What is Christianity? - Pt 4
Preachers sometimes act as if the present sermon or series they’re preaching is the most important thing you’ll ever hear. We may even say as much! In this case what I’m working on currently may not be the most important thing of all, but it’s certainly very relevant to this series on Christianity. I’ve recently been preaching a few sermons on the prophet Elijah and we’ve come to 1 Kings chapter 19. Without going into all the details (I would encourage you to consult Dale Ralph Davis’ commentary if you want the nuts and bolts), the translation of the first few words of verse 3 in the ESV and the NIV, probably the two most commonly used versions in our Church, is most likely not the right one. It should read more like what the KJV and the NKJV have, namely “And when he [Elijah] saw, he arose and went for his life.” The other versions alter the verb slightly to bring out “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life” (NIV). However, it’s what Elijah sees that convinces him that there has been no root and branch change in Israel. It’s that lack of transformation in his own people, rather than fear at a determined woman seeking his life, that drives Elijah away into the desert. Very recently, at the spectacular falling of fire on Elijah’s sacrifice, the people have cried out en masse, “The LORD – He is God! The LORD – He is God!” (18:39). But because Elijah sees no change in the people he knows their words are empty and meaningless. In their heart of hearts they haven’t stopped worshipping Baal. All of this is to say quite bluntly that if you claim to be a Christian there needs to be a change in your life - a change you may not detect at once, but a change others and eventually you will see too.
What Christianity is
Christianity is not just a number of propositions about God and sin and a Saviour called Jesus Christ. Nor is it simply a list of do’s and don’ts as is revealed to us in the ten commandments. Christianity is these things, but it is more besides. It is a description of the way things really are. It is a picture of reality, not some kind of hopeful pie in the sky. It is a whole world and life view. But it does say something fundamental about a change to our nature. That is where many of the ideologies in our world fall down. Communism, which is making a comeback these days, lays before us certain attractive ideals. But because it doesn’t really deal with basic, twisted human nature they can never be more than ideals. Christianity does describe the perfect world the way God made it. It shows us, especially in Genesis chapter 3, how things have gone wrong. And it tells us in the life, death and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus, how God has set about remedying that. But in what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit and the church we learn about the change that God is working in us and about the new community he wants us to join. It is to these things that we turn now.
Zacchaeus and the Spirit
Possibly the best way to lead into this is to consider the case of Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. Zacchaeus is a chief tax collector, we’re told, so he has achieved a certain standing among his own group of under-appreciated taxmen. He is also wealthy and has probably put that wealth to good use to live off the fat of the land. For some time he enjoys the lifestyle his wealth affords him. But he knows there is sin in his life he has been trying to ignore. He knows his money can’t buy him forgiveness or peace of mind. He has heard of a travelling preacher and healer called Jesus and hits on a novel way of observing Jesus unnoticed. Although he doesn’t realise it, the Holy Spirit has drawn him to be present that day. He climbs up into a sycamore tree on Jesus’ route. He chooses this method more because it gets him away from the crowd’s jeers and insults of being a leech and a traitor than because it provides a good vantage point. But, when Jesus stops at the foot of his tree, looks up through the leaves and summons Zacchaeus by name, the whole thing takes a completely new turn. He’s fortunate not to fall out of his perch down into the road. The Holy Spirit is calling Zacchaeus. Jesus is the One doing the observing now. He knows that though Zacchaeus is a Jew he has been treated as a sinner and an outcast. But he wants people to see that he is putting his earlier teaching into practice. He has come not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Zacchaeus being a sinner, as the people of Jericho snootily call him (Luke 19:7), is precisely the qualification he needs for expert attention from Jesus.
Over a meal in Zacchaeus’ own home the tax collector comes to understand these things more clearly. He has learned who Jesus is and why he has come. In his own words, “[T]he Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He has understood now that he is neither clever nor crafty, as he thought before, but that he is lost. He has sinned against God and against many others. The Spirit through the Word (Jesus) is convicting him. He has heard that Jesus is the Son of Man, the One come to exercise God’s authority and welcome people into His kingdom. By the Holy Spirit there are stirrings in Zacchaeus’ heart now. He is coming to love Jesus for this mission He is on that has led him right to Zacchaeus’ door. For no-one else has ever taken such an interest in Zacchaeus before, not even his wife! And by the Holy Spirit he is determined to do something about it. He wants to follow Jesus now. He realises that his former life is an embarrassment. So, all in the space of a day – things were often accelerated when Jesus was around – Zacchaeus has had a change of mind, a change of heart and a change of will. Whether at table Jesus actually pinpointed the sinfulness of Zacchaeus’ extortionate ways or whether the new stirrings within reminded him of the Old Testament’s words against theft, Zacchaeus stands up in the middle of his dinner party and blurts out, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Commentators agree that this is generous beyond the law of Moses, showing that Zacchaeus’ repentance is genuine. This will most likely mean a move to a smaller house. Jesus comments, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham” (Luke 19:9). He’s not saying that Zacchaeus is saved because of his generosity, but that his generosity shows God has worked in his life. The salvation will come to him through this One who has paused on his journey going to the cross to pay for Zacchaeus’ sin. This also lets us see that who we are by birth or who or what our parents are have no bearing on our standing before God. Like Zacchaeus, we must have personal dealings with Jesus.
