessed is the man who perseveres under trial (endures temptation) for when he’s tried he shall receive a crown of life” . . . “God will tempt no man” . . . “every good and perfect gift comes from above” . . . “everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” . . . All of this from the first chapter!
Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:21-25
Get rid of filth . . . humbly accept the word . . . the two sides of the transformation coin
Sometimes we decide to be very disciplined. We set a New Year’s resolution, like “I’m going to quit smoking” or “I’m going to lose weight”. Roughly 90% of these resolutions fail. Why? One reason is we think we can make ourselves do (or not do) something by force of will. We think we can resist temptation if we really want to. This isn’t true.
If we want to lose weight, or start exercising, or quit smoking, or, as James exhorts us here, get rid of moral filth, it will not be by an act of will alone. We must replace old habits with new habits. We must replace the thoughts of sin with thoughts of right, replace texting of the latest dirty joke with songs of worship, replace surfing the net with reading the Bible, replace a crass coffee shop conversation with prayer. So the first step toward a more godly life in 2013 is to walk away from those habits that fill your mind and heart with filth. The next step is to replace those habits with the word which can save us.
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105
Jesus taught many principles and guidelines in the Sermon on the Mount. Many people look at those chapters in Matthew 5-7 as the heart of the Gospel. He concludes His sermon with this illustration:
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
The key to victory Jesus is NOT learning His word.
The key is doing what He said. The difference between the house that stood and the house that fell is obedience. Both builders HEARD the word of God.
Mirrors-made of metal-usually polished bronze. You look in the mirror and forget?
They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Exodus 38:8
The mirrors were used to make the basin the priest used for cleansing before he entered the Temple.
The Word of God is like a mirror. It reveals those places of dirt that need to be removed. God then uses that same instrument as the means of our cleansing.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
And then, it seems, we have a hint of what God desires to accomplish on our behalf through His word:
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”
God’s will for us is that His word, and obedience to that Word, would transform our lives from curses to blessings.
11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:11-13
The connection between righteousness and the Word is consistent.
Jesus is the Word
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:1-5
True transformation in 2013, or any year, will come from us studying and being obedient to God’s word-learning and being obedient to Jesus. As for us, let’s make this the Year of the Bible.
