Traction for the Transformation

This is our 3rd and final sermon in the “Transforming the Wreckage” Sermon Series

Ezekiel 37:11–14 ESV

Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Where the rubber meets the road is an English Idiom.

The point at which a theory, idea, or concept becomes real, vital, experience.

Athletes train and practice, but when they step on the court for a game is where the rubber meets the road.

This idiom is a metaphor derived from the point of contact between automobile tires and pavement. That point of contact is where we test the question “DO THESE TIRES HAVE TRACTION?”

Traction is the grip between the tires and the road surface that allows a vehicle to start, stop and/or change direction.

Reduced traction increases the risk of skidding, loss of control and a collision.

Traction is reduced when there are any foreign substances on the road surface, such as water, snow, ice, gravel, sand, wet leaves, or loose dirt.

The effects of limited traction are particularly dangerous in curves and turns.

I was in Washington State yesterday, driving in the rain from the northern peninsula down to the airport in Seattle.

As I navigated those winding roads through the mountains,

“Where the rubber meets the road” was more than metaphor to me.

You and I do not know all of the road conditions that we are going to face in 2024.

But, we know something about seasons, don’t we.

We know that there are rainy seasons and winter seasons.

We know that there are hot seasons that heat up the pavement.

We know that we need a good set of all-season tires that can maintain good traction…especially in the turns, the changes, and the transitions.

These last verses of this periscope represent the point where the prophetic rubber meets the road.

God confirms that the bones in the valley do indeed represent the people of God.

God says, I have stepped into the valley of broken dreams and dried up hope to revive your life…to bring a fresh wind and new strength.

God says, “This is happening”

As we close this series and close out this first month of the year at this point - where the rubber meets the road - I want to examine the traction. What is it that will make this word stick?

When things speed up

As you go through the twists and turns of 2024

As you go over the hills and traverse through the valleys

When the rain comes down

And when the road heats up.

The title of the sermon this morning is: Traction for the Transformation: The Staying Power of A Word From The Lord

The Traction for the Transformation Is Not Our Goodness, But His Glory

This prophetic vision is a continuation of a prophetic movement that Ezekiel takes up in chapter 36.

Ezekiel 36:22–27 (ESV): 22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

You see, beloved, what God was doing for Israel was not because of Israel. It was because of God.

All the way back in the days of the prophets God was saying to His people, “the blessing that I will bestow upon you has nothing to do with how well you deserve it”.

All the way back in the prophets we see God saying, “the only righteousness you can attain is the righteousness that I accomplish in you”.

All the way back in the prophets we see God saying, “I will bless you and extend to you my grace as a demonstration of my own glory”.

Constantly, in the Old Testament, you find the Gospel being preached.

The Gospel is in the Law

The Gospel (as we see here) is in the Prophets

And the core truth of the gospel is that the fundamental relationship between God and humankind can never be based on how much humanity deserves a relationship with God.

Whenever God acts to rescue humanity, whether in the broad sense of eternal salvation or in day-to-day particulars of our lives it is never a reward for good behavior on the part of human beings.

It is always a demonstration of God’s glorious goodness.

The greatest manifestation of this is in the person of Jesus Christ who lived and died and rose again.

Not because of our goodness.

But, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.

And if there is any righteousness that we will have, it will be a righteousness that is formed in us by the Holy Spirit of God.

You can not get yourself cleaned up, but God says “I will sprinkle clean water on you and cleanse from your uncleanness”

You can not get yourself together, but God says “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.”

God has great and wonderful things in store for you and me in spite of you and me.

Because in the demonstration of His mercy, God displays His GLORY.

The move of God in our lives is not a reaction to our Goodness, but a demonstration of God’s Glory

The Traction for the Transformation Is Not Our Strength, But His Spirit

In this “Restoration Discourse” (Ez 36 and 37) 26 Times God says what God will do. Only 4 times does he say what Israel will do.

God has all the action.

“I will vindicate the holiness of my great name.”

“I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries.”

“I will sprinkle clean water on you.”

“I will give you a new heart.”

“I will summon the grain.”

“I will rebuild the ruined places.”

“I will cause breath to enter you.”

“I will raise you from your graves.”

“I will place you in your own land.”

Israel is a completely passive actor.

“You shall dwell in the land.”

“You shall be my people.”

“You shall know that I am the Lord.”

“You shall live.”

You see, beloved, when it comes to this transformation that God is doing in our lives, we must not get it twisted.

