FROM BOOMTOWN TO BOONDOCKS
Ephesians 2:1-10
Big Idea: The Resurrection changes everything!
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
INTRO:
From Boomtown to Boondocks
In its heyday it was as a mining boomtown. It was a national center of ore, lead and zinc mining. It produced a vast amount of the ore and lead used for ammunition during WWI and WWII. In fact, over 75% of the bullets and bombs made during those wars were mined there. They could literally boast of helping the U.S. win the wars.
The population grew to over 20,000; their future looked prosperous and without end.
But something was happening even as the wealth and prestige grew. Inherent within their prosperity was their contamination. It was silently affecting everything and everyone.
• The ore, zinc and lead infiltrated the water system.
• The waste from the mining piled up into chat piles, some over 200 feet high and the run-off tainted the ponds and swimming holes and the wildlife.
• The dust from the chat piles floated over the town and literally coated it with lead – everyday.
The residents of Picher, Oklahoma discounted the threat and disregarded the contamination … the prosperity was too significant for it to be much of a concern but by the time Vickie and I lived in the neighboring town of Miami the contamination was undeniable and its consequences obvious.
The boomtown had become the boondocks.
The children in the school system were checked and it was found that 1 in 4 had high lead poising; that was 2.5 times the safety level. Lead had permeated everything. The federal government stepped in with a superfund and tried to rectify the problem. They literally removed 3 to 6 inches of topsoil from every yard and lot and replaced it with clean soil; but within a matter of a very very short amount of time the new soil was contaminated with lead. It had so permeated the area that nothing could escape. The government spent over 300 million dollars to no avail. About 10 years ago the EPA said that Picher was one of the most polluted and contaminated places in America. So the government began buying out the town … it was to be abandoned … there was no hope … the contamination was not reversible.
In 2008 a tornado destroyed 2/3 of the town and some of the 100 or so who refused to leave died and the rest left. Today it is a ghost town … contaminated by its prosperity. Its downfall was embedded within its success. Today ten people live there. All indications are that the death is permanent.
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I think Picher, Oklahoma can serve as a parable.
Humanity has some things in common with this town in northeast Oklahoma.
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1. THERE IS AN EVER-PERVASIVE CONTAMINANT CALLED SIN THAT HAS AFFECTED US THROUGH AND THROUGH.
The term used for sin in Ephesians 2 is “harmartia.” It is a marksman or shooting term and it means “to miss the mark.” The Bible teaches us that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Some may have missed the mark by a long shot – the proverbial couldn’t hit the side of a barn – and others by a lesser degree but we have all missed; we have all sinned. The result is a toxic contaminate that affects us through and through.
When we come to realize what sin is we discover it is not something that religion has invented; it is something with which life is permeated. It is failure at a very base and core level.
Harmartia places all humankind on the same level. We have all failed to be what we ought to be and could be.
2. THIS CONTAMINANT IS SUCH THAT WE CANNOT RID OURSELVES OF IT.
In 1895 George Du Maurier wrote a novel titled “Trilby.” It became the most popular novel of its day. When I think about the contamination of sin, there is one scene from that book that comes to my mind. A character known as Little Billie engages in a night of debauchery for the first time. Du Maurier tells it like this:
“And when, after 48 hours or so, he had slept off the fumes from that Christmas debauch, he found that a sad thing had happened to him. … It was as though a tarnishing breath had swept over the reminiscent mirror of his mind and left a little film behind it, so that no thing he wished to see therein was reflected with quite the same pristine clearness. … as though the essence of things had been blunted and coarsened. … He never recovered the full use of that most precious faculty, the boon of youth and happy childhood.”
The experience of sin left a kind of tarnishing film on Little Billie and things could never quite be the same again. And what is true of him is true of all humanity; sin does something to a person, it kills innocence and innocence lost can never be recovered.
The Bible calls this death. The contaminant is so severe that it brings kills. And Bible passage we read shows us the evidence that one is spiritually dead..
