“How and When?”                    2011

Ezekiel 36:25-29     Romans 10:8-14

 

Ezekiel 36:25-29

25I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. 28Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.

 

Romans 10:8-14

8But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 14But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?

 

How and when   did you become a Christian?

                 What was the process

                        by which you came to have faith in Jesus Christ?

 

Was it a dramatic and highly emotional experience for you?

                 Or was it more intellectual or rational, maybe like pieces

                        of a puzzle that seemed to fit and come together?

    For those raised in the church and Christian family,

            you may not remember

                 a time before the Good News was a part of your life.

 

When and how did you become a Christian?

            When I typed that question and inquiry into Google,

                        the Internet came back with  71,400,000 websites…

            … and I read several, with wonderful and inspiring stories

                        that people had written   about their coming to faith.

 

So, what happened --- that Jesus our Lord did come into your life?

                        What or who were the influences

                             that led you    into a saving faith in Jesus Christ?

 

In seminary,  one of my class assignments was to write out

            an autobiographical story  of my journey of coming to faith,

                            and some of the more significant events

                                    that helped shape my spiritual understanding.

 

       It was a surprisingly helpful and very informative exercise;

              to reflect on the various influences, the people and events

                        that helped shape and form my relationship with God,

                            along with the twists and turns along the way.

      I gained a new appreciation for the ways that others had cared,

          and looking back over my life and the path of my faith,

                I saw patterns of how God had been working all along

                   in ways that I hadn’t ever noticed before.

 

If you have never done so,

            I strongly encourage you to make the effort and take the time

                        to write out the story of your own journey of faith;

 

               to remember and reflect on the people and circumstances,

                        on the specifics that helped you become a Christian

                                and that led you into a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

  You may be surprised by how God’s grace, purpose and wisdom

          have been at work in your life  in subtle and mysterious ways.

 

So how does our Christian faith happen?

            In the Romans text we read, as Paul writes, vs. 9-10, 13

                        … because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.         For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. … For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

                       

One of the most honorable,  moral and admirable men I ever knew

            was a colonel in the Air Force who doubted Christianity

                        because he thought it was too easy and unworthy of God.

 

As a young cadet back at West Point, some Christians

            had walked him through the “4 Spiritual Laws” brochure,

                    and after he said the prayer printed in the back out loud,

                                    they told him that was it,

                                                and that now he was all set as a Christian.

 

Later as he thought more about it, it seemed to him,

            that something  as important as our eternal salvation,

                        as significant as having a relationship with God à

            ought to involve more than just reciting the right words

               or saying the right phrases out loud with someone.

 

Even though the Apostle Paul repeatedly wrote

            that our salvation is entirely the gracious act of God,

                             I think Paul would agree with my friend,

                                    that it’s more than just reciting the right words…

    … that salvation --- an authentic Christian faith and life

            is about having a real and ongoing relationship with God;à

                        à and that involves holding in tension     both ---

                                    God’s gracious work accomplished in Jesus Christ,

                                                     along with our faithful response

                                                            that accepts God’s invitation of grace.

It’s not all one or the other,  NOT God’s grace   OR  our good works,

            but both --- because our good works   become the evidence

                        that we have accepted and received God’s gracious offer.

 

Paul wrote, vs. 9;

            “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,   you will be saved.”

 

     Typical Paul,

            there is more here than just the literal meaning of his words.

“believe in your heart”  means that our belief or faith

            actually does make a difference in the real world,

                        and that it does   guide our values and the way we live.

 

James writes:  James 2:15-17, 18b

            If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?  So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.   …  I by my works will show you my faith.

            Paul like James,  would say that   if our faith

                  does not inform, define, change and determine how we live,

                            then how can our faith possibly be real or authentic?

 

“believe in your heart”  is not about just intellect and reason

               but it is living in faithful obedience          

                        and submitting to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

 

In the Roman world of Paul’s time, they said, ‘Caesar is Lord’;

                 and to say that ‘Jesus is Lord’

                        was to declare   in rebellion   that Caesar was not,

                                                                        which was a crime punishable by death.

Thousands of early Christians were tortured and killed by Rome,

            martyred for daring to say, ‘Jesus is Lord’.

 

* And so it comes down to us, if indeed Jesus is Lord,

            than the other things of this world, are not.

                            Jesus is Lord is a bold declaration of ultimate loyalty.

 

* If Jesus is Lord,

      then accumulating more stuff, my financial security, are not;

                          and being faithful with the resources entrusted to me

                                       matters more than

                                                the pleasure & security my wealth might bring.

 

* If Jesus really is my Lord, then my life,  and my time and effort

            are about more than   just doing whatever I want or desire,

                                         and my obedience and my loyalty to Jesus Christ,

                                                that matters most   and that supplants all else…

     … even popularity, success or getting along well in this world.

 

* To say I believe in my heart  that  Jesus truly is Lord

            is far more than just reciting the right words or phrases,

                        but is a high standard   that describes

                                    a life entirely committed to living out that truth …

 

~~~     … and   if my salvation depends on that level of righteous,

                        then I am in some serious trouble,

                             for at times I am distracted, even rebellious,

                                      and I have compromised the Lordship of Christ.

 

But throughout Scripture   we find that God is constantly

            inviting people to come back into a relationship of grace;

vs. 28               “you shall be my people, and I will be your God”.

 

Speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, God recognized

            that even on their best day, Israel could not get it together,

                        and the nation was completely unable to be faithful;

              and so in an act of grace and mercy,

                God would accomplish what they had been unable to do.

vs. 25-27a

            I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put my spirit within you.

 

God promised to restore the relationship destroyed  by human sin,

          and in Jesus Christ that promise has been fulfilled.

 

Even though the words, “Jesus is Lord”  can become an impossible standard

              that we are no more able to achieve and fulfill

                           than ancient Israel was able to fulfill the demands

                                    of the Law and commandments given through Moses…

 

… yet it is by grace alone

            that we are invited and drawn into a relationship with God,

                        and that grace continues as we learn to respond,

                                    and as our journey of faith call and guides us

                                          to walk more closely & faithfully with the Lord.

 

It is God’s grace that starts us out on that journey toward faith,

            and it is God’s grace that guides us every step along the way,

                        and eventually, it is God’s grace that will lead us home.

 

So when and how did you become a Christian?

            Ordinarily, God brings special people into our life

                        who somehow show us and bring us the Good News of Jesus Christ…

            … and no doubt there have been many others along the way

                        who have influenced us,

                                    guided us toward growing and deepening our faith.

 

As we come to the Lord’s banquet Table of grace today,

            let us consider when and how we each came to faith,

              and thank God for all those who helped us along that journey.

 

How did I become a Christian?    it was because à

            somebody helped and guided,  somebody told me about Jesus,

                        and others have shown God’s grace along the way…

                    … people who influenced me   because Jesus is their Lord.

 

Have you ever walked through Sam’s Club or a grocery store

            and noticed the folks handing little samples of food ? à

                       given freely usually on toothpicks or little paper cups;

                                just enough to whet your appetite,

                                      to stir up a little hunger so that you want more.

 

Maybe our task today,

            is to freely hand out little samples of God’s grace and love

                   to all the people we encounter, as those sent to us by God…

 

… that maybe we can whet their spiritual appetites for more,

       by handing out free samples of God’s grace, compassion & truth

                        that will help strengthen and encourage them

                              on their journey toward faith, of walking with Jesus.

 

The question to ask ourselves at the Table today,

            as others have helped, encouraged and strengthened us,

                                         where, who and how   is God calling me à

                                       to reflect and proclaim His gracious love?