New Year’s 2007 Sermon: New Life Resolution

This is a copy of the first sermon I ever preached. I preached it at my home church of Mountain Rest Baptist on December 31, 2006 and was fortunate to have many supportive friends show up to watch.

 

 

 

Good Morning! And Happy New Year…although technically, it’s not the new year yet. Which reminds me, if you are like me and made yourself a short list of things to accomplish in 2006…now would be a good time to start working on that list.

 

So, I’ve been thinking about New Years a lot lately. Here we’ve just finished Christmas, and Thanksgiving shortly before that, and yet somehow we find the need for another holiday. Growing up, my family never really paid much attention to New Years in general. It wasn’t until I was thirteen in Alaska that we stayed up as a family and watched the ball drop for the year 2000. And the only reason we did it then was because with the difference in Time Zones, it happened at eight o’clock at night.

 

So, I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about New Years that makes it worth celebrating, because somehow I doubt that people really get that excited by the fact that for the next month we’re all going to be writing the wrong year on our checks. So, I started looking into it and here’s what I’ve come up with. For some people, New Years is just an excuse to stay up late and party with their friends. For others, it’s a just a time when you can sleep in and not have to worry about work in the morning. But for some, new years is so much more than that. It is an opportunity, a time to examine the past, study the present, and redirect the future.

 

In other words, it’s a time to look back over the last year, see where you’ve been, what you’ve accomplished…what you’ve done right…what you’ve done wrong…what you could have done better and what you should have done better. After examining the past, you then look at where you are now and compare it to where you should be, or where you had hoped that you would be at the beginning of the year. Lastly, you plan out the next year. You look ahead and decide where you want to see yourself at the end of the year and then set little goals for yourself…things to achieve throughout the year…things commonly known as, “New Years Resolutions.”

 

So, how does this relate to the Christian life? Turn with me, if you would please, to Acts chapter 8. Now Stephen, a follower of Christ, had just given a most powerful speech to the Sanhedrin, who were the religious leaders of the time, and because of it, he was stoned to death. This is where we are first introduced to the man called Saul.

Starting with the first verse of Chapter 8 this is immediately after Stephen’s death:

¹ Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death. And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. ³ But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.

 

So here we have the man named Saul, a religious leader who was so zealous about his Jewish faith that he supported the death and imprisonment of those who threatened it, namely the Christians of the time. Let’s skip ahead now to chapter 9, starting with verse 1:

            ¹ Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way [The name given to the Christians of that time], both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

 

So, here Saul had decided that cleansing Jerusalem of these “Christian heretics” was not enough, so what does he do? He gets special written permission to go out to the town of Damascus and bring the Christians from that region back in chains. Let’s continue:

³ As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

 

Can you blame him? Here he was capturing and killing these followers of Christ when all of a sudden, he has a personal encounter with God. For three days, while he was stricken with blindness, Saul neither ate nor drank. So what did he do during this time? Well, we don’t really know for sure. He could have been wallowing in self pity and feeling sorry himself for having to suffer through blindness, but somehow I doubt it. I can’t help but feel that blindness was the least of his worries. He had found out that everything he believed in, everything he lived for, everything he did…was completely and utterly wrong.

 

You know what I think he was doing during those three days? I believe that he was examining his past (where he came from and all the wrong things that he had done), studying his present situation (the encounter with God and the sins that he now realized that he bared), and redirecting his future (changing the direction of his life and the things that he was most passionate about). No, I am not saying that Saul made a New Years Resolution. He did not make a New Years Resolution. He made a New Life Resolution. He recognized where he was wrong, saw where he was, and decided where he needed to be. Let us skip ahead to verse 17 of the 9^th chapter of Acts. Three days have passed since Saul met God and went blind, and now God sent the man Ananias to come and pray with him:

            ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened. ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

 

Yes, he was the same man, but at the same time, he wasn’t. He was a New man, with a new way of looking at life, new motivation, and a new direction. Saul, destroyer of the Christians, became Paul, apostle of Christ and author of a large portion of the New Testament. This is what I mean by a New Life Resolution. It’s a decision, not about how you spend the next year, but rather about how you will live out the rest of your life. The bible is full of people like Saul who underwent one of these life-changing moments. Zacchaeus, the tax collector and thief, gave half of his possessions to the poor after he met Jesus. Jacob, the liar and deciever, became Israel, the father of Jewish race, after an encounter with God in a dream. Moses, the murderer and fugitive, became the rescuer of the Jews and the writer of the law after talking with God in a fiery bush. Gideon, the cautious and peaceful man, became Gideon mighty warrior of the Lord after an encounter with an angel. And the list goes on.

