Fear of Change

I didn't know you were showing movies during the lunch hour. I have a three-hour multimedia presentation about our grandson that I'd be glad to bring, but some of you might demand equal time, and then we'd have no work getting done around here. Well, it's lovely to be back, to leave the deep freeze of Chicago. At one point we had 64 below zero, and our words - as as Mark Twain used to say - our words were freezing, and now they're thawing out, and there's more noise. They don't know what's going on up there.

Hebrews 13:7. Hebrews 13:7. "Remember them who have the rule over you," meaning, of course, spiritual leadership. Remember your spiritual leaders, "who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their manner of life. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Be not carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with foods, which have not profited them that have been occupied with them." Hebrews 13:14, "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come."

The other day, I pulled off of the shelf one of the many dictionaries that I owned, and I looked up the word phobia. It's a very popular word among some people. A phobia is an unnatural fear, and here was a long list of the various phobias that people have today that the psychiatrists have invented. And some of them were interesting.

Mysophobia, which is fear of contamination. This is the person who washes his hands all the time and sits there and won't touch the telephone or the door knob or anything. Now, mysophobia is not to be confused with musophobia, which is a fear of mice. And some people have that.

Autophobia has nothing to do with automobiles. It's the fear of being alone. Astraphobia is a fear of thunderstorms, which is not to be confused with asterophobia, which is the fear of the stars.

The one I thought was rather interesting, and I have a hard time pronouncing it, is triskaidekaphobia, which is the fear of the number 13. I don't know who is afraid of the number 13, but I notice that many hotels and motels do not have a 13th floor. They go right from 12 to 14. Ah, this will interest some of you: gamophobia, which is the fear of marriage.

But as I went down the list, I found one fear that seems to be bothering a lot of people today, including Christians. It's a fear called neophobia. It's the fear of change. It's the fear of something new.

Now, I know that strictly speaking there is nothing new, because Solomon said there's nothing new under the sun. Dr. Ironside used to say, "If it's new, it's not true, and if it's true, it's not new." And in one sense, we accept that, because sin is not new. It's always been there. Human nature is always what it ever was, and truth is what it ever was.

But there is such a thing as change going on. We sing in one of our hymns, "Change and decay in all around I see." Now, not all change is decay. We have to recognize that. Change for the sake of change is novelty, and we we can do without that. But change for the sake of improvement is progress, and we can use all of that we can get in our own personal lives and ministries.

Now, Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever," was written to a group of believers who were going through tremendous change. And they were unsettled by it. They were really shaken by it. In fact, the whole book of Hebrews deals with this problem, this matter of change, something new going on. And the solution to fear of change is faith in Jesus Christ. Now, that's a cliche. It's a truism. We've heard it. We've sung it. It's time we applied it.

When you trust the changeless Christ, when you have a vital, growing, living relationship with the changeless Christ, you don't have to be afraid of change. The person who is vitally related to Jesus Christ is always up to date. When Jesus Christ is reproducing himself in us and through us, we always relate.

I've taught preaching in seminary, and I get so tired of these students who raise their hand and say, "Well, we want our preaching to be relevant." Truth is always relevant. Jesus Christ always fits the picture. And so when you're vitally, believingly related to Jesus Christ, you don't have to be afraid of change.

And in this passage, Hebrews 13, in fact, the whole book, he talks about this matter of change in three different areas. If we are believing and related to the changeless Christ, we don't have to be afraid of a changing world. Now the world around us is changing whether we like it or not.

I pulled off of the shelf in my library the classic text "The Environment of Early Christianity". Now we have the idea that when the when the church burst upon the scene back in centuries ago, it was a world different from our world today. It wasn't. Listen to this. I'm quoting now.

"This was an era of change and upheaval. The unexpected repeatedly happened. Events outstripped theory. Old things had passed away; all things had become new. Old systems were gone, old prejudices swept away. Men were driven from their old moorings and had not yet become accustomed to the new order. The average man was perplexed by the rapid march of history. The systems which had held men together were broken down."

Now that was the world into which the gospel came. That's the kind of world we live in. I turned the pages of this book and discovered that the age into which the gospel came was a very superficial age. People were looking for entertainment; they were living on sensuality. The important thing was the individual. "I'm going to do it my way. I'm going to get what I want, and don't you get in my way as I do it."

The populace was concerned about creature comforts. Vice was growing, abortion and divorce were increasing, the the Oriental ideas were filtering into the Roman Empire, people were moving from the country to the cities, there was a great deal of problem with taxes, and of course it was a military state, and a lot of money had to go for military support. Sounds like today. Things haven't changed too much in that regard.

Because we today are living in an era of change. And change itself has changed. It used to be that change came gradually from the top down. You know, somebody get an idea up here and write a a magazine article about it, then it would become a book, and then it would become the, and it would filter down. Not anymore.

Now change comes from the bottom up. And it happens so rapidly we can't keep up with it. And just about the time we get used to this camera, there's a brand new camera. I can't operate any of them myself, but there there it is. Or here's a new idea or a new philosophy, so-called, and before you can just about understand it, it's gone. It's the kind of world we're living in today.

Now there was a reason for this. If you look at Hebrews 12, you'll find out why everything is changing like it is, and this encourages me. "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh." Present tense. God is speaking, not just God spoke; God is speaking. "For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth," at Mount Sinai, "how much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven?"

God is speaking to us today through his word by his Spirit. "Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying," and here's the quotation from Haggai, "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain."

You know why God is shaking everything? He's knocking down the scaffolding. Too many people and too many ministries are building on the scaffolding and not on the foundation. They're building on accidentals, not essentials. They're building on the things that are passing, not the things that are permanent.

And the writer is saying God is shaking everything so we don't depend on the economy; we depend on God. We don't depend on somebody's brilliant idea from Madison Avenue; we depend on God. God is shaking society, in fact heaven and earth, that we might discover what those things are that cannot be shaken, and that's where we have to build our lives.

So he goes on to say, "Wherefore receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear." And this was written to Christians. "For our God is a consuming fire." In these days when the world is changing, God is saying to us, "Now, find out those things that don't change, and put your life there. Don't waste your time on the passing fads, fashions, and fancies of the world."

God is shaking everything so that you might find out those things that cannot be shaken, and you can build your life on them. We belong to a kingdom that nothing will shake. We are serving a God who cannot be shaken. Now, let's serve him with reverence. Let's serve him with godly fear. And let's serve him with joy. "Serve the Lord with gladness." Because we're a part of something that's going to last forever. If you know the changeless Christ, you don't have to be afraid of a changing world.

Now, secondly, we don't have to be afraid of a changing church. Over the past 30-plus years, I've watched the church go through all kinds of changes. We have three kinds of churches today. We have citadel churches that will never change. They've built a wall, they've dug a moat, they've pulled up the drawbridge, and once a week they get together and march around inside and do their calisthenics and everything. But they're they're walled in, and they aren't touching a needy world.

And then we have the other extreme, chameleon churches that are forever changing. They find out, you know, they go like this. They put their finger in their mouth and get it wet and hold it up, see which way the wind is blowing, they go that way. And so, one week you come to church, and and you have one kind of music, the next week you have another kind of music, the next week you have puppets, the next week, and there's always something new to keep up with the world. And of course, that kind of ministry doesn't do much for the world.

When our Lord Jesus came to Earth, it's rather interesting, when our Lord Jesus came to Earth, there were five different groups trying to solve the problems of the world. And they each had a different attitude. The Pharisees said, "Let's go back. The solution to all our problems is tradition. Let's go back." And the Pharisees were conservationists. They they took truth, they embalmed it, they put it in a museum case and protected it, but never used it. We have this today. We have people say, "Oh, we must go back. If only we could turn the clock back to to 1945."

Then we had the Sadducees, who said, "Well, we're not going to go back. We're going to go ahead." They were the liberals of their day. They didn't believe in angels or spirits or or the resurrection. They said, "Let's go ahead. We've got to be scientific. We've got to move ahead." They were the liberals of their day. We still have that crowd.

There were the Herodians. They said, "Let's go with. If you can't whip them, join them." So, the Herodian crowd went along with the Roman government, and they went along with the Jews when it helped them, and they went along with. They were the compromisers of their day. They were the chameleons of their day.

There were two other groups. There was a group called the Zealots. Jesus had a disciple who was a Zealot, Simon the Zealot. The Zealots said, "Let's go against. Burn the administration building. Knock down the city hall." And they did. The Zealots would would would kill Roman soldiers. The Zealots would do everything they could to fight Rome. They said, "Let's go against." We have that group today, the militant crowd. Fellow was walking on a college campus, and he saw a student and said, "Well, son, what are you taking?" He said, "The president's office." Go against.

