4 QUESTIONS FOR THE HOLIDAYS – Can This Really Be a Happy New Year?
2 Corinthians 5:11-21 January 7. 2023
Introduction:
The Corinthians Church was filled with people who had a ton of baggage. And that baggage had a way of messing up spiritual health individually and in the church as a whole.
Remember what kind of people the Corinthians were before they were saved in Christ. Paul reminds them... “Brothers and sister, think of what you were when you were called!” (1 Cor. 1:26) He tells them “You weren’t wise, influential or of royal birth” and a few chapters later.
He reminds them that before Christ came into their lives many of them were sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterous, homosexuals, thieves, greedy, drunks, slanderers and swindlers. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)
Corinth was a church filled with new Christians who were still thinking and acting a lot like the world they came from and lived in.
If you check out this first letter to the Corinthians...The Apostle Paul addresses a problem with favoritism and cliques in Chapter 2, plus worldly influences in their thinking. In chapter 3 he tells them they’re babies in their Christianity that still are on the bottle when they should be eating solid food by now. In Chapter 4 some of them have become stuck up and arrogant. In Chapter 5 he deals with “a man whose having sex with his father’s wife” and the church just looks the other way...and is proud of their “tolerance.” In Chapter 6 they’re suing each other...and so it goes...on and on, many of these Corinthian believers “are stuck.”
They aren’t being made “new.” They are calling themselves believers, but the past will not let them go...or they won’t let go of it.
I meet so many people in today’s world who are just like the Corinthians. Their past will not let them go...or they won’t let go of it. If you and I are to experience a happy new year then there are some changes that have to occur. We’ll have to climb out of the rut and start down a new path, by being honest to God and others.
I. HAPPINESS BEGINS WITH TRANSPARENCY
Paul says, “Since we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others...what we are is plain to God, and I hope it’s also plain to your conscience.”
God’s word says, “The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord.” (Proverbs 9:10)
You know what that means? It means that we are accountable first and foremost to God. He knows the truth of our sin, He knows our deepest secrets. “Nothing in all creation is hidden before the eyes of the one to whom we must give an account.”
(Heb. 4:13)
This is where real wisdom starts...God knows...He sees...You can’t hide from Him.
But we still try don’t we? Like Jonah we run from Him. Like Moses we put on a veil.
In our foolishness we pretend we’re something or someone we are not to people, all the while ignoring the God who knows the truth.
Think of what Paul says in verse 16 of our test... “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”
The world has a way of judging people. It always involves the way they look. The popularity they possess, and the power they weld. It’s why so many people try to look like or copy celebrities.
“Maybe I can get just a taste of their worth.”
Paul used to judge people with this standard. (a worldly point of view) So, an itinerant preacher, son of a carpenter, from Nazareth...wasn’t worth the dirt on his shoe.
At one point Paul found his mission in life was to criticize and persecute those who didn’t measure up to his standard. A Pharisee’s standard...lots of how we appear...little on how our hearts really are.
“People who take pride in what is seen rather than what is in the heart.” (v. 12)
You see many try to change the outside appearance, with works, with a gift, with religious symbols so people will think they’re righteous. It’s a horrible way to live because you are pretending, masquerading as a Christian. And to protect your mask being removed you criticize and persecute others.
But when you meet Christ, on the Road to Damascus, or somewhere else in your life as a Crucified and Risen Lord...and you surrender your control...something else becomes your mission and purpose.
READ VERSES 14-15
Christ’s love compels us...A love that brought Him to death...on a cross. He died for everyone. Adulterous women in the dirt, the 17 year old pothead, and the “Righteous Pharisee.” Those who now live because of His resurrection...because of their salvation “should no longer live for themselves but for him who died and rose again.”
You cannot live for Christ when you ignore your need for forgiveness...you cannot live a transparent, genuine, ministry oriented life without sharing your testimony. And that explodes in gratitude and thanksgiving. It makes you consider how your journey and battle can help someone else. Listen to what Paul tells Timothy.
1 TIMOTHY 1:12-17
Can Christ have changed your life...His Holy Spirit radically transformed your heart and there be no thanksgiving and worship in your new life? NO! The Holy Spirit, God’s gift at our baptism, changes us from the inside out. Not the outside in.
Pretending comes from pride...transparency comes from honesty. Mike Yaconelli says in his book “Messy Spirituality”
There is no room for pretending in the spiritual life. Unfortunately, in many religious circles, there exists an unwritten rule. Pretend. Act like God is in control when you don’t believe he is. Give the impression everything is okay in your life when it’s not. Pretend you believe when you doubt; hide your imperfections; maintain the image of a perfect marriage with healthy and well-adjusted children when your family is like any other normal dysfunctional family. And whatever you do, don’t admit that you sin. Practically, pretending is efficient, uncomplicated, and quick. Answering “Fine” to the question “How are you doing?” is much easier and quicker than saying, “Not very well, thank you; my back is bothering me, my teenage children are disappointing me, I’m unhappy with my body, my husband never speaks to me, and I’m wondering if Christianity is true.” Honesty requires a huge investment of time and energy from the person asking the question (who would then wish they’d never asked).
