Scripture Passage
Sermon Text
Today, as I said, I want to talk about change. Change includes many things. You can think of many things regarding change, such as a change to maturity, a change to deeper commitment and a change to find one’s own calling and take that journey and so on. So I don’t want to talk about superficial changes or something taking place only outside. We can call that a cosmetic change, but today I want to talk about the real change. Because of that real change, our life will be changed forever. And I want to talk about how to make that real change in our lives. First, when we hear the word change, we feel resistance. There are so many reasons why we feel that way. It can be psychological reasons or spiritual reasons or habitual or behaviour reasons and so on. It looks to me that we may welcome the changes, but deep down in our hearts, somehow we do not want to change. Our whole body refuses to be changed. But in our head, at least we are saying, yes, we need to change. Sometimes we would say that we need to change, but only in lip service. The reason behind this is that we may want to let others know that we are trying to change, but there’s no actual change happening, right? Or by just talking to ourselves that even though we are not doing anything for change, we are at least aware of that need and the importance of the change. But what we are really doing is making excuses for not doing anything for change. We refuse and avoid changes instinctively. We think about the changes only conceptually. Because of these discrepancies and conflicts within us, we cannot achieve any changes in reality. When we approach changes with just a sense of responsibility or out of guilt, changes will not happen. Unless we do something about the change concretely, change will not happen. Albert Einstein said, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” That is insanity. Unless we put something into practice for change, there’ll be no change. Even though we may say a hundred times to ourselves or to our spouses or people around us that we need to change, nothing will happen. Even though we may think about the changes, if we do nothing about it, nothing will happen. Let’s take a look at the change from a different angle. When we encounter serious challenges or experience a great loss in our lives, then we will change things around us. For example, when we find out that our health is not in a good condition anymore, we begin to exercise or go to the gym and we pay more attention to what we eat, even if before we didn’t do anything for our health. Sounds familiar, at least my age, right? But we all know that such a change doesn’t last long. We will all fall back to the previous lifestyle. Even though we may take medications and all that, it seems to me that we do not change our lifestyle that easily. This kind of change is a forced one and the forced change is not a real change. Similarly to that, if we make changes just because of the fear for other people and their opinions, there will not be a real change. If you make changes just because of survival in the workplace and so on, that is not the real change either. All these changes may have a form of change in appearance, but it will not result in anything.
True change is connected to the faith in God
A few years ago, when I was at one of the KSM happiness seminars, I received so much grace. I was like discovering a new God so to speak. What I discovered was that when we say we believe in God, we also mean that we believe in changes. When we say, “I believe in God”, it’s like the same thing as saying “we will achieve changes in life with God’s help.” I did not connect these two together before: changes with God, God with changes. To me, it was a new discovery about God. Yes, God is the God of changes. When we say we believe in the living God, that’s what it actually means. God is in charge of history and human life. And God is not only the God of the past but also the God of the present and the future. God will be God in every step of our lives. So we need to open to the changes God may lead. From that point on a few years ago, change is not anymore in the powerless concept nor the struggles that I want to change, but must be in the realm of spirituality. My friends, if you really desire to have this kind of change in your life, it is with God, it is with our faith in God. Before I made changes, I was thinking lightly. That’s why I couldn’t make any differences. I thought changes existed outside, so whenever I decided to make a difference or change, I thought I was able to do that. But no, that was a misunderstanding. But I finally realized that true change is connected to the faith in God. And from that point on, I have meditated on the spiritual truth over and over again. In the Bible, there are so many stories that contain how God made changes in history and in human lives. And we all know this. We all learned before that, there is one common theme or movement reflecting such changes in the Bible. That is from bondage to freedom. Whether that is the story of Exodus, coming out of Egypt or the story of a Samaritan woman, both the community and an individual experience the movement of liberation, which is from bondage to freedom. And this is the actual change God has caused for God’s children in history. And I believe God is still making these changes in our lives so that we may experience the true freedom and fullness of life.
We need God’s help to experience change
In today’s text, we can see God’s movement that is from bondage to freedom for the people of Israel. Verse 14 says, “I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I’ve driven you says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you to, into exile.” God has promised that the community in exile will return to their Homeland, and that is exactly the change God is making for the people of Israel. They will experience freedom from captivity and they will restore their life’s calling as God’s people. In this sense, a real change is to go back to the essence of one’s calling and finding out God’s purpose for us. But even though God will make the changes and return the people to their Homeland there’s one process that Israel must have taken. That is they must acknowledge and confess that they cannot make the changes themselves, but only God. I think it is a huge and important spiritual statement. It is the very reason why we cannot make any changes. Change is something we cannot make. When we can acknowledge this truth wholeheartedly and bring ourselves to the presence of God, God will take care of it. God will take of ourselves. This is the spiritual principle for real changes. And we need to remember this and live this out in our lives. That’s why verses 12-14, ask us to go before God and pray to God. He says, “then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me. If you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord.”
God uses change to mould us
Jeremiah says “with all your heart”, I love this expression. Some other English Bibles translated it as “wholeheartedly.” It shows absolute trust in God, and it shows a genuine passion for God. One truly desires for changes, but at the same time, one confesses humbly that only God can bring about the changes. God will take care of the remaining process. In this sense, change becomes easier than before. Only when we stop our effort to make changes, God can begin to work to change us. Please remember this. Please remember this spiritual principle. Jeremiah mentions the process of change in another chapter while using this particular metaphor. It is from Jeremiah chapter 18, verse 6, “Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” The metaphor of the potter and the clay is such a beautiful metaphor. God is at work, changing us into the pottery that God wants us to be. God is at work, God is changing us into the pottery that God wants us to be. Now we come to understand clearly that change is not the reaction to external factors nor the reaction from our fears. Nor is it the powerless and fruitless determination in concept, but the spiritual event for those who seek God wholeheartedly with all their hearts and meet God in a real way. When we meet God, we will be changed forever. That’s what happened to the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. And that’s what happened to Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. And all the disciples of Jesus have gone through these tremendous changes and became a true witness for Christ. So we can confidently say that it is God who will make changes in our life. Amen.
Suffering is used to change us
But there’s one more thing we need to remember when it comes to the changes. God often uses struggles and pains to change us. I’m not saying that we should take suffering in a perverted way. We should not take any joy in suffering and struggles themselves, but I’m asking you to have spiritual insight into the struggles you are going through. If we keep avoiding the struggles and pains, there’ll be no changes. If we keep hopping around for quick solutions, there’ll be no changes, Do not bypass hardships, but go through it with God’s help. Think about this image: when the potter holds the clay and smashes them on the pottery wheel and moulds them with God’s hands, it can be a quite painful process for the clay. But if we have total trust in God’s hands, then God will make us into useful pottery and we can go through such a process. German philosopher, Kuno Fischer, once said something similar to this. “The pottery that is well baked in the kiln does not change its colour. Those who are well-tempered by hardships will not break easily. As we are living in this world with lots of thoughts and busyness, when you feel like you really want a change, just bring yourself to God’s presence wholeheartedly. Have total trust in God, knowing that God is just making you into beautiful pottery right now. And after this, we will all come out as beautiful pottery that God wants us to be. God will use us for God’s glory. When I think about our young students, you don’t know where you are right now, but you know that you are struggling with lots of uncertainty about future schools and relationships. Just bring yourself to God with all your heart and ask God, “God, I know that you are making me now. You are putting me in your pottery wheel, but I know that after this process, I will become the beautiful and wonderful pottery you want us to be.” And after this, after all the hardships and struggles and processes, during this time of struggle, we can say this, “I can do everything. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This is my prayer for every one of you and including myself. When we face hardships and struggles, let’s look for God and not at ourselves. Instead of something superficial and simply reacting, just calm yourselves. Bring yourself to God’s presence and ask for help. “Lord, please change me. I know you’re changing me. Please give me the strength and wisdom so that I can go through this with your help. Amen.
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