Sing A New Song
Sermon
Together In Christ
Sermons and Prayers For the Christian Year
What are the seven deadliest words in the whole history of the Christian church? Not the Seven Deadly Sins, mind you, I'm asking about words. Which seven words have been the most destructive to Christian faith, and have set the church back most consistently over the years? What are those seven words?
They are: "We've never done it that way before."
That single sentence has shot down more new ideas and murdered more enthusiasm in cold blood than any other words ever spoken: "No, that's a terrible idea and we can't possibly do it. Why? Because we've never done it that way before!"
We say things like that so often because we find it hard to deal with change. Many of us would like to live in Shangri-La, that mythical place in James Hilton's novel (Lost Horizon) where nothing changed in hundreds of years. Everything stayed the same in Shangri-La, everything was familiar and predictable.
Does that sound like your kind of place? Do you think you'd like to live there?
You would stay the same age and look the same forever. You would go to the same job and do the same work year after year, century after century. You'd live in the same house, wear the same clothes, keep the same friends and never meet anyone new. You would think the same thoughts and hear the same news all the time. Even worse, you'd hear the same sermon preached week after week in church! The past would be the future and the present would last forever. Welcome to Shangri-La, the land where nothing changes.
When we think about it in those terms, none of us is opposed to any and all change. I mean: even the most stubborn people can think of some changes in life they don't mind at all.
For example, no one minds a change in his paycheck, if it means getting more money. We don't mind putting a new addition on our house, or buying a bigger car, if those changes make our lives more comfortable, or help us "keep up with the Joneses" down the street. And most of us can think of something we wish we could change about our personality or our appearance.
So, it's not that we're against all change in and of itself. It's just that we'd like certain areas of life to stay the same, like religion. When it comes to religion and the church, a lot of people are too quick to dig in their heels and utter those seven deadly words: "We've never done it that way before."
Just yesterday, I read a letter in the newspaper from someone who was complaining about all the changes in Protestant worship services. And there are still plenty of Roman Catholics who are upset that the Mass isn't said in Latin any more.
Sometimes our resistance to change is almost comical, as in a true story which took place in a church a friend of mine pastored. It seems there was a group of older women in this church who had been preparing communion in precisely the same way for many years. Preparing communion was "their thing," and everyone knew they were in charge.
One night, the pastor received a call from their leader, informing him that they could no longer celebrate communion every month - they would have to cut back. "There aren't enough of us left to do the work" she said; "we're getting old and tired."
"Well," the pastor said, "we've had quite a few new and younger people joining the church recently, and several of them have expressed an interest in communion - would you like me to find some help for you?" Her answer was, "If you do that, we'll quit!"
For the life of him, my friend couldn't figure it out - how could someone say they were too tired to do a job but threaten to quit if he got help for them? Then it dawned on him: they didn't want the younger folks preparing communion because these new people might not do it exactly as it had been done in the past.
Protestant or Catholic, young or elderly, new member or old: it's human nature to want to preserve our faith as it was practiced in the past. It's human nature to say, "I was raised in such-and-such a church, and this is the way we always did things. That's what I'm used to, and that's the way I want it now."
The trouble is: we've got it all backwards. We ignore the things we should be fighting to preserve, and we fuss and fight to resist the things we should be changing.
We should be fighting to preserve Biblical fundamentals, to preserve basic Biblical beliefs about God and our salvation in Jesus Christ. These are under attack today, from a secular society and even from within the church! We should cling to the foundations of our faith and see that they are never changed.
But too often, Christians aren't concerned enough about basic issues like that. Instead, what do many churches really get upset about when it comes to change? They don't want a new color carpet in the sanctuary. They don't want the communion changed. Why? Because "We've never done it that way before!" (Oh, no! There are those seven deadly words again!) Holding on to fundamental Christian convictions doesn't matter nearly as much as it should while carpets and communion customs matter far too much.
The Bible tells us to be ready for change, because God is often ready to change His world. God is often saying in one way or another what He says in Isaiah this morning: "Sing to the Lord a new song ... Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare." We may resist, but it is God's prerogative to upset our status quo and send us off in new directions.
