Something That Works
Sermon
ACTING ON THE ABSURD
Second Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
Many years ago, a monk was sitting around reading his Bible. No big deal! No earth shattering event! That is what monks are supposed to do, right? I mean, what else have they got to do? And who cares in the first place? So, the world stretched and yawned as this obscure monk sat and read his Bible.
Conceded, this was no ordinary monk. This monk was straining to be monk of all monks with a tireless determination. This monk was striving for perfection with a zeal that was exhausting to himself and exasperating to those around him. This monk fasted until he almost starved. This monk inflicted physical deprivation, even punishment, upon his own body. This monk prayed for hours upon end. This monk confessed his sins endlessly and then confessed his sins some more. This monk confessed on one occasion for six consecutive hours the most trivial of transgressions. This monk confessed so much that the other monks would hide when they saw him coming. This monk once confessed that he had nothing to confess!
When this monk conducted his first Mass, he literally was petrified with fear that he would drop the elements and anger the God whom he felt demanded perfection of him. How does an imperfect monk satisfy a perfection--demanding God? You do everything you can, right? Maybe reading the Bible will help!
So, in a dusty corner of a monastery located only God knows where, an obscure, guilt--ridden monk reads his Bible in a language few of his day could understand or cared to, and this monk's eyes drifted across a line in Romans 1:16, which read, "The just shall live by faith!" And the world was changed! You and I were changed! It was one of the most pivotal events in the history of humankind. It was an event equal to or greater than the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was an event equal to or greater than Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin. It was an event equal to or greater than the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk. Yes, Virginia, it was an event equal to if not greater than "a small step for man - a giant leap for mankind." A monk read a line from scripture and it changed the world. It changed us all!
A monk read a line from scripture and, as a result, eventually governments would crumble. Rituals and superstition which had enslaved millions for scores of decades were tossed aside like a soiled rag. The most powerful organization upon earth was shaken to its very foundation, never to recover completely. The world was never the same again because Martin Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation. This obscure monk, although he never meant to do so, changed the world when he rediscovered that God's riches and righteousness cannot be imparted through ritual or religion. God's favor cannot be earned, purchased, or paid for! God's love can only be known through a personal relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What an event! What a monk! What a discovery! "The just shall live by faith!"
Martin Luther discovered, or better yet, rediscovered what someone else by the name of Paul had discovered some 1,400 years before following a similar journey and struggle.
In the first chapter of his letter to the church at Rome, Paul pens these words to a place he has never been, even though it was the center of the known world. Thus, Paul begins by introducing himself and his faith to his potential readers. He wants them to know what he is all about! He wants them to know what his faith is all about. So, at the very onset of the epistle, Paul makes perfectly clear the theme of the letter or better yet, the very essence of his life! It is, "The just shall live by faith." Like the German monk of centuries later, Paul proposes, "I have labored hard and looked a long time and I have found something that works!" Wouldn't you like to have something that always works?
My wife and I recently returned from a brief trip celebrating our anniversary. We, that is, I, forgot our camera. So to preserve our precious memories, we bought a 22--dollar throw--away camera. We should have thrown the camera away from the beginning. After two or three pictures, it stopped working.
We built a brand spanking new home several years ago. Everything is new! Everything works, right? Bummer! We had no sooner taken the key out of the lock when something did not work. The microwave did not work. The dishwasher did not work and we had trouble with the HVAC. Oh, for something that always works! Sometimes, we feel like Lucy, complaining to Linus, "Do you want to know what really is the pits? It is having to write thank--you notes for toys that don't work!" Oh, for something that always works!
Paul says, "I have found something that always works and I am excited about it! I can't wait to get there to tell you about the gospel!" The King James Version reads, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel...." Ashamed - Paul? Paul was never ashamed about anything! Not Paul! Not forward, bodacious Paul. Not Paul who "knew" everything. Not Paul who always cut a wide swath. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel even though in his day there were some who were. There were some, especially from a Greco--Roman background, who called the gospel "foolishness." They chided, "You've got to be kidding! You are telling me that an obscure, penniless Jewish carpenter was tried for treason, and crucified as a common criminal by the Roman government, and his death is the key to the meaning of the universe? Absurd!" To many it was pure foolery! It just did not make sense, especially through the lens of those who saw it not through faith. But to those who sorted the story through the eyes of faith, the passion event was the most important happening in the history of the world. It literally was the vehicle through which the true nature of the Eternal God was revealed. No, it did not make sense to many logical minds, but in the ways of God...!
