Change is coming

2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1 • Luke 7:11-16

Glory to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

This morning the Lord Jesus Christ raises up from the dead the only son of the widow of Nain.

The miracles of Christ are not spectacles to dazzle the crowds. What they are is signposts pointing out that the Kingdom of Heaven, the very presence of God, has broken in among the kingdoms of the earth.

And how is the Kingdom of Heaven manifest here? What do we see about it here? Consider this:

A widow is without the financial support and protection of a husband. Now, with the death of her only son she is deprived of his financial support and protection. She has nobody at all. There are no safety nets. There is no insurