A. It has been said, “The only person who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper.” That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but from my own observation, most people have some hesitancy toward change. Change takes us out of our comfort zone, it doesn’t allow us to relax, and it doesn’t give us the assurance in life we long for. In some cases, Americans are turned off to both the message and messengers of organized religion. Too many, the church has appeared narcissistic and self-serving.
B. You see, what happens for many of us as Christians is that we are comfortable. If I talk about epistles written by apostles teaching about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, most of you know what I am mean. Yet, if you brought a non-church friend to worship they would not have the slightest clue.
C. Cultural relevance is one of the most difficult aspects of the church. In other words being relevant means you have something to offer that makes a difference. And that is what the church should be more than anything else in this world. Unfortunately for many churches, they have become irrelevant. In other words, they have nothing to offer to today's world.
D. When you come to the text we have been assigned for today, we find Paul teaching Christian calisthenics. He wants us to stretch, he wants us to think beyond ourselves. All of chapters 8 & 9 have taught us that others matter more than ourselves. As we look out for the feelings of others, we have also been taught to not hold the church hostage to our limited freedom where God not bound. But here, at the end of this section, Paul turns his attention to tells us that we need to look out for the non-Christian and become relevant.
I. Paul’s Calisthenics
A. Read verse19. That is Paul mission statement. The church exists to glorify God. We do that by offering our praise and worship to God in a holy manner, showing love to one another, by sharing the grace found in the cross and eternity found in the resurrection. We gain that when baptism transforms our life.
B. I will be the first to admit that we are not all evangelists in the sense that Paul was or even ministers in the sense that I am. Not everyone here is going to preach a sermon from this pulpit, nor do they have to. The burden is not upon you to have a personal Bible study in someone’s home. While that is wonderful, this passage goes so much farther. We are to be evangelistic. That means we as church need your support in changing the way we think about some of our gatherings and about the way we reach out to our community.
C. This is about stretching. We are not the church of the first century. I am glad. Many of them had spiritual troubles that we need to grow beyond. Corinth was one who really messed up. We are also not the church of late 1800’s and the days of Alexander Campbell or others that called for a restoration movement to bring us back to the Bible and the Bible only. While the message was great, the methods don’t translate into today’s culture. Just as the Mennonites; they are not the fastest growing church. We are not the church of 1950 when Churches of Christ were the fastest growing denomination in the USA. Again, the message was great, but the methods reached the people of 1950 and 60, but not today’s people.
D. We are the church that belongs to Christ and centuries cannot change that. Our message is the same that was preached on the day of Pentecost. But we need to have the heart of Paul where he was willing to meet people where they were so that they saw Jesus. Before I get there, let me remind us of two things that never change.
II. Some Things Never Change
A. Jesus – The writer of Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8) God is the same God who created the heavens and the earth as recorded in Gen. 1:1. Jesus walked the earth 2000 years ago, but in his glorified body, he still walks among us today. I serve the risen Lord whose blood washes away my sin as in faith I turn to him in repentance and connect with him in baptism.
B. The Bible – Isaiah would write, “The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the Word of the Lord will stand forever.” Peter quotes that in his letter and says “this is the word that was preached to you.” The message has never changed, but the methods of reaching out always change.
Conclusion:
A. Paul became like a Jew to the Jews, like a gentile to the Gentiles. To the weak he became weak. His conclusion, “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” That was his life, not his message. The message was the cross and the resurrection. The message was “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” The message was that Jesus was and is the Messiah, the Christ, the holy one of God who bridged the gap between man and God; tearing down the barrier and paying the price of your sin and mine.
B. The message has always been that Jesus loves you and wants you to come to him, learn from him, lean on him and live in him. The message has gotten mixed up by religious people who worried more about the Sabbath Day than the hurting person. It continues to be mixed up by religious people who place tradition as doctrine and shut the doors of heaven to people who need Jesus the most. God, through Paul, pleads with us, the church, to get back to the message and mold the methods of relaying it to an ever changing world.
C. I don’t care what trouble or sin you brought with you today as you walked through these doors. What I know is that we as a church want to help you find the one who can free you from your bondage and give you a family that loves you enough to never let you go. You can have the relationship with God that you have desired for so long if you will but listen to the Messiah.
D. Church, run in such a way as to win the prize. Open yourself up to change that brings freedom to yourself and salvation to others. What it takes from us is diligence. Therefore, Paul says, “I beat my body and make it my slave.” Why? Because he, of all people, knew how hard it was to change. Just listen to his story. But when Paul took hold of that change he wanted to never let go. He knew that even he could be disqualified for the prize, but learning to love others, give freedom, change methods, and keep the message on Christ would be the answer to running the race. It will make you stretch, but there is nothing greater than knowing you are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. Can we help you take hold of that message?