In another translation, Paul says, "I have complete confidence in the gospel" (Today's English Version). In another he states, "I am proud of the good news" (New Century Version). The outstanding biblical scholar F. F. Bruce notes that Paul here is using a figure of speech called litotes, a grammatical gimmick in Greek, or "an understatement to underline or increase the effect."1 Paul is stating his confidence in the gospel in the negative to accentuate the positive. Ashamed? No way! Paul was proud of, had extreme confidence in, gloried in, and could not wait to share the gospel with the church in Rome.
Sometimes preachers have to say something and sometimes preachers have something to say. Paul had something to say about the gospel, because he knew what it could do! He was proud of the gospel because he knew that it was "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ..." (v. 16b NIV).
The English word "power" is translated from the Greek word, dunamis, from which we get our word "dynamite." Paul is saying that the gospel is God's dynamite.
In the Old Testament the word "salvation" connotes "wholeness" or "peace." In the New Testament, particularly the way Paul uses the term, "salvation" emphasizes freedom or the deliverance from the bondage of sin and death and its accompanying guilt and shame. In Paul's theology, salvation is an eschatological term which stresses that God's redeeming work in the last days has already begun. No wonder Paul is excited about the power of the gospel. It is a power to pardon our guilt and shame. It is a power to impart a pattern for a new and cleansed life. It is a power to enable us to find God's purpose in this life and a better one in the life to come. The gospel contains the very power to become all God has created us to be. It is the very power to change, or better yet, let God change us more toward the image of his Son. Better than that, the Good News is for everyone - "for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (v. 10b NIV).
For everyone? She is nine years old. In her room she listens as the front door opens and closes. Her father has come home for the evening. He is returning from a civic ceremony where he was given the award, "Father of the Year," for the second year in a row. She had stared quietly at her lap through the meal, which always is brief and quieter still. As soon as the meal was over she had asked to be excused. She had gone to her room and locked the door. She knows that very soon she will hear the kitchen cabinet door open and her father will take down his most constant companion, Jack Daniels. She buries her head into the pillow to try to drown out the sounds of her parents arguing and her father hitting her mother. Is the gospel for him?
In his wonderful book, Habitation Of Dragons, Keith Miller tells the story of having lunch with a friend when an attractive young woman sauntered up to his table in a pair of very short shorts, sandals, and a brief halter top. She was followed by a tiny daughter in a similar outfit. Miller recognized her as a member of the Sunday school class he taught. After a few moments of conversation she remarked, "I would honestly like to make a commitment of my life to Christ ... but I can't do it. I have a personal problem I can't resolve." Miller responded, "That is why Christianity is called "good news." God gives us the power to cope with the seemingly impossible situations in life. I can't promise to change anything ... just accept his love and grace. We come to him as we are." "Do you believe that?" she asked. "I'd bet my life on it," Miller replied. She looked at her hands for several minutes. "All right," she said, almost as a challenge. "I'm committing adultery every Thursday night with a man who has a wife and several children. And I cannot quit. Now can I come into your Christian family?"2 Is the gospel for her?
Is the gospel for Jeffery Dahmer or Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin? Is the gospel for the three men who beat up James Byrd, tied him to a pick--up truck, and dragged him to death? Is the gospel for the Columbine killers? Is the Good News really for everyone? The Bible says, "Emphatically, yes!"
The gospel is for everyone because everyone has sinned. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (3:23 NIV). All of us and each one of us have done things we should not have done and left undone things we should have done. All have sinned! In Paul's thought, sin is not only what we do or do not do, but a state in which we find ourselves because we are less than what God intended because of our personal rebellion to his will for us. As I try to teach the children in our membership classes, "Sin is when I want what I want more than I want what God wants." That is sin! We all are guilty.
The great evangelist of another era, Billy Sunday, was preparing to preach a revival campaign in one of our large cities. He wrote to the mayor and asked him to send a list of people who possibly had spiritual problems or who were in need of prayer. Billy Sunday was surprised when the mayor sent back to him a copy of the city telephone directory. All have sinned! Thank God that the gospel is for all of us.
Paul continues by saying that he is excited about the gospel not only because he knows what it can do, but also because he knows how it works! It works through faith! "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith' " (v. 17 NIV).
