The Forgotten Bridge

INTRODUCTION (Series Slide) Good morning! My name is David Sorn and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church! Good morning to you! When it comes to morality (that is right and wrong) and its relationship to Christianity, there is a lot of confusion. Many people feel that to be Christian means to be a good person. Lots of times when I see (especially non churchgoers) out in the community, and they know I’m a pastor, they feel like they need to apologize to me… I’ll say, “How have you been?” And they’ll say, “Oh, hey pastor! Uh, wow, yep, trying to be a better person, but it, uh, it’s not going so well” And I always think, “Whoa. This is a lot. I’m just trying to order at Culver’s” But I also always think, “This is not what it means to be a Christ follower. Christianity is not firstly about rules, but firstly about a relationship. And many people today don’t understand the connection, the bridge between our faith and how we live. But we’re going to look deeply at that bridge today we continue in our series on Romans 12 today Romans 12:9 16 Page 775 We are in week 3 of a 4 week series on Romans 12 in the Bible. Romans is a letter written by one of the early leaders of the Christian faith called “The Apostle Paul” And he’s writing to some new Christians in in Rome about what Jesus has done and how to follow Him. So far Paul has told us that in “view of God’s mercy,” we should offer our whole lives to God… …but as we do, we should be careful to not think highly of ourselves. Let’s continue at verse 9 (Romans 12:9 16) – NIV 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (Series Slide) Okay, this is a unique passage in Romans because Paul here lists off a whole ton of moral commands for how Christ followers should live. Depending on how you group them together, there are actually around 15 different moral commands here for how Christians should live: Moral Commands of Romans 12 1. Love must be sincere. 2. Hate what is evil. 3. Cling to what is good. 4. Be devoted to one another in love. 5. Honor one another above yourselves. 6. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 7. Be joyful in hope. 8. Be patient in affliction 9. Be faithful in prayer. 10. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need 11. Practice hospitality. 12. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 13. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 14 Live in harmony with one another. 15. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. I won’t read all of these because that’s the whole passage we just read verbatim, but I just want you to see it laid out like this. And we see a lot of moral commands throughout the Bible (in the teachings of Jesus, in other letters, and more) THE BRIDGE HOWEVER, lots of times, Christians jump right to trying to live out these commands, but we DIVORCE them from their foundation. This is why, as I said in the beginning, many, many people think that Christianity is nothing but living out moral commands and being a good person. We’ve forgotten (or perhaps you never heard) the foundation for WHY we are to live this way. So what is the foundation for living in this counter cultural way that Paul is describing here (be hospitable, spend time with the poor, bless your enemies). That foundation is found in the beginning of our chapter, and it’s also the name of our series. Romans 12:1 2 Page 775 Go back to verse 1 in your Bibles. So just find the big 12. Let’s look again at how this chapter started out. (Romans 12:1 2b) – NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Title Slide – The Forgotten Bridge) These are the verses that shape everything in this chapter, and even the entire rest of the letter. Paul spent the first 11 chapters talking about God’s mercy…which is what we call the Gospel. It’s the cornerstone belief of Christianity… It’s that…because we all sin, none of us can save ourselves. But God sent His Son Jesus to die in our place on the cross. And through faith in Him, we can be forgiven, transformed, and can receive eternal life (not in hell), but in heaven! So Paul is saying, “In VIEW of that Kind of Mercy,” here is how you should live. My mind thinks in word pictures a lot, so this is how I see it. (Diagram #1: The Bridge) What moves us to live Godly (you see that there on the right of the image)… What moves us to do any of those counter cultural things in Romans 12 (to honor others above ourselves, to hate evil, to be patient in affliction)… What moves us to do that…is the mercy of God. What moves me to love my enemy is the fact that I was God’s enemy, and yet He loved me. So much that He sent His own Son for me. And so it’s IN VIEW OF THAT MERCY (it’s when I set my eyes on the cross)…that I want to walk across the