This sermon was preached by Scotty L Killingsworth on March 7, 2004.
The Biblical text is taken from Colossians 3.
The sermon title is: When old ways end
Nearly everything Jesus did brought change to the world.
Nearly everything we do at Evergreen Church is about change.
We value celebrative worship; which means we want to change our approach to worship from ritualistic, dull and perfunctory worship to live, vibrant and authentic.
We value creative ministry; which means we are tired of limiting our expressions of faith to denominational or traditional. We want to get Jesus out of the “church” box and into lives even if it means we cross established lines or boundaries. We believe Jesus is relevant to every life.
We value compassionate service; which means we are not satisfied with Christian service that leave us untouched in the process. We desire passion in service that becomes catalytic for us and for those we serve. We want to authentically and powerfully give our faith away daily with passion. We want to live with passion and serve those Jesus loves with the same fire in our bones.
Listen to the passion of David on this subject when someone offered to relieve David from the burden of sacrifice. 1 Chronicles 21:24But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
If your expression of faith in Jesus doesn’t stretch you-you have settled for a poor substitute. Average faith is very costly in time, resources, focus, interest and life.
We want to become a community of fully devoted Christ followers; which means we are weary of self-aggrandizement and solo performances of our faith. We long for authentic community/team where our individual identity can become absorbed in something bigger and better than we could ever be on our own. We long for faith family. We dream of a destiny that includes brothers and sisters who are co-laborers in the harvest. We are tired of being alone. We want to be part of something that matters. That means we must change from doing everything in on our own and by our own strength. This goes against the way we have been taught. Change – Old ways must end.
We want to become fully devoted to Jesus instead of being fully devoted to ourselves. This transition means an end to an old way. It means the beginning of something totally new. This means swimming up stream the rest of our lives because the world screams “Me” and we reply, “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:19-20 This is radical change.
Radical change is dangerous; especially spiritual change that verges on the extreme. A person can start a process of spiritual formation and find one worse at the end than at the beginning. Matthew 12:43“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”
Emptying ones life of bad stuff is just not good enough. No one can maintain an empty life. Something must occupy your space. Something will occupy your life. We choose what we let in.
Christians use terms that sometimes get blurred. One in re-dedication and the other is re-birth. The only way to have the change your heart is dying for is by a re-birth. You can re-dedicate forever and if you have not been re-born it is really a waste of time. There are times of beginning in the faith that a re-dedication is very appropriate and some here today need a re-dedication, but no one is in heaven without a re-birth.
So, if you are serious about making a change in your life:
You need a new plan
Galatians 3:1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God
Same text from-The Message: “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.”
-With an eternally serious commitment—
This new plan requires an eternally serious commitment to try to live like Jesus. Re-birth is an eternal commitment. It matters equally much how you finish as how you start. The journey is the important part of life.
-With a new way to observe the world.—
This plan requires a new way to see the world. In this new way of seeing we look for Jesus and see what he is doing. We are always looking for places in which The Kingdom of God is advancing. We join churches where Jesus is Lord. We look for life partners who put Jesus first in everything. We just look through a different lens.
-With a new level of personal involvement
When we find him and discover a current project we jump I with both feet. When we find what Jesus is doing and run toward it with all our mind, soul and strength. When we find Jesus at work somewhere we throw all our energy into his project. We hold nothing back from him and from his work. It becomes our world 24/7.
In John 3 Jesus says through John that unless you are born into the Kingdom of God you can’t see it. The world does not have eyes to see it or ears to hear it. If you are outside of faith in Jesus you are receiving on an AM radio and The Kingdom of God is broadcasting on FM.
You will never abandon an old plan as long as you think it is working. Ask yourself a really tough question, “Is my life working without Jesus?” If your answer is, “No.”, then come out of your denial and try Jesus.
You don’t just need a better plan; you need a new one. Your original plan is destined for destruction and it is taking you along with it. Abandon your plan immediately.
You need a new identity
Colossians 3:4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
The same text from-The Message Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
-And the old identity to go away
Up until now you have been seeing yourself as part of an earthly family. You were born
with a tendency to mis-use sex, insist on your way all the time and want all the toys. Up until Jesus comes in you are the focal point of the universe. You are the only god, and nothing is wrong if it makes you feel good. This identity needs to go away.
You have lived, up until now, as an idolater. These toys and desires have been your god and you have bowed down to them and worshipped. Each time you bow down and worship an idol you diminish the light in your life and amp down the spiritual energy you need to be a complete being. This tendency needs to go away.
A couple of weeks ago I spent an afternoon on S. Padre Island. There was a place I could go and get a tattoo. I seriously considered getting one, but one that faded away in a week or so. I fantasized about the shock value of the pastor with a tat, and relished the moment for a short time until sanity returned me to my normal senses again. It would have been fun for a moment because it would in time fade away.
Sin has permanently stained your soul. You need it to go away.
A leper lived is shame and separation in his own village. A skin disease has stigmatized him forever. It didn’t matter how much he contributed or how many wonderful things he did he was a leper. He needed his disease to go away. He came to Jesus and in faith and obedience received healing. His disease went away.
You need your sin disease to go away!
-And a new identity to stay
The new identity you need is Jesus. He is your life! This is the secret to the new life. It is not a better you. It is Jesus and no you at all. It is all about him. This is liberation.
Jesus doesn’t just fix us up. He changes us on the inside. He becomes our life, or love or future, our past, our hope, our redemption, our work, our dream and our passion. All this is him working. It is not about us.
On Trading Spaces neighbors fix up rooms in each others houses. It is mostly re-painting and rearranging. Jesus is not about Trading Spaces. He is about demolition and a total rebuild.
In this new life all that matters is what Jesus is doing. When he shows up, you show up. When he is absent, you are absent. When he is blessing you show up and bless-when he is singing, you sing. When he heals you heal. When he dances with joy, you dance with joy. When he gives, you give. When he is changing lives you show up and change lives with him.
In the Witness Protection business a person is given a new identity to protect him from his past. The people who are given this protection receive new identities. They are socially born again.
In the redemption business Jesus gives all his children a new life to stay. It doesn’t go away when the new wears off. It doesn’t loose its joy. The peace it provides is forever peace – permanent.
Remember, it is not enough to just have a new start. It takes a new heart!
If the new life is only about self will and determination then Peter would have been a huge failure. At a time of great crisis he denied the Lord Jesus three times. A crowing of a rooster reminded him that Jesus knew in advance of this failure. Some time later this spiritually retreating Christ follower had gone back to his old life of fishing for fish. Jesus came to him and forgave him and reminded Peter that his life was new and nothing could ever separate him from the love of God.
Is it time for your old ways to end, and a new life to begin?
Jesus is pictured in Revelation as standing at the door of the church willing to come in. He says in Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Your old ways will not end until you are sick and tired of trying them. Some of you are almost there this morning. Your sin is destroying you and you don’t know where to go or what to do. If you are ready—He is ready. What He plans to do is radical. Please don’t settle for a Trading-Spaces kind of change. Jesus tears down everything and replaces it with his new plan.