God gave that message to Moses, when He told Moses to leave the life he had known and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses protested, but God had him do it anyway.
God gave that message to Jonah, when He told Jonah to go to Nineveh and speak God's Word against the city. Jonah protested, but God had him to do anyway. In fact, from Moses to Mary, everyone in the Bible who was told by God to do something had to change their life and change their plans in order to do the will of God.
This certainly is the message God gave in the birth of His Son; in fact, the need for new thoughts and new lives should be uppermost in our minds now that Jesus Christ is born. In sacrificing His heavenly splendor to take our human form, God did something He had never done before, so how can we now complain about doing something new for God? The birth of Christ was God's new song ... God's ultimate new declaration; and indeed, the infant Jesus we saw at Bethlehem will soon grow up to become a Man who requires change of everyone who would seek to follow Him.
"Jesus, we've always been taught to love our neighbor, and hate our enemies; how can You expect us to love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us?"
"Jesus, we've always showed our faith by standing up in the synagogue to pray in public. Why do You tell us to go away to a closet and pray in secret, where no one else can see us?"
"Jesus, did You really say it is lawful to pick food to eat on the Sabbath? Did You really tell us to release this woman caught in adultery, when the law clearly says she should be put to death?" In these and many other ways, Jesus showed how God's people must be ready to sing a new song, but many people with ears could not hear, and so they resisted Him. "We've never done it that way before!"
Later on in the New Testament, when Paul is writing about what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, he urges upon us the most profound changes imaginable. It's not just our habits and customs that change, Paul says; our entire nature changes! Everything about us is different; we are a new creation. "The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In our text from Acts, it is Peter's turn to learn that God wants a new song - not just from individuals, but from His church as a whole. Specifically, Peter had a vision from God which told him that the church of Jesus Christ shall be open on an equal basis to all people who may someday receive Him, and not just to the Jews, the Chosen People from whom Christ came.
This was not an easy idea for Peter to accept; in fact, it violated everything he held dear. You see, Peter was raised as a strict Jew, which meant that for him, certain things were true. By law and custom, he was not to associate with Gentiles. He was not to eat Gentile foods. Nor was he to worship with Gentiles in the temple; in fact, there was a physical wall in the temple to separate the races. Jews were God's chosen; non-Jews were unclean.
These beliefs were in Peter's bones. He had known them to be true since birth. Whatever convictions you may have about how the church should be today, imagine having convictions ingrained ten times more deeply, for this was how Peter felt about his faith.
But now Peter was being told that "God shows no partiality" among His people. If God has called the Gentiles clean by Jesus Christ, neither Peter nor anyone else can call them unclean. In God's eyes, the newest member of the church is as important as the oldest member; the newest idea (if it conforms to Biblical truth) is as valid as the oldest tradition. Peter learned in his vision that from now on, "There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all" (Romand 10:12).
Certainly, the new Gentiles who flocked to the early church (Acts 2:14) had to adjust to some changes. They had to get used to new beliefs, new kinds of worship, new patterns of authority and so on. But the church who received these newcomers had to adjust as well! They had to get used to new people - the Gentiles - with their different customs and foods, their different songs and languages. They even had to change the architecture of the church building, tearing down the "dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:14) which had kept Jews and Gentiles apart. In other words, everything would change in the church Peter knew except the fundamentals of the faith - the same Lord was still Lord of all.
All of that happened because Jesus Christ was born in the world. He came to change peoples' lives individually, and to change people collectively in the institution of His church. He did it in His own time on earth and He is doing it today as well.
What about you? Are you like Peter, open to the changes which this newborn Christ can command and inspire? Do you still pray to God with open ears and an open mind, that God may tell you something new? Or do you count on God merely to tell you what you already believe and confirm what you already like to do?
Suppose God showed you a different faith than the one you have today? Suppose God told you to go off in a totally new direction for His sake in the world? Would you do it, or would you say, "No, I'm sorry God; I've never done it that way before."
