SERMON

‘Be the change’

Suggested Bible readings
zz 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, 26-30
zz Romans 12: 1,2
Plus any of the stories where God calls a weak, fearful, uneducated etc person to step up and become a mighty
leader. Examples include Gideon (Judges 6), Moses (Exodus 3) and Jonah (Jonah 1).

Sermon
God is looking at his Church today. God is looking at this church (corps) today, and the church is obviously the
people who make up the fellowship. So – he is looking at you and me! He is looking in love – you can see the
love in his eyes. You are his precious child. You are the one he created, you are the one he called into relationship
with him, and you responded and ‘signed up’ and became part of his family. You are the one with a future, full of
potential. You are the one he is relying upon to bring others into a relationship with himself.
He is looking down on you. He doesn’t judge harshly or condemn, but he speaks honest words. What is he
saying? What is he saying to you about this church, and what is he saying about you? Is it ‘Well done! I’m pleased
with what you have become. I’m pleased with where you are going. This church has got it right’? It could be! Or
could it be something similar to what he said when he looked down on the young church in Laodicea?
Revelation 3:14-17 – ‘To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:… I know your deeds, that you
are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm –
neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind
and naked.’ (quotations from NIV)
If you think God is saying something like this to your church or to the wider Salvation Army in this territory, then
you need to ask, isn’t he also saying it to you and me personally? You and I are the church! When God speaks to
the church, he speaks to us.
He could be saying that he wants his church, and therefore us, to change – to change from lukewarm
meritocracy to red hot, on fire for God, Bible-believing, Spirit-filled faith. To become people who dare to go and
proclaim that Christ is the answer – that Christ can change lives – that Christ can change the world.
Wow! That would be a powerful church, but, it would require us to change!
So – God is looking down. He doesn’t judge harshly or condemn, but he speaks honest words. What is he
saying? What is he saying to us about this church, and what is he saying about us? Could it be similar to what he
said when he looked down on the young church in Sardis?
Revelation 3:1-3 – ‘To the angel of the church in Sardis write:… I know your deeds; you have a
reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die,
for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have
received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and
you will not know at what time I will come to you.’
Maybe this church has a good reputation and a great history. Maybe this church is still a beacon of light. It is
doing many good deeds and people hold it in high esteem. But, is it alive or is it simply existing? Does it appear to
be strong on the outside, when it is weak, if not dying, within?
Is the church made up of people who are just on the treadmill of life, and this treadmill just happens to include
attending meetings on Sundays and being involved in some aspects of the church’s life? Is your experience of life
a bit like this?
Alpha promo video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPPKcuqJAE
Perhaps you sometimes feel you are stuck on the treadmill of life. Things are happening, all appears good on the
outside, but there is nothing great or exciting, you’re not really going anywhere, and neither is the church. And
when you dare to take a rare moment to stop and consider, you ask: ‘Isn’t there more to life and faith than this?’
If you feel that your experience of life and of church is disappointing, and if you think that God might be saying that,
despite its reputation, it is actually dead, then maybe, as God looks down, he is speaking to you. He could be saying
that he wants to breathe new life into his church, that he wants to give it a new vitality, and new sense of purpose, a
focus on innovative mission, and that he wants it once again to be the means of bringing people into his Kingdom,
to become a red hot, on fire for God, Bible-believing, Spirit-filled church – to become a church that dares to go and
proclaim that Christ is the answer – that Christ can change lives – that Christ can change the world.
Wow! That would be a powerful church! But it would require us to change!
Of course, God may be looking down on you and challenging you in other ways. You might well be the only
person who knows what he is saying to you. But if God is God, and if you are his child, then he will be speaking to
you. And if God is looking down on his Church and is not happy with everything he sees, then we can be certain
that he is speaking to some of us about the need to change.
And when we change, we become agents for change. When we change, our church changes – and in turn there
is a change in the world.
Mahatma Ghandi said: ‘Be the change that you wish to see in the world.’ There is, of course, the danger that this
can become an idealist, humanist philosophy. In effect, try hard to make a difference and eventually the world
will change. In the Christian context, however, we become agents of change when we respond to God’s voice and
