Christianity Is a Total Change of Life!

4th Sunday after Pentecost, 6/16/13
1 Corinthians 6:9-11


Christianity Is a Total Change of Life!
I. What we were
II. What we are


Judging from the number of different programs, they’re still as popular as ever. I’m speaking about television shows whose theme is a make-over. The Biggest Loser continues to hold its spot in primetime programming. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, it features a group of people who are trying to shed pounds. Some newer programs around the old make-over theme are “Going Yard,” and “Love It or List It.” Those two feature home remodeling, one outside and one inside. And a contractor named Mike Holmes has made an international name for himself by helping homeowners who are often the victims of unqualified builders and remodelers. He goes in and makes things right.

What is it that holds the interest of viewers of programs such as these? Isn’t it that we like to see what something can become? We almost cheer these people on as they make their physical lives, their homes and yards, better. In some cases they completely change themselves and their homes. And it leads us to think about making improvements to our bodies or our homes.

And then there are those people and their homes that desperately need improvement, but
they can’t see it; they don’t agree. I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t continue watching the program called “Hoarders.” It was too difficult for me. I recall feelings of frustration and sadness. These people needed help. There were loved ones present who wanted to help. But the victim refused. Or they made a beginning, but then couldn’t carry through with it and returned to hoarding their unneeded possessions. In many cases there was a mental illness involved. They lived in denial.

Part I.

I’ve heard jokes about living in the state of denial. I’m sure you have, too. Some of them are harmless, but in reality, there’s nothing funny about living in denial. I’d guess every one of us here today has had to deal with a loved one who suffered from it. When you don’t recognize that there’s a problem or when you refuse to believe that there is a problem in your life that needs to be addressed, there’s not much that anyone can do. In fact, attempts to help often only enable such a person to continue in their self-destructive way of living.

Another way of addressing such a problem is to encourage the person not to be deceived. In fact, that’s exactly what the Apostle Paul told the Christians in the city of Corinth almost 2,000 years ago. Most of these people had not been Christians for very long. Many of them had become Christians in their adult years after living as pagans since birth. What’s more, the city of Corinth was well-known for its immoral lifestyle. The ancient Corinthians would fit in rather nicely in some of the most sordid areas of our country. And that made the temptation to dabble in those sins and to tolerate those sins all the more great.

Paul writes, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.” The world is full of people who claim to be good. They try to keep the Golden Rule. They wouldn’t claim to be perfect, but they’re good. And all dogs go to heaven, don’t they? Paul admonishes, “Don’t be deceived.” Instead, pay attention to what God says and he says, “Be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). Only those who are holy or righteous enter heaven as Jesus said (Mt. 25:46). Paul says wrongdoers or unrighteous people won’t inherit heaven.

And then he presents us with a brutal list of sins to prove his point. “Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Paul lists 10 sins. In doing so, he’s not making a complete list of sins that keep us out of heaven. Instead, his list of ten is representative and they easily divide into 4 groups.

One is idolatry. In mentioning idolatry, Paul was referring to the fact that these Corinthians had formerly worshipped idols. The temptation was always present to return to it. But idolatry isn’t limited to bowing down to an idol. It includes making anyone or anything more important to us than our God. That includes money, power, pleasure, beauty, fame.

A second division is sexual sins. Paul specifically lists sexual immorality which includes any type of sexual sin. He includes adultery and homosexual activity. Recall, this list is representative. Jesus once declared, “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5:28). God’s holy law cuts right to the heart of everyone of us.

A third division is the misuse and abuse of property or possessions. In that section Paul includes, “Thieves, the greedy, drunkards, and swindlers.” A thief takes something that doesn’t belong to him and it might be something very small and insignificant. The owner may never even know it. A thief sings, “Finders, keepers. Losers, weepers,” and makes little or no effort to find an object’s rightful owner. Being greedy and drunk are so common in our world that many view them as normal and desirable.

Last of all, Paul speaks about all sins of the tongue when he lists “slanderers.” I’m going to assume that you don’t like to hear other people speak badly of someone else. But just recall how often that someone is me or you. God’s word calls that slander—speaking evil about someone else.

Remember that Paul is speaking about getting into heaven by thinking we’re good enough. We hear heaven’s door slam shut when Paul closes this section with these words, “And that is what some of you were.” And let’s not try to slide under the tag by defending ourselves, “He said ‘some of you’; not all of you.” Agreed. There are some people who hate and avoid these gross sins. But don’t forget that in so many verses of the Bible, God states the truth about everyone of us when he declares, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

Let’s stop living in denial about what we are. We may attempt to think that we aren’t as great a sinner as someone else. But that means nothing before God. The truth is, this is what we are.

Part II.

That means I need a complete make-over. I need a change from the inside out. But, unlike the television make-over shows, I can’t do it myself, not one bit of it. Nor can some other person do it for me.

This is something only our God can do. Paul reminds the Corinthians that God had accomplished it in them. He told them, “That is was some of you were.”