bridge and start living like the God who did that for me. And what actually empowers me to get across that bridge to Godly living, is what Paul writes in verse 2, it’s the fact that God will transform me by the renewing of my mind. That’s what we studied in week 1 of this series when we talked about how when you spend time with God in the Bible, in church, in prayer, with other Christians…. …like a caterpillar in a cocoon, God comes in and transforms us, and He literally can start changing your mind… …SO THAT you want “Godly living,” and you even desire all of those counter cultural ways of Godly living that are listed in our Romans 12 passage today. THE BRIDGE HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN But in SO many ways this bridge has become The Forgotten Bridge in American Christianity. In fact, I want to talk about 3 VERY different ways people have forgotten all about this bridge, and thus we don’t see consistent, Biblical Godly living like we should. 3 WAYS THE BRIDGE HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN #1: The new morals of the 21st century If you study church history, you’ll see that churches are always prone to drifting away from truth. And one of the most common drifts of the last 2,000 years is when people feel that they need to update the truth of this book. In particular, they feel that the Bible’s morals are too outdated for the time in which they live, and so they decide they can’t believe all of the Bible anymore… …and instead, they begin to teach Christians a new moral code…one that matches the cultural appetites of the day. Visually, it looks a bit like this: (Diagram #2: Skyscraper) You’ll notice that the bridge to Biblical, Godly living is gone. No cross. No renewing of the mind. It’s all gone because these movements don’t want to talk about sin, or the need for a Savior, or even transformation (because you’re perfect the way you are!) But without understanding the cross, and without the Holy Spirit renewing your mind… …there is NO power to get across the river… …no power for Godly living… …and there’s no motivation to carry out any of the Bible’s moral commands (like the ones in Romans 12) And in place of the bridge and the cross, this movement has built a skyscraper out of 21st century morals instead. And what’s fascinating to me is these groups of people aren’t hedonists. They haven’t thrown out all morals. But instead, they’ve developed their own! In fact, many churches that have drifted into this are extremely moral. They hold very strong moral beliefs on how people should treat the marginalized; or care for our planet; they have exceedingly strong beliefs about sexuality or gender. It’s moralism. They have a new grid of right vs wrong. But unfortunately, they aren’t drawing those moral beliefs from the pages of Scripture anymore, but from the latest New York Times bestseller, or from what feels palatable to the culture of our time. And so “The Skyscraper of New Morals” (which is often changing and adding new levels) has become the focal point of the movement. The bridge has been long forgotten here And thus true, Biblical, Godly living (like we are called to Romans 12) is usually not found here Let me give you a second way the bridge has been forgotten: 3 WAYS THE BRIDGE HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN #1: The new morals of the 21st century #2: The unending stairway of legalism In many ways, this is a completely opposite problem of our first scenario Many of you grew up in churches like this. Legalism is a hyper focus on rules where you feel that the only way God loves you and accepts you is if you follow all the rules. You might have been exposed to this sort of unbiblical Christianity if you always heard, “You’re a Christian now, so make sure you’re good! Stop drinking, smoking, swearing, sleeping around, watching bad movies, listening to rap music, and on and on and on.” And there is a kernel of truth in there, right? In View of God’s mercy, in view of God’s holiness, we’re told not to get drunk, and to be faithful to our spouse. But truth in these churches gets twisted…and it looks like this (Diagram #3: Stairway) In this movement, there are so many rules to uphold that it feels like an endless climb up the stairs. And here most people eventually give up or burn out of Christianity. Because it’s not actually leading them to the Godly living described in the Bible (like we see in Romans 12) Because without God’s mercy inspiring them and without God renewing their mind… …the burden of obeying rules is exhausting, and joyless. You ever been on a Stairmaster? Joyless! That’s what this system feels like. It doesn’t, and it cannot, lead to Godly living. The bridge has been forgotten. Okay, and let me give you a 3rd way the bridge