What are we doing out here? Why are we allowing all these people to trample "holy" ground? Why this monstrous erector-set stage? Why can’t we just worship inside in the quiet and peace of our sanctuary? Why go through all the work of putting up this outside extravaganza? All of this has been done just so I could talk about a very important subject, the subject, "change." Sometimes we are excited about change, like when baby Ella comes and Dave and Becky’s lives are permanently changed. Sometimes though, change is more threatening, and difficult.

I mentioned to three people this past week that we were going to hold the morning service outside on the front lawn, and all three answered with the question, "why?" It’s noisy and distracting, and it may be very hot. Why bother? What advantage is there to meeting outside? Are we just trying to be different?

We like stability, we like predictability, we desire security. Sometimes that is possible, and many times that is not possible. It’s often when we think that things are quieting down that sickness hits, like the Kings over the past 3 weeks, or the sudden death of Susan Robb’s father in a traffic accident, or even the rain that we have had for the past six weeks.

But we are talking about "Christianity" which is a "tradition" of some 2000 years and includes creeds that haven’t changed in hundreds of years, and cathedrals that were built 800 years ago, and other secure and stable things. Why talk about change when you have that kind of heritage and reputation?

Because the more you think about it, the more you realize that Christianity is a life of major changes. Almost everything in Christianity is built on the proposition that God wants to change us. It starts with the "bad" news that God doesn’t like where we are and what we are. We are sinners, and God is aiming his judgment against sinners. Then, when we understand that fact, we are ready for the "good" news that God has the solution for our problem, because Jesus Christ died on a cross and paid for our sin, and God has provided for us forgiveness and a new, changed life in Christ. And then, when we understand that amazing truth, we come face to face with a command that orders us to repent and believe in the name of Jesus Christ, that we might receive the gift of Salvation and be changed. And then it says, "if any person be in Christ, he/she is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things have become new."

Think of the changes involved in moving from death to life, from the kingdom and realm of darkness to the kingdom and realm of light, from slavery to Satan, to liberty in Christ. Do you remember the day when Christ entered your heart and life? Usually people don’t forget that moment. Jesus Christ changed my life 54 years ago. And I still remember it clearly.

But change involves what happens AFTER salvation as well as what happens IN salvation. And we want to talk about changes AFTER salvation today. The massive change that took place when you became a Christian was the BEGINNING of what God has planned for you, the beginning of a work that will continue until the day of Jesus Christ.

There are at least two different kinds of change in our lives — let’s call them intended change and unintended change. It’s the contrast between James 1 and Eph 4. James one says that some changes are going to come into your life whether you are ready or not. He calls them "various trials." And he says that we fall into them with no design of our own. In fact, we can’t avoid them. They are problems, challenges, accidents that come into our lives whether we are ready or not. Usually we are not ready. Like a military commander who appears at the front door of our lives, uninvited, they march in and say, "you’re moving; let’s go." You have no choice about the change. The only choice you have is how you will react to the change. James guides us with commands such as, "count them all joy," "determine to go through them the right way to receive all the benefit packed into them," and "ask God for wisdom as to what to do" (1:2-5).

But there is another kind of change. And that is the change that knocks on the door before it enters. In fact, it knocks rather quietly at times. It’s the voice of God commanding us to listen, and for our own good, obey Him and change. This kind of change appears throughout the Bible. For example, Eph 4:22-24 outlines God’s plan for change in our lives. It says that we need to be actively involved in "putting off" the old man (getting the garbage out of our lives), "putting on" the new man (obeying specific commands God gives), and "renewing" your mind (learning to think about things from God’s perspective).

So we are meeting out here to help us think about how this process takes place in our lives. The physical experience of a service outside should help us better be able to understand the plan of God for our lives tomorrow. Let me talk about two areas of change: (1) What we mean by change; and (2) How God accomplishes change in our lives.

I. CHANGE IS GOD’S PLAN — the plan is to give you the most unbelievable life anyone could ever dream of experiencing on earth. This is what we sing about; this is what we talk about; this is what we encourage others about. A life that everyone else dreams of, that only God’s children experience. The beatitudes express it when they say: "to be envied" (as we would envy a movie star), "are those who are poor in spirit." In other words, there is a quality of life that everyone envies, and God says it is available to those who are described as "poor in spirit."