And then there was one group that said, "No, we don't believe in going back, and we don't believe in going ahead, and we don't believe in going with, we don't believe in going against, we're going to go out." They were called the Essenes. And so, they built themselves a community out in the desert, and they lived for themselves, unto themselves. They were the ultra-separationists of their day. And of course, they died out.

Now, these same five groups are with us today. I've preached in enough churches in America to know this. We have those who want to go back, and those who want to rush ahead, and we have all these groups today. And Jesus said, "The solution is to go within."

Here's where the answer is. If your heart is related to Jesus Christ in a vital, living way, there will be times when you'll reach back and take the best of the past that you might move forward. There are times when you'll go out for separation that you might come in for ministry. Our Lord says, "If you'll take care of your heart, everything else will be taken care of." Go within.

And so, we don't have to be afraid of a changing church. We can get into all kinds of discussions on this. As I travel, you know, people come up and say, "What do you think of this? And what do you think of that?" We have all these seminars on how to build a church and how to rescue your church, and and we have all these books coming out. I have a book on my shelf at home now, about yay thick, written by a friend of mine, the complete book, not not the incomplete book, the complete book on church growth. I mean, it's all here. I suppose there'll be a new edition someday, but it's all there. It's right there, put in between wraps.

And people are confused. You know, this church is doing this and this church is doing that, or this radio broadcast does this, this radio broadcast does that. We have never been called to imitate the world. When the church was the least like the world, it did the most for the world. We have been called to relate ourselves to Jesus Christ. Whether you're singing or preaching or writing or typing or whatever you're doing, related to Jesus Christ, that always keeps you up to date. You are always relevant. You are always relating. And we don't have to be afraid of a changing church.

Our job is not to imitate anybody. Our job is to do what Paul wrote to the Philippians, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure." And if we are related to Christ, he's working in us, he'll work through us, he'll make our ministry what he wants our ministry to be. We do not have to be afraid of a changing church.

In Hebrews 13:7, he's talking about leaders that had died. They'd probably been martyred. He said, "Remember those leaders you used to have, who spoke to you" what? "The word of God." That's what keeps us relevant: the word of God. "Whose faith follow." That's what keeps us up to date: faith. "Considering the end of their manner of life. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever." I just take those three simple ingredients: the word of God, the Son of God, faith in God. That's what keeps us up to date.

Oh, I've got to hurry. There's a third area we have to we we don't have to be afraid of. If you are related to Jesus Christ vitally, if if today you talked with him and fellowshipped with him, you opened the word and had some time with our Lord, if we are vitally related to Jesus Christ, we don't have to be afraid of a changing world, or a changing church, or our changing lives.

You see, you aren't the same person now you were when you came into this chapel. Thousands of cells have changed in your body. You are now one half-hour older, and you feel it. It's easy to feel old in chapel.

There are those who get very nostalgic, you know. Now nothing wrong with nostalgia, but I want you to know that nostalgia is not what it used to be. There are times when we get to thinking about the past and a wave of nostalgia goes over us, but we know we can't go back into the past. We can't recapture it.

At lunch, at work, man who was always talking about that farm in Michigan. Oh, no place. . . when he was a boy in Michigan. Oh, and he'd talk about the brook where he used to swim and the tree where he used to swing. And finally, one of his employee friends got sick of all this, said, "Why don't you go back? If it's so good, why don't you go back?" He said, "I think I will." So he had some vacation, so he went back to Michigan, and before long, he was back at work again. They said, "Well, how was it in Michigan?" He said, "Pretty good." They said, "Was the barn there?" He said, "Yeah, the barn was there." "Was the brook there?" "Yeah, brook was there." "Was the tree there?" "Tree was there, yeah." "The farm was there?" "The farm is there." "Well, why didn't you stay?" "The little boy wasn't there."

You see, nostalgia's a great thing for memory and for enrichment, and like Deuteronomy, Moses over and over again says, "Now remember what the Lord did for you." It's good to look back and remember what the Lord did, but not say, "Oh, I wish we were back there again." I'm not so sure I wish that I were back there again. Maybe someday I will.

We're changing physically. My friend, J. Vernon McGee, gave me a cute poem one day. "I can live with my arthritis, my dentures fit just fine. I can see with my bifocals, but I sure do miss my mind." We are changing physically. There's some things I just can't do anymore. I'm sorry. And it used to hurt me. I said, "Well, I just can't drive like I used to. I just can't put the put the fuel in the in the motor and just keep going. I just can't do it."