And what about our church - the church we love so well
- the church which is gathered today in a world which can never be the same since Christ was born in Bethlehem. Will God be satisfied with us if we bind our future by the parameters of the past, or is God calling us in faithfulness to new forms of worship, community and service? What do you think? "Behold [says the Lord], the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare."
God's will for each of us as Christians - and for all of us as His church - is that we grow and change, reaching towards Him always, according to His Word. This means that if we want to keep things just as they are (in our lives or in the church), we want to keep God in a predictable box, in a straightjacket, if you will. It means we don't want God bringing anything new into our lives. Not only is that a poor way to live; it's also a faithless way to look at God.
Now that Jesus Christ is born, how can anything (or anyone) ever be the same again? Now that He is born, we have a new hope, a new commandment, a new example and a brand new way of living. Yes, Christmas is over, but the great and glorious challenge of responding to Christ's birth is only just beginning. In Christ, God is saying to us, "Sing to the Lord a new song." Sing to the Lord a new song in every heart and throughout the church. What will be our reply?
Will we say, "No Lord, we've never sung it that way before," and go about our business? Or, will we say, "Yes, Lord, a new song. What key do you want us to sing it in?" Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Almighty God, whose will is steadfast but ever-new in our lives, help us to respond to the birth of our Lord by being more open to Your life-changing Word. Now that you have done this staggering new thing for us, move us in gratitude to new forms of witness and service and praise. Open our eyes to see the new directions in which You would have us go. Open our ears to hear Your assurances and promises as we set out on the journey. Open our minds, that we may never again say to You, "But Lord, we haven't done it that way before." Open our lips, that we may sing a brand new song, in faithfulness to Your claim upon our lives and in obedience to Your Word.
Most Righteous and Holy God, whose Son is Lord of the church as well as Lord of our lives, make Your church as eager for Your new ways as each of us are as members. Help us to distinguish between the more important things which need preserving and the less important things which matter little in Your sight. In these days and weeks after Christmas, O Lord, help Your church to search eagerly for the new directions in which a little Child may lead us, that Your new song in Him may become our new song as well, sung in unison with human choruses and heavenly choirs, for the glory of Your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
They are: "We've never done it that way before."
That single sentence has shot down more new ideas and murdered more enthusiasm in cold blood than any other words ever spoken: "No, that's a terrible idea and we can't possibly do it. Why? Because we've never done it that way before!"
We say things like that so often because we find it hard to deal with change. Many of us would like to live in Shangri-La, that mythical place in James Hilton's novel (Lost Horizon) where nothing changed in hundreds of years. Everything stayed the same in Shangri-La, everything was familiar and predictable.
Does that sound like your kind of place? Do you think you'd like to live there?
You would stay the same age and look the same forever. You would go to the same job and do the same work year after year, century after century. You'd live in the same house, wear the same clothes, keep the same friends and never meet anyone new. You would think the same thoughts and hear the same news all the time. Even worse, you'd hear the same sermon preached week after week in church! The past would be the future and the present would last forever. Welcome to Shangri-La, the land where nothing changes.
When we think about it in those terms, none of us is opposed to any and all change. I mean: even the most stubborn people can think of some changes in life they don't mind at all.
For example, no one minds a change in his paycheck, if it means getting more money. We don't mind putting a new addition on our house, or buying a bigger car, if those changes make our lives more comfortable, or help us "keep up with the Joneses" down the street. And most of us can think of something we wish we could change about our personality or our appearance.
So, it's not that we're against all change in and of itself. It's just that we'd like certain areas of life to stay the same, like religion. When it comes to religion and the church, a lot of people are too quick to dig in their heels and utter those seven deadly words: "We've never done it that way before."
Just yesterday, I read a letter in the newspaper from someone who was complaining about all the changes in Protestant worship services. And there are still plenty of Roman Catholics who are upset that the Mass isn't said in Latin any more.
Sometimes our resistance to change is almost comical, as in a true story which took place in a church a friend of mine pastored. It seems there was a group of older women in this church who had been preparing communion in precisely the same way for many years. Preparing communion was "their thing," and everyone knew they were in charge.