We are not the heroes of the narrative.

We are the damsel in distress.

I always encourage folks to allow this reality to change the way you read the biblical narrative.

When you read the story of David and Goliath, there is reading where I see myself in David.

And if I’m David, then challenges in my life are Goliath.

And what I learn from that reading is that I need to muster the courage to walk out onto the field battle and face the giant in my life.

And that sounds good and it feels right, but I don’t think it is the best reading.

You see, there is another reading. A reading which David is a type of Christ.

And if David is Jesus, then Goliath is anything and everything that stands as an affront to the purposes of God.

If David is Christ and Goliath is God’s enemies, then it takes the suspense out of the story. Because Jesus is gonna win 100% of the time.

But, if David is Jesus and Goliath is God’s enemies, then where do we find ourselves in the narrative?

We are the rest of Saul’s army, cowering and afraid of the Philistines

What we learn from that reading is that we should really, really appreciate Jesus.

Beloved, you cannot work your way into places that God will take you by His Spirit.

You cannot do in yourself through counsel and discipline what God can do in you by the effectual working of His Power.

The word of the Lord to us today is that same as the word of the Lord to Zerubable from the prophet Zachariah… “Not by might nor by power, but by Spirit says the Lord of Host”.

Get it out of your mind that this year is going to be different because you are going to muster some kind of special ability out of the deep resources of your own soul.

God is about to do things for you and in you that you cannot do in your own power.

This won’t happen through human strength, but through God’s Spirit.

The Traction for the Transformation Is Not Our Faith, But His Faithfulness

The last phrase of this section is not to be overlooked. “I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

This phrase is the essence of what it means to have a high view of the word of God.

If God said it, God will perform it.

There is a 100% reliability score when it come to the word of God.

Now, we are a part of a tradition - the Pentecostal tradition - that places a high value on the exercise of personal faith.

Faith to be healed.

Faith to see provision.

Faith to experience transformation.

But sometimes, in placing this high emphasis on the exercise of personal faith, we can begin to lean on our ability to believe what God said more than our faith in who God is.

What was said has weight because of the one who said it.

Not because of my ability to believe it.

Humans are incredibly inconsistent (with our emotional instabilities and situational moods and our need to process things).

It’s like when Tom Skilling comes on WGN and gives the weather report. He’ll say, “It’s going to be cold out there. You’re going to want to bundle up!”

Tom, in that moment, is speaking from his meterological expertise. He is speaking from his position as Chicago’s weather man.

Weather I believe him or not has no baring on the temperature outside.

If I fail to believe Tom Skilling’s forecast it can have serious implications for me…

I might go skipping out of the house in shorts and sandals

And if I do, I will pay the price for that.

But, it does not impact the accuracy of forecasts.

How much more when it comes to word our omniscient immutable God?!?!

He is faithful…He watches after His word to perform it.

What God has said is true whether we believe it or not.

The truth of God’s word is not rooted in our faith, but in God’s faithfulness!

Beloved, there is a blessed journey ahead of us this year. God has stepped into the valley of broken dreams to announce a restoration and a transformation.

But, it is important to remember that what God is doing sovereign and holy business.

It will bless you, but it is not about you.

You can miss it if you are wrapped up in you rather than wrapped up in God.

This is not about our goodness

This is not about our strength

This is not about our faith

Beloved, It’s not the hold you have on God, it's the hold God has on you.

This is the essence of the Gospel…it is hard to embrace because it is so incredibly scandalous.

It offends our sense of justice and fairness

We are uncomfortable with the idea of taking something of great value without paying for it.

And yet, this is what we have in Jesus:

Abundant grace

Renewing mercy

Unfailing love

God has something beautiful in store for you.

On your best day, you don’t deserve it.

On your worst day, it is still yours because you are still His beloved child.

The response to the message is simply this to receive the wonderful blessings of His love.

In the King James Version of the Bible, the Greek word “agape” (the word for love) is translated as “charity”.

In the same way that pride can make it hard for us to receive literal charity

It can sometime be a hard concept to really grasp…that we receive a love that we did not earn and do not deserve.

But we have to receive it.

His Love is the traction for this transformation.

His Love is what will hold us as we move through the ups and downs of the year, the ups and downs of life.

For I am certain that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Can we just take a few moments to allow the love of God wash over us?

the love that holds us…

and keeps us…

and transforms us…let that love wash over us?