give ourselves fully to him so that he can work his change through us. This is not about us, with our own mighty
effort performing a giant feat that requires us to have considerable skill and influence. It is about us humbly
accepting that God can make something beautiful of our lives by his refining work, and then he can work through
us to bring about the renewal of others.
These words written by Paul to the Roman church, paraphrased here in The Message translation, explain the
process so well:
Romans 12:1,2 – ‘So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary
life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an
offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so
well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on
God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.’
If God has been speaking to you, you are probably replying to him. You could be saying, ‘What can I do? There’s
too much to do, the issues are too large, there is no hope.’ Or you might be saying, ‘I’m weak and insignificant; I’m
too young; I don’t have sufficient qualifications or enough experience – no one will listen to me.’ Or your response
might be, ‘I’m comfortable, I have all my plans in place, I have a job and a family. I don’t want to change – I’ll just
stay as I am.’
Well, God has heard all this before. The Bible is full of people who believed that they did not have what it takes to
be God’s agents of change. But the truth is that God has, again and again, used people who are full of concerns
and doubts and other excuses, to live lives and speak words and perform miracles that changed not just a few
people but whole nations. And the people he has used most effectively have been those who thought they were
weak and insignificant, young and inexperienced, poor and uneducated. Moses, David, Gideon, the disciples all
come to mind. These people were all changed by God through the empowering of the Holy Spirit to do tasks that
were way beyond what they, or for that matter anyone else, thought would be achievable.
Paul writing to the church in Corinth puts it like this:
1 Corinthians 1:26,27 – ‘Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not
many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble
 birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things
of the world to shame the strong.’
God’s word says that our weaknesses, doubts, and insecurities are no surprise to him. We may try to hide them
from others, but we can’t hide them from the one who created us.
The truth is, God created us with weaknesses. And, since he’s God, he couldn’t have made a mistake. Is it
possible he created us with weaknesses in order to keep us on our knees before him? When we depend on him,
we’re able to do all things through him who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13–14).
This also means God won’t let us use weaknesses as an excuse for not doing what he’s asking us to do. If God
is calling us to a monumental task, then he’ll give us everything we need to complete the task, through the Holy
Spirit working within us.
So – if you think that God is not completely happy with his church as it is, then he is not completely happy with
you, and you need to change. And it could well be that he is calling you to become the change, the agent of
change within our congregation and in the wider church.
How do you know if this is the case, if this call to be an agent of change applies to you? I believe that most people
who are being called by God know full well that they are being called. It could be because God has given them a
direct word, or it could be that they have this uneasy feeling that all is not right in the church and that this feeling
could be God wanting them to explore the possibility that they could become the agent of change. It is possible
that God is waiting for you and me to step out, in faith, and offer ourselves fully to him.
I believe that God is looking at his Church today. The Church is obviously the people who make up the fellowship.
So – he’s looking at you! He’s looking in love – you can see the love in his eyes. You are his precious child. You
are the one he created, you are the one he called into relationship with him, and you responded and ‘signed up’
and became part of his family. You are the one with a future, full of potential. You are the one he is relying upon to
bring others into a relationship with himself. What is God calling you to do right now?
How are you going to respond to the call that you are experiencing – the call of God to allow him to make you the
agent of change that brings the church back to be what he wants it to be?
If God is calling you and you know what you should be doing in response to this call, then step out now [this
morning] and register a commitment to follow. If you don’t know what you should be doing, but you are aware of
God stirring your heart as we have reflected on the need to change and be the change, then step out now to pray
for clarity and for guidance.

Some possible song choices:

zz ‘Shine, from the inside out’ – Nick Jackson, Inside Out CD, Powerpack Ministries
zz ‘I believe that God the Father… I believe in transformation’ – NSASB 34
zz ‘To be like Jesus’ – NSASB 328
zz ‘Purify my heart’ – NSASB 517
zz ‘O to be like thee! blessed Redeemer’ – NSASB 618
zz ‘Here I am, wholly available’ – Chris Bowater, SoF 167
zz ‘Go, do something beautiful (We are a shining light)’ – Graham Kendrick, 2003, Do Something Beautiful CD