A STATE OF CHANGE
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
February 20, 2005
Evening Service
Text: Luke 19:1-10
I have had to do one of those annoying life events that come up every
once in awhile. I had to renew my drivers license. Not an overwhelmingly
traumatic event, but, as I said, a bit annoying. As all of you well know,
I wear glasses. If I were living in those eras before there was such a
thing as corrective lenses, I would have been functionally blind. I
removed them while working at the computer. I could not make out any of
the text on the screen. I couldnt even see the letters on the keyboard!
Yep, I am in sad shape without my ol specs. And dont sit there thinking
I am in sad shape with them!
As you well know, you have to do a local vision test to renew your
license. No problem, I figured. My prescription is fairly new. Yet, when
the clerk had me look into the machine and read the prescribed line, with
my glasses on, I was horrified to see a blur! I blinked; I looked through
one eye and then the other; I squinted. Finally, I was able to make out
the numbers and take a stab at it. I guess I guessed OK; she didnt say I
missed them all. But I did notice that she wrote down 20/40 on the form.
20/40! Not all that long ago, I had been corrected to 20/20, and now here
I am back to 20/40 vision. Why cant some things just stay the same? Why
does my vision, and everything else, have to always change?
Yet, even as much as we sometimes wish that we would not have to deal
with change, it is always there. There is nothing new about change.
Changes happen every moment around us. The snow which has fallen is but a
series of changes. Water droplets or vapor in the air combine at just the
right temperature and moisture content to form a small snowflake floating
to earth. Then one flake joins with others to become a pile of snow we
have to shovel. At some point, the thaw comes which changes the snow back
into water to soak into the ground or to vaporize and float back into the
atmosphere.
The soil which seems so content to just lie there at this time of the
year is busily involved in change as it readily accepts the nutrients
provided by decaying plant and animal life so that it, in turn, can pass
nutrients on to the seed which changes into corn or beans or whatever is
planted. Our towns are changing. Some grow, some not. People move in and
out. Since moving here, even the phone numbers - area codes - and street
addresses have changed. Nothing stays the same.
Our bodies change. No matter what we are doing, our bodies are busily
involved in their metabolism cycles: changing one chemical into another;
absorbing some; rejecting others. Even a person skilled in forms of
meditation which slows bodily functions to almost a standstill cannot
stop the changes happening within. Place a sample of tissue under a
microscope, and anyone can see that the cells of the meditator are as
involved in metabolism as anyone else's.
Considering change leads me to wonder if God wants change. And if so,
what kind of change? Does God want change? An almost rhetorical question
with an automatic response: yes, God wants change. He is the author of
change, for He changed a universe of nothing into one teeming with life.
He changed the course of events for Abraham, Moses, the Israelites, the
Apostle Paul, the whole world. He changes the structure of a droplet of
water into a crystal of snow and then into a stream giving life to all
creatures able to drink thereof. Yes, God wants change. What kind of
change, then, does God want? Specifically, how does God want me to
change?
"In Jerome K. Jerome's The Third Floor Back, a stranger from the streets
enters a boardinghouse in London to find his poor lodging in the only
room that is vacant. As he moves in and out among the guests, an
extraordinary change gradually comes over them. Suspicion, resentment,
covetousness, false pride, lust, the very drab commonplaceness of weary
and unillumined life disappear like fog in the morning sun, until the way
back to what they had been is barred to them; only the way ahead is open.
So runs this dramatic story of Zacchaeus. Straight across his life one
day a line was drawn. Rumor for him turned into fact: face to face he met
Jesus of Nazareth. The whole impact of the gospel was in that meeting. It
redeemed the past, transformed the present, and redirected the future...
As the account runs swiftly on to the familiar saying in verse ten,
Paul's despairing cry [of Romans 7:24, 'Who will rescue me from this body
of death?'] finds its answer. A man 'is in Christ... a new creation' (II
Corinthians 5:17)." (Paul Scherer, Interpreters Bible, vol. 8, p. 320).
In this short story of one man meeting Jesus is embodied the type of
change which God desires and even demands. That change which interests
God is repentance. In fact, the word repentance is a synonym for change:
turn away from sin and move to God. Somehow, Zacchaeus recognized Jesus
as the Christ - the Lord - and recognized what kind of change was needed
in his life.