A. God’s goal is to make us like Christ. I don’t know what that sounds like to you, but sounds unbelievable to me. Even the thought that God intends to make us like Christ sounds like a dream. But God wants to so change us that when people study what we do and how we react, they see the actions and reactions of Christ, and are drawn to Him. II Corinthians 3:18 describes how it happens — "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Notice "into the same image from glory to glory." How much change is necessary for us to be moved "into the same image" of Christ? He is perfectly Holy, all the time. He is always compassionate, completely loving, always engaged in our best, always praying for us, giving His best for our benefit. And God intends to make us into the same image. In fact, this is the primary reason we are on the earth; here is the reason we are in Bowie, not just to have a job, and keep afloat, and do a few things, and build a retirement. We are here to be changed. The work of God is not seen in spectacular miracles, like people getting healed and millions of dollars being raised, and weeping Madonnas seen on hospital walls. The primary work of God is seen in the changes that are taking place in our hearts — in what we are becoming. Question: how many "changes" does it take to turn an unbeliever, who is full of sin, into a duplicate of Jesus Christ? It seems to me that if that is at all possible, it would take many miraculous changes every day! And that’s where we are going!

B. The change God intends will be accomplished by God.

When we compare "miraculous changes every day" with what happens every day in our lives, we tend to get discouraged. "Will I every make it?" "Will I ever get rid of these bad habits?" "How long will it take for me to learn to control my temper?"

The encouraging thing God is not asking me to do the work. He intends to do the work in me, on me. We see that in the words, ARE BEING TRANSFORMED. This verb is passive. It means that I don’t do the work of transformation; someone else transforms me.

And who is that? The answer is at the end of the verse: "just as by the Spirit of the Lord." It is the Spirit of God who brings about this massive change. That is why success is possible. The type of result corresponds to the Workman involved. You may never have been able to control your temper. But the Holy Spirit has. And He can teach us to do what we have never had success in doing before. One of the enjoyable side-benefits is the front row seat, watching the master craftsman working on us to do things that He wants to do.

And what does He do? The word here is "transfigured," representing a total metamorphosis, an inward change of the morphosis, the form. The change is at the very heart of our being, our personality, our very identity. God wants to "transform" the "form," a word that describes our motives, and attitudes, and desires, and self image. Whereas we once had a form that was molded and squeezed by the world, the flesh and the devil, we now are daily being "transformed" into the image of Christ. What is being changed is WHO I AM. I am becoming a new person, a different person, created, transfigured into the image of the glory of Christ. So that I will be able to say with Paul in Galatians 2:20, "Christ lives in me," and others should be able to see Him in the way I walk and talk. It was this goal that Paul had in mind when he prayed in Galatians 4:19 that Christ would be "formed" in his readers.

C. We have a responsibility.

"Well, if it is all so good, bring it on. Change me. Do it!" The verse states that we have a responsibility. The transfiguration takes place and is causally connected to our BEHOLDING — contemplating, studying, learning of Christ. As we focus on Christ, something happens to us that is God-produced. The disciples "beheld" Christ’s glory as they walked with Him throughout Israel, and by the time Christ left the earth, they were different men (John 1:14).

Question: what would it take this morning to get my face to actually "shine" up here? As you can tell, my face is pretty dull, pretty uninteresting. So what would it take to make it "shine?" I may be able to polish it with some of Martha’s facial cream, or try to look a little more "shiny," but the best way is very simple. Put a mirror on me that reflects the beams of the sun onto me. Sara Vars has a mirror over there, and here is what I look like "in the sun."

In a similar, but far deeper way, we study Christ IN A MIRROR. It’s His reflection that we are studying. And just like the mirror Sara is holding, when the sun "finds" me, I "find" the sun. I not only see the sun’s brilliance, but I am affected by it, and I reflect it on my face. That’s the source of the shine. In the same way, as Jesus Christ shines on us through the mirror of His Word, as we behold His brilliance, we are changed into His likeness and we reflect His glory. That’s the process of change for a Christian. That’s what God is doing and wants to do in your life.

