Otterbein United Methodist Church

January 6, 2008

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14

Sermon: “Making Changes that Last” (Part 1 – “The Case for Change” - Part 1 of a 2 part series)

It’s a new year; it’s a time to reflect on the past, assess the present, and set goals for the future. Many people make some level of resolution. Resolved! I will be different in this area or that area of my life in 2008. Unfortunately, many of those changes you were so determined would be a part of your life, have already ended up on the scrap-heap of broken resolutions.

You’ve likely heard the old adage: “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Perhaps you’ve even used it! Now when I’ve heard people use that expression, it has typically been spoken as a justification for their NOT changing a habit, a method, a style, or a mindset – even though their lives may be better off by changing! Well, I have two pieces of good news...

· First of all, you’re not a dog! You’re a person created in the image of the living God, designed and made for relationship with him.

· Secondly, you can teach an old dog, actually any dog, new things. I remember reading a book that talked about teaching your dog to obey the “sit” command, as opposed to the “sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit” command.

One thing I have come to know about change is that it isn’t easy. Consider the path to life that Jesus describes in Matthew 7:13-14…

Introduction… Welcome on this first Sunday of a New Year. I trust that one of your resolutions for this year is to be in worship every week. Good for you. You’ve kept that resolution for at least one week. Perhaps you heard about one guy who was so frustrated with making resolutions each year, and breaking them in a day or two that he resolved to only make resolutions he could keep. He resolved to…

· gain weight, to stop exercising, to read less and watch more TV, to procrastinate more, to quit giving money and time to charity, to not date any member of the cast of Bay watch, and to never make New Year's resolutions again.

We all want life! We want abundant life (sometimes we want to be the ones to define what an abundant life looks like… and we tend to define it with dollar amounts). God’s Word to us, the Bible, gives us some specific challenges that point out just how difficult it is to have the kind of life most of us try to pursue…

· Today’s scripture describes a narrow gate and a narrow road that leads to life. We like the broad road!

· Because of our selfish nature (which the Bible calls sin), we’re not wired to get the things we need the most. We set wrong goals, have wrong agendas. The wages of our selfish nature isn’t greater pleasure, but an expensive payback. (I have a pastor friend whose parents took him to church three or more times every week, yet they didn’t walk the walk. They both committed adultery multiple times and in the process picked up multiple venereal diseases. Now just in their late 60’s and early 70’s his parents are both suffering life-threatening physical consequences from these STD’s). The wages of sin is death!

· If and when we factor God into the equation of our lives, we demonstrate our sin even more clearly by wanting God on our terms. We want him to be around when we need him. We want to earn our salvation; we don’t want to admit our relationship with him is so fractured that we can’t fix it on our own! We tend to want to pursue God on our terms.

SHARE GOSPEL HERE…

· Once we have experienced God’s saving grace, he wants to transform us! Make us new… Change us, if you will. One person said it well when talking about change! You and God are incompatible and guess who’s not changing! “I the Lord change not!” Malachi 3:6. There are some serious changes that need to happen if we are to really be the people God wants us to be. The people he can entrust with the real joys and blessings of “heaven on the way to heaven.”

What we need, of course, is not another resolution, but a revolution. We need a turning point in our lives…

“Unless you change and become like little children you’ll not enter the kingdom!” Matthew 18:3 - Kingdom life can be all around you and you’ll just flat out miss it!

Potential areas of change are all over the landscape of our lives. Is there some change needed…

· In our spending and savings patterns? 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. 10,000,000 Americans owe more than $9,000 on credit cards. The average credit card interest payment they make includes more than $100 a month, over $1,200/year!

· In our giving habits? While this congregation’s generosity was very evident last year, our budget is significantly increased in 2008. My focus isn’t the church’s need but rather the benefit that accrues to the heavenly account of those who change their giving patterns to more reflect “honoring God.”

· In our health, exercise, or eating habits? Perhaps you’re like the guy who complained, “I’m one week past new year’s and two weeks past Christmas; already I’m 90 days ahead on calories and 90 days behind on bills.”

· In our habits (on the negative side)? – Gambling, tobacco, alcohol drugs; amount of time spent on video games, watching television, checking out the porn sites on the internet.

· In our habits (on the positive side)? – getting in the Word, praying, weekly worship commitment, involvement in a group, getting involved in serving the church, the poor, the needy?

· In our attitudes? – are we driven by disappointment, hurt, and rejection? By fear, isolation, aloneness? By control, anger and rage issues? Perhaps you can identify with this story. Before Christmas break a high school principal asked his teachers to submit a list of New Year’s resolutions. The first day back there was a great commotion around the bulletin board where he had posted them. One teacher, known for her loud mouth and volatile temper, was throwing a tantrum more becoming of a two year old than an adult. The principal hurried to the scene where he was accosted by the woman, “Why weren’t my resolutions posted?” The principal hurried to his office and sure enough he had mislaid hers. As he read her resolutions he was astounded. First on her list was not to let the little things upset her!

· In our priorities? Do you have any misplaced priorities? How you spend your time? What you are willing to do to get recognition? Everyone gets their recognition - either legitimately, or illegitimately!

· In our marriages? – two weeks from today we’ll be starting a five week series on marriage.

Before you think you don’t need to change… listen to the Lord; ask him to show you where your life needs adjustments and changes! If you are having trouble hearing his voice, ask your spouse (or a friend)… I’m sure they can point out some areas where your life might not be quite as compatible with God’s ultimate plan as you might think. They can often see things clearly in us that are in our “blind spots.”

God doesn’t want us to change because “He’s mean,” or “He doesn’t love us.” Quite the contrary, God created us and knows what will bring us the greatest joy and happiness. God loves us exactly as we are, but he’s not content to leave us there… broken, wounded, hurting, and struggling with life’s issues.

God is more interested in changing us than in blessing us! And oh, does He want to bless us! BUT He knows that some things will do us more harm than good if we can’t handle them! If we haven’t learned to be faithful in a little, he’ll not entrust the big things to us. The reason God is more interested in the reproduction of His character in our lives than he is in the abundance of blessings we have is that he knows that the more like Christ we become, the greater our capacity will be to receive his blessings!

Conclusion… Most of us have tried to change. Perhaps in some ways we’ve even had success. But most of our changes aren’t permanent. And if we have changed for the better apart from the Lord, that is making changes by sheer will power, we immediately have another issue to deal with that is probably more of a stumbling block than the original problem. (It was easier for me to deal with my cholesterol than it was to deal with my pride after the doctor told me I was the Poster Child for what diet alone can do to lower cholesterol).

Change can be hard work. Changing direction takes more effort than maintaining the same direction. More than 99% of the wear on your tires happens as you go around turns… i.e. changing direction.

Our focus this morning has been “The Case for Change.” Where we need it and why we need it. Next week I’ll be sharing 4 vital keys to permanent change! Don’t miss it!