Leave the Past in the Past:
From Imitation to Instigation
Jeremiah 29:11-14a
Talk about Big Spring- How things change—
Change is hard thing for us to deal with- I listen to a lot of talk radio- I enjoy it- one of the prevailing themes on talk radio as people call in - the way things used to be- the Golden Days- back when you could get gallon of gas for a dollar and a gallon of milk for 3 dollars- hear people say “I wish I had been born 30 years earlier- I like the way things used to be—
Even the church- we like to hold on to the past- we even glorify the way things used to be- so that in our memories the past becomes even more than it really was-
The problem with that is that the God that we serve is a God of change- He is all about change- He is an unchanging God who changes everything- We know he is an unchanging God because we know him as the same yesterday, today and forever- but we see that He changes everything as we read about how he interacts with humanity-
Change is not taught very often from the Scriptures but the Word of God is a document about change- we find out that if we want to be a part of God’s kingdom radical personal change must take place- we call this conversion-
Paul says if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come- we understand that on and it’s easier for us to see on a personal level- we get it- but when we move to thinking about the church we lose our grasp on it—
As a church we think about change as something that happens on the outside- our community needs to change- our city needs to change- our nation needs to change- the world needs to change- everybody needs to change except for the church- we are fine just the way we are- in fact the church becomes the last defense against change- the church becomes a reminder of what the world looked like before it changed-
Listen now- the church has become the preserver of tradition and ritual rather than the catalyst and advancer of the Kingdom of God
Several years ago I attended a Catholic Mass that was done completely in Latin- it sounded like it was very beautiful and spiritual, but I couldn’t understand a word of it-- the priest might have been giving a good message- but there was no way for me to know--
Now we don’t perform our services in Latin but our language, style and methods are pretty much Latin to the unchurched Population—
This can’t continue to be the case because the local church is supposed to be God’s expression of his commitment to change-- the church is supposed to be about making history- we can see that as we look back at the early church- literally every day they were making history- doing something that hadn’t been done before- things we look back at and say Wow—
Unfortunately the church today only follows change- the society and culture changes and eventually the church follows suit- music changes and eventually the church catches up and changes- technology changes and after many years and countless board meetings the church decides to get up to date- we end up following change the way a water skier follows a boat- the boat moves and eventually the water skier moves—
I want to say it again- we serve a changeless God of change- he is not satisfied with status quo- he is not trying to keep up with the culture- his desire for the church is that we would become the initiators and the instigators for change within our cultures- we would be the ones that would start trends and new methods- that we would move from being imitators to being instigators—
Imitate- to produce a copy of, to be or appear like something else
Instigate- to goad or urge forward- move something forward
God is not a God of imitation- he is a god of Creation- he is a God of imagination- a God that chose to ignite a Revolution- he chose to goad things and move them forward-
All throughout His Word he proves that He is all about change- a not just a little change- he proves time after time that He is about radical change- Abraham was called into a life of radical change- God said leave everything you know and follow me to a greater future- he had to uproot himself and his family, to risk everything for the priviledge of being a part of Gods plan in history—
Moses—David—Elijah- Jeremiah---A fundamental requirement of following God has been leaving the secure and predictable in order to follow God into a world where only he is unchanging- let me say that again- when we begin living in His Kingdom the way He intended us to- the only thing that won’t be changing will be Him—
But the church of God is resisting this change- we are digging our heels in- he calls us out, time after time and we dig our heels in and say “we’re just gonna keep doin’ things the way we want to—
In the book of Ezra chapter 3- story of the rebuilding of a temple after a whole generation of Israel being without one- the Bible says that when the people gather to dedicate the temple there were a lot of people celebrating and shouting for joy- but the older priests and Levites were crying-
Why were they crying- they knew the new temple wasn’t going to be like the old one- they had seen and experienced Solomons temple- his temple was the one that even Kings stood in awe of- they cried because they knew it wouldn’t be like the old one—
The younger generation- never had seen the old one- they has only heard stories- they were celebrating because they were really happy- they were finally gonna have a place to meet with God- it didn’t matter to them that it wasn’t gonna look like the old one- it didn’t matter to them that it paled in comparison to the old one- the purpose of the temple was to offer sacrifices and to worship and to meet with God face to face- so they shouted for joy—
The trajedy in this story is that the former priests and leaders could not celebrate what was being passed on to their children because they were to busy looking in the past- they were to busy reminsiceing to celebrate- they were to busy looking back to worship
Sometimes the hard thing about change is that we have to leave behind things that were of great value to us- it would be fine if we only left behind things that we wanted to leave behind but sometimes we even have to leave behind things that are sacred to us-
When we moved to Tennessee - we brought with us the memories of what God had accomplished in our church in Albuquerque- great moves of God- for a short period of time I tried to duplicate what God had done there- do some of the same songs- preach some of the same sermons- God let me know that I needed to leave the past in the past- take your memoires with you but leave the memorabilia behind—
Some of you have been apart of great moves of God in the past- God has done some amazing things for you and your family- done it in certain ways- with certain songs- with certain sermons- with certain ministry styles and methods- hear this today- bring your memories with you but leave the memorabilia behind—
We always want to look back- the children of Israel are in bondage and they pray and beg God to deliver them- their worst nightmare came true- he sent a deliverer and brought them out- warning..sometimes when you pray for delieverance God is gonna do it for you…
Soon as they get out- they respond the same way generation after generation and people after people and church after church has responded- they got angry with Moses and begged him to let them return to slavery in Egypt—
Their Conclusion-- It was better to slaves in Egypt than to be free and be forced to live by faith in the context of radical change
But God is a God of change- Look at what Jesus was about and what he did- he was a religious teacher- so he was supposed to be about the status quo- if he applied the Scritprues in any away that did not conform to the polices and procedures in place- heresy—
What did he say - “you’ve turned the scriptures into instruments of death”—he started reapplying things- he started making some changes- he moved from imitation into instigation- what did he do—
He healed on the Sabbath- he celebrated life (was called a glutton for it-- he actually became friends with sinners- he treated tax collectors like they could be saved- he chastised the temple goers (the religios folk)- said they were an abomination to God—
Is God all about change- Jesus completely deconstructed the religion of Israel and ushered in the religion of God-- He was all about radical change—
From the very beginning the church was all about radical change—
Before Jesus came- entire of Nation operated on a Sunday through Friday calendar- Saturday was the Sabbath- don’t work, don’t play, don’t do good works- Saturday is the holy day- as soon as the early church starts meeting they move the holy day to Sunday- why?- because on the Sabbath, Jesus was still dead, he rose from the dead on Sunday- they started meeting when Jesus showed up—
Christians began to supercede the Sabbath and make the holy day Sunday instead- talk about change- that would be like moving our holy day now to Monday- how many of you could come to church on Monday morning- that’s what they did- complete and radical change-- from the beginning that’s what the church has been about—
They didn’t have any established patterns to follow- any methods—it was a daily walk of change—
Want to say three things about change in regard to the church now as I prepare to be done—
1. God’s future for us is better than any past we have experienced with Him—
It might be hard for us to believe- because we have experienced some great things- but his future for us far supercedes anything we have send and done in the past—
The glory of today can be far greater than any glory of your best memory-- I have some great memories of what God has done for me- times where I have been overwhelmed by His presence- what he has for me now, is so much greater-- call to mind your best memory of what God has done for you- now Know that what he has for you now, far outweighs anything that has ever happened to you----
For too long we have longed for the old days- I hear it all the time- want to experience God like I used to- for too long we have hoped that our future would simply be a detour to the past- God never promised us that and it is not His desire for us- in fact he will do everything he can to shake heaven and earth to shake us loose from everything that holds us back from entering His future
You can’t get your future without embracing and experiencing change-- leads me to # 2
2. If the church is unwilling to move with the wind of God, we will be moved by the whirlwind of God—
We won’t be able to ignore what God wants to do-- Zecheriah 7:11-14a- Read***
The church was never meant to hide- pull the cloak over her face- we have been running from the world for too long- God is calling us to change- when we refuse to change , we refuse to obey- the church is God’s agent of change—the church is the way that His power is revealed—
He’s not just calling us to change- he is calling us to be catalysts of change- we are to be the ones initiating and insitiagating change within our culture
3. If the church is unwilling to change, we are not willing to move into the place where our dreams can come true—
People who don’t want to change in the end become people without dreams-- why do we do out best to be non-traditional- by the way this is still a terribly traditional church- don’t get me started- why do we fight tradition
Traditions are roadblocks for change- traditions become roadblocks for dreams
Sometimes tradtions become treasured memories that cause to move forward into new dreams and new experienced but most of the time, they trap us in the past—
Somebody will have a great idea in the church- why can’t we do it- because we have never done it that way before---
Traditions are imagination killers- creativity destroyers- innovation immobilizers—
Traditions roadblock dreams- where there are no dreams there is no hope—when there is no hope there is no future
Everywhere God moves there is change- everywhere he moves he creates the future- everywhere God moves hope is alive and well-- why does the church have to become agents of change- because we are the only one that can produce real change—
I heard several times- Passion of the Christ”Gonna change the world”- listen to me- the only way that movie is gonna change the world is if it changes the church- because the only way our world is gonna expericne change is because the church embraces its role as agents of change
The world is moving forward- when we don’t change we create distance in between ourselves and the world- when we cling to the past we create distance between ourselves and what God is doing in the present
Why is looking back dangerous- because when we get safe and warm in the past we become blind to the real world we are called to engage- we become blind to what God is doing today--
I read recently that fear of the future causes present blindness—
Hears the key- if we are going to see the future we must boldly step into the present-
The future is full of hope- God has placed it there for those who will follow him into it- the only way we will experience his future is by unwrapping the present
Leaving the past –engaging the present- creating the future
Time does not stand still- the reason I couldn’t go back to Big Spring- I was trying to go back to a time, not a place-- time moves forward- time is always moving toward tomorrow- the church has got to stop resisting the future and capture the present- stop looking back-- become divine instigators—divine initiators—
What is God calling you to instiage- what is God calling you to initiate- what is God calling you to create - what is God calling you imagine- what is God calling you to put in motion- stop resisting what he’s saying- stop fighting him- stop looking back- become the agent of change that we want you to be- I’m calling you out- some of you are experience a divinely appointed moment right now- bask in it-