II. CHANGE — GOD’S PROCESS — the process of transfiguration is the most challenging issue you will ever face in your life. Change does not come easy. This is why Christ said to His disciples, "if any of you will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Cross? Did I hear the word, "Cross?" "Deny?" Did I hear the word "deny self?" Follow someone else instead of my initiatives? Here are the reasons why change is such a challenge. It’s not because the change is difficult; what can be difficult when God Himself is doing the work?

There must be something else. There must be something that fights against what God wants to do in my life. Christ identifies three problem areas, three doorways that we are hesitant to enter with Him. We see them in the three commands, "deny self," "take up your cross," and "follow me."

There is a "no" (deny), there is a "yes" (take up), and there is a "step" (follow). In each of these areas we have difficulties; saying "no" to our self interest, saying "yes" to the labors of the cross, and taking the first "step" to follow Christ. And the process of change in the Christian life involves moving repeatedly through those three doorways.

Another way to describe those doorways is given to us by Paul in Ephesians. Chapter 4:22-24 says, "that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." Here are three similar doorways. Let me explain them.

A. There is a NO – "Put Off" — the old man, which includes sin, and habits, and things I like which hinder my growth in Christ. I like to get angry, I enjoy bending the truth to enhance things, I enjoy lusting after things which I don’t have. I have practiced these things for years and find it difficult to say "no" to them because that is where I find my "life." It almost feels like cutting off an arm, or leg, because these things have become so precious to my life. To deny myself is almost like saying "no" to a part of mySELF. It’s admitting that a piece of ME is wrong and needs to go. It’s much easier to rationalize what I am doing, and devise reasons why I need that part of myself.

It’s not a lot different than a 12 year old Christian saying, "the stroller is good; I’ll stay in the stroller." How badly do you want to grow is the question. Badly enough to cut parts of your life out that used to bring you happiness? You will not find God at work in your life until you take an active, determined role in putting things out of your life.

Thus Paul’s command in Eph 4:25 is to get serious about putting lying out of your life. You are asking God to work in your life to build in absolute honesty so that you can speak truth with others, since we are all members together of one body. You may have spent years in your life devising lies and methods of covering up certain of your actions. And God wants to enable you to speak truth. Some of you gossip. Some of you are pessimists, refusing to admit that God is in control of the events of your life, and refusing to thank Him for all things. Some of you are into pornography. There may be men here who are cheating on their wives, or wives cheating on their husbands. You will never experience the mighty work of God in your life when you rationalize your behavior and say, "it is just a little lying," "it is just minor gossip," "it is soft pornography," "it’s lite anger." Your responsibility is to PUT IT OFF, GET RID OF IT, DUMP IT. And until you do that you will never grow, never change, never see the mighty work of God in your heart and life.

B. There is a "YES" – Put on – the new man, which involves all the brand new, exciting behavior patterns God wants us to experience as His children. The only difficulty is that these brand new, exciting behavior patterns don’t look that attractive to us initially. That’s why I think that this command is similar to Jesus’ command to take up your cross. God, for example, wants us to become "humble." I never found humility to be "exciting." God has made us His "witnesses." That may sound downright threatening. But the point is that as we set our hearts to obey God and put on the new man, God enables us.

When people think about the "new" man, they think of things like "be good," "help people," "smile," etc. But God gives rather specific indications as to what kinds of actions are involved in the "new-man-behavior." Notice these verses:

C. There is a "STEP" – be renewed in the spirit of your mind — Learn to think God’s way, learn to see things from God’s perspective. Open your mind to God’s Word and God’s Will. Understand the reasoning behind these commands. There is a whole new way of life that God wants me to learn. This corresponds to Christ’s command, "follow me." We have to think new ways, following a person, not a tradition.

Take this little command that we have read twice in Eph 4:25 — "put off lying, speak truth, because we are members one of another." That little phrase, "we are members one of another" is Christ saying to us, "here’s the new territory we are going to explore." You say, "what’s so new about being members one of another."

