Pastor Daniel Havrilla delivers a sermon on “Living Out the Story”
Matthew 4, Romans 12
“Living Out the Story” – Matthew 4, Romans 12
Lord God, as we are gratefully gathered here today (and also gathered through the technology you have given us), we pray that your Holy Spirit would have full reign in all of us, guiding my words and our hearts. May we not leave today the same as when we came, but closer to You and Your will. In Christ’s name, by the power of the Holy Spirit we pray, amen.
There’s a saying out there – “Live as if what you believe is true.” (Repeat). It’s probably a statement that most of us would agree with. But it can be a hard one to live out. Psychologists have long noted the discrepancy that can exist between our conscious and unconscious beliefs, between what we believe in our minds and what our actions demonstrate. And so, it should come as no surprise that living as if what we believe is true can be a difficult endeavor – and especially when it comes to the Christian Faith.
Last week we talked about the importance of remembering the story – specifically, the story of scripture and what God has done for us. We talked about the importance of remembering how, just as God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and set them on the way to the promised land, God has also led us out slavery – the slavery of sin and death. And He has set us on the way to the Promised Land as well – the promised land of the Kingdom of Heaven.
We talked a little bit last week about how this is meant to completely change how we live. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” If we have learned of what God has done for us in Christ, and have placed our faith in Christ for salvation, the truth and reality is that we cannot simply go on living the same way we always have. If we are in Christ, we are meant to be a new creation.
And yet, church, we often struggle with that. I know that I do. I’ll be the first to admit that I often struggle to live into that new creation in Christ. I often struggle to live as if what I believe is true. And church, I’m guessing I’m not the only one. I’m guessing that, if we’re honest, all of us struggle at least somewhat with living out the story of scripture in our lives.
What is the reason for this? Why don’t we live as if what we believe is true? Well, I think there are a couple reasons. As we said last week, one reason is that we forget the story. When we don’t read our Bibles, when we don’t pray to God, when we don’t go to church and surround ourselves with fellow believers who point us to God’s story, we cannot escape the consequences of that. Over time, inevitably, our sinful nature and human weakness causes us to forget the story
and start believing the stories of the world around us instead. It’s a sadly common path that many Christians fall into.
But once again, as we remember from last week, God has called us to live our lives differently. He has called us to let our lives be shaped, not by the stories of the world around us, but by the story found in scripture of His love and care for us. His grace and mercy to us. His salvation freely offered to us through His Son Jesus Christ and through the life-changing Holy Spirit. He has called us to remember these things, and to live our lives in light of them.
So what does it look like to live our lives in this way? What does it look like to live our lives in light of the redemption and salvation that has been given to us by God? What does it look like to live as if what we believe is true? I think the passages we read from earlier help show us. To live our lives in light of what God has done means to offer ourselves to God as a living sacrifice, not conforming to the world, but being transformed and seeking God’s will. It means following Jesus, leaving the world behind, turning away from sin, and believing the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom – and sharing it with others.
To live out the story means this – if we know that there is a God who has created all things, who loved us and gave of Himself for us – especially in Christ – then we cannot simply live our lives for ourselves any longer. If we did not create ourselves, and everything else around us has been created by God as well, then we cannot claim that we are our own, or that anything we have is truly our own. We must recognize that apart from God, we would not exist. And apart
from God, we would have absolutely nothing.
Furthermore, if we recognize that we are all sinners who can do nothing to save
ourselves, but are saved freely by His grace, then we cannot simply go on as if nothing has changed. If God created us, loved us, and gave Himself for us, then there is only one logical response – worship. To acknowledge and praise God for who He is and what He has done for us and for all people, and to seek do His will rather than our own. To live out the story of scripture is to live our lives as a living sacrifice – freely giving our entire lives back to the God has freely
given everything, even Himself, to us.
However, this cannot be done without repentance and transformation. To give our lives to God necessarily means becoming different from the world around us, and different from our “old selves.” It means turning from the ways of the world to live for God instead. For the world around us does not live for God. The world does not acknowledge God as the Creator and provider of all things, and the source of salvation in Christ. The world lives as if God either does not exist, or does not deserve our full adoration and devotion.
As such, Christians and the world will necessarily, out of logical necessity, be at odds with the world. This is exactly why scripture has a constant theme of being separate from the world around us in both the Old and New Testaments. It’s the message of Paul in 2 Corinthians 6, as he quotes Isaiah 52 and Ezekiel 20 and says “do not be yoked with unbelievers.” It’s the message of Jesus in His first proclamation of the Gospel in Matthew, as he says “Repent.” Turn away from sin”
Now, there is a danger in this, church. We are certainly called to repent and be separate from the world. However, the constant danger in this emphasis on being transformed, repenting, and being different from the world around us is that it can stifle our call to mission if we are not careful. How many times throughout history have we seen the church forsake its call to mission
because of this. We’ve seen the church completely withdraw and isolate itself from the world (we might think of the mystics and monasteries as an extreme example). And we’ve also seen the church sit in harsh judgment on the world (we might think of the crusades as an extreme example).
