Pastor Joe Fuiten, December 28, 2003

Hebrews 13:1-9 Page 853

1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. 4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” 7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. (NIV)

 

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever but that is no excuse for us.  You cannot stay the same.  You are changing, and you will change, whether we like it or not.  It is not possible to not change.  The only question is in what way are you changing and are you in charge of that change or is it just happening to you.

There are some people who do not believe things will change.  They are conspicuous in history for their absolute foolishness.  Here are a few:

 

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Charles H. Duell, U.S. Patent Office director, 1899 [1]

Who wants to hear actors talk?”

H. M. Warner, Warner Bros. Pictures, c. 1927

“Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote.”

Grover Cleveland, 1905

“There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.”

Robert Millikan, Nobel prize winner in physics, 1923

“Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.”

Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, c. 1895

“Ruth [Babe Ruth] made a big mistake when he gave up pitching.”

Tris Speaker, 1927

“The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty.”

The Michigan banker who advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the new motor car company

“Gone with the Wind is going to be the biggest flop in Hollywood history. I’m just glad it’ll be Clark Gable who’s falling flat on his face and not me.”  

Gary Cooper

The only person who likes change is a wet baby

Mark Twain

 

It has become a virtual article of faith that change is coming and change is good.  Change is progress.  Daniel seemed to prophecy a time of increasing knowledge.[2]   Some years ago I was reading an Encyclopedia published in 1881.  It noted that in 1880, 4,000 books were published.  A little later, I read another source that said that in 1980 there were 400,000 books published worldwide.[3]  In 100 years there was a 100-fold increase in the number of books published.  I would think with the internet, that number has increased yet another 100-fold in the last 20 years.

If those books represent an increase in knowledge, and if knowledge produces change, then the rate of change is probably accelerating.  I would think it will continue to do so.

            Change has brought so many good things into our lives that some are inclined to accept all change as good.  This is an unwarranted conclusion.

           

In the Scripture that we read today, several things are highlight.  I would say that all the things that we read would be among those things which should not change.  Certainly we believe this Jesus Christ is the same and he should not change.  He is from everlasting to everlasting.  That is a term that is applied to God many times in the Bible.

            Is love every outdated.--1 Keep on loving each other as brothers.

When does hospitality cease to be a good thing?--  2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Kindness to the mistreated is never outdated.-- 3 Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Marriage will always be between a man and a woman.  It will never be more than that or less than that.  It is an institution of God, not of the Supreme Court or Congress.--4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Contentment always trumps Greediness--5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Sound Gospel preaching will never go out of fashion to those who love God-7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. (NIV)

 

What will not change!

 

Luke 21:33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (NIV)

 

Dan 7:13-14 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (NIV)

 

Deut 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. (NIV)

 

Ps 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (NIV)

 

John 6:47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.

 

I began by saying that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but that is no excuse for you.  We have this tension between what change and what is unchanging. 

Islam has a problem in that it is built around a 7^th century way of life and cannot adapt to the modern age.  A great part of the tension in the world today is coming from people who know that Islam has failed, but they cannot admit it.  Instead, they want to destroy every other system and bring them back down to their failed system.

Part of my strategy in the Cathedral Church concept is to create and allow different styles of ministry to reach this generation.  We will not compromise on what is unchanging, but we don’t want to get stuck in the past like the Moslems.  What is unique at Cedar Park is that we have all this variety within the system.  We are also deeply connected to the past.  I like to say that I am backing into the future looking through my rear view mirror.

We have adopted the economic system of the monasteries from their most successful period.  For example, Cluny was a Burgundian abbey, founded in 910.  Under Abbot Hugh (1049-1109) it underwent a huge expansion with some 300 monasteries that went into several countries such as Spain, Italy, Germany and England.  I can imagine the day when Cedar Park would have many branches.  Maybe not 300, but we could have a lot more than we do today.

 

When we developed the funeral home and cemetery I was thinking about St. Ambrose in 397 AD and what he thought a church should be.  Personally, I think St. Ambrose would like Cedar Park.  He thought of a church as baptism, teaching, worship, burial. 

When I visited Saint Simeon’s monastery in Syria I felt right at home.  He was the guy that spent 30 years on top of a pole and preached from his perch twice a day.  (The round rock in the center is all that is left of his pole after pilgrims took home their souvenirs).  He felt that method was the way to change Antioch and his region.  I preach from atop a pole.  My pole happens to have a radio transmitter attached to it but it is the same thing.  He saw his city turning away from God so he did what he did.  For me, I started a school to save the next generation.  I lead a political action group called Washington Evangelicals for Responsible Government because I want to change the way politics is done in this state.   St. Simeon would have liked that.  The methods change, but the goal is the same.

 

 

Making the right changes to succeed in the New Year

 

1. Stay firmly connected to the Lord himself.  Seek him.  Follow him.  Let him fill your life.  He is the anchor, the center-point in a turning universe.  Everything swirls around except him.
2. Read his word.  It will not change.  It reveals God.
3. Ask God to accomplish his will through you.  You know that God is going to succeed.  You know that he is going to use someone.  Why not you?  You can become the pipe through which the water flows.  You can be the extension cord through which the power goes.  (I feel like I am ready to break into rap.  That would be change!!!)