What happened to them? It all started with what happened to Jesus. The death of Jesus on the cross is not simply the story of a tragic end to the life of someone who held so much hope and promise. The death of Jesus was necessary because of sin—our sins, the sins of all people. The death of Jesus on the cross was the price needed to pay for all sins of all people of all time. His resurrection from the dead assures us that’s exactly what happened. His resurrection proves he is true God as well as true man and, therefore, his death paid for the sins of the world.
That’s how God completed a make-over in the Corinthians and in you and me. Paul writes, “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.” Gone is that sordid list of sins. Paul reminds us we have been washed. It’s his classic way of referring to our baptisms. In another place Paul writes that by our baptisms God drowned our sinful nature and brought us the forgiveness of sins. By the power of his resurrection, Jesus gives baptism that great power. The sins that condemn us are washed away. What a change!

Paul also tells you, “You were sanctified.” When the Holy Spirit brought us to faith in Jesus, he brought us the forgiveness of all sins. He sanctified us or made us holy in God’s eyes. Then he also set us apart from the unbelieving, immoral world, to live a life that glorifies our holy Savior, Jesus. Everything the Christian does that is in keeping with God’s law is a revelation of the fact that God has completely made us over. He has sanctified us. What a change!

There’s one more facet of this change. “You were justified.” There’s no more glorious truth in all of the Bible. God has justified you. As sinful as each one of us is, God has declared you to be not guilty. That sounds unjust, but recall what Jesus did. He died for the sins of the whole world. By faith in Jesus that payment for sin belongs to you. In Jesus you are not guilty.

So, when guilt arises in your heart, when you wonder if God has something against you, when you’re not certain that God cares about you, when you’re feeling powerless to fight temptation—recall that you have been changed completely. You are a child of God by faith in Jesus. Eternal life in heaven is yours. And in Jesus you have the power to live as a child of God. With your life and your words glorify the Savior who has completely changed your life. Christianity is a total change of life. Amen.

You Have an Amazing Savior!

3rd Sunday after Pentecost, 6/9/13
Luke 7:11-17

You Have an Amazing Savior!
I. He shows his tender compassion.
II. He reveals his power over death.

Good news! Jesus made the list! So did Mohammed, Confucius and Buddha. Martin Luther made the list and so did the Wright Brothers. Bach, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Darwin, Newton, Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Edison and Ford made it, too.

Made what? The Time magazine’s “All-Time TIME 100 of All Time.” It appeared a little more than a year ago. I should mention that the list of 100 is not meant to be a ranking; it’s just a list. As a Christian and Lutheran pastor I read it with mixed emotion. I would have been more than disappointed if Jesus hadn’t appeared somewhere on that list. But the fact that he is listed as one of 100 doesn’t fill me with joy, either. He’s just one among so many people who have influenced our world. At least that’s what the author of the list, Joel Stein, would have us believe.

And, by and large, our world does believe that. Our world would agree with Stein that Jesus should be on that list and in just that unranked order. Our world wouldn’t think of “dissing” Jesus or Christians by consciously omitting him from that list.

But you and I know that to leave Jesus on that list the way he is is “dissing” him nonetheless. No one ever had the impact Jesus had and still has on every individual human being. What separates him from the other 99 and whomever else anyone might want to add to that list is that he is true God.

To see just how unique Jesus was and is, we could look to any one of the accounts of a day in his ministry here on earth. This morning we look at this one from Luke’s Gospel—the raising of the widow’s son from Nain. You have an amazing Savior! I hope that’s the reason you came here this morning. I pray that he will make you even more certain of it as he fills you with his presence through his word.

Part I.

Although humanity often makes you wonder how low it can go, there are times when you are truly impressed by what someone else did. We’ve all had the experience of a friend or a loved one going out of their way to do something for us. It might be a simple act of kindness, but it showed they were thinking about us and cared enough to put us ahead of themselves. Maybe it was as simple as a “thinking of you” card or a brief email or text message. You know how busy they are, but they took the time to show you how much they care about you.

That’s what we have described for us on this day in the earthly ministry of Jesus. The opening verse of our text tells us, “Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.” Don’t let this detail slip past you. Have you ever been at the head of a large crowd? Were you ever the reason that a large crowd of people dropped what they were doing in order to pay attention to you? It’s never happened to me. If it did, I don’t think I would be concerned too much about what was happening in the lives of others. I’d be too busy dealing with the crowd at hand.
But that wasn’t the only crowd present in that vicinity that day. Luke tells us that there was a crowd processing out of the town at that very same time as the crowd with Jesus was entering it. This crowd, too, was comprised of people who had dropped everything they were doing, but for a very different reason. They had not gathered to rejoice and celebrate, but to weep and wail.

They were there to support a woman from Nain. Since this was a large crowd, it’s likely she was well-known and loved. Some years earlier a similar crowd had gathered around her. Perhaps it included some of the same people in the crowd that day. They were there for her at the death of her husband. It’s likely he was the love of her life and her main means of support.

