Last Sunday we
began a new sermon series called “SoulShift”.
A “SoulShift is a
change in the deepest part of our being, usually after we are saved, and before
we die, that makes us more like Christ and less like our old selves.”
(DeNeff)
As the name
implies, this shift begins in our souls, because the soul is the place where
God wants to meet us, so, again, I come back to the question that I asked last
week: How is
your soul?
Is there a way
to adequately answer that question?
After all, it’s
a little deeper than “are you at peace with yourself?” and “Is your heart right with God?” because both of
these questions simply require a “yes” or “no” answer.
To adequately
answer the “how
is my soul” question, we’ve got to look deeper; and we need to
answer this question with another question: “What do I do when no one is looking?”
Or better yet: “What do I think
about when I allow my mind to wander?”
As we ponder the
answer to these questions, it will give us a glimpse into
the state of our soul, which is at
the core of who we are; because our soul determines what we think and what we
do.
This is why
Jesus spent a great deal of time focusing on the soul.
On one particular
occasion, He asked: “…what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose
your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Mark 8:36-37, NLT2)
The place to
begin a shift is deep in our souls, because this is the place where God wants change
us.
We learnt last
week that it is possible to be a follower of Jesus and still not be minded in
the way He is.
You can be saved
and still not have the mind of God. It’s not recommended, but it is possible.
Let’s look at a
time in the life of the disciples to see how they were with Jesus, but did not
have the mind of Jesus…
The Bible tells
us that as Jesus and His disciples left Galilee and were heading toward
Jerusalem, “He
said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his
enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.”
32 They—the
disciples--- didn’t
understand what he was saying, however,
and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
33 After they arrived
at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you
discussing out on the road?”
34 But they didn’t
answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.” (Mark
9:31-34, NLT2)
As Jesus and His
disciples were travelling along the road to Jerusalem, He began pouring out His
heart to them, telling them that He would be handed over into the hands of the
Enemy, He would be beaten and killed, and He would rise again on the third day…
Apparently, this
goes in one ear and comes out the other ear of each of the disciples, because
when they arrive at their destination, Jesus turned and “asked them, "What were you arguing about
on the road?" (Mark 9:33b, NIV)
Jesus wanted to
know what they were talking about as He was pouring out His heart, but “But they didn’t
answer…” (Mark 9:34a, NLT2)
Of course they
didn’t answer!
They probably
were ashamed “because
they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.” (Mark
9:34b, NLT2)
These men had
been with Jesus but they didn’t hear Jesus because they were busy arguing
amongst themselves as to who was the super disciple.
ILLUSTRATION- I’m sure that at one time or another
those of us with siblings have thought this way before. I know I have.
There were
times when I was growing up that I thought that my parents favored my brother a
little more than they did me, there were other times when I figured that my
parents liked me more than Trevor…
While we don’t
know what the Disciples were arguing about, we can be sure that they argued for
themselves. You can be sure that Peter didn’t stick up for Andrew, and John
didn’t stick up for Matthew.
One meaning of
the word “argue” in the Greek is “to dispute”. The disciples were discussing
quite heavily amongst themselves as to who among them was the greatest.
Even after being with Jesus day
in and day out for two years, the disciples argued as to which one of them was
the greatest, because that was their nature, it was how they were wired.
The irony of it
all was that they argued while they were following Someone with a completely
different mind. They had no concept of what was going on around them; they were
just wrestling for their own favor.
A little while
after this, as Jesus was again talking about His sacrifice for the world; two
disciples approach Him with a request:
“When you sit on
your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on
your right and the other on your left.” (Mark 10:37, NLT2)
The disciples
are, once again, obsessed with themselves. They were following Jesus but were wired another way.
They were on the
same road as Jesus, but were in a different world. They were in the same Church
as Jesus, but in a different pew.
Even though they
had followed Jesus for two years, they needed a SoulShift.
They had to
shift from thinking primarily of themselves to thinking primarily of others;
they had to shift from ME to YOU.
Martin Luther
said that man is born with “his heart curved inward upon itself.
(DeNeff)
ILLUSTRATION- I experience this every time
my wife tells me that the vacuuming needs done… I’m quick to tell her that I’ve
got someplace to go….
Each
one of us has a genetic flaw toward self-centeredness. Some of these flaws
include:
è
A critical spirit- We think our ideas are
better than someone else’s ideas just because we like our ideas better;
è
Another flaw is that: We look out for ourselves first.