 

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it states: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

 

Every Christian makes a New Life Resolution, whether you call it that or not, and they do so, I believe, in three steps. First, there’s an encounter with God. Now, this doesn’t always involve a bright lights and blindness. It could be something as simple as a little tug in your heart that says it’s time to pray. Second, there’s a decision. It is the decision to allow Jesus Christ into your heart, and to become an active participant in your life. Third is the follow through. This last step is probably the hardest and it is the one we seem the most reluctant to do. We had an encounter with God. We gave him our hearts and souls. Now, we must follow through and live our lives for him according to his good and perfect will. And trust me, it isn’t easy. But the least we can do is try. So, how good do we have to be? How good is good enough? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spelled it out quite clearly. In verse 48 of the 5^th chapter of the book of Matthew he says:

            ⁴⁸ “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

 

Well, at least he’s not asking for much. J I know what you’re thinking, “I can’t be perfect. Nobody’s perfect.” And to that I would have to agree with you, but that doesn’t give you an excuse not to try.  I remember when I was twelve years old and I came upon this verse; I asked my mother that night, “If Jesus tells us to be perfect, why do people in churches always say that you can’t be perfect?” “Because you can’t,” she replied. “Well how can we know if no one ever tries?” And so I set out that very night to do everything in my power to be perfect. And you know what? I lasted about 8 hours. Seriously! I did! …of course, I was asleep the whole time. But my point remains. Jesus Christ told us to be perfect and yet most of us don’t make the slightest effort to do so. That’s just wrong.

 

When I think of all that Jesus Christ went through for the sake of sinners like me and you…He became a man…walked among us…lived among us…taught among us…He was ridiculed…He was mocked…He was tortured…He was nailed to a cross. And for what?! So that you and I, pathetic in comparison, might have eternal life. He took our punishment, so that we don’t have to! The least we can do is try to obey him. Sure, we don’t have to, for we know that it is by grace we have been saved; it’s not by our actions. All I’m saying is that we should want to. We owe him that much, don’t you think?

 

{SKIP AHEAD IF YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME}

Now, before I close, I just wanted to tell you one last story that is a good deal more recent than the one of Saul, though just as true. It involves a boy named Ben. From the outside, Ben seemed like a very good kid, with good parents, but from the inside, it was a whole other story. Ben’s father had made the decision to accept Christ as a young adult, but he didn’t go to church or read his bible, and so didn’t grow much in his faith. Ben’s mother grew up in a household that proclaimed Christianity, but due to some bad experiences, she rejected the Lord and became very independent, accepting only the things she could do for herself. Growing up in this environment, Ben somehow managed to became one of the most wicked and mischievous boys imaginable. He would lie. He would cheat. He would steal. He would swindle. He would manipulate. He was even abusive, both physically and verbally. And yet somehow he would get away with it all. Imagine a classroom where the worst bully is also the teacher’s pet, and you have an image of what Ben was like. He never got caught doing anything wrong, except for some minor lies. His own parents had no idea what he was capable of. It was almost as if, in every sinful, wicked, and heartless act…he had a natural talent. And he was just getting worse and worse. It got to the point where Ben would sin for the sake of sinning. He would lie, even when he had nothing to cover up. He would cheat on a test, though he already knew the answers. He would steal things he didn’t want, just because they made someone else happy, he got pleasure through witnessing their pain. Remember, we are not talking about a rebellious teenager who was going through a “phase,” for you see Ben, by this time, was only 8 years old. This was no phase. This was his life. That is the monster that Ben had become…and no one suspected a thing.

            So what happened to Ben? Well, his mother had an encounter with God, through a terrible illness that nearly took her life. She got saved, recovered, and started to take the family to church. His father started growing in his faith and Ben started learning about God in Sunday School. One day, on the way home from church, Ben felt the tug at his heart and he made the decision to accept the Lord. A couple years later, he started to get serious about his faith and follow through. Within just a couple of years, he was a completely different person. Hardly even recognizable…especially to himself. He was…in every sense…a new person.

            That story I just told you was entirely true, 100%. Well, except for one minor detail. No one ever referred to him as Ben. For you see, Ben, or Bennett rather, was his middle name: Matthew…Bennett…Wisner. That boy was me. I stand before you today scared. Frightened of what I might have become had I continued down that downward spiral and not had my encounter with God when I did…in the back seat of a Toyota. I’ve heard it said that people don’t change. That’s a lie. People can change, but only with God’s help. Because, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

 

{CONCLUSION}

So now, I ask you. Which step are you on? Have you examined your past, and seen where you’ve failed? Have you studied your present and observed that you need help? Are you ready to redirect your future? …You know what the biggest problem with New Years Resolutions is? They can be extremely difficult to stick with. Even more so with a New Life Resolution. You can not just change who you are on your own. Such an action is impossible, but with God all things are possible. So, have you had your encounter with God? If not, then I should hope and pray that you feel his tug at your heart right now. Have you made the decision to accept him into your life and into your heart? If not, than there is no better opportunity than now…There is no greater time than the present. And if you have already done all of these things, then I ask you, have you been following through? Have you been living your life for him, not because you need to, but because you want to? This final step you will spend the rest of you life on, but it is through this obedience to Christ that you are able to turn your life around, because he helps you every step of the way.

Acts 7

In this chapter, we find the long a elegant speech that Stephen gave to the synagogue. Of course, most of us are familiar with this speech. It’s, in essence, a sermon where by Stephen clearly lays out the history of Israel in a way that is easily understood and then fits Jesus into it. He is then stoned to death for his words of perceived blasphemy. Now, there are many things that I could say about this section of scripture and many things that I’m sure you have heard said about this scripture, but today something new caught my attention. You’ll find that Stephen’s sermon here is very clearly laid out for us. Had a single subpoint been missed, it would not flow nearly as smoothly as it does here. So, my question is, “Who was taking notes?”

We know that it is highly unlikely that the doctor, Luke, author of the book of Acts, was anywhere around when this occurred. Of course, Luke wasn’t around when most of the stuff he wrote about in Acts or his gospel occurred. Which brings me to a rabbit trail that I would like to run for just a moment. I want you to think about Luke. What exactly was his role in the early ministry of the church? We have no record of him ever preaching. We have no record of him ever prophesying. No record of healing or anointing or speaking in tongues. Imagine what it must have been like for Luke. Here he is, he gets saved, and he immediately becomes passionate about the work of the Lord and the early church. He want’s to help! He wants to do something! But, alas, he doesn’t seem to have any of the spiritual gifts that are so prevalent among his peers. I would be surprised if he did not feel some amount of insignificance. I know I would. So what did he do? He just listened. Traveling with these great men of God, he listened to their stories and just ate it all up. Theses events inspired him so much that he felt inclined to start writing them down. Now think about something. Do you realize that had Luke not have followed his passion and his heart to record these stories, you and I would’ve never of heard the inspirational story of Paul’s conversion, which gives hope to some many. We would not know about how Peter rose to become a leader of the church. And if none of us knew or cared about Paul…do you really think we would have saved and copied all of his letters to the churches for all these years? Probably not. So, in essence, we might be able to assume that our Bible would look a lot different and our theology would be lacking incredibly had Luke, the man who seemed so incapable of accomplishing anything for the church, not of followed his heart and wrote the book of Acts. Just something to think about.

Now, we take it as an understanding that Luke wrote out of the information he gathered from stories that he had heard while spending time with the apostles and other witnesses. So, what witness, what person, was present at the stoning of Stephen, whom would remember Stephen’s speech and be able to recall it to so vividly, and whom Luke would get to meet and spend some amount of time with later on?

⁵⁷ Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, ⁵⁸ And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. ⁵⁹ And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. ⁶⁰ And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Saul is the only person mentioned by name to have been present. And it wasn’t until shortly after this instance that Saul becomes so zealous to destroy the church. Could it be that Stephen’s words burned a hole of conviction on Saul’s mind? Could it be that no matter how hard he tried, Saul just could not get the sermon out of his head? Could it be that no matter how hard he tried, he could not understand how Stephen could spend his final breath forgiving them? Could it be that he continued obsessing over this, until it made him so angry that it drove him to a murderous rage against Christianity? Look at what has become of Saul only three verses later!

 ³ As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison.

Now keep in mind, the situation I just described is not scripture; it is only my imagination of the possible situation behind the scripture. All we really know is this:

A) Stephen gave a lengthy and detailed speech before being stoned to death.

B) Saul was present at the stoning of Stephen and approved of it.

C) Saul was never mentioned before Stephen’s speech.

D) Saul did not begin ravaging the church until after hearing Stephen’s message.

E) Someone passed the details of Stephen’s sermon on to Luke.

Now, we all know that Saul was not saved by the testimony of Stephen. He had a personal encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. But, could it be that the Lord had already begun convicting him long before hand? We all know that the truth cuts like a double edged sword. Some times it is hard to accept and not something we want to hear or believe. We like to try to rationalize it to make it fit our own agendas. Maybe it was the truth that scared Saul and caused him to began to act so irrationally to the point where it took the undeniable to straighten him up.

Think about how you handle the truth of God’s word. Do you try to rationalize it to fit your own desires or run from the verses that convict you? Are you hostile to the ones who try to share these words with you? Think about Saul and all the problems and guilt he could have avoided had he humbled himself to the Lord early on.

And think about Luke. You may feel that you lack talent. You may not feel like God has gifted you or is using you for anything important. But know this, if you humble yourself and allow yourself to be used by God in whatever way he chooses, you can accomplish great things for the Lord, even if you never see the fruits of your labor. Luke was a doctor in a group of people who routinely healed the sick. What use did he have? One far greater than he probably ever knew.