Introduction:
Read Exodus 25:1-9
Up until this point the Israelites have depended on Moses to lead them. They were taken out of captivity in Egypt by God through Moses. They used to be slaves to Pharaoh, now they are free. But ever since they left their bondage, they have complained about everything. They have even said they would be better off in Egypt. Now here they are many, many years later wanting something more. God has shown them too many times how much he loves them and cares for them, but they continue to complain. So out comes the tabernacle.
Exodus 25:2 tells the Israelites to receive offerings from each man whose heart prompts him. Who should give? Those who are part of God’s family. Those who call God by name. 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people who are called by my name…”
God requires his people to give to his plan and mission. God is in the relationship business. He desires to draw us close to himself, and use us for his purpose.
Where does God draw us from? Out of the bondage of sin that entangles us. Out of Egypt, in the case of the Israelites. Out of those places where we have been so accustomed to living. Out of our old neighborhoods!
The problem for us is that we cling too tightly to the old neighborhood. In Exodus 25:2 we read, “Tell them to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give.” God desires our willingness, not forcing or demanding us to give.
We often know as we follow God that change is needed in our lives. As God’s people we say, "O LORD CHANGE ME." But what are we truly asking? Do we know the full meaning of this simple request? Are we really up for the challenge of being changed? This morning we will look at this small request, O Lord Change Me, 3 different ways to discover exactly what we are truly asking. There are three different kinds of people who pray this prayer. The first is…
A. O Lord change ME.
ME! We say things like, “O Lord, do something great, quick and at a bargain in my life.” “Make me more, compassionate, smarter, and richer.” It’s all about me, me, me! We don’t really want to move out of the old neighborhood. We kind of like it! We just want a quick fix. We want the miracle to happen, or the answer to come, or the favor in our lives, but we aren’t truly asking for change. We just want what’s convenient. So many people I have seen come to church and come to the altar only when things are going wrong in their lives. And when everything is fine and dandy, they stop coming to the altar and even stop coming to church. They got the quick fix. I’ve seen this happen in a marriage where the husband would only come to church when his wife was about to leave him. It was sad. Let me tell you something on a side note. Church isn’t just for a quick fix, it is for a lifetime of learning to live and love forever. And another thing. The altar isn’t just for a quick fix or when things are going bad, the altar is for you to come lay down your life to God on a daily basis. Yes use it for the other too, but the real purpose of the altar is for all people to come and build upon their relationship with God. I have done an altar call almost evry Sunday for the last several weeks. Only a few have responded. I have never just opened it for those seeking salvation either, I have opened it for any and all. But few people have taken advantage. What kind of change are we seeking if we aren’t faithfully coming and praying every Sunday? “But pastor, I don’t need to pray at the altar all the time, I can pray in my seat.” True, you can, but maybe others won’t come unless you are there. Maybe we ought to set the example for the young ones. Maybe we ought to grab someone in the church and drag them to the altar with us to pray over them. What’s wrong with that? O Lord Change ME is the problem.
This is often where we are at the point of salvation in our lives. Too many times we have more concern about what neighborhood we live in than really allowing God to change us.
We say something like, “At least I’m better than I used to be” “At least I pray more than I used to pray.” At least I came to the altar more than so and so.” And we are happy with this for a time because the neighborhood has improved. Hopefully we still sense something is terribly lacking in our life! Hopefully our self-pleasing spirit really does want to change. Soon we move from O Lord Change ME to the second type of person…
B. O Lord CHANGE me.
These are the people that come to know that we need something more from God. We focus on CHANGE now, we understand the neighborhood is better, but the house still needs work!
I lived with my dad during high school in a small one bedroom house on the north side of Springfield. The house was very small and needed a lot of work. My dad worked vigorously to update it and make it look nice. His delight was the backyard. He dug up dirt and laid bricks in a beautiful design to make a patio. He planted flowers and trees and plants in different areas. After time passed the backyard looked like a paradise as if you went from Springfield to rainforest. There were fountains and flowers, and plants taller than you. There was a garden with great vegetation and a beautiful grape vine that produced large purple grapes. It was gorgeous. He spent so much time on the backyard that the front began to look cruddy. So that became a project for me. I cut down a large dead tree. I painted the house. I put in new front porch stairs. I helped put new boards in the front porch as well. It was one thing after another and as time passed I felt as if I had more work to do. And this was only the beginning. We still needed to do stuff inside the house. You ever come into this kind of dilemma? We move in to a new place and want to change this and change that and we end up spending all of our free time changing things in order to keep up with the Jones. We change so many things, that by the time we think we are done, the neighborhood moved on and the new has come, so we start all over. We can spend too much time acting as an interior decorator. Instead of allowing God to change us, we try to change ourselves. This moves us to the third kind of person.
C. O LORD, change me.
Humbly we come to this place. We want more, we crave more, not of ourselves or of our neighborhood, but we crave more of God. No longer do we cry, "Make me more like I want to be", but we say, "Make me more like YOU. Make me more like Christ."
We must be no longer concerned with the neighborhood, or with the house but now we must be focused on the dwelling place. "O Lord, I want to be with you." Isn’t this what Holiness is? Isn’t this what we should be striving for daily? Isn’t this what we should be praying at the altar as often as possible? If not, then what purpose do we have? Why live? What is God’s purpose for us? It’s pointless. Life is pointless without God! Right? O LORD change me. O LORD, I want to be with you! God’s purpose for us is that we would desire to dwell with Him in His presence. Sounds selfish I know, but what a privilege that God is selfish for me! That’s why He required that His people make a tabernacle, a place where He could dwell among His people. Look at Exodus again, 25:8 we read, “Make a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.” God’s purpose is to draw us out of the world, out of our neighborhood, out of our house, and into a new dwelling place. A place that is better than changing just the neighborhood or house. A place where God is always. An altar if you will. A place of rest and peace, and comfort. A place where there are no losers, no nerds, no stereotypes of any kind. A place where there is no judging, no nitpicking, no gossiping, no back stabbing. A place that God is and wants us to be. O LORD change me.
There is a pursuit that is worthy of our devotion. There is a goal that is achievable even in the most desperate of situations. It will produce good far beyond our own little sphere of influence. It is something that our souls long for: the life we've always wanted.
It is the quest for what might be called a well-ordered heart. The balance paradigm assumes that our problem is external—a disorder in our schedule or our job or our season of life. But the truly significant disorder is internal.
What does it mean to have a well-ordered heart? St. Augustine suggested that to have a well-ordered heart is to love: the right thing, to the right degree, in the right way, with the right kind of love.
The effect of the Fall is that we have disordered affections. For instance, beauty is God's handiwork and therefore it is good, but when we love it so much that we worship supermodels and ignore those whom American society regards as "plain," we do not love beauty rightly.
Augustine wrote further, "It seems to me that a brief but true definition of virtue is this: 'It is well-ordered love.'"
Another writer expressed the idea nearly a thousand years before that: "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Proverbs 4:23
When the heart is well-ordered, we are not only increasingly free from sin, but also increasingly free from the desire to sin. If the heart were truly well-ordered, we would love people so much we would not want to deceive or manipulate or envy them. We would be transformed from the inside out.” (The Life You've Always Wanted, page 198 -199)
Conclusion:
How does God dwell with us today? How does God dwell in you today? In your heart? We must strive to be far more concerned with the dwelling place, than with the neighborhood or house.
Ephesians 2:19-22 says, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his spirit.”
How do we remain in God’s presence?
With open hearts. To receive instruction – to give
With open hands. To obey instruction – to give.
Shaun Groves wrote and sang a song called Welcome Home. May this be your prayer.
Take me, make me all You want me to be --
That's all I'm asking -
All I'm asking...
Welcome to this heart of mine
I'm buried under prideful vines
Grown to hide the mess I've made
Inside of me - come decorate, Lord,
And open up the creaking door
And walk upon the dusty floor -
Scrape away the guilty stains
Until no sin or shame remains
Spread Your love upon the walls,
And occupy the empty halls
Until the man I am has faded -
No more doors are barricaded...
(CHORUS)
Come inside this heart of mine -
It's not my own -
Make it home...
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own -
Welcome Home...
Take a seat - pull up a chair -
Forgive me for the disrepair
And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling
Gathered on my search for meaning,
And every closet's filled with clutter -
Messes yet to be discovered -
I'm overwhelmed - I understand
I can't make this place all that You can...
(CHORUS)
Come inside this heart of mine -
It's not my own -
Make it home...
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own -
Welcome...
I took this space that You placed in me,
Redecorated in shades of greed,
And I made sure every door stayed locked -
Every window blocked -
And still, You knocked, well...
(CHORUS)
Come inside this heart of mine -
It's not my own...
Come and take this heart and make it
All Your own -
Welcome Home -
Come inside this heart of mine -
It's not my own -
Make it home -
Make it home...
Welcome Home...
Take me, make me all You want me to be --
That's all I'm asking -
All I'm asking...
The altar is open. O LORD change me.
Benediction:
Ephesians 3:14-21: “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”