Yet, against these things, we remember the example of Jesus – who called people to repentance and transformation, but was still faithful to engage those around Him and proclaim God and His Kingdom. He proclaimed a Kingdom that was not of this world, as He says in John 18:36, but also a Kingdom of God that is drawing near, has come upon you, is in your midst, and is breaking into this world, even now. It’s a kingdom where the last are first, and the first are last.
Where the blessed ones are the poor, the mourning, the meek, the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and peacemakers, and the persecuted.
It’s a kingdom that the world cannot understand, that one cannot enter into unless they are born again and receive it like a little child. It’s a kingdom that calls for repentance, but is full of mercy and open to all. It’s a kingdom that is radically different from anything the world has to offer, but is a blessed kingdom. It’s a kingdom that is breaking into the world now, but will be fully realized at the end of time and will last forever and ever. And most of all, Jesus desires that new people – other sheep who are not of this sheep pen – should be drawn into this Kingdom as well. And He calls upon every day people, people like you and me, to make that happen.
He started that practice at the very beginning of His ministry, when he called Simon Peter and Andrew to drop their nets and follow Him so that they could stop fishing merely for fish, and instead start fishing for people. There was nothing special about these men, except for the fact that Jesus called them, authorized them, taught them, and then empowered them by filling them with His Spirit. These men, and others also, went on to continue Jesus’ ministry, as we remember from Pentecost and the book of Acts.
Like Jesus, the Spirit of the Lord was upon these disciples and apostles to preach good news, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom, comfort those who mourn, to bestow beauty instead of ashes. Most of all, the Spirit equipped these early Christ-followers to announce the arrival and advancing of this Kingdom of God – a Kingdom which was different from the world, but by no means separate from it. On the contrary, this was and is a kingdom advancing IN the world. It is, as the church father Augustine put it, the city of God dwelling within the city of man. It is not a physical kingdom, but a kingdom that has physical consequences. It is a kingdom not established by power, but in the heart. It is a Kingdom established by Christ, and governed lovingly by Him through the Holy Spirit in the hearts of His faithful people.
And once again, church, Jesus has called us to be a part of that story. He has called us to follow in the long line of those who have come before us, proclaiming Christ and His loving rule to all. He calls us to evangelize and share the Good News with all. And what is the Good news? That Christ came to save us from our sin, both its penalty and its power. He died on the cross so that those who trust in Him would have their sins forgiven, and so that they could rise with Him to new life. But this new life need not wait until the day of resurrection. No, through the Holy Spirit, those who trust in Christ can receive new life now, being set free from the power of sin to live new, holy lives now. Lives that live into the goodness of the Kingdom of God. We often reduce evangelism to merely proclamation of what Jesus has done, OR social action that shares His love with others. But, as many evangelists have noted, this is false dichotomy. This is a needless division. Living transformed lives and following in the footsteps Christ encompasses BOTH of these dimensions. We can think of evangelism as BOTH proclaiming Christ as Lord and Savior AND living our lives in light of His love – loving others as He has loved us.
Church, all of this is the story that we are part of. All of this is the story that God has graciously invited us into. It’s a story of compassion, mercy, and grace. It’s a story of transformation and repentance. It’s a story of loving God and others in response to the great love God has shown to us. It’s a story that calls for – nay demands – a response from us. It’s a story that is too wonderful not to be shared with others. It’s a story too wonderful not to be lived out in the way we live our lives.
Will we be part of that story church? Will we proclaim God and His love to others? Will we live out that love in our lives? Will we proclaim Christ as Lord, announcing and living out His Kingdom? Will we live our lives in light of what God has done for us? My prayer for us church, is that today and every day, the answer would be YES. By God’s grace, may we leave the fading stories of the world behind, and instead announce and live out the story of our loving God as revealed in scripture. May we praise Him. May we proclaim Him. May we make Him our King. And may we live every day of our entire lives for Him.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, we thank You for this wonderful story of love and grace that You have made us a part of. We pray that You would continue to open our eyes to the beauty of Your love and grace to us. We pray that You would keep us from conforming to the conflicting and fading stories of the world around us. Help us to be separate and different from the world. Let us be transformed so that we may be holy, as You are holy. But may that holiness never keep us from being in mission to the world. Help us to be like Christ, proclaiming the Good News of Your salvation, and advancing Your Kingdom of love and compassion and holiness in the world. We give thanks that You do not expect us to do this all on our own, but You guide us through Your Word, and empower us and anoint us through Your Holy Spirit. We pray that You would remind us of that, and pour out Your power on us afresh even today. In all things, Lord, help us to live out this wonderful story of love and grace. Help us to live our lives as living sacrifice to You. For You are worthy of it, Lord.
We pray all these things in Christ’s name,
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
amen.
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