Hearts Are Changed

Did you hear the news? The Penn State mascot, the Nittany Lion, was banned from performing at the Rose Bowl when his team, Penn State, plays USC. He was caught at 3 a.m. driving while intoxicated.

I don't think he was wearing his costume when arrested, but the incident brings up a point: what you wear on the surface doesn't necessarily match what is true inside. You can put on a lion costume, but what are you deep down inside? When Jesus comes into our lives, we should expect deep change—radical transformation!

We began a new series of messages last week. If you missed last week's message on hope, you can listen to it by going to the church website. Next week we'll look at how peace has a chance when Jesus comes, even though it seems peace is quite elusive in this world. Today we're looking at how hearts are changed when Jesus comes.

Recently we've heard a lot about "change we can believe"—so I guess that would mean there is also change we don't believe in.

Sharp has an ad for their flat-panel TVs. The tag-line says, "Change your TV. Change your life." Do you really believe that? That changing your TV could change your life? There is a lot of change that I don't really believe in. I just made a change—I got ready for DTV! I didn't actually change my TV, but I bought a converter box so it will convert the digital signal to analog. (Wouldn't it be great if we could put people through a converter box?)  I made a change, but I wasn't really passionate about it. I didn't really invest much in it. It wasn't really change to believe in.

Let me tell you, the change Jesus brings is change you can believe in! You can bet your life on it! In fact, those who bet their lives on it discover that it's true. Those who aren't willing to give their all, don't experience the change.

Jesus came as a helpless baby. The amazing thing is that that helpless baby grew up to revolutionize the world. God's appearance in our world marked a pivotal moment in human events. Today we measure history from the time of Christ's birth—either before or after; BC or AD (Anno Domino, which means "fresh pizza,"—no! It means "the year of our Lord"). Jesus' coming marked a watershed event. We even divide God's Word into two major sections—the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus brought a new revelation of God; he is God's revealed Word to us.

John 1:9,14 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world... 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

1. When Jesus comes, we will be changed. For better or worse, when we really encounter the Lord, there will be change. There must be change. Some will be improved; some will turn away.

• Shepherds changed their priorities. They abandoned their regular activities watching the sheep, probably putting them in the sheep pen for the night, in order to go see what the angels had told them. They shifted their priorities because their hearts were realigned, because a supernatural encounter made things that had seemed so important before to be less important when compared to the new priorities.
• Magi (wise men) changed their worship. They worshiped the baby as the new king. The Persian magi were an elite class of people, involved in the politics of their times. This was one reason why Herod was so upset with their visit to his territory. He was terrified to think that their visit would put someone other than him on the throne.
• King Herod changed for the worse. The magi worshiped Jesus, but Herod became suspicious and paranoid, afraid that this baby threatened his political power. When he was tricked by the magi, Herod became infuriated and unleashed violence and carnage throughout the area. Many homes in Bethlehem were overwhelmed with grief because of the change in Herod's heart when Jesus came.
• The Jewish religious leaders changed for the worse. The sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, and all the regular people were thrilled and amazed to hear Jesus and see his miracles—but not the religious leaders. Instead of being thrilled, they were irritated. Instead of being amazed, they schemed to trip him up. Eventually, they conspired to have him arrested on false pretenses and sentenced to death on a Roman cross.
• Sinners and tax collectors changed their ways. (In those days, people viewed tax collectors like we think of Chicago politicians today.) Matthew abandoned his tax collection booth to follow Jesus. Just got up and walked away from his old ways (Mark 2:14). Zacchaeus also gave away half of his possessions to the poor and paid back four times as much to everyone he had cheated (Luke 19:8-9). The woman at the well also changed—so much so that many Samaritans in her town believed in Jesus because of her testimony (John 4:39). And remember the woman caught in adultery? Jesus forgave her and told to, "Go...leave your life of sin." (John 8:11)

It's still true today. When Jesus comes into our lives and makes his dwelling within, when we see his glory, we are changed. Jesus comes to us because he desires to reveal God to us. He wants to revolutionize our thinking and completely reshape our behavior.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... In other words, don't allow the world to continue affecting you. Instead, be continually renewed in your thinking so you can be transformed in the way you live.

Eph 4:22-24 ²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. That is to day, your old self is still being corrupted, but the new self comes as we take on a new attitude in our thinking.

The prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of the Messiah. Isaiah said:

Isa 43:18-19 18Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

The Apostle Paul echoed those thoughts when centuries later he wrote:

2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Message: ...anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone...

We see by this that it's not just one, but two miracles that occur when we allow Jesus to enter our world: (1st) The old is gone; (2nd) the new has come! Or, to use the words from Ephesians, put off the old self first and then, second, put on the new self. Now, getting rid of the old is a very good thing! But these verses teach that this is only the first step. Something more needs to happen. This tells me that...

2. Change often comes in stages. We shouldn't stop changing; we should always be looking for the next step. Change is progress—often building on previous change. And sometimes the change we really want cannot happen unless we do something else first.

Let Jesus into your life, and you'll be ready to receive two miracles! You can get rid of the old sinful nature, but you can also experience a new life in Christ.

When Hurricane Katrina's storm surge rolled into Louisiana and Mississippi, it left devastation and destruction everywhere. Houses were flooded; buildings were moved off their foundations; garbage and junk were everywhere. All the damage had to be cleaned up, so work crews came in and began to collect the debris. Tons of it. FEMA's initial estimates in 2005 were for about 20 million cubic yards of debris—imagine 200 football fields filled about 50 feet high with garbage [from Col. Tony Vesay of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9315740/]

It was good to move out all that trash. People were glad it was cleaned up, but that was only the beginning. They still didn't have a new house. An empty, clean lot was only the first step. The old was gone, but they still needed something new.

