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A Time for
Change
by Reverend Murray Spackman, Vicar. Sunday 5th December, 2004 Romans 6:12-14, Matthew 3:1-12. Charles Kettering
lived from 1876 - 1958. He was an American inventor and engineer who
developed such varied industrial products as the automobile self-starter,
farm lighting sets, quick-drying lacquer
and the high compression automobile engine.
He is quoted as saying “The
world hates change, yet it is the only thing
that has brought progress.” I
believe that statement is also true of our personal lives as well.
The only thing that brings progress and development in our
character- is change. Yet
what surprises me is that so often we resist change!
Of all people, Christians
or Christ-followers ought to be those who are most open to
change. For the Gospel is about change.
It’s about God at work in the world and in our lives changing us
for the better, transforming our relationships, making us new.
The Bible – from page one to the end, is about Change. Last week Charmaine
began the series, “Time for Change”, which we will be thinking about
in these next few weeks before Christmas, and she challenged us to begin
thinking about those issues of life and death, and to make changes in our
lives so that we would always be ready ! – ready for Jesus to return as
Lord and Judge, and ready for or own day when we pass through that
door into the greater presence of God. A moment of great change!
You may remember her comment – “What we weave in time, we wear
in eternity. So
how does this transition, this change for the better come about?
Because it doesn’t just happen, does it? John the Baptist,
the cousin of Jesus, whom we heard about a few moments ago in the Bible
reading, used the word REPENT.
- “Turn away from
your sins”, he said, “Repent”,
for the Kingdom of heaven is near.
In other words – If you want to be part of what God is doing, and
where God is at work, … if you want some changes to happen in your
life..then now is the time to begin that change. This word REPENT is
about change. And its always time for change!
Because unless we change from where we are
and what we are, - we are never going to get any closer to
God or become who we want to become. I know that unless I
put that principle into practice, and make some changes in my life –
nothing is ever going to be any different, is it?
It’s just too easy to live in a rut!
The bible clearly points out that there are three levels in our
lives at which real change must take place – and those three levels
together are what makes REPENTANCE. The
FIRST. Is a change of
Mind. The Bible says
in Romans 12: 2 – “Let God transform you inwardly by a complete change
of your mind.” Is
there something which you know is not right in your life?;
something which is holding you back from living a better life, a more
moral life, a more decent life; something you know you ought not
to be involved in – then the first step in a change process to a better
life begins with a change in your thinking about what you are doing
– about your world, about yourself, and about others. So the first
change is a change of Mind.
The SECOND
change is a change of Heart.
The heart, in the Bible, is where my motivation, my
passion, my ernest and
deepest desires come from. If I am serious about God working a change in
my life – then I must be serious about that central focus for my life.
A change of heart involves moving those lesser goals, objectives,
and purposes for my life on to the sideline – and placing God at
the centre, No.1.! The
40 Days of Purpose journey reminded us, among other things, that we were
created for God’s Pleasure
and Purpose. Will we give our Hearts to serving his Purposes for our lives
– or will we serve the inferior and lesser purposes of self which result
in frustration, dissatisfaction and pointlessness? God promised , some
700 years before the time of Jesus Christ, that the day was coming when he
would give us a new heart. That
promise still stands – and if we want a new focus in our
lives, a new heart, we only have to take that step of change and ask. So, - A change of Mind,
a change of Heart, and THIRDLY - a change of Conduct.
When
John the Baptist began his preaching it was intensely practical!
When we called people to Repent, he was telling them in no
uncertain terms not only
to change their thinking and to change their object of affections and
commitment , but also to
change their conduct. And when people asked “Well, what should we
do?” He replied – (Lk3) “Whoever has two shirts must
give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share
it.” To the tax collectors he said
“Don’t collect more than is legal” . To the soldiers he said
“Don’t take money from anyone by force ,or accuse anyone falsely.”
Repentance involves a change of conduct, a change of life. And
that’s a big ask. In fact
you may be thinking that its just too big an ask! – that
you’ve tried this self-change stuff and it doesn’t work for you. New
Year’s Day is littered with the wrecks of unkept good intentions and
resolutions. Well, I have some
good news, and this may come as something of a relief - ! . Repentance is not
just about what WE do!
Most of the time that’s what we think it is, - that
WE have to make a change, that WE have to turn our lives around- and of
course, we all have trouble doing that!
But repentance, Christian
Repentance is also about inviting God into the change
process. Some
weeks ago you may remember Charmaine made a confession- ( and she has
given me the ok to share this with you!) She confessed that she had a
dislike of wasting time. ( Do you remember?) Which meant that she almost
invariably left it to the last minute to leave home to keep her
appointments. Which often meant that she was late. And she would apologise
profusely for being late. And she was genuinely sorry. And she said to us
all that she intended to make changes to her life so that she would NOT
always end up being late. So
, I asked her how she is getting on, and she confessed that it hasn’t
been, and isn’t easy,
though she has made some improvement. But she said that two
things have made a difference for her.
1). the fact that she publicly acknowledged her
failing in this area; she owned up to it! .
- but also importantly 2)
the fact that she genuinely wanted to change, and asked God
to help her in this change process. And the result is that change is
gradually taking place. You see one of the
fundamental principles of the Christian Faith is that only by our
cooperation and God’s intervention and involvement in our lives can
anything really change. And God WANTS to work a change in
our lives. And that’s what we call Grace. God’s unearned, undeserved
working within us to bring about true change; to make us into the
kind of person we really want to become.
What better way to approach Christmas than with the desire
and intention of receiving the power and Spirit of Jesus Christ
into our lives to change us into a new person.
Repentance, then, is certainly something which WE do, but also
something which we invite God to do in us.
To change our mind, to change our hearts, and to change our
conduct. Charles Kettering
was right, wasn’t he ? “Change is the only thing that brings progress.” |