(i) The dead live in pursuit of the present evil age – probably because they have no hope of a future life.
(ii) The dead live a life characterized by disobedience.
(iii) The dead live a life characterized by chasing our every desire and lust.
Up to this point, our life sort of parallels the town of Picher. We have gone from boom to bust and the contaminate that pervades cannot be removed and it brings a certain death to all it touches. We are at death’s mercy … and it has no mercy!
BUT THIS IS WHERE THE PARABLE BREAKS DOWN BECAUSE, EVEN THOUGH PICHER COULD NOT BE SAVED EVEN WITH THE HELP OF A GOVERNMENT SUPERFUND TAKING DRASTIC MEASURES, YOU CAN!
You see the consequences of spiritual contamination can be resolved. The contamination is nothing short of sin and the resolution is nothing short of the power of God’s forgiveness. And that was secured on Easter Sunday!
THE RESURRECTION CHANGES EVERYTHING!
The Gospel message, and Easter in particular, changes the end of our story! Whereas there is no happy ending for Picher and towns like it … that need not be the case for you and me.
The rest of the Bible passage I read to you brings hope to hopelessness – life out of death. Verse 4 says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.”
This week, Holy Week, is the defining week in the life of a Christian. Without the events of this week we would have no hope and it comes to completion on Easter Sunday with the resurrection.
On the cross, Jesus broke the penalty of sin. He took our place; he was our sacrifice. “He made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him!” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
But the cross alone is not the complete story. By rising from the grave Jesus broke not only the penalty of sin but also the power of sin!
Do you remember what I told you Good Friday?
The cross represents our defeat –
But Easter turns it into victory
The cross represents our guilt –
But Easter turns it into grace
The cross that represents our condemnation –
But Easter turns it into freedom
The cross represents our pain and suffering –
But Easter turns it into healing and hope
The cross that represents our death –
But Easter turns it into life everlasting
No wonder Paul mocks death when he says,
"Death has been swallowed up in victory."
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(1 Corinthians 15:54b-57)
THE RESURRECTION CHANGES EVERYTHING!
What the Gospel of Jesus offers is restoration and renewal. He and He alone can remove the stain … wash away the contamination of sin. What we cannot do for ourselves God will do for us. The Bible says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast.”
He not only can forgive – he does!
He not only can restore – He will!
And he will do this for you!
THIS IS WHY I BECAME A PREACHER OF THE GOSPEL … THIS VERY TRUTH! YOU SEE, NO MATTER WHO I RUN ACROSS, NO MATTER HOW DEEP THE STAIN AND CONSEQUENCES OF SIN, THIS I KNOW … JESUS CHRIST CAN AND WILL RESTORE AND RENEW. AND THAT INCLUDES YOU.
May I ask you today:
• Do you feel dead inside? Jesus Christ can bring life.
• Have you ever experienced the forgiveness of sin? Jesus can wash away the contamination.
The Bible says, “Today is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
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Let’s sing together and then I am going to come back and wrap-things up.
WRAP-UP
Someone once said that becoming a Christian is as easy as A-B-C
A—ADMIT
• Admit to God that you are a sinner
(Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23).
• Repent by turning away from your sin
(Acts 3:19; 1 John 1:9).
B—BELIEVE
• Believe that Jesus is God's Son and accept God's gift of forgiveness from sin
(Romans 5:8; Acts 4:12; John 3:16; John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; John 1:11-13).
C—CONFESS
• Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
(Romans 10:9-10,13).
Is it time for you to become a Christian? If you sense God’s Holy Spirit calling you today then I’d suggest you pray a prayer such as this … in fact you can pray this one with me.
Dear God:
I know I have sinned and that my sin separates me from You. I am sorry for my sin. I believe Jesus died on the cross for me so my sin can be forgiven. I believe Jesus rose from the dead and is alive.
God, please forgive me. I ask Jesus to come into my life and be my Savior and Lord. I will obey You and live for You the rest of my life.
Thank You. Amen.
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This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
First Church of the Nazarene
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
www.banazarene.org