“If you
doubt this, pull out an old yearbook or a photo of a group you’re in. Who do you
look for first?”(SoulShift,
page 37)
è
We can’t forgive ourselvesà Even
though God has forgiven us, our own opinion of ourselves is still more
important;
è
We talk about ourselves all the time. We like
to dominate the conversation. We like to talk about our accomplishments, about our
achievements…
Each
one of us is hardwired with a bent toward self-centeredness; we don’t have to
practice it, because it’s second nature.
But
not so with Jesus. He, unlike us, is curved outward.
When Jesus heard
His disciples arguing about who was the greatest, He turned the tables on the
conversation:
“You know that the
rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their
authority over those under them.
43 But among you it
will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant,
44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else.
45 For even the Son
of Man came not to be served but to serve others and
to give his life as a ransom for many.”
(Mark 10:42b-45, NLT2)
Life with Jesus should be
fundamentally different than life without Jesus. We are to be transformed, not modified.
The Bible says: “If anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17, NIV)
Jesus wants there
to be a change deep inside of us; Jesus wants there to be a SoulShift.
So the question
becomes how we do move from thinking primarily about me to thinking about YOU?
How do we- who are wired more
like the disciples-, get to the place where we are curved outward?
Frist of all, we
need to understand that this won’t happen overnight. As someone once said: “It took a while
to get you into this mess, it will take you a while to get out of this mess”
It will take
time for God to re-wire you, but there are some simple steps that you can take
to get the process started:
1. Open Your Eyes
to reality.
If we want to
move from Me to You, we have
to admit that we have a problem.
We have to admit
that we are curved inward. We have to admit that we, by nature, focus more on
ourselves than on others.
But simply
admitting that we have a problem still won’t change anything; we must want to
change… we must want to become like Christ.
Remember: “Discipleship
has, as its goal, nothing less than the rewiring of our instincts and the
reprogramming of our nature.” (DeNeff)
We must ask God to open our eyes
to see things as they—we-- really are.
The second step
we can take is Make
time for people.
ILLUSTRATION- Sometimes the phone in my
office will ring and the caller will apologize for interrupting my day.
I will remind
them that it’s really no bother because I’m in the people business, and if I
don’t have time for people, then I’m in the wrong business…
(Please
don’t call me at 2:30 in the morning!)
If
you want to experience a shift in your soul, you have to make time for people;
you will have to get involved in someone’s life.
Find someone who
hasn’t been to church for a few weeks and give them a call and ask how they are
doing.
Paul said in
Philippians 2: “Don’t
look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” (2:4,
NLT2) This will help us shift from Me to You.
Finally, we can Carry Each Other’s Burdens.
Galatians 6:2 says: “Carry each other's
burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (NIV)
ILLUSTRATION-
This past week, God placed on my heart the name of a couple in our church in
the wee hours of the morning. I didn’t know anything was wrong, but I began
praying for them anyway. I asked God to work in their lives.
Getting involved in the life of
someone—even if it’s only through prayer--- will help you move away from the
curve inward, to having a mind of Christ which is curved outward.
These are 3 of the many ways that
you can begin moving from Me to You; but remember it’s a process, and it will
take work.
It’s not something you can do on
your own, you need help to think less of yourself and to think of others more.
ILLUSTRATION-
Many years ago, when the members of the Salvation Army gathered for a
conference, they were saddened to learn that their founder, William Booth, was
too sick to come.
Booth was expected to deliver the
keynote address to the conference but was unable to travel.
Instead, he asked if he could write
his speech and have it read for him at
the conference.
The night came and the crowd
gathered to hear their revered founder’s speech read to them.
They expected his words to explain
many things, to inspire them with a rationale for their service.
Instead, Booth was able to fit his
entire speech into one telegram message. It represented the focus of the movement’s
work.
When the telegram was read to the
crowd, it contained but one word: “Others.” (DeNeff, 2011,38)
So, church, how is your soul? Are
you focusing on yourself or are you focusing on others?
Do you need to experience a shift in
your soul; a shift from focusing on yourself to focusing on others?
The Good news is that this type of shift
is possible! Jesus Himself gives us the invitation:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn
from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29, NIV)
If you’ve got the mind of the
disciples instead of having the mind of God,
it’s
time for a change; it’s time to experience the first SoulShift.
“It has been said that the final test of any religion is
how it affects our relationships with other people” (SS,
2011, 39)
So, how does your religion affect
your relationship with other people?
Jesus said: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As
I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this all men will know that
you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:34-35, NIV)
Is it time for a shift in your life?
No comments:
Post a Comment