Zacchaeus saw clearly that the change involved in repentance is two-fold.
Repentance demands both a change of mind and a change of action. We
humans tend to not desire repentance, so deep is the sin which resides
within us. Consequently, we too often fall into the trap of incomplete
change. We can change our mind about God and begin to turn to Him; yet,
remain so entrenched in our way of life that no action is changed. Faith
becomes in this case an academic and philosophic pursuit. Our heads nod
ascent that God is Lord, but our actions show that He is not.
Or, sometimes, it is the other way around. We change our actions but not
our minds. Some decide that, while Jesus may not be Lord, He at least had
some good ideas. So they set about doing all sorts of good deeds without
much thought as to why they are doing them. God is neither honored nor
worshiped under such an attitude. The good deeds themselves can become
misdirected gods. The good deed of saving his nation from economic ruin,
for instance, led directly to the nightmare of Hitler's Third Reich.
Zacchaeus met Jesus and knew the change which had to be made. He changed
his mind. Earlier, he had "wanted to see who Jesus was." Now he called
Him Lord. Before, Zacchaeus had wanted to collect wealth at the expense
of others. Now, he wanted to give away half of his possessions and repay
four times over those he cheated! Change of mind and change of action -
repentance - go hand in hand.
We are oftentimes frail creatures. Changes going on around us are
frightening. Changes which God requires of us are even more so. A change
- any change - carries with it certain risks. Becoming parents is a risk.
Moving from one town to the next is a risk. Beginning new friendships is
a risk. Repentance is a risk. How can we dare to take such risks?
We can dare because we see some of the fruits of those who dare to change
and seek change. Pastor Ron Jansen tells of his own Father who was an
alcoholic and spoke of God in only the vilest of terms. Yet, in his 70s,
I believe, he came to know Jesus as his savior, and he changed radically
and completely. He even led others to the Lords salvation before his own
death. There are fruits that come with the change repentance brings, and
we see what happens when people receive the Lord and change.
We dare to change because we can find comfort in redemptive change. This
sounds almost contradictory, but in reality, it is not. First, keep in
mind that God is the author of this change. The promises He made to His
people are as true now as the first day made. Indeed, they are sealed
with the blood of the Lamb! Second, God nurtures and instructs us through
redemptive change by His Word. Scripture gives us assurance that faith
and change are intermingled. It shows us that no matter how societies and
cultures change, God is still truth. He is still love. Third, we are
comforted by tradition. Change does not occur in a vacuum. Instead, it is
typically integrated with established tradition. First century Jews who
converted to Christianity discovered that repentance through Jesus Christ
fit in perfectly with the teachings and traditions of the Old Testament.
In fact, Christ came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it.
And these three - God, Scripture, and tradition - come together to form
the foundation on which change can be built. Consider the foundation of
your house. More than one floor plan can be built on that same
foundation. If you wanted, you could have your present house demolished
and a new one built on the same foundation! Our comfort in change, then,
is knowing and remembering that God, as our foundation, is at work in our
changing lives - constantly uplifting and supporting our constant
struggle to repent and change.
Remember in your mind the picture of a toddler taking those first steps?
Mother and Father sit on the floor with their baby in between them, and
the child is gently pushed out of Mother's arms toward the outstretched
arms of Father. If the child falls back, Mother is there to soften the
fall; if the fall is forward, Father can take control. Do you remember?
This is how we can take the risks of repentance and change. God is like
both parents - Mother and Father - pushing us out of those comfortable
arms into the uncertainties of change and, at the same time, holding His
arms in front of us; ready to take us and pull us tight to Himself. God
is both behind us and ahead of us. He knows that we will totter and maybe
fall. He knows the risks of the change He asks. And He knows that He is
powerful enough to keep us. Zacchaeus recognized this in his meeting with
Christ. He repented. The challenge is before us, too, for as long as we
live. We, too, face the risks and comforts brought on by change; we, too,
face the world in need of the gospel; we, too, face the Father who is
there before us with arms held out and open wide.
Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN