Turn from Evil

[Due to technical problem Aug 25 and

September 1 sermons were not available]

 

Sermon September 8 2013   Turn From Evil

God knows our intentions and our hopes, reshaping us when we do what is wrong, and responding to our repentance with mercy.  We count the cost of our actions, but Jesus calls us to let go of our attachments and follow him in a life of love and care for others.

Jeremiah 18:1-11

There is a powerful impetus in this text to change one’s behaviors, to repent; and the impetus is that if the people do not change their behaviors, then the Lord will simply smash down and remake them, like an artist working with clay.

In reading this text we may wonder if current events in our lives are signs for us to make changes in our own lives. It is always easier to see that other ‘s need to change more than ourselves.

We may find ourselves asking : “where are we being called to change, and how quickly?”

Where in your own story has God used events to reshape you?

We see chaos all around us in other people’s lives.  It reminds me of the message from one of Jesus parables about trying to take the speck out of someone’s eye when you have a log in your own.

Luke 6:41
"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?

Every one of us is flawed in some way or the other.  On the potters wheel when the clay is marred the potter smashes it to reshape it to make a perfect creation with no flaws.

V. 11 Turn now, all of you from your evil ways, and amend your ways and your doings.

Matthew 4:17 recalls that Jesus came preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.

At the beginning of Jesus’ gospel is the imperative to change our ways, and the impetus is also the approach of the Divine.  Both Matthew and Jeremiah contain the notion that an impetus is necessary to our change.

In the New Testament, this impetus comes in Christ.  In Jeremiah 18, “disaster” might be the mechanism for reshaping the people, but there is never a report that the Lord into something other than wha the potter, the creator, intends.

When “reshaping” comes, it will be the means for recreating the people into what God desires and plans.  Jeremiah calls the people toward change, but the change is the change into God’s design and order. 

The opportunity to repent, to change, is an opportunity for faithfulness. The New Testament promise is that ultimately God, the potter, will reshape us.

Psalm 139 :1-6 and 13-18

God knows us, wherever we may be.  That conviction is the heart of biblical revelation.  God searches us, sees us as we are, where we are.  God accepts us.

Acceptance however, is not the same as approval;  grace, the grace of God, bridges the gap between God’s acceptance and God’s judgment.

The power of Psalm 139 is its honesty.  The psalm is like a mirror revealing us as we are:  “Fearfully and wonderfully made” (V.4).  We are fearfully made because God has created us and not we ourselves.  We are finite, limited; and that knowledge stirs up fear.  We have the capacity to make choices, but we cannot choose the consequences of our choices. That knowledge stirs up the reference towards fear.

We are fearfully made, and we are wonderfully made; we have unique capacity for wonder, prayer, song, friendship, love, and redemption.

v. 13 For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

v. 16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance, in your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.

Philemon 1-21

This letter opens with Paul reminding his listeners that he speaks not on his own authority but as an agent of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his love for Philemon he is pleading for Onesimus who was a former slave to Philemon.

Paul has witnessed the change in Onesimus life since he became a Christian.

Paul is asking Philemon to receive him “No longer as a slave but…as a beloved brother”.

When a person gives his life to Jesus there is going to be a Change that is very noticeable. As a person grows in the knowledge of the Lord and what is required of them as a Christian changes in lifestyle and behavior change.

Old things have passed away….behold all things have become new.

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Cor. 5:17).

The old desires of the flesh fall away….and the desire to walk in the Spirit grows stronger day by day.

Luke 14:25-33

Jesus stresses in this passage the same message of change although it may seem more harsh:

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” (v.26)

In other words you die to self and the world and come alive unto Him.

He points out that we must count the cost.

He also points out that one must carry their own cross and follow Him.

Three times in this passage Jesus says that without definite decision, a person can not be His disciple. 1) Forsake family 2) Carrying the cross and following Him 3) Giving up all possessions.

Even if we soften his word “hate” Jesus still leaves us with his requirement that we make family ties and normal self-preservation subordinate to following him..

The family is the closest thing to anyone and one is usually willing to die for each other. So Jesus is saying to give up that which means the most to us to follow him. No turning back. Family can not get in the way of your decision to follow Jesus.

Under Cross Bearing which is another dimension of self-denial that enables us to face suffering.  To bear our cross means to obey God even in our pain and loss, in facing the tragedies, trials, and griefs of life.

On Giving up all possessions think about the scripture from a previous week….seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Meditation in God and Gods Kingdom will take your mind off of the world and its possessions.

Turn from the darkness towards the Light.

Turn from evil and seek the righteousness of God.