If someone presented the challenge to create a new world or even a new person, that challenge could be met with various responses. Some would say, "Learn!" Education is the key. If a man or woman knows what to do, they will do it. Knowledge is the answer. Change is brought about with the mind. Others would say, "Earn!" Money is the key. If you have enough money, you can correct the woes and wrongs of society, or at least, you can live with them more comfortably. Financial power is the answer. Change is brought about with the dollar. Others would say, "Burn!" Radical change is the key. You must tear down and destroy the old ways, quit your habits, and start all over. Revolution is the answer. Change is brought about with the scythe. These are three tested ways, suggested by some, to bring about change. The only trouble is, they are not biblical. The Bible says, "Turn!" Repentance is the key. We must turn from our sins and turn toward God. Nothing less than a 180--degree turn will do. Conversion is the answer. Real, lasting change is brought about through the heart. Only we cannot do it! Only God can through the power of his Good News.
There is only one way to come to God and that is through Jesus Christ. We come to him when we act on the absurd notion that he loves us unconditionally and turn from our sin and turn to him in true repentance and allow him to change us. Paul states, "That was my experience. I was on the road to Damascus to gather Christians to be persecuted, and God struck me blind and helpless. There was nothing I could do because I could do nothing. I was totally dependent upon God. In my helplessness, I was able to say I was wrong. I was wrong to think I could earn my way to God. I was wrong to detest this new way to God called Christianity and to persecute its followers. All I could do was to say that I was wrong and place my childlike faith in the Lord Jesus and depend upon his power to change me. My faith was my own, not secondhand or borrowed from tradition. My faith was personal, not an adherence to a creed or gathered through ritual or religion. I realized that I did not have to be perfect because I could not. I realized that I did not have to depend upon my own righteousness because I had none. I only had to realize that I was a sinner and that God loves and saves sinners and makes them brand new."
C. T. Studd went to hear the evangelist Dwight L. Moody because he had lost a bet. A socialite, he cared nothing for religion and went with no positive expectations. But he heard a man who seemed to pierce his very heart. C. T. Studd was converted to Christ. He only lived two years after his conversion, but many said that he put more into those two years than many Christians put into a lifetime. An individual who worked for him said it best, "All I can say is this: There was the old skin on the outside, but there was a new man on the inside."3 That is how God's gospel works. We put our faith in him and he makes us brand new. Thank God for something that always works!
That kind of radical change and complete reversal sounds extreme, even painful. And it is! There is only one thing more painful and that is the unwillingness or the refusal to do so! It was said of Lyndon Johnson that he never felt he had the luxury of re--examining his position once he fully committed the nation's full resources to Vietnam. Never re--examine? Never change? Never correct a wrong? Never repent? And thousands of lives were lost because one man could not change direction. It costs a lot to say, "Yes," to God. It can cost even more to say, "No."
When we say, "Yes," God's dynamite always works. Aren't you glad that there is something that works every time? Why? Because its working is not dependent upon us but upon God. Our salvation is not dependent upon our rites, rituals, and religion, but upon God. We aren't saved by our faithfulness, but his! We are not delivered by our good works, but by Christ's work on the cross. "Great is thy faithfulness, O God our Father." As Dr. Frank Stagg translates verse 16, "The righteous live by faith in the faithfulness of God." It is God's work, pure and simple, from start to finish. We are totally dependent upon the love and grace of God.
Dr. Stagg goes on to say that the phrase "from faith to faith" (v. 17) can also be translated "from a lesser faith to a greater faith." In short, it gets better! We grow! Our faith grows as God shares with us his very life, his very nature as we grow to be like Christ. God is faithful! God can be trusted to keep his word. "Therein is the righteousness of God that is revealed" (v. 17a). This is a righteousness that is an attribute of God - his very life and character. This is a righteousness that is an activity of God, putting us in right standing with him which enables us to share his very life. God's righteousness is both a pattern for our life and a power to live the life he wants us to have.
God can be trusted! Ask a nineteen--year--old nervous novice squirming anxiously in his seat trying to discover a scriptural text upon which to preach his first sermon in October of 1965. His eyes, too, drifted across those words, "The just shall live by faith." "That's it!" he cried! "That is the Christian life! That will be the text for my first sermon." I was that young preacher. I am here to tell you that after over 34 years and thousands of sermons, I have never once found God to be lacking or his promises to be deficient. In every circumstance I have always found God's word sufficient and his promises never failing! It works and it gets better. God can be trusted. Ask me. I will tell you.
