1. Title: Something Old, Something New, What To Do When Change Makes You Blue
2. Text: several
3. Audience: Villa Heights Christian Church, AM crowd, October 22, 2006, last in a series on worship, leading up to our 10th anniversary the next week
4. Objectives:
-for the people to understand that change is inevitable, even necessary in the Church, and that there are ways to approach it that are biblically sound
-for the people to feel confronted regarding any bad attitudes they have toward change in general, and to feel challenged to approach change with a better attitude
-for the people to accept necessary change with a good heart and an unselfish attitude that ultimately allows God to do whatever He is desiring to do through the Church
5. When I finish my sermon I want my audience to laugh at themselves for the way they sometimes resist change, examine whether or not they have had a wrong attitude about change, and adjust any areas of their thinking toward change in the Church that need to be adjusted
6. Type: topical
7. Dominant Thought: The Church has always been changing and always will be changing because the world around it is always changing
8. Outline:
Intro -
Scene 1 - Adam and Eve at home.
Adam: (watching out the window) I just don’t get it. You raise your kids right, then one goes and murders his brother and it all falls apart from there. You’d think that by the time Cain’s great, great, great, great, grandson Jubal was born, some of that would have worn off.
Eve: What ever are you talking about, dear?
Adam: Oh, you know it’s these sounds, this…this…music!
Eve: Oh, right, you mean the flute and harp that Jubal invented.
Adam: Yeah, whatever he calls them. He looks like he’s going off to hunt turkeys. That harp thing…Please! What good is a bow if you can’t shoot an arrow with it?
Eve: They’re for helping singing, dear. He’s teaching it to all his kids.
Adam: I know – singing! What’s that all about?
Eve: Honey, it’s OK. Seems like the animals have been doing it since we were first here. I think it might be another way to honor God.
Adam: Honor God? Who needs all that stuff to worship? When we were younger, whatever age that was, worship was simple. You brought your sacrifice, you talked to God. That was it. Now there’s this music…
Eve: Now, Adam, we’ve seen a lot of change these past couple hundred years. I doubt music is going to create any kind of problems for worshiping God.
Adam: You’re probably right, dear. You’re usually right. I knew there was some reason I picked you! (end of scene 1)
Blimpies closed. You say, “It’s no big deal.” Yes it is a big deal! I ate a 6” chicken salad sandwich from Blimpies at least 1-2X a week. They gave me a Blimpies VIP punch card – double punches on Wednesdays. 7 punches, get a free sandwich. You know how many free sandwiches I ate from Blimpies? I’d go in to order. They’d look at me. “Usual?” “Yeah.” Then, Tuesday, I pull up to Blimpies, walk up to the door, and when I go to open it, there’s a note, hand-scrawled, taped inside the door: “As of Monday, October 16, Blimpies will be closed. Thanks for 7 years of good business!” And I was going to use one of my free sandwich cards! No warning. No “Goodbye, Sherm, we’ll miss you!”
They changed on me. It used to be easy. I didn’t have to think about lunch. I didn’t have to worry about if I would like it or not, if it was going to cost me too much, or what to order when I got there. I could just get in my car, without thinking, drive there, without thinking, walk in and order without thinking, and eat lunch without thinking! Not anymore. Blimpies was a hand-crocheted afghan of security, and now it’s stripped away. If you should happen to see me some early afternoon, wandering around outside my car with a bewildered look on my face outside the former Blimpies door, understand why.
Change comes hard. I don’t care who you are. It doesn’t matter if you’re an older person or a just-settled baby, having a predictable routine in certain areas of life is easier. It permits you to proceed with less effort – without having to think about what you’re doing, without fear of the unknown, without the challenge of decision-making, without the discomfort of unfamiliarity.
Do you suppose we’re the 1st generation ever to struggle with changes? Or, do you suppose, that even people in Israel, say around 1050 BC, struggled with change too?
Scene 2 – Around 1,050 BC.
Zeb: (shaking his head to himself) I’m telling you, dear, the whole thing is going to potsherds!
Dinah: Sweetheart, maybe you’re overreacting! I think the temple music is very, uh, uplifting.
Zeb: Maybe you think so. Obviously Asaph, and David, and Korah’s sons all think so. They keep changing the songs - writing new ones. It’s getting so that I don’t know half of them!
Dinah: You could learn them. At one time, you didn’t know all the songs we sang. They were all new to you, and the Lord does mention that we should sing new songs to Him too.
Zeb: Well, if they keep it up, pretty soon they’ll have to write them all down and make a book full of them. Wouldn’t that be grand: “OK everyone, let’s sing Psalm 23!”
Dinah: Honey…they’re already doing that.
Zeb: See! I’m telling you, it’s only going to get worse! And what about all that repetition: Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. What, did they run out of words?
Dinah: At least you remembered it, dear. That’s Psalm #136.
Zeb: It’s not just the songs. Look at all the new instruments they’re using too. It’s like – “Hey, we haven’t invented an instrument since the sackbut. Let’s make a new one this year!”
Dinah: Honey, it’s OK. For centuries, God’s people have been approaching new ways to worship Him to please Him. Let’s get ready to eat, OK?
Zeb: OK. What’s for supper?
Dinah: Oh, we’re having quail and bread again.
Zeb: Again? I’m so tired of that! Can’t we have something different for a change?
(end of scene 2)
Change isn’t easy. To show you what I mean, I want you to turn to someone near you this morning, and real quickly tell that person some recent change in your life that has presented some challenges to you.
(allow just a minute for this)
USE2B. It’s another way of spelling comfort, predictability, and satisfaction. It’s frequently a way of pointing out the fault of the present. It’s also a way of excusing ourselves from having a right attitude toward people or situations, because now they’re not the way they USE2B.
What does this have to do with God’s family, the Church? Let me just start by saying, a lot!
When the Church first began, it had no “used to be.” When there’s no history, there’s no USE2B. So from its very beginning, the early Church never was “the way it used to be.” Think this through: for the Church of today to truly be like the first Church used to be, it must never be “the way it used to be!” Ever since it started the Church has never been “the way it used to be”! God was introducing something new.
But, even before that was introduced, Israel had to cope with changes too…
Scene 3 – Around 100 BC.
Ben: Synagogue, Schmynagogue! Back when it was done right, people went to the temple. That’s how worship was, period.
Azuba: Back when it was done right, people lived in the Garden of Eden, Dear, remember?
Ben: That’s not what I mean. I think these synagogues are just an excuse – a convenience – so that people don’t have to go to the temple to worship. Worship should be in the temple!
Azuba: Honey, there isn’t a temple anymore. It has been built and destroyed twice now.
Ben: That’s just an excuse! There’s still a spot in Jerusalem where the foundation used to be!
Azuba: That’s true, but it’s not like we can just travel like we used to. These Romans just don’t let us come and go anytime we please. The synagogues give us a way to get together for worship outside of Jerusalem.
Ben: (agitated) See?! You’re giving in! We don’t have to bow to the system!
Azuba: But we don’t have to get killed for finding a way around the system either. Besides, there’s a lot about the synagogue worship that’s good – we get together, we pray, the reading of the Scriptures, the comments by the teacher.
Ben: Maybe so, but I still say that real worship ought to be hard. It shouldn’t be so easy.
Azuba: Honey, if you’re there, I’m sure it won’t be too easy. (end of scene 3)
You could say the big change began with Jesus. It was His regular practice to attend synagogue on Saturdays (Luke 4:16). So He was a “church-goer” of sorts. He had people starting to look at the Old Testament law differently. The religious leaders of that day looked at the situation and weren’t happy. “The Church isn’t the way it used to be.” They plotted for Jesus’ death.
He called 12 men who followed Him around. They each brought their own ideas, backgrounds, quirks, and flaws into the group. They all had some growing to do. It wasn’t uncommon for members of that small company to resent the presence and position of the others. Can you hear them? “It just isn’t the way it was before Matthew was part of the group. Now we have to write receipts for everyone who makes contributions!” And ever since James and John were put in charge of the cooking, all we eat is fish!” They openly fought over who was the most significant.
After 3 years, Jesus returned to heaven. Several followers were formed into a tight-knit group, devoting themselves to prayer. Then Pentecost came, and “Peter and the eleven" preached the gospel in the temple. About 3,000 people were added to their number that day, and the Church was no longer the way it had been. (Acts 2:1-41)
The people of the Church kept meeting in the temple, and also in their houses. Peter kept preaching, and the number of members grew, now to 5,000, so the size of the Church wasn’t like it had been (Acts 4:4). But the leaders of the Jews weren’t pleased. “Church” was not the way it had been before. It was growing, so they threatened the Apostles. It was another situation where change is hard. (Acts 4:21)
Even after the Church was well underway, it was still challenged by changes.
The Holy Spirit sent Peter to preach the gospel to a non-Jewish worshiper. Until then, that was something no good former Jew did. Peter resisted at first, “That’s not the way the Church has been.” But God set him straight, and a group of Gentiles joined the believers. (Acts 10)
So many of the Gentiles began to accept Jesus, it really concerned other people in the Church. “That’s not the way the Church has been.” It raised so many concerns and questions that the Church leaders had to gather in Jerusalem to decide what to do. The problem? The church was changing as other people accepted Jesus. (Acts 15)
(Acts 13:1-2) The Holy Spirit called for missionary work. That was something new. And Paul and Barnabas went on the 1st missionary journey. They had run-ins with the Jews, who liked things the way they were. In fact, they chased down Paul and stoned him outside the city of Lystra, because he was trying to make their religious system different. They liked Church the way it had been. They referred to Paul and Barnabas as “men who have upset the world.” (Acts 17:6)
Things were changing. That’s what Paul said in
Acts 17:30
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
Just the beginning of the Church marked a lot of change.