So you find out what's important. God shakes things in our lives. God shakes things and knocks down the scaffolding in my life and says, "Now, look, you don't need that toy. You don't need that. Look, let's get down to essentials. Invest your life in the things that really count." That's why I'm glad to read "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever."

You see, God wants us to grow. Now, this is basic: There is no growth without challenge. When you get comfortable doing what you're doing, watch out. There is no growth without challenge. There's no challenge without change. And God sees to it that we're going to grow. He will not let us become spoiled brats.

I was recently talking to a pastor friend of mine who said, "I'm in a very comfortable situation." He said, "I could handle the work I'm doing in this church very easily," but he said, "I'm miserable because there's no challenge." We get comfortable. We think we're in a beautiful situation, it's just so comfortable, but it's really a casket. It's a velvet rut. And God says, "I can't have that," so he shakes things. He might shake us physically, and we wake up one day and discover there's something wrong with us.

Now I've got to be challenged. I've got to make some changes. He may shake us economically. He may shake us other ways because he wants us to grow. And we don't have to be afraid of growing, because the same Christ who took care of us yesterday will take care of us today, and the same Christ who takes care of us today will take care of us forever.

When I was at the Moody Church, I had my days of wondering what in the world the Lord was doing. It was not an easy place to be. And one particularly discouraging day, I was opening the radio mail from our Songs in the Night ministry, and a a dear lady had written and said, "I found this poem. I want to send it to you. Maybe you can use it."

You all know the poem, just four little lines. "Yesterday God helped me. Today he'll do the same. How long will this continue? Forever. Praise his name." And I wrote her a letter and said, "Boy, that poem came just the right day." And I built a script around it, and we used it over the radio. "Yesterday God helped me. Today he'll do the same. How long will this continue? Forever. Praise his name."

You and I can look back, and we can see where God has helped us. "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." Up to this point the Lord has helped us. Dear Hudson Taylor used to have those two verses wherever he went, you know. Ebenezer, "Hitherto has the Lord helped us." Jehovah-Jireh, "The Lord will see to it." So, if the Lord will see to it, that takes care of the future, and if, up till now, the Lord's helped me, that takes care of the past. I can manage the present with his help. "Yesterday he helped me." He's the same yesterday. "Today he'll do the same." He's the same today. "How long will this continue? Forever. Praise his name."

Because we are established by grace. That's the key to this, Hebrews 13:9. "It's a good thing that the heart be established by grace." You know, the unsaved crowd, when they're going through shaking and trouble, they reach for a bottle, or for a needle, or a pill, or a cigarette. The unsaved crowd has to have something to lean on when they're going to. . . What do you reach for when you're when things are shaking? Do you reach for grace?

Hebrews tells us that we have the throne of grace. Thank God for that day when the throne of judgment became a throne of grace. And on that throne of grace is the God of all grace. And I can come to the throne of grace, to the God of all grace, because it says, "Of his fullness have all we received, and grace upon grace." And James says, "He giveth more grace." There's always more grace. And this book is the word of his grace. And the Holy Spirit who lives in us is the Spirit of grace.

So, what do we have to lose? Everything around us can be shaking, but I'll guarantee nothing's going to be shaking under us. "He hath brought us up out of a pit, out of that miry clay. He has set our feet upon a rock." And you know what? "He's established your goings." That thing that has interrupted your life and shaken you, God knew all about that. It's no surprise to him.

And so, we don't have to be afraid of a changing world, or even a changing church, or even our changing lives, if we have linked ourselves by faith to Jesus Christ, who never changes. When you are walking with Christ, you are always up to date. And you don't have to be afraid.

Gracious Father, how thankful we are for a living Savior, that we are united to him, that as he is, so are we in this world. He is the head, and we are the members of the body. He's the great shepherd of the sheep, and we are the sheep. He is the strong and sure foundation and cornerstone, and we're the living stones in the temple. Thank you that we are linked to the eternal, the unchangeable, the unchanging.

Help us now to live without fear. No matter what goes on around us, help us, oh God, to have peace within us, because we are established in our hearts with grace. "Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily we're constrained to be." May we find in the word of grace, at the throne of grace, all the sufficient grace that we need. Speak to our hearts, and say to us as you said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for thee." For Jesus' sake, amen.