One night, the pastor received a call from their leader, informing him that they could no longer celebrate communion every month - they would have to cut back. "There aren't enough of us left to do the work" she said; "we're getting old and tired."
"Well," the pastor said, "we've had quite a few new and younger people joining the church recently, and several of them have expressed an interest in communion - would you like me to find some help for you?" Her answer was, "If you do that, we'll quit!"
For the life of him, my friend couldn't figure it out - how could someone say they were too tired to do a job but threaten to quit if he got help for them? Then it dawned on him: they didn't want the younger folks preparing communion because these new people might not do it exactly as it had been done in the past.
Protestant or Catholic, young or elderly, new member or old: it's human nature to want to preserve our faith as it was practiced in the past. It's human nature to say, "I was raised in such-and-such a church, and this is the way we always did things. That's what I'm used to, and that's the way I want it now."
The trouble is: we've got it all backwards. We ignore the things we should be fighting to preserve, and we fuss and fight to resist the things we should be changing.
We should be fighting to preserve Biblical fundamentals, to preserve basic Biblical beliefs about God and our salvation in Jesus Christ. These are under attack today, from a secular society and even from within the church! We should cling to the foundations of our faith and see that they are never changed.
But too often, Christians aren't concerned enough about basic issues like that. Instead, what do many churches really get upset about when it comes to change? They don't want a new color carpet in the sanctuary. They don't want the communion changed. Why? Because "We've never done it that way before!" (Oh, no! There are those seven deadly words again!) Holding on to fundamental Christian convictions doesn't matter nearly as much as it should while carpets and communion customs matter far too much.
The Bible tells us to be ready for change, because God is often ready to change His world. God is often saying in one way or another what He says in Isaiah this morning: "Sing to the Lord a new song ... Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare." We may resist, but it is God's prerogative to upset our status quo and send us off in new directions.
God gave that message to Moses, when He told Moses to leave the life he had known and lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses protested, but God had him do it anyway.
God gave that message to Jonah, when He told Jonah to go to Nineveh and speak God's Word against the city. Jonah protested, but God had him to do anyway. In fact, from Moses to Mary, everyone in the Bible who was told by God to do something had to change their life and change their plans in order to do the will of God.
This certainly is the message God gave in the birth of His Son; in fact, the need for new thoughts and new lives should be uppermost in our minds now that Jesus Christ is born. In sacrificing His heavenly splendor to take our human form, God did something He had never done before, so how can we now complain about doing something new for God? The birth of Christ was God's new song ... God's ultimate new declaration; and indeed, the infant Jesus we saw at Bethlehem will soon grow up to become a Man who requires change of everyone who would seek to follow Him.
"Jesus, we've always been taught to love our neighbor, and hate our enemies; how can You expect us to love our enemies and pray for those who hurt us?"
"Jesus, we've always showed our faith by standing up in the synagogue to pray in public. Why do You tell us to go away to a closet and pray in secret, where no one else can see us?"
"Jesus, did You really say it is lawful to pick food to eat on the Sabbath? Did You really tell us to release this woman caught in adultery, when the law clearly says she should be put to death?" In these and many other ways, Jesus showed how God's people must be ready to sing a new song, but many people with ears could not hear, and so they resisted Him. "We've never done it that way before!"
Later on in the New Testament, when Paul is writing about what it means to believe in Jesus Christ, he urges upon us the most profound changes imaginable. It's not just our habits and customs that change, Paul says; our entire nature changes! Everything about us is different; we are a new creation. "The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In our text from Acts, it is Peter's turn to learn that God wants a new song - not just from individuals, but from His church as a whole. Specifically, Peter had a vision from God which told him that the church of Jesus Christ shall be open on an equal basis to all people who may someday receive Him, and not just to the Jews, the Chosen People from whom Christ came.
This was not an easy idea for Peter to accept; in fact, it violated everything he held dear. You see, Peter was raised as a strict Jew, which meant that for him, certain things were true. By law and custom, he was not to associate with Gentiles. He was not to eat Gentile foods. Nor was he to worship with Gentiles in the temple; in fact, there was a physical wall in the temple to separate the races. Jews were God's chosen; non-Jews were unclean.