Or ask Dennis Simmons. He came to hear my very first sermon. He was my best friend. My hero - All--State Center in football, and he was not a Christian. At the conclusion of the little sermon, that big mound of muscle came forward, shook my hand and made the best profession of his childlike faith of which he was capable. Ask Dennis! It gets better. Today he is a dynamic Christian, has a beautiful wife and family, and is the assistant Superintendent of Education in our home county. Ask him! Dennis will tell you that it gets better. God can be trusted.
William J. Bausch relates a story told by the man who served as the Bishop of Notre Dame in the early part of the 1900s. He told the story of a young man who would stand outside the cathedral and shout derogatory slogans at the people entering to worship. He would call them fools and all kinds of names. The people tried to ignore him but it was difficult.
One day the parish priest went outside to confront the young man, much to the distress of the parishioners. The young man ranted and raved against everything the priest told him. Finally, he addressed the young scoffer by saying, "Look, let's get this over with once and for all. I'm going to dare you to do something and I bet you can't do it." The young man shot back, "I can do anything you propose, you white--robed wimp!"
"Fine," said the priest. "All I ask you to do is to come into the sanctuary with me. I want you to stare at the figure of Christ, and I want you to scream at the very top of your lungs, as loudly as you can, 'Christ died on the cross for me and I don't care one bit.' "
So the young man went into the sanctuary and screamed as loud as he could, looking at the figure, "Christ died on the cross for me and I don't care one bit!" The priest said, "Very good. Now do it again." And again the young man screamed, with a little more hesitancy, "Christ died on the cross for me and I don't care one bit!" "You're almost done now," said the priest. "One more time."
The young man raised his fist, kept looking at the statue, but the words wouldn't come. He just could not look at the face of Christ and say those words again. The Bishop continued, "I was that young man."4
It works and it gets better! Ask me! Ask Dennis! Ask the Bishop at Notre Dame. It works! Or better yet, ask yourself! Does your personal faith work for you?
____________
1. Dale Moody, Romans, The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 10 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970), p. 167.
2. Keith Miller, Habitation Of Dragons (Waco: Word, 1970), pp. 69--71.
3. James E. Hightower, Jr., Illustrating Paul's Letter To The Romans (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1984), p. 11.
4. William J. Bausch, A World Of Stories (Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty--Third Publications, 1998), p. 244.
Conceded, this was no ordinary monk. This monk was straining to be monk of all monks with a tireless determination. This monk was striving for perfection with a zeal that was exhausting to himself and exasperating to those around him. This monk fasted until he almost starved. This monk inflicted physical deprivation, even punishment, upon his own body. This monk prayed for hours upon end. This monk confessed his sins endlessly and then confessed his sins some more. This monk confessed on one occasion for six consecutive hours the most trivial of transgressions. This monk confessed so much that the other monks would hide when they saw him coming. This monk once confessed that he had nothing to confess!
When this monk conducted his first Mass, he literally was petrified with fear that he would drop the elements and anger the God whom he felt demanded perfection of him. How does an imperfect monk satisfy a perfection--demanding God? You do everything you can, right? Maybe reading the Bible will help!
So, in a dusty corner of a monastery located only God knows where, an obscure, guilt--ridden monk reads his Bible in a language few of his day could understand or cared to, and this monk's eyes drifted across a line in Romans 1:16, which read, "The just shall live by faith!" And the world was changed! You and I were changed! It was one of the most pivotal events in the history of humankind. It was an event equal to or greater than the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was an event equal to or greater than Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin. It was an event equal to or greater than the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk. Yes, Virginia, it was an event equal to if not greater than "a small step for man - a giant leap for mankind." A monk read a line from scripture and it changed the world. It changed us all!
A monk read a line from scripture and, as a result, eventually governments would crumble. Rituals and superstition which had enslaved millions for scores of decades were tossed aside like a soiled rag. The most powerful organization upon earth was shaken to its very foundation, never to recover completely. The world was never the same again because Martin Luther ignited the Protestant Reformation. This obscure monk, although he never meant to do so, changed the world when he rediscovered that God's riches and righteousness cannot be imparted through ritual or religion. God's favor cannot be earned, purchased, or paid for! God's love can only be known through a personal relationship with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What an event! What a monk! What a discovery! "The just shall live by faith!"
Martin Luther discovered, or better yet, rediscovered what someone else by the name of Paul had discovered some 1,400 years before following a similar journey and struggle.
In the first chapter of his letter to the church at Rome, Paul pens these words to a place he has never been, even though it was the center of the known world. Thus, Paul begins by introducing himself and his faith to his potential readers. He wants them to know what he is all about! He wants them to know what his faith is all about. So, at the very onset of the epistle, Paul makes perfectly clear the theme of the letter or better yet, the very essence of his life! It is, "The just shall live by faith." Like the German monk of centuries later, Paul proposes, "I have labored hard and looked a long time and I have found something that works!" Wouldn't you like to have something that always works?
My wife and I recently returned from a brief trip celebrating our anniversary. We, that is, I, forgot our camera. So to preserve our precious memories, we bought a 22--dollar throw--away camera. We should have thrown the camera away from the beginning. After two or three pictures, it stopped working.
We built a brand spanking new home several years ago. Everything is new! Everything works, right? Bummer! We had no sooner taken the key out of the lock when something did not work. The microwave did not work. The dishwasher did not work and we had trouble with the HVAC. Oh, for something that always works! Sometimes, we feel like Lucy, complaining to Linus, "Do you want to know what really is the pits? It is having to write thank--you notes for toys that don't work!" Oh, for something that always works!
Paul says, "I have found something that always works and I am excited about it! I can't wait to get there to tell you about the gospel!" The King James Version reads, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel...." Ashamed - Paul? Paul was never ashamed about anything! Not Paul! Not forward, bodacious Paul. Not Paul who "knew" everything. Not Paul who always cut a wide swath. Paul was not ashamed of the gospel even though in his day there were some who were. There were some, especially from a Greco--Roman background, who called the gospel "foolishness." They chided, "You've got to be kidding! You are telling me that an obscure, penniless Jewish carpenter was tried for treason, and crucified as a common criminal by the Roman government, and his death is the key to the meaning of the universe? Absurd!" To many it was pure foolery! It just did not make sense, especially through the lens of those who saw it not through faith. But to those who sorted the story through the eyes of faith, the passion event was the most important happening in the history of the world. It literally was the vehicle through which the true nature of the Eternal God was revealed. No, it did not make sense to many logical minds, but in the ways of God...!
In another translation, Paul says, "I have complete confidence in the gospel" (Today's English Version). In another he states, "I am proud of the good news" (New Century Version). The outstanding biblical scholar F. F. Bruce notes that Paul here is using a figure of speech called litotes, a grammatical gimmick in Greek, or "an understatement to underline or increase the effect."1 Paul is stating his confidence in the gospel in the negative to accentuate the positive. Ashamed? No way! Paul was proud of, had extreme confidence in, gloried in, and could not wait to share the gospel with the church in Rome.
Sometimes preachers have to say something and sometimes preachers have something to say. Paul had something to say about the gospel, because he knew what it could do! He was proud of the gospel because he knew that it was "the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ..." (v. 16b NIV).
The English word "power" is translated from the Greek word, dunamis, from which we get our word "dynamite." Paul is saying that the gospel is God's dynamite.
In the Old Testament the word "salvation" connotes "wholeness" or "peace." In the New Testament, particularly the way Paul uses the term, "salvation" emphasizes freedom or the deliverance from the bondage of sin and death and its accompanying guilt and shame. In Paul's theology, salvation is an eschatological term which stresses that God's redeeming work in the last days has already begun. No wonder Paul is excited about the power of the gospel. It is a power to pardon our guilt and shame. It is a power to impart a pattern for a new and cleansed life. It is a power to enable us to find God's purpose in this life and a better one in the life to come. The gospel contains the very power to become all God has created us to be. It is the very power to change, or better yet, let God change us more toward the image of his Son. Better than that, the Good News is for everyone - "for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile" (v. 10b NIV).
For everyone? She is nine years old. In her room she listens as the front door opens and closes. Her father has come home for the evening. He is returning from a civic ceremony where he was given the award, "Father of the Year," for the second year in a row. She had stared quietly at her lap through the meal, which always is brief and quieter still. As soon as the meal was over she had asked to be excused. She had gone to her room and locked the door. She knows that very soon she will hear the kitchen cabinet door open and her father will take down his most constant companion, Jack Daniels. She buries her head into the pillow to try to drown out the sounds of her parents arguing and her father hitting her mother. Is the gospel for him?