But the crowd around her on this day was doubly distraught, for she was close to another coffin. This one contained the body of her son. And if it could get any worse for her, it was the body of her only son. The two most important men in her life had been taken from her. If she was following Jewish custom at the time, this son had died just hours ago and she and her loved ones were hurrying to bury him while still paralyzed with grief.

But then she met Jesus. Actually, it’s more precise to say that Jesus met her. In spite of the fact that Jesus was surrounded by a supportive crowd of people, he led that crowd into a very different atmosphere, one filled with sorrow and death. Luke tells us, “When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her.” The Greek doesn’t use the word for “heart.” Instead, it speaks about his inward parts; we might crassly say his “guts.” You know that feeling. In your deepest self you hurt. You’re pained. That’s what Jesus felt on this day for this woman. And, as simple as these words are and as natural as this reaction might seem at first, I say it’s amazing.

You have an amazing Savior. He shows his tender compassion.

I think you accept that as the truth. Jesus is a compassionate Savior. We agree. But then we begin thinking about it. If Jesus is so compassionate, why didn’t he prevent this man from dying in the first place? Didn’t he know how much his mother needed him? And if he’s so compassionate, why didn’t he prevent her husband from dying, or, provide her with another husband? And then we begin to realize that our experience with Jesus is much like this woman’s and her son’s. For whatever reason, or for no apparent reason at all, Jesus allows such tragedies to occur in our lives, too. And too often it feels like he doesn’t care. That’s precisely why the account of this event is tucked away into a column of Luke’s gospel. In the previous account, Luke informs us that Jesus healed a man’s servant from a remote position. That’s amazing! But Jesus doesn’t want us to know him as a remote Savior. He wants us to know how much he cares for us, each and every one of us. That’s crystal clear from this account. He sees the devastation that sin brings into our lives. Here it was the death of a widow’s only son. This isn’t the way Jesus wants things to be in our lives. And there’s only one solution to it and it’s not appearing on the scene every time a tragedy occurs. It’s appearing on the scene that his Father had destined for him—Calvary’s cross. There’s where Jesus battled the master of death—Satan himself. There he paid for all sins, yours and mine included. And by his resurrection from the dead, he guarantees that we shall never be separated from him. Now that’s tender compassion for a person who is suffering trouble. You have an amazing Savior!

Part II.

A funeral without Jesus is a hopeless event. I’ve been to more than one. I’m sure you have, too. There’s no mention of Jesus. No certainty of heaven. The family members and friends have no idea whether they will ever see their loved one again or not. Oh, they say a lot of hopeful things, but they aren’t sure about any of them. As Christians, we know that without Jesus there is no hope.

I don’t know what this widow or anyone else in the crowd that day believed or hoped. Did this young man die with trust in his Savior whom God had promised to send to him? Luke doesn’t tell us. But Luke does tell us that the Resurrection and the Life appeared on the scene. And what he said and did gave this widow, her son, everyone in both crowds and you and me hope. Just what did he do? What did he say?

First, Jesus told the widow compassionately, “Don’t cry.” And here’s why. “Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still.” Our translation uses the word “coffin.” Don’t think of a wooden box. It was more like a stretcher on which the body was laid. Imagine Jesus placing his hand gently on the edge of that stretcher.

That touch indicated to those carrying it that they should stop. Did they know who Jesus was? Had they heard about the miracle he had performed when he healed the centurion’s servant? We’re not sure. But his touched indicated to them that they should stop and that’s what they did. It was apparent to them that Jesus wanted to say or do something.

And they weren’t disappointed. “He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, get up!’” Jesus was speaking to a dead man. At first that sounds odd, but people do it all the time. One way of dealing with your grief at the death of a loved one is to speak to him or her. That might do us some good, but it doesn’t do them any good.

But this wasn’t just anyone speaking to a dead man; this was Jesus, the Son of God. In this case, speaking to a dead man wasn’t useless; it was almighty. With his almighty Word, our God created all things. And now, with that almighty word, he calls the dead to life. And that’s exactly what happened. The Lord of Life displays his power over death. You have an amazing Savior!

Luke tells us that the crowd was filled with awe and praised God. But what they said leaves us wondering exactly what they thought about Jesus. Did they think he was just a great prophet or did they believe he was the Son of God and their Savior from sin?

But their reaction isn’t so important. What’s important is your reaction. Jesus has power over death. We just confessed that in the Nicene Creed. He is true God who raised himself from the dead and will raise us on the Last Day. But we struggle to live in that truth practically. Let me give you just one example. What was the last thing you worried about? Your children? Your health? Your finances? Your employment? Your relationship with someone? All those situations pale in comparison to death, but even death is no match for Jesus. So don’t worry; trust him. Trust him who died for you and rose again for you. Your life is in his hands just as this young man’s death and life was in his hands. You have an amazing Savior! Amen.