Changes everywhere
As soon as we become Christians we’re not automatically transferred to Heaven. The thief on the cross is a glorious exception to that rule. For most of us there is a time for being a Christian after we have become Christians. A fundamental change has taken place which must be seen. The apostle Paul talks about those who are now in Christ being new creations (2 Cor.5:17). The prophet Ezekiel talks about something happening at our very core, something that God says he does for us, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek.36:26). Where before there was spiritual deadness towards God there are now new life and responsiveness. In a different passage Paul talks about metamorphosis, the transformation of God’s Spirit that begins with the renewing of our minds and produces changes everywhere (Rom.12:2). Instead of the Bible being an old and dusty book, God’s Spirit shines on its pages and shows how it is relevant for everyday living. Through faith in what Jesus has done in his perfect life, in his death for sin and in his defeat of evil in all its forms in his resurrection, God not only declares us forgiven and righteous in his sight, but transfers us from the family of Adam to that of Christ. And through the work of his Spirit he begins to mould us more and more into the family likeness.
Faith in Jesus Christ is not just a knowledge about who Jesus was and what he did. It’s a whole-life commitment of all that we are to all that he is. Possibly the best way to describe it is in terms of the tight-rope walker, Blondin. Apparently he once had a tight-rope strung across Niagara Falls. Many gathered on the bank to watch his exploits. He took his balancing pole and walked across the rope and then walked back. He spoke to the admiring crowd. “Do you believe I could walk across this rope?” “Yes,” many said, for they had just seen him do it. So he did it again. “Do you believe I could wheel a barrow across this rope?” Not so many answered this time, but some still affirmed it. Sure enough a wheel-barrow was produced and Blondin safely wheeled it across the rope and back. Then he asked a third question, “Do you believe I could take you across in the wheel-barrow?” That’s a different kind of question, but that is what Jesus is asking when he commands us to believe in him. It’s not faith, as such, that saves us, but faith in one who has paid for our sins in his death and risen again to give us new life that will never end.
Jesus wants to cultivate the fruit of his Spirit in our lives. These fruit, which all grow together, show the changes that take place in the life of a new believer (Gal.5:22-23). The first three, love, joy and peace, speak of our relationship with God – we love God now and put him first in our words and actions and that produces a joy even in difficult circumstances and a peace and contentedness with God that can’t be taken away. Patience, kindness and goodness speak of our relationship with others. We do seek to put up with aggravation from others, even though it’s not easy. We do actually want to be kind and to do good to those who are making life difficult. And faithfulness, gentleness and self-control speak of our relationship with ourselves. We are trustworthy. We are not self-seeking but want to serve others and we aim to manage our minds, our tongues and our behaviour. We’re not perfect in these things, since a remnant of sin still troubles us. But there is a new dynamic at work now, a desire to please God and obey his Word, a sadness when we fall short of his standards. And God confirms to us by his Spirit, by our love for him, for others and for truth that we are indeed his children.
The preacher Harry Ironside was once invited to debate the subject ‘Christianity v Agnosticism’. He said he would speak for Christianity if those on the other side would produce two people whose agnosticism had worked real change into their lives and had built true character. The invitation was withdrawn. As Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, “[Y]ou will recognise them by their fruits” (Matt.7:20). Let me quote from the recent Nashville Statement, which specifically centres on human gender and sexuality, but which can be applied much more broadly, “We affirm that the grace of God in Christ gives both merciful pardon and transforming power, and that this pardon and power enable a follower of Jesus to put to death sinful desires and to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord” (article 12). This is the power for change available only to believers in Jesus Christ.
Not on your own
In Gateway we have also been working our way through the early chapters of the book of Acts. What has struck me is how much these first ‘Christians’ were together – worshipping, fellowshipping, witnessing. God does work by his Spirit in individual lives but he wants to join us to something much bigger than ourselves. In Acts chapter 6 we read of the setting aside of deacons to look after the material needs of different believers and in chapter 14 the apostles appoint elders in every church. To be a Christian means to be with God’s people together, to hear the same Scripture read and preached together, to receive the sacraments together, and to be under the oversight of the elders of the church together. As a Christian you are not on your own. In the book of Revelation it is the church with one voice that lifts its voice in praise, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!” (Rev.5:13).
To close, let me just come back to Elijah. What broke his heart was that he saw no lasting change towards God in his fellow countrymen. What about you? What lasting change has the good news about Jesus made in your life? Are you more zealous to worship him together with others than you were last year or the year before? Are you more zealous to study his Word and to apply it to your own life? Are you more urgent in your desire to tell people what God has done in Jesus? Or are those fires burning low? Could I encourage you to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling because God, by his Spirit, has condescended to work in your life?
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