In his wonderful book, Habitation Of Dragons, Keith Miller tells the story of having lunch with a friend when an attractive young woman sauntered up to his table in a pair of very short shorts, sandals, and a brief halter top. She was followed by a tiny daughter in a similar outfit. Miller recognized her as a member of the Sunday school class he taught. After a few moments of conversation she remarked, "I would honestly like to make a commitment of my life to Christ ... but I can't do it. I have a personal problem I can't resolve." Miller responded, "That is why Christianity is called "good news." God gives us the power to cope with the seemingly impossible situations in life. I can't promise to change anything ... just accept his love and grace. We come to him as we are." "Do you believe that?" she asked. "I'd bet my life on it," Miller replied. She looked at her hands for several minutes. "All right," she said, almost as a challenge. "I'm committing adultery every Thursday night with a man who has a wife and several children. And I cannot quit. Now can I come into your Christian family?"2 Is the gospel for her?
Is the gospel for Jeffery Dahmer or Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin? Is the gospel for the three men who beat up James Byrd, tied him to a pick--up truck, and dragged him to death? Is the gospel for the Columbine killers? Is the Good News really for everyone? The Bible says, "Emphatically, yes!"
The gospel is for everyone because everyone has sinned. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (3:23 NIV). All of us and each one of us have done things we should not have done and left undone things we should have done. All have sinned! In Paul's thought, sin is not only what we do or do not do, but a state in which we find ourselves because we are less than what God intended because of our personal rebellion to his will for us. As I try to teach the children in our membership classes, "Sin is when I want what I want more than I want what God wants." That is sin! We all are guilty.
The great evangelist of another era, Billy Sunday, was preparing to preach a revival campaign in one of our large cities. He wrote to the mayor and asked him to send a list of people who possibly had spiritual problems or who were in need of prayer. Billy Sunday was surprised when the mayor sent back to him a copy of the city telephone directory. All have sinned! Thank God that the gospel is for all of us.
Paul continues by saying that he is excited about the gospel not only because he knows what it can do, but also because he knows how it works! It works through faith! "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith' " (v. 17 NIV).
If someone presented the challenge to create a new world or even a new person, that challenge could be met with various responses. Some would say, "Learn!" Education is the key. If a man or woman knows what to do, they will do it. Knowledge is the answer. Change is brought about with the mind. Others would say, "Earn!" Money is the key. If you have enough money, you can correct the woes and wrongs of society, or at least, you can live with them more comfortably. Financial power is the answer. Change is brought about with the dollar. Others would say, "Burn!" Radical change is the key. You must tear down and destroy the old ways, quit your habits, and start all over. Revolution is the answer. Change is brought about with the scythe. These are three tested ways, suggested by some, to bring about change. The only trouble is, they are not biblical. The Bible says, "Turn!" Repentance is the key. We must turn from our sins and turn toward God. Nothing less than a 180--degree turn will do. Conversion is the answer. Real, lasting change is brought about through the heart. Only we cannot do it! Only God can through the power of his Good News.
There is only one way to come to God and that is through Jesus Christ. We come to him when we act on the absurd notion that he loves us unconditionally and turn from our sin and turn to him in true repentance and allow him to change us. Paul states, "That was my experience. I was on the road to Damascus to gather Christians to be persecuted, and God struck me blind and helpless. There was nothing I could do because I could do nothing. I was totally dependent upon God. In my helplessness, I was able to say I was wrong. I was wrong to think I could earn my way to God. I was wrong to detest this new way to God called Christianity and to persecute its followers. All I could do was to say that I was wrong and place my childlike faith in the Lord Jesus and depend upon his power to change me. My faith was my own, not secondhand or borrowed from tradition. My faith was personal, not an adherence to a creed or gathered through ritual or religion. I realized that I did not have to be perfect because I could not. I realized that I did not have to depend upon my own righteousness because I had none. I only had to realize that I was a sinner and that God loves and saves sinners and makes them brand new."
C. T. Studd went to hear the evangelist Dwight L. Moody because he had lost a bet. A socialite, he cared nothing for religion and went with no positive expectations. But he heard a man who seemed to pierce his very heart. C. T. Studd was converted to Christ. He only lived two years after his conversion, but many said that he put more into those two years than many Christians put into a lifetime. An individual who worked for him said it best, "All I can say is this: There was the old skin on the outside, but there was a new man on the inside."3 That is how God's gospel works. We put our faith in him and he makes us brand new. Thank God for something that always works!