Pretending is the grease of modern non relationships. Pretending perpetuates the illusion of relationships by connecting us on the basis of who we aren’t. People who pretend have pretend relationships. But being real is a synonym for messy spirituality, because when we are real, our messiness is there for everyone to see.
When Paul writes in Romans Chapter 3 verse 10, “There is no one righteous, not even one” he’s saying...we all have issues. No one is perfect...we all struggle from time to time.
Please understand we aren’t tempted to pretend because if those who will love us and show us grace...we’re tempted to pretend because of those who still evaluate our worth with a worldly point of view.
But if we will courageously open our hearts to Christ, to His sacrifice and love we can start to understand why we’re here on earth...and that truth is...we are:
II. AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old is gone, the new is here.” (2 Cor. 5:17) (My favorite verse of scripture)
This plan comes from God who reconciled the world to himself through Christ...and He gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
“We are Christ’s ambassadors, as if God were making His appeal through us.” (v. 20)
Here’s the definition for ambassador: “An official of the highest rank sent by one sovereign state to another as it’s resident representative.”
If you are the United States Ambassador to India...you live in India representing America and it’s interests.
If you are an ambassador for Christ...you live in this world representing the Kingdom of God and its interests.
But here’s something for us all to consider...we are all “war-time” ambassadors. The world and God are involved in a deadly, sinful struggle.
Romans 8:7-8 says, “The mind governed by the flesh (the world) is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.”
John the beloved said it this way, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of they eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15-17)
[You remember the story between the Indian Chief and his oldest son where he looks at the young brave and says, “Son, inside of you are two wolves which struggle for control...one good and one evil...and his son said “Father, which one will win the battle?” His father, the chief answered “the one you feed.”
The wolf of selfishness is always hungry inside every single one of us. It hungers for what it sees, what it desires...what it wants...NOW! Since Adam and Eve fell into sin, the wolf rages in our souls...demanding to be fed.
And then came Christ. His sacrificial death, His resurrection conquering death, and His promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Once the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives, He cries for control, he hungers for us to be holy, righteous, like Christ. How does He win? How does this beautiful wolf of heaven conquer evil...we chose to feed Him. “Who you are today doesn’t have to be who you are tomorrow (Jon Weece).
Phil. 2:13 says “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose.”
His “good purpose” is to reconcile the world to himself...His purpose is to save the lost...redeem the broken...rescue the perishing.
How does He still do that? Through his ambassadors! “as though He were making his appeal through us.”
“We implore you...On Christ’s behalf be reconciled to God.”
[I truly believe I’m here...still alive...and assured of my salvation for one reason...to tell people I’ve been reconciled with God, and so can they. I know very few people who waged war more fiercely with God than I did. Paul mentions that Jesus came to save sinners...and he says, “of whom I am the worst.” I’m sure it was easy for him to recall “Stephen’s face.” The anger, the violence, the hatred...the self righteousness.
I can still remember how I longed for evil things...hurt people...broke law after law...all in a selfish pursuit of what I believed was freedom. I feel that same truth...I was a sinner...trying with all my energies to be the “worst.”
And God began to break the hardness of my heart through His Holy Spirit. He began to show me how lost I really was...and how big a gulf my sin had created between us. I was at war with God...and God was trying to make peace. He wanted reconciliation. It’s what He wants with every one of us. 2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
I was dying spiritually, and life had become a chore, working hard just to keep going.
Recently, I came across a true story that happened during the Holocaust of the 2nd World War.
Solomon Rosenberg, his wife and their 2 sons were arrested, together with Rosenburg’s mother and father for the crime of being Jews. They were placed in a Nazi concentration camp.
It was a labor camp, and the rules were simple.
“As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. When you become too weak to do your work, then you will be exterminated.”
Rosenberg watched as his mother and father were marched off to their deaths. He knew that the next would be his youngest son, David – because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening, Rosenberg came back into the barracks after each day of hard labor and searched for the faces of his family. When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces.
He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping and praying. He said, “Josh, tell me it’s not true.”
Joshua turned and said, “It is true, Dad. Today David was not strong enough to do his work. So they came for him.”
“But where is your mother?” asked Mr. Rosenberg.
“Oh Dad,” he said, “When they came for David, he was afraid and he cried. So mum said, ‘There is nothing to be afraid of, David,’ and she took his hand and went with him.”
The love of Christ had Him take my hand and go with me.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
My death, my burial, my resurrection into a new life...with a new purpose is only possible because He went with me.