has been forgotten: 3 WAYS THE BRIDGE HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN #1: The new morals of the 21st century #2: The unending stairway of legalism #3: Upside down Bible teaching In the 1990’s a new movement emerged out of both Chicago and LA that, in many ways, has changed the face of preaching in this country. Rather than teaching people through a passage or a book of the Bible, the dominant teaching style in our evangelical and charismatic churches across America today is not to start with what God’s Word says to us, but to start with what our need is…and then see if God’s Word can meet it. And so month after month, year after year, many Christians across this country sit in churches where they hear how the Bible can help them in their relationships, or Time Management, or Finances. And listen, topics can be good, and there’s certainly a time and a place for them, but there have been serious, unintended consequences from this very influential change to preaching in America. Firstly, when every week you hear how to be less angry, and how to control your tongue, and how… We confuse people. And we lead them to believe that change comes from working harder, and not from the fruit of the Spirit. That’s not the gospel. It doesn’t lead to the land of Godly living. (Diagram #4: The Island) And secondly, when you flip the purpose of the Bible upside down, and you start NOT with the Bible as our Authority, but you start with people’s wants… …and you tell them the Bible can help them get what they want (a better relationship, better emotional health, better parenting skills).. …over time, many people start to believe that the only purpose of the Bible is to be a textbook on how to help them get what they want…and that’s it! And this is changing the landscape of American Christianity right now. You can see it all over books, and podcasts and more. And as you see in the picture, rather than aiming to live Godly lives that glorify God, many American churchgoers are now content to just use the Bible to ride toward the island of personal fulfillment. And so again, just like the other 2 ways we already mentioned… we’re left with a large group of people claiming the name of Christ, but not actually LIVING in the counter cultural ways of Christ. (Title Screen: The Forgotten Bridge) Because they’ve forgotten the bridge. Listen, no matter how he can work it out, the devil will find a new way to get us to forget about the bridge! He’ll do anything he can to get us to forget about the cross. Because the last thing the devil wants is Christians who speak often about Jesus…and look like Him too. LOVE MUST BE SINCERE And so what I want to do with the remainder of my time, is just pick a couple of these counter cultural moral commands from Romans 12… …and show you how you can actually live in a Godly manner in these categories IF you remember the bridge. (Diagram #1: The Bridge) Let me show you how this works. Let’s start with verse 9. Paul says, “Love must be sincere” He means that Christians can’t be fakers. None of this MN Nice type of love where you just say you love someone, but actually you’re super passive aggressive, and you don’t care for them at all! The Greek word Paul uses here literally means love WITHOUT HYPOCRISY. It means you truly show love to people. And you can’t do that, especially to people who’ve wronged you, or hurt you in the past… You can’t forgive if “love” is just another moral command. Or if you only see Christianity as a way to get to your own personal fulfillment or happiness. If that’s how you see life, loving the unlovable will never happen The only way you can have sincere love for people is…IN VIEW OF GOD’S MERCY. It’s when you understand that God has no reason to love people like you and me. I ignored Him; I yelled at Him, I lived in awful sin against His holy ways. And yet in his mercy (mercy just means I didn’t get what I deserved), He let Jesus get what I deserved. And I want to be so in awe of that mercy… I want to SINCERELY love the unlovable, because He loved me, the unlovable. Do you see how important the bridge is? And how important having a view of the cross is for your own ethics and morals? You can’t live the GODLY life without the bridge! BE JOYFUL IN HOPE, PATIENT IN AFFLICTION Let’s take a look at another one. Let’s jump down to verse 12. Paul says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction” This is not a command a normal person can fulfill. The Bible is saying when you’re afflicted with the severe pains of life… The death of a loved one. A cancer diagnosis He says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction” That is the character of Christ…whom the Bible says (Hebrews 12:2b) – NIV For the joy set before him he endured the cross But