These beliefs were in Peter's bones. He had known them to be true since birth. Whatever convictions you may have about how the church should be today, imagine having convictions ingrained ten times more deeply, for this was how Peter felt about his faith.
But now Peter was being told that "God shows no partiality" among His people. If God has called the Gentiles clean by Jesus Christ, neither Peter nor anyone else can call them unclean. In God's eyes, the newest member of the church is as important as the oldest member; the newest idea (if it conforms to Biblical truth) is as valid as the oldest tradition. Peter learned in his vision that from now on, "There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all" (Romand 10:12).
Certainly, the new Gentiles who flocked to the early church (Acts 2:14) had to adjust to some changes. They had to get used to new beliefs, new kinds of worship, new patterns of authority and so on. But the church who received these newcomers had to adjust as well! They had to get used to new people - the Gentiles - with their different customs and foods, their different songs and languages. They even had to change the architecture of the church building, tearing down the "dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:14) which had kept Jews and Gentiles apart. In other words, everything would change in the church Peter knew except the fundamentals of the faith - the same Lord was still Lord of all.
All of that happened because Jesus Christ was born in the world. He came to change peoples' lives individually, and to change people collectively in the institution of His church. He did it in His own time on earth and He is doing it today as well.
What about you? Are you like Peter, open to the changes which this newborn Christ can command and inspire? Do you still pray to God with open ears and an open mind, that God may tell you something new? Or do you count on God merely to tell you what you already believe and confirm what you already like to do?
Suppose God showed you a different faith than the one you have today? Suppose God told you to go off in a totally new direction for His sake in the world? Would you do it, or would you say, "No, I'm sorry God; I've never done it that way before."
And what about our church - the church we love so well
- the church which is gathered today in a world which can never be the same since Christ was born in Bethlehem. Will God be satisfied with us if we bind our future by the parameters of the past, or is God calling us in faithfulness to new forms of worship, community and service? What do you think? "Behold [says the Lord], the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare."
God's will for each of us as Christians - and for all of us as His church - is that we grow and change, reaching towards Him always, according to His Word. This means that if we want to keep things just as they are (in our lives or in the church), we want to keep God in a predictable box, in a straightjacket, if you will. It means we don't want God bringing anything new into our lives. Not only is that a poor way to live; it's also a faithless way to look at God.
Now that Jesus Christ is born, how can anything (or anyone) ever be the same again? Now that He is born, we have a new hope, a new commandment, a new example and a brand new way of living. Yes, Christmas is over, but the great and glorious challenge of responding to Christ's birth is only just beginning. In Christ, God is saying to us, "Sing to the Lord a new song." Sing to the Lord a new song in every heart and throughout the church. What will be our reply?
Will we say, "No Lord, we've never sung it that way before," and go about our business? Or, will we say, "Yes, Lord, a new song. What key do you want us to sing it in?" Amen
Pastoral Prayer
Almighty God, whose will is steadfast but ever-new in our lives, help us to respond to the birth of our Lord by being more open to Your life-changing Word. Now that you have done this staggering new thing for us, move us in gratitude to new forms of witness and service and praise. Open our eyes to see the new directions in which You would have us go. Open our ears to hear Your assurances and promises as we set out on the journey. Open our minds, that we may never again say to You, "But Lord, we haven't done it that way before." Open our lips, that we may sing a brand new song, in faithfulness to Your claim upon our lives and in obedience to Your Word.
Most Righteous and Holy God, whose Son is Lord of the church as well as Lord of our lives, make Your church as eager for Your new ways as each of us are as members. Help us to distinguish between the more important things which need preserving and the less important things which matter little in Your sight. In these days and weeks after Christmas, O Lord, help Your church to search eagerly for the new directions in which a little Child may lead us, that Your new song in Him may become our new song as well, sung in unison with human choruses and heavenly choirs, for the glory of Your holy name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
