Unstuck By Grace
I. INTRODUCTION:
Today is my birthday! I am 43 years old. I am a Gen-Xer. We were born at a transitional moment in history where technology began to boom just as we were born. In the home I grew up, at first we had a rotary phone. Then a pulse phone. We had a stereo system that had an 8-track player, a cassette deck where you could make your own mix tapes, AND a record player. Later we had CD players, and gadgets to connect them to the cassette players in cars so they would play through the car stereo system. We still used payphones to answer our pagers and made collect calls to call home when a quarter wasn't enough to pay for those long-distance phone calls. One thing about record players is that when a record got worn the needle might stick in a groove and you would hear the same part of a song played over and over again.
You would have to bump the stereo or lift the needle and move it so that you could go on with the recording. The Bible has a lot to say about being stuck. God gave ancient Israel a system of worship that was good in itself, but because of their human frailty could never get them unstuck. The OT law with all of its rituals actual served to show them and us that apart from God's Gracious act of self-giving in Christ we remain stuck. We are like a broken record, on repeat...
II. TEXT:
Hebrews 10:1-18 (NRSV)
Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who approach. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased being offered, since the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sin? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, “Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but a Body You have prepared for Me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘See, God, I have come to do your will, O God’ (in the scroll of the book it is written of Me).” 8 When He said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then He added, “See, I have come to do Your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “He sat down at the Right Hand of God,” 13 and since then has been waiting “until His enemies would be made a footstool for His Feet.” 14 For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My Laws in their hearts, and I will write Them on their minds,” 17 He also adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
No one knows who wrote the letter to the Hebrews. Some adamantly argue that Paul wrote it, or Apollos, or Luke, or Barnabas but as Origen wrote in the third century, "The Lord knows."
Whoever wrote it seems to have written it in the first century to Jewish Christians who were in danger of rejecting Christ and returning to practicing the law of Moses as a means of being made right with God.
The writer argues that this is a backwards move because trying to be right with God through the law kept the Jewish nation stuck in an endless cycle of rituals. These rituals had no power to deliver them from their sins. The yearly cycle of sacrificial offerings to God like a broken record reminded them continually of their inability to measure up to God's standard. They were spinning their proverbial wheels, but with the coming of Christ there is grace to get unstuck.
I recently read a book by Travis L. Thomas titled "3 Words for Getting Unstuck: Live Yes, And!"
As I read it along with our text there were some principles that stood out to me that I think will help all of us. I want to share a few them with you this morning and see how they interact with our text.
III. PREACHING POINTS:
1. The Answer to "How?" is "Yes!"
Jesus is not the shadow (which was a broken record), He is the live band!
All the Promises of God in Him are yes and amen (2 Cor 1:20).
Mary asked How shall this thing be? The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit..." (Luke 1:34-35).
Jesus is God's resounding "Yes!" Incarnate.
The Holy Spirit worked invisibly in the womb of the virgin to shape the Body of Christ.
If you will just say yes and leave the how up to God, He will work it out in the invisible world.
He works in the invisible:
By His eternal decrees. It was promised from the foundation of the world that Christ would be Lord of all.
By the invisible Spirit world.
By things happening all around us in the lives of others who we do not see.
BY history long forgotten.
Don't worry about how, just say yes!
"Most of us stop because we cannot fathom or figure out how something could actually work out. We overthink the situation and convince ourselves that it is hopeless and impossible. We mistake not knowing the "how" as reason for not even beginning in the first place. Our rational and realistic thinking kicks in and dashes our hope, convincing us to stay put, play it safe, and keep our heads out of the clouds. Our culture loves focusing on the "how" before there has even been time to consider the possibilities of our dreams. Maybe it was a teacher who discouraged you in grade school, or a parent that didn't want to see you suffer. Or, it is your own nurtured insecurity that doesn't even allow you to entertain such notions. Whatever the reason, society has great aim when it comes to shooting down dreams. But... When you say "yes" you embrace the unknown. When you say "yes" you step out of your comfort zone and into your growth zone. Wayne Gretzky once said, " You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Your "yes" is where your life begins!" (Travis L. Thomas titled "3 Words for Getting Unstuck: Live Yes, And!")
The answer to "How?" is "Yes!"
2. Life Is A Performance
Hebrews 10:7
"In the volume of the book it is written of Me..."
"All the world's a stage..." (William Shakespeare)
In improvisation there is a principle called the "Yes, and" principle. When you say yes, the next word should be "and." There is something more that God has designed for your life and when you say and you are embracing the next part of your story.
Jesus said, "I come to do your will..."
When I am living out the story of my life, I don't always know every subplot and theme, but if I am unwilling to move forward with life because I need to know the entire script at once, I will remain stuck. Accept what God has written. Say yes, and then step into what's next!
We sometimes want what we imagine before its time to get there. We have to step into into by accepting the "ands" or life!
Sometimes we are waiting on God and God is waiting on us! When God moves, or speaks, and then stops, perhaps it is because He is waiting on us to do our part. It is like improv on a stage where actors perform in reciprocal action to one another. God wants a partnership with you!
Live out the script!
3. There Are No Mistakes
Hebrews 10:14 (NRSV)
"For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."
The fear of messing up can keep us stuck! The paralysis of analysis!