That kind of radical change and complete reversal sounds extreme, even painful. And it is! There is only one thing more painful and that is the unwillingness or the refusal to do so! It was said of Lyndon Johnson that he never felt he had the luxury of re--examining his position once he fully committed the nation's full resources to Vietnam. Never re--examine? Never change? Never correct a wrong? Never repent? And thousands of lives were lost because one man could not change direction. It costs a lot to say, "Yes," to God. It can cost even more to say, "No."
When we say, "Yes," God's dynamite always works. Aren't you glad that there is something that works every time? Why? Because its working is not dependent upon us but upon God. Our salvation is not dependent upon our rites, rituals, and religion, but upon God. We aren't saved by our faithfulness, but his! We are not delivered by our good works, but by Christ's work on the cross. "Great is thy faithfulness, O God our Father." As Dr. Frank Stagg translates verse 16, "The righteous live by faith in the faithfulness of God." It is God's work, pure and simple, from start to finish. We are totally dependent upon the love and grace of God.
Dr. Stagg goes on to say that the phrase "from faith to faith" (v. 17) can also be translated "from a lesser faith to a greater faith." In short, it gets better! We grow! Our faith grows as God shares with us his very life, his very nature as we grow to be like Christ. God is faithful! God can be trusted to keep his word. "Therein is the righteousness of God that is revealed" (v. 17a). This is a righteousness that is an attribute of God - his very life and character. This is a righteousness that is an activity of God, putting us in right standing with him which enables us to share his very life. God's righteousness is both a pattern for our life and a power to live the life he wants us to have.
God can be trusted! Ask a nineteen--year--old nervous novice squirming anxiously in his seat trying to discover a scriptural text upon which to preach his first sermon in October of 1965. His eyes, too, drifted across those words, "The just shall live by faith." "That's it!" he cried! "That is the Christian life! That will be the text for my first sermon." I was that young preacher. I am here to tell you that after over 34 years and thousands of sermons, I have never once found God to be lacking or his promises to be deficient. In every circumstance I have always found God's word sufficient and his promises never failing! It works and it gets better. God can be trusted. Ask me. I will tell you.
Or ask Dennis Simmons. He came to hear my very first sermon. He was my best friend. My hero - All--State Center in football, and he was not a Christian. At the conclusion of the little sermon, that big mound of muscle came forward, shook my hand and made the best profession of his childlike faith of which he was capable. Ask Dennis! It gets better. Today he is a dynamic Christian, has a beautiful wife and family, and is the assistant Superintendent of Education in our home county. Ask him! Dennis will tell you that it gets better. God can be trusted.
William J. Bausch relates a story told by the man who served as the Bishop of Notre Dame in the early part of the 1900s. He told the story of a young man who would stand outside the cathedral and shout derogatory slogans at the people entering to worship. He would call them fools and all kinds of names. The people tried to ignore him but it was difficult.
One day the parish priest went outside to confront the young man, much to the distress of the parishioners. The young man ranted and raved against everything the priest told him. Finally, he addressed the young scoffer by saying, "Look, let's get this over with once and for all. I'm going to dare you to do something and I bet you can't do it." The young man shot back, "I can do anything you propose, you white--robed wimp!"
"Fine," said the priest. "All I ask you to do is to come into the sanctuary with me. I want you to stare at the figure of Christ, and I want you to scream at the very top of your lungs, as loudly as you can, 'Christ died on the cross for me and I don't care one bit.' "
So the young man went into the sanctuary and screamed as loud as he could, looking at the figure, "Christ died on the cross for me and I don't care one bit!" The priest said, "Very good. Now do it again." And again the young man screamed, with a little more hesitancy, "Christ died on the cross for me and I don't care one bit!" "You're almost done now," said the priest. "One more time."
The young man raised his fist, kept looking at the statue, but the words wouldn't come. He just could not look at the face of Christ and say those words again. The Bishop continued, "I was that young man."4
It works and it gets better! Ask me! Ask Dennis! Ask the Bishop at Notre Dame. It works! Or better yet, ask yourself! Does your personal faith work for you?
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1. Dale Moody, Romans, The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 10 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970), p. 167.
2. Keith Miller, Habitation Of Dragons (Waco: Word, 1970), pp. 69--71.
3. James E. Hightower, Jr., Illustrating Paul's Letter To The Romans (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1984), p. 11.
4. William J. Bausch, A World Of Stories (Mystic, Connecticut: Twenty--Third Publications, 1998), p. 244.