you can’t endure and be patient in affliction… (Diagram #2: Skyscraper) …if your whole life is focused on just making this earth a better place and making sure all of your friends on social media know the right way to treat other people. You’re not going to be “patient in affliction” if that is what your life is about…because you won’t know the love of the Savior… …and that’s the kind of love you need in the “Valley of the Shadow of Death.” If your Christianity is just about climbing a staircase of rules (Diagram #3: Stairway) You won’t be patient in affliction! In depression… Or if your Christianity is just about using God to get where you want. (Diagram #4: The Island) If that’s all your faith is about, then as soon as that cancer diagnosis comes, you’ll say, “I can’t stand you God. How could you do this to me? I thought you were supposed to make me happy” (Diagram #1: The Bridge) But if you’re eyes are on the cross, if your eyes have a view of His mercy and His unending love for you… …and He’s changed you and softened your heart & mind as you keep walking across that bridge. THEN, you CAN be joyful in hope, patient in affliction. WHY? Because you know what’s coming! Your eyes are set on the prize Yes, this life here on earth is hard and painful, but you’re going to spend Eternity, forever, in paradise with your God. Is this starting to make sense? You can only carry out these very counter cultural commands when you have a view of His mercy! NEVER BE LACKING IN ZEAL Let’s look at one final verse. Verse 11: Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Zeal is passion…a passion for Jesus. Actually, the Greek that Paul writes in here could even be translated “keep your passion boiling.” The idea is that your passion is boiling over, like water in a pot. And again, when the bridge is forgotten, this kind of zeal and passion for God just isn’t possible. (Diagram #2: Skyscraper) If you’re making Christianity into your own image, you won’t have passion for Jesus, you’re in charge. You make the moral rules for the day! (Diagram #3: Stairway) If there is a wall of rules in front of you, it’s impossible to be passionate and have zeal to carry them out. (Diagram #4: The Island) Or if Jesus is just there to make you happy, you’re not going to have zeal or intense love for Him, He’s your administrative assistant, not your Lord. See, it’s only here, in Biblical Truth that you can actually have Zeal. (Diagram #1: The bridge) It’s only here, when you look at God who loved you so much, that He didn’t even spare his own son… …it’s only here that you can have a boiling over passion and love for Him that will allow you to do what Romans 12 says. And keep your passion for Him. Let me tell you about a conversation I had when I was 21 with a Christian who was in his forties at the time. In those days, I was one of the leaders of a ministry at my college that exploded from 10 to 250 kids. We had so many college students coming to hear the Gospel that we had to move out of a dorm room to a meeting room, and eventually we met in the pub on campus on Wednesday nights. And I felt a zeal for the Lord. A passion. My friends met often to pray, confess sin, keep each other accountable, and go hard after Jesus. Anyway, I was 21 years old, and I was talking with this dad in his late 40’s and I said to him, “How come I don’t see that same passion very often in the older generation.” (I thought being in your 40’s was very old at the time! Like elderly, old 😊) And he looked at me, and he said, “You know, I think your assessment of the generations is accurate, but I think what happens is you get out of college, you get a job, you have kids, you start to have other commitments, and you grow up” And I so deeply resolved in my spirit that day, “If that’s the case, then I don’t ever want to grow up” I remember walking out to my car that day and just pleading with the Lord, “Give me a childlike faith, and passion, a zeal my whole life” It’s why I still love young people so much. And so many of you young people are coming to this church now, and to you, I say, “Don’t ever lose your passion, your zeal for Christ!!” Don’t let anyone tell you to cool it down. If they’re telling you that, they’ve lost their view of the cross. If you’re not young anymore, get on your knees tonight, even if it takes you a while to get down there, and cry out to God! Say, “God, give me my passion for you back! Help me see the cross again!” Be like the great evangelist John Wesley who once was asked: What is your secret? Why do so many people come to hear you preach? Wesley answered “I get alone with God in prayer, and He sets me on fire. The people come out to watch me burn.” – John Wesley Keep your eyes on the cross, and you can walk across the bridge. Let me pray.