One of the things that paralyzes you is that you have more confidence in your ability to mess everything up than you do in God's ability to fix it! He is a God who raises the dead!!!
There is a safety net that God has spread under us and He is urging us to go forward!
Say "yes!" Say "and..." and embrace the once for all sacrifice of JESUS on the cross as payment for all of your sin debt and live life!
God doesn't make mistakes. God doesn't play dice!
4. Embrace the Goo!
Hebrews 10:12-13 (NRSV)
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, “He sat down at the Right Hand of God,” 13 and since then has been waiting “until His enemies would be made a footstool for His Feet.”
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."(English Proverb)
One of the most beautiful types of the New Birth is the butterfly. One of the things that we do not think about is all the times the caterpillar sheds his old skin as he grows bigger through his life cycle. He shed numerous times. Like us as we move forward in life and grow. But, there is a place when something different happens to the caterpillar. He thinks he is just shedding his skin another time and finds himself stuck in a chrysalis. A chrysalis looks like a casket. It is one of those uh-oh moments. The caterpillar is stuck. Sometimes in our greatest stuck moments God is working something out that cannot happen any other way! We may have said "yes" as many times as we can. We may have said "and" over and over again! We may have embraced the sovereignty of God and then we find ourselves stuck again and this time it looks like it is truly over!
Inside the chrysalis the process looks different than we imagine there is a whole lot of goo, gushy, messy, stickiness, as the caterpillar is changed. The tiny cells that fill the goo are called "imaginal cells." That's right, "imaginal cells" that are full of nutrients and potential. These cells are different from those from all of the caterpillar's previous molts. These cells carry different information. They vibrate at a different frequency! The caterpillar's body doesn't know what to do with these cells. Its tiny immune system begins to attack them. But this is to no avail. In side the chrysalis the imaginal cells are transforming the caterpillar into something it has never been before!
But it is a messy gooey process! It is claustrophobic in the chrysalis, but it is the place of transformation that God designed for the butterfly!
Some of the places where you are stuck are God's way of transforming you! When Jesus came out of the grave, death had no more power over Him! He ascended into the Heavens! He has all Power in Heaven and earth! God is transforming you in the goo!
If you want to get unstuck, embrace the goo! God is doing exceeding abundantly above all that you could ask or think! Say yes to the goo! Say God I know you have an and for me!!! This is not the end! Because Jesus lives, I will live also!
When the caterpillar comes out, he isn't a caterpillar with wings and an antennae! He is something new! There is no shortcut to your destiny! Embrace the goo! And you'll get unstuck! A new song will play, the record that has spun on the turntable of your life blipping and repeating can be over and you can go forward and sing a new song! The Psalmist said that is what he would do, sing a new song! in our text the Writer of Hebrews gives new meaning to an old song from Psalm 40. God wants to rewrite your story! But, you've got to embrace the goo and belief it...
5. Belief it!
Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or you can't--you're right!"
Jesus read Psalm 40 and realized it was about Him. Our text directly quotes this psalm as a reference to Jesus. He embraced adversity. Adversity is just a part of how the game of life is played! If it was easy, everyone would be doing it!
Two mindsets that you can have. In English the words are different by changing two letters.
The victim mindset vs. the victor mindset:
The victim mindset complains and questions and laments everything. It keeps you frustrated and wallowing in the mire of unfulfilled dreams. It is defined by negativity, anger/frustration, discouragement, apathy, blame, complaint, and excuses.
The victor mindset on the contrary is defined by positivity, optimism, adaptability, flexibility, energy, accountability, and responsibility!
The victim mentality complains that life is happening to them.
The victor mentality rejoices that they are happening to life!
Jesus said, a Body you have prepared Me, but goes on to say I come to do Your Will!!!
One of Melody's elementary school teacher's taught her to have a growth mindset! Instead of saying, "I can't" She learned to say, "I can't yet!"
I am not a victim, I am a victor! Because Jesus has taken the broken record of the turntable and we are not dancing to its tunes anymore!
His promise is, instead of the law being written in tables of stone, I will write it on your heart by My Spirit! There is a change that happens when we are buried with Christ in baptism. Like the caterpillar who enters the chrysalis and the goo, we come out a new creature! Raise by the Spirit of God to a new life! We are victors in Christ!
We have to learn to doubt our doubts! Stop listening to the broken record of your past failures!
IV. Conclusion:
Learning to live a life that is unstuck takes a willingness to say yes to God! After saying yes, we must be open to the "ands" as we walk in step with Him. Sometimes you're waiting on God and what you really need to be doing is your part. When you are motivated by love for God and others, you're not powerful enough to mess anything up! Stop analyzing it and live. Embrace the goo! When you come out of this stuck place you're going to be something new! God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His Purpose and their highest good is to be just like JESUS. He has destined it to be so! The just shall live by faith.
We can place our trust in the faithfulness of JESUS.
Stop over-analyzing life. It is paralyzing you! Say yes! and live!
Maybe you've been on repeat like a record with a scratch or a worn groove. The same old song and dance has kept you stuck. JESUS is calling out to you today saying that He will change your life if you will place your trust in Him! God is graciously seeking today to get you unstuck...
Acts 2:38 NIV
"Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