Well, think of how this simple truth crashed in upon the early church. Imagine living in the early church during the time of the apostles. You are a Jewish person who has trusted Christ and is rejoicing in the changes that He is bringing into your life, and one Sunday when you go to church you meet a new believer who is a Gentile. And as you talk to him you find out that he knows nothing about the history of your people, Israel, and the Old Testament and the sacrifices, and the priesthood, and the Talmud, and what God has been doing for so many years.

In his growing up years, he was taught to despise Jewish people. And he doesn’t eat kosher meat, and knows almost nothing about right and wrong and morality. Before he trusted Christ he worshiped Zeus and was into many forms of pagan idolatry. And now, as a new believer, he wants to serve Christ, as he eats his raw meat and other things that are offensive to true Jewish believers like you.

It is one thing to accept that the guy is even a believer; it is another hurdle to accept that God has made him a part of your church, your pure Jewish church! And to cap it all off, God wants you to accept the fact that God has given him equal status with you pure Jewish people, and He wants you to make him a part of your team. In addition, your friend Paul is out there out there on missionary journeys, enthusiastically beating the bushes bring Gentiles to Christ, with the "threat" of filling this church with Gentiles! And I can see you, since you have been saved now for 3 ½ years, rolling your eyes back and forth and saying, "oi, oi, oi, what is the Christian church coming to?"

"What is the Christian church coming to?" is all part of God’s plan to teach us what it means when it says, "we are members one of another." That statement from God is simple to say and very difficult to accept. Does it mean that teenagers are equal with us who are 40 years their senior? Does it mean that poorer people who are working their house budgets out in pencil on lined paper are equal with us CEO’s of multi-million dollar companies? The answer is, "YES." And in the next sentence, God says, "now learn to live this way; integrate your lives."

He wants to insert the word sacrifice into our thinking. Why should we who have spent all our lives collecting all of a sudden be interested in sacrifice? Answer? God wants to teach us to part with out money. Why? To help God out because He needs our money? No. To show us that we can’t out-give God, because everything we give He will double back to us? No. The simple answer is, "because that is what God Himself is like." He gave His all for us. And He works in the hearts of those who want to be like Him, who want to think His way, the "giving everything" way. Thus, when you give your treasures, and your time, and your talent to God, and you will change. He will transform you.

Here are the three doorways we all hesitate to go through at times. The "no" doorway that puts off what self always likes to do; the "yes" doorway that puts on new commands that God has given us; and the "step" doorway that follows Christ into new patterns of thinking.

Is God changing you? Have you moved through any of these doorways recently? It is far easier to just stay in your comfort zone. It’s far easier to worship God inside our sanctuary. We need less preparation. It’s easier to pay attention with the air conditioning on and with our new screen, and less distracting noises around us. It’s easier.

But perhaps easier is not better. There is little work, there is little sacrifice, and we are tempted to place worship in the same category as a picnic or family reunion. Perhaps this is why more serious worship may be going on in Pakistan, and other places in the world where they have to meet outside, or where going to church may cost someone their life, and people think twice before they meet like this. The fact that we have it so easy and comfortable may indicate also that God’s work of change is limited. I sometimes wonder if true worship only occurs when you have to fight for it, when you choose it over competing things that are in your face.

1. God wants to change you today. It will only happen as you move out of your comfort zone to obey and join HIM. You need to put off, put on and join Him enthusiastically. Whatever opportunities God gives you, take them, pray that God will give you the best attitude, and go after it with all your heart.

2. God wants to change you today. It will only happen as you move out of your comfort zone to obey and join OTHERS. Some of you need to come on Sunday evenings, some of you need to come to prayer meeting on Wednesdays, some of you need to get baptized, some of you need to join the church, some of you need to give, some of you need to become teachers, and leaders, and trustees, and elders. All of that takes effort. Not much. But just enough for us to be tempted to skip it all and go on with the easier form of life.

3. God wants to change you today. It will only happen as you ASK Him to. Every one of these commands is a prayer request. Pray them back to God and ask Him to make these commands happen in your life.

May God bless you as you deny yourself, and take up your cross and follow the BLESSED ONE!

06/29/03, BBC am