Scene 4 – On the day of Pentecost, 29 AD.
Euodia: What did you think of Peter’s sermon?
Trophimus: It was kind of long. You know, I counted the number of times he said “repent”: 18X! Can you believe it?
Euodia: That’s not what I meant. I mean, what did you think of the message?
Trophimus: Oh, well, like you, I was cut to the heart. So much has changed today – new baptism, new day for worship, new gathering places, new relationship with God. My head is still spinning. We have a lot of adapting to do.
Euodia: Honey, it will be OK. Didn’t Peter say that God’s Holy Spirit has come to live inside us as part of all this?
Trophimus: (distantly) Yeah…
Euodia: And from now on we’ll worship Jesus as the Messiah?
Trophimus: (distantly) Yeah…
Euodia: What’s wrong?
Trophimus: I’m afraid I’m going to miss some of the old things.
Euodia: Miss them? You mean like legalism? Trying to keep the Law all on our own? Always wondering if we’re being good enough for heaven? I won’t miss them!
Trophimus: What about the old songs?
Euodia: A lot of them will still be great! In fact, some will take on a deeper meaning now! Don’t let it get you down. God has introduced something new that He had planned all along.
Trophimus: Maybe so, but new is hard sometimes.
Euodia: You can say that again.
Trophimus: New is hard sometimes.
Euodia: That’s true, but there are some things like the New Covenant and being a new creature in Jesus that I’m going to like!
Trophimus: I’ll bet they’re probably going to write some new songs about that too, aren’t they?
Euodia: Probably, Honey. (end of scene 4)
History continued the pattern. The Church continued to expand and transform, depending on the age and society in which it found itself. There were always those who wanted it to remain the way it was, and those who saw the need for change. And though it occasionally dug into some dark ruts, the Church was always changing.
I know that change comes hard for many. I’m one of those many. But when I reflect on the Scriptures and the people who wanted the Church to remain as it always was, I see that’s not where the Lord wants His people to be. Christianity has always involved the Church changing as it needed to. It never compromised the message, but it always adjusted itself to remain effective in a lost and changing world.
That wasn’t always easy, especially when it came to the way we’re supposed to worship together. Long before there were hymns, the church worshiped using the Psalms. Do you realize there was a period of change when hymns were introduced to the Church, and that a number of people struggled with that idea? It was the transition from “psalmody” to “hymnody.” And once hymns were written and being used, there was controversy over how they should be done…
Scene 5 – late 1800’s
Horatio: What was that you were humming?
Fanny: Oh, it was a new hymn that someone at our church is working on.
Horatio: What? Is it another one of those 4-part hymns with shaped notes?
Fanny: Actually it’s going to be. You really aren’t pleased with the church’s music these days, are you?
Horatio: Not since they decided to make it all complicated. Give me a Gregorian chant! Now that was music! No parts. No special notation. Just get in there and sing!
Fanny: You know, there’s a reason you don’t hear many Gregorian chants these days. Music has changed. The creativity pool has grown. People are wanting to find greater ways to express praise to God.
Horatio: You mean like adding a piano?
Fanny: Well, yes.
Horatio: Did you hear what was happening to First Church over in the next county? Someone bought a piano for the church, and during the night, another member came and chopped it to pieces with an axe! I’m telling you, the church is going to end up splitting over whether or not we should have a piano for worship!
Fanny: Remember how others have had fights over whether the songs should be written down and sung from a book?
Horatio: Well, I can understand. After all, Gregorian chants weren’t all written in a book that people sang from.
Fanny: But hymnals don’t seem all that new or different to you, do they?
Horatio: That’s because I’m used to them. But if people keep writing new hymns, what are we going to do with the old hymnals?
Fanny: I guess they’ll need to be changed sometime.
Horatio: Does all this change ever end?
Fanny: No, I’m afraid it doesn’t. Even in the book of Revelation it talks about the new songs that will be sung in heaven.
Horatio: OK, but they can’t make me sing ‘em! (end of scene 5)
From one struggling changer to a whole group of others, let me share with you this morning why I think we can all learn to cope with change, even in the Church, and even in the way we worship. How can we survive it? I believe the one key is to remember that Christian life is about change from beginning to end
When a person accepts Jesus, there’s a big…
Initial change
1 John 3:14a We know that we have passed from death to life…
Ephesians 2:1-5 …you were dead in your transgressions and sins… we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ…
Ephesians 5:8a For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
1 Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Colossians 1:21-22a Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you…
1 Corinthians 6:9b-11 Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Remember when you first accepted Jesus? For some of you, that was a matter of simply going the direction you were pointed from the day you were first born. Your parents raised you knowing Jesus, and accepting Him was a less drastic change. For some of you, you can remember how far away from God you were – how much accepting Jesus meant a big change. You can talk about what you once were, and about what God has helped you to become. No matter where you were, it’s the same for all of us: accepting Jesus meant a major change; to pass from death to life, darkness to light. Praise God for the change!
If that’s a change you’re considering making this morning, you need to understand that God is calling for all people everywhere to repent. Repentance means to change – a change of heart, a change of direction in life. Becoming a follower of Jesus means to make a change in your life.
But it doesn’t stop with that initial change. Another part of following Jesus is the…
Continuing change
Following Jesus doesn’t mean we accept Him and that’s it. Life in Jesus is about being made into a new person everyday.
2 Corinthians 5:17 …if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
It’s about being changed – transformed – just as surely as a caterpillar is changed into a butterfly, we’re supposed to be in a continual process of change.
Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
2 Corinthians 3:18 we…are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory…
It’s about growing up – just as surely as a baby grows up into an adult, we’re supposed to be growing up in Jesus.
1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
Hebrews 6:1a …let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity…
2 Peter 3:18 …grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 4:13-16 until we all…become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ…we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Scene 6 – A husband and wife at home, sometime in the future 20 years or so.
Zoe (wife): Well, Honey, what did you think of today’s worship download?
Xeno (husband): It was OK, I guess.
Zoe: You don’t sound overly impressed.
Xeno: Well, it’s just…Remember when they still had someone actually get up front and lead the songs? I just don’t think those holographic song leader images are as personal and inspirational. And the way they take it and remix the whole time so that it’s edited and shorter – I’m not sure that TiVo is the best thing for worshiping.
Zoe: At least everyone gets their own remotes at this church. I didn’t like it when we fought over the remotes before. And the surround sound is pretty good.
Xeno: Who cares, really? I mean, when it was time for everyone to plug in their singing cards, I honestly didn’t know any of the songs.
Zoe: That’s true. I wonder why we don’t we use the old choruses anymore. And when was the last time we had the lyrics up on a screen instead of in a hologram?”
(both sigh and stare ahead silently for a moment)
Xeno: You know what we sound like?
Zoe: What?
Xeno: People who are having a hard time with change! Just listen to us!
Zoe: Well, let’s be honest – change has never been easy; not in the church, not for older people, and not for young people either. Of course we’re having a hard time with it. Not to mention that worship is really supposed to be about God, not us.
Xeno: So what do you suggest we do?
Zoe: I don’t know…change maybe, and think about what God wants.
Xeno: Honey, you’re a smart woman. I knew there was some reason I picked you!
Zoe: Don’t change that thought! (end of scene 6)
Yeah, I imagine that someday, in the future, people are still going to struggle with change. The things that seem new and important to us today will become the way it USE2B. But once again, being a follower of Jesus is about personal change. Someday in the future, there’s going to be a great change, and every one of us is going to be part of it!
Future Change
1 Corinthians 15:51-53 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
Philippians 3:21 [God] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Our great hope is that one day things won’t be the way they are, Amen? Our great hope is that one day we’re going to trade in these temporary, decaying bodies, for the new, eternal model with a lifetime warranty - and that lifetime is eternal! And we’ll look around and we’ll say, “Praise God, things aren’t the way they used to be!” In the meantime, we’re the Church, and we’ll have this constant tension created by change. You see…
• In the Church, new people means new challenges, new quirks and different opinions, learning new names. New people are a lot of work. There’s an alternative to those things: no new people.
• Taking the gospel into places where it isn’t being heard means dealing with new cultures, new languages and new customs. That’s a lot of expense, and a lot of work. There’s an alternative to adapting to these new things: don’t take the gospel anywhere new.
• Being the Church in a world that’s in constant flux means using new methods and remaining relevant to address the problems and misconceptions of the world we live in. There’s an alternative to this constant adaptation: ignore where people are at and fail to present the very relevant message of the gospel through credible and relevant means.
I’m not willing to say those changes aren’t worth the challenges they present.
Conclusion:
Change isn’t all bad, is it? No, not according to the great victory declaration at the end of the book.
Revelation 21:5a He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"
If you’re perfectly happy with where you’re at, if everything about your life is just great and is going to stay that way just as long as it needs to, if you’re just as sure as you need to be about where you’re going to spend forever after you’re gone from this life, then don’t change anything.
But if this morning you realize that there needs to be some change in your life, if you need to be a new creature in Christ, if you need for some old things to pass away and for new things to come, then you need Jesus Christ. You need the One Who can accomplish that.
