From Sorrow to Joy

From Sorrow to Joy: Embracing Our New Identity in Christ

A Gospel Reading According to:

Luke 5:1–3; Luke 5:11–32

Luke 5:1–3 ESV

1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

Luke 5:11–32 ESV

11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. 12 While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” 13 And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And he charged him to tell no one, but “go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a proof to them.” 15 But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. 16 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. 17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God. 26 And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” 27 After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” 28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. 29 And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. 30 And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” 31 And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” This is the Gospel of our Lord! Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!

A couple of years ago, Michelle and I bought a house. The house had been on the market for about three years and had been unoccupied during that time. We were told that a lot of people had expressed interest in the house over that time, but they always felt that it needed too much work. Now, I’m not gonna lie. This house needed a TON OF WORK! Every room had really old, peeling wall paper. The plumbing supply lines were an absolute abomination, the sewer lines were the original cast iron pipes and were mostly rusting and leaky. The kitchen was UGLY! It had baby blue counter tops and ripped linoleum floors. Every room needed some sort of attention.

We bought it in November and we got a great deal on it. So, I went to work peeling wall paper, painting, fixing cabinets, tearing out dismal, dirty carpet, doing new counter tops, new kitchen flooring. I replaced all of the potable plumbing with a manifold and pex pipe then replaced the old cast iron waste pipes with PVC, installed a water softener and subsequently upgraded the boiler and water heater. - Plus a new roof. I’ve done a TON of work in our “This Old House” and I’m no Norm Abrams, but the transformation is nothing short of amazing! Beautiful hardwood floors, Fresh, clean walls, amazing kitchen countertop, new appliances etc… I still need to finish renovating the bathrooms, need to fix some siding and paint the exterior, and upgrade the electric.

Understand any transformation is a process. It is time consuming. It is costly. It takes a toll on you physically and financially. But when you see what it looks like after all that was invested, WOW! AMAZING! While we spent a sum buying and fixing up the house, our investment could pay great dividends.

So it is with our life in Christ. Today, we are going to look at that transformative work and the joy that comes through allowing Christ to invest in our lives.

Think about this:

What would the condition of your life look like without Christ?

Think for a moment and ponder that.

What if Christ hadn’t come to save your soul?

How about this question:

How long has your life been “vacant” without Christ working in your life?

I believe, unfortunately that many people come to Christ, and then fail to allow Him to “renovate” their lives and their lives don’t really look different than they did before Christ “entered” their lives.

Worse, many “in Christ” have allowed the “storms of life” to wreak havoc on their spiritual “home” where Christ is supposed to dwell, but their choices have seemingly “evicted” Him from the Central point of their lives.

Let me illustrate as simply as I can. How many people that used to be “committed members” of Foundry no longer attend church at all? I promise, that number is higher than any of us wish to believe to be true.

Let’s not be found “victim” of that unfortunate phenomena. Let’s dig in.

1. From Manna to Promise

We’ve been talking about Moses and the Israelites wandering through the desert for 40 years a bit lately. Today, were going into the Promised Land. Remember, no one - including Moses himself that left Egypt crossed into the promised land except Joshua and Caleb. It’s been a long journey. One that should have taken days, took decades. Why? because the people were whining and murmuring and complaining and making and serving false gods. On and on. No wonder God didn’t let them into the land of Promise!

But finally…

Joshua 5:9-12

Joshua 5:9–12 ESV

9 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. 10 While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

~ In Egypt, they were slaves.

Burdened under the task masters of Egypt.

Oppressed

Afflicted

Tired and Weary!

They lived under the “reproach of Egypt”

~ In the Wilderness, they were Wanderers.

Following the Pillar of fire by night and the cloud of smoke by day.

They encamped around the very presence of God.

They had “manna” from Heaven every day to satisfy their hunger.

God always provided water to quench their thirst.

…Yet they still complained…all of the time…incessantly…relentlessly…

~In the Promised Land, they were Home!

A land flowing with milk and honey!

No longer wandering aimlessly in the desert!

A fresh, new diet of the ‘fat of the land!’

The reproach of Egypt lifted from them!

They were FREE!

How is that like us?

We are born into the reproach of the curse of sin.

We are slaves to sin.

No way home to God.

Separated.

We are saved by God’s Grace.

We wander through the transformative work of Christ.

Too often, we whine and moan about how bad we have it.

But yet, we have the “promise” of “home” ~ Heaven

2. Finding Freedom in Forgiveness

Maybe, you’re not connecting with the “wandering Israelites.”