It's the same way in life. People can endure terrible storms in their lives. Emotional and relational hurricanes blow in with devasting force, moving things off their foundations. Terrible problems leave lives cluttered with the garbage and debris of sin, the chaos of additions, or the scars of painful events. It's good to clear out the garbage and leave the past behind. But God wants to do more. He doesn't want you to merely be free from sin; God wants to build something new out of your life, to give you freedom to live as you should—transformed to live at a whole new livel!

One time Jesus told about a person who was controlled by a terrible evil (Matt 12:43-45). Then the demon was driven out—a good thing! But the change didn't last. The demon came back later and found the person's life "unoccupied, swept clean and put in order." The evil was gone, but the person was empty. The old was gone, but there was nothing new to take its place. So the demon went and found seven other spirits even more wicked than itself, and they all came back to inhabit the empty life.

3. You're not finished changing.

Do you see how God wants to change us all the way, and not just part way? He doesn't want to leave us empty, swept clean, and put in order. We need to get rid of the old, and Jesus came into the world to do that—to defeat sin in our lives; to defeat the works of the devil. But he also wants us to experience the fullness of his life.

You can be set free from your old life. None of us has to stay the way we were! We can be changed! But don't stop with that; don't be content simply to have Jesus get rid of the junk and the garbage. Once you've been set free, let God finish the job! He wants to get rid of the old AND bring in the new. He wants to take you all the way! He wants to keep working on you until his purpose has been completed in your life. He's not content to leave you "clean, but empty." He wants to fill you with his Spirit. He wants to transform you by the renewing of your mind. He wants to conform you to the image of his Son.

For the "new" things of God to replace the "old" things of ourselves, we must experience radical change—complete transformation. When we allow Jesus to enter our world, it means there will be a whole new direction and outlook for us. His life within us gives us new power to live holy lives.

• Losers can become winners.
• Victims can become victorious.
• Addicts to sin can become conquerors.

Jesus gives us a whole new reason for living. It means not only that we are free from the past but also that we are freed by his power to shape a new future.

Some people don't want any more change. They avoid God. They avoid his help. They see religion as being too confining, too restrictive, with too many rules. They think being a Christians means not being able to do a lot of fun stuff that they used to do. However, they miss the point. Christianity changes us, but not to make us dull and boring or to lock us into a life of drudgery full of rules and regulations.

To the contrary, when Christ gives us a new life, complete with the discipline and direction that we never had before, we are set free to do things we never could before. We used to be slaves of sin, and we could never do the right things. But when we become slaves to God, when our lives become disciplined and obedient to the Lord, that's when we can become free to live righteous, holy lives.

It's like this. When a boy stays inside to practice his piano, the boys out playing ball don't understand why he would want to do that. But years later, when he's performing his music on a stage before his fans, those boys see that he is able to do things they cannot. His disciplined hours of practice gave him the freedom to play the piano while their carefree play left them unable to do what he could.

An artist was at a dinner party when a fan came up to him and commented "I'd give my right arm to play like that." The artist replied, "I gave my life."

4. Change is seldom easy. Mark Twain said, "The only person who likes change is a wet baby." [Leadership, 15:3]

Sometimes change demands a lot of us. It can be very difficult. Change requires adjustments on our part—a shift in attitude, a new way of thinking, a different perspective, fresh approaches or unconventional methods.

So when we say that hearts are changed when Jesus comes, let's not assume that it is an easy thing to have happen. There may be a cost to pay. There may be some difficult adjustments to make.

• Mary suffered embarrassment and humiliation because Jesus came. People would talk. She was unwed and pregnant. There would be a scandal! But Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38). Surrendering to God's will meant that Mary would have to pay a price.
• Joseph endured the ridicule of his strict culture—who would really believe that his fiancé had not cheated on him? No one would have criticized him for breaking off the engagement, but instead "he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife" (Matt 1:24)
• Jesus' parents experienced pain together. When they brought him to the temple for dedication, an old man named Simeon gave a prophecy about Jesus, part of it directed at Joseph and Mary: "And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:35).
• When Jesus comes, expect difficulties. Old friends may desert you. People may misunderstand you. You may be ridiculed or challenged.

Ø      Your commitment will be put to the test. Jesus said you should expect to be persecuted.

Ø      He warned us to count the cost before we decide to follow him (Luke 14).

Ø      He taught his true disciples must "carry a cross" each day (Luke 9:23).

Ø      Hearts changed for good by Jesus will take on different priorities than before. Convenience and comfort will not be as important as commitment and obedience.

As your heart is motivated by God's Spirit and God's love, you can be changed! Your selfishness can decrease as Jesus increases. God can give you the power you to act differently.

God sent Jesus into this world so that hearts would be changed. God wanted to transform hearts that were sinful, selfish, hateful, and hurt. He wanted to make them new in Christ—to change them into hearts filled with forgiveness, love, care, and compassion.

• Ezek 11:19 — "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." A heart transplant. Hard, stony hearts replaced with soft, sensitive hearts of flesh.

Author, pastor, and onetime atheist Lee Strobel once said: How can I tell you the difference God has made in my life? My daughter Allison was 5 years old when I became a follower of Jesus, and all she had known in those five years was a dad who was profane and angry. I remember I came home one night and kicked a hole in the living room wall just out of anger with life. I am ashamed to think of the times Allison hid in her room to get away from me.

Five months after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that little girl went to my wife and said, "Mommy, I want God to do for me what he's done for Daddy." At age 5! What was she saying? She'd never studied the archeological evidence [regarding the truth of the Bible]. All she knew was her dad used to be this way: hard to live with. But more and more her dad is becoming this way. And if that is what God does to people, then sign her up. At age 5 she gave her life to Jesus.

God changed my family. He changed my world. He changed my eternity.