Sunday Sermons
Sermon: 11-25-07
Pastor Phil Lee
Title: "The Joy of the Third Conversion"
Text: Jer.23:1-6; Col.1:11-20; Lk.23:33-43
Theme: The stewardship of our gifts is born out of our conversion.
Introduction
Today is Christ the King Sunday. It’s also Thanksgiving and harvest and stewardship emphasis season. And it’s a great fit, because all those things go together like “hand in glove.”
But, there can be a downside to how we view God’s gifts, and how we use those gifts – whether they are gifts of time, or ability, or money. According to The Washington Post (4-4-04), MIT economist Jonathan Gruber has found, based on data from the General Social Survey, that the more people contribute to their place of worship, the less likely they are to go to worship services. Economists call this phenomenon “substitution” – some people feel that giving money is a legitimate substitution for going to church.
But, on this Christ the King Sunday, we contrast that kind of substitution to Christ’s substitution. The stewardship sharing of our gifts is born out of our conversion to faith in Jesus, who substituted for us by taking our place on the cross and dying for our sins.
Point
Through the testimony of God’s Word and the witness of countless Christians down through the centuries, you and I have come to faith in Jesus Christ. The three Scriptures assigned for this Christ the King Sunday recount the faith story that now includes us.
In today’s OT lesson from Jeremiah 23, the prophet recalls with unflinching honesty some of Israel’s painful history and its devastating consequences. The prophet didn’t mince words as he directed his condemnation at the unfaithful kings of Judah who misled the people: “It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.” And so, the Israelites fell captive to the Babylonians and went into exile in the 6th century B.C. But, God did not abandoned them to that fate, and the prophet gave them God’s reassurance: “…I myself will gather the remnant of my flock…and I will bring them back to their fold…I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them…The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’”
The very same promises that God made to the Israelites in their 6th century exile, God also makes to us today, in our struggle with sin and the burdens of life: “I will gather you and bring you back to [My] fold…I will raise up the One who will bring you justice and righteousness…Because of your king, Jesus, you will be saved and live in safety.” That is good news that brings conversion!
In today’s NT lesson we hear from Paul’s letter to the Colossians (ch.1), and we are reminded of the very same good news that we heard from the ancient prophet: “[God] has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. That is good news that brings conversion!
And in today’s Gospel – Lk.23 – we hear this good news conveyed in a very personal, poignant story of hope for the hopeless. Jesus was crucified with two criminals – just as the people were determined to do. But Jesus’ response to the whole sordid affair was one of grace and love: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
And then he turned his attention to one of the criminals, who could have been any one of us. As the poor hopeless man cried out for mercy – “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” – Jesus replied to him with a gift of pure grace, giving him what he did not deserve and could never attain on his own: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
This is the same gift of grace Jesus offers to you and me, and that is good news that brings conversion!
Problem
But, in a haunting reminder, Luke tells us that the other criminal who was crucified with Jesus “…kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’” The unconverted scorn Jesus with unbelieving, hardened hearts.
The story is told about Clare Booth Luce, a playwright, politician, journalist, and diplomat, who was once U.S. Ambassador to Italy. While she was living in a beautiful Italian villa, she began to notice that she was always tired and was losing weight. She sought medical care, and after a period of testing it was discovered that she was suffering from arsenic poisoning. Finally, they found the cause: It was the ceiling of the bedroom where there were beautiful designs, ornately done in plaster relief and painted with old paint that contained arsenic lead. As the fine paint dust fell from the ceiling she was slowly being poisoned in her bed.
In a similar way, we are in danger of being poisoned by the increasingly materialistic, self-absorbed. God-less society in which we live. Our beliefs and values can be eroded or poisoned by the selfish, me-first attitudes of those around us without our ever becoming aware of it until it is too late.
What is the antidote to this poison? The antidote is the stewardship of our God-given gifts, born out of our conversion to faith in Jesus Christ. The stewardship of our gifts translates into Christian ministry, bringing the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ that transforms lives and cultures.
Power
The dying criminal experienced conversion as he cried out to Jesus: “…remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus promised him, “…today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Like that crucified criminal, many of us here today are among the converted. For some, perhaps, it is the first conversion only, a conversion of the mind, and they give their mental assent to the historical Jesus – they believe he was a wonderful man, a great example of the godly life, and someone to emulate.
For many others, it is both the first and second conversions – the conversions of the mind and heart, and we are the ones who stand together to make a public testimony to our conversion: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God…true God from true God…For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven…For our sake he was crucified…suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again [and] he ascended into heaven. He will come again in glory…and his kingdom will have no end.”
We believe “that by His death and resurrection, Jesus claims [us] as [children] of God, and that [we are] His forever because of His great love for [us].”)
We are among the converted on this Christ the King Sunday, and so we sing: “Son of God, eternal Savior, source of life and truth and grace, Word made flesh, whose birth among us hallows all our human race, You our head, who, throned in glory, for your own will ever plead: Fill us with your love and pity, heal our wrongs, and help our need.”
“I’m forgiven because You were forsaken. I’m accepted; You were condemned. I’m alive and well, Your Spirit lives within me because You died and rose again.”
Conclusion
But, long ago Martin Luther astutely observed that there are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the mind, the conversion of the heart, and the conversion of the purse. Of these three, it may well be that we find the conversion of the purse the most difficult.
Only those who have discovered the joy of the third conversion, the conversion of the purse, can sing and pray with passion:
“As you, Lord, have lived for others, so may we for others live.
Freely have your gifts been granted; freely may your servants give.
Yours the gold and yours the silver, Yours the wealth of land and sea;
We but stewards of your bounty held in solemn trust will be.”
“In my life, Lord, be glorified…In Your Church, Lord, be glorified today.”
May the Holy Spirit lead all of us into the joy of the first, second, and third conversion! Amen.
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