How about David?

Let’s look at what David says in

Psalm 32:1-2

Psalm 32:1–2 ESV

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

~ Let’s consider David

We all know that David was a shepherd with a harp singing and praising God. Yup, God loved that.

David killed Goliath.

The people loved that! They sang and danced in the streets singing “Saul has killed his thousands and David, his tens of thousands!”

Saul didn’t like that.

David eventually became King of Israel.

He was also an adulterer.

He was a murderer.

He was a horrible parent.

And yet, God called him “a man after his heart.”

David was far from perfect, yet he knew the way to God’s heart.

~What was David’s secret?

He knew God

He was ready to confess his sin

He was ready to take responsibility for his failures

He was ready for God to “create in me a clean heart.”

He knew God’s grace.

3. Becoming New Creations

I’ve said this a couple times over the last several weeks. Too many churches, too many “christians” know how to ‘come to Christ. But that is the extent of the ‘doctrine of Christ’ that they know and have been willing to experience.

We have to go forward. We have to go past the alter of sacrifice. We have to come to the bronze laver and allow the filth of our lives to be washed off of our lives and go into the Holy Place of God and be Transformed by the washing of the water of the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

2 Corinthians 5:17–19 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

~What is a “New Creation?”

“New Creation” isn’t living in the same filth only with clean clothes!

It is becoming more like Christ because we become intimately involved with Him and His life.

Two men come home from work. Both work hard to provide for their families. They love them! Their families love them!

The first one works in a feed lot mucking stalls and shoveling manure.

The second one makes beautiful flower arrangements.

Both men come home at the end of the day.

Big question.

Which man IMMEDIATELY gets a passionate embrace from his wife?

Of course both of them! They are loved. But if they are going to go out to eat on a date, what needs to happen?

The first one is going to have to thoroughly shower, shave, deodorize while the second one already smells like roses, so maybe just a change of clothes and they are off!

Some of us have a lot more filth on us than others.

All of us need to make ourselves ready for dinner with Christ!

We need to allow Him to cleanse us, make us Holy - even as He is holy.

2 Corinthians 5:20-21

2 Corinthians 5:20–21 ESV

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

~ We are ambassadors of Christ!

It is our responsibility to show the way of the Cross to others and help them find the Grace that transforms them from sinfulness to reconciled to God!

Jesus was our perfect example! Let Him reconcile us - and others to God!

4. Pushing Into Deeper Waters

Today, our Gospel reading shows us the calling of Jesus’ disciples. There is an interesting thing to note here in

Luke 5:1-3

Luke 5:1–3 ESV

1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

~People are always ‘pressing!’

Many people in the World and even the Church say that people don’t care about “church” anymore. I 100% agree with that.

However, what people are very interested in is the ‘truth.’

They search for it:

in false religions.

in shallow relationships.

in possessions.

in ‘success’ - whatever that means to them.

in their families.

in their appearances.

The list could go on and on.

Church has become ‘hypocritical’ and ‘phony’ to most people today. Why? Because we have, like the Children of Israel, been guilty of whining, complaining, making and worshipping false gods all in the ‘guise’ of ‘evangelism,’ making ourselves more attractive - seeker friendly, The world is right. The church today is ‘hypocritical’ and ‘phony.’

~ Jesus made distance from the pressing crowd.

Those that truly follow Christ, are the ones that can be found in the ‘deep waters’ of faith.

It isn’t ‘attractive’

It isn’t ‘easy’

There is always a price.

God’s Grace is free, but it is not cheap.

While it is free, there is a great price to be paid.

Too many ‘christians’ and far too many churches have subscribed to a ‘cheap gospel.’ A gospel preaching ‘another jesus.’

Our faith is a journey.

It isn’t just about getting people into church.

It’s not about getting people to simply ‘invite Jesus into your heart…”

It’s not about ‘prosperity’ or ‘being blessed.’

It is about living the life of Christ.

Drawing closer to His heart.

Allowing Him to cleanse us and make us pure.

Being transformed from the “reproach of sin” into the likeness of the Most-High God.

The path is not easy, nor is it popular. But it is worth the journey.

~ Invitation

Let us learn from those who have preceded us. Let us enter the Promised Land and shed the Reproach of sin once and for all. Let us be humble, and contrite, confessing our sins freely and regularly. Let us find the freedom that forgiveness grants and become “New Creations” in Christ! And may we be found in the depths of the Waters of Christ’s leading so our lives may demonstrate the Glory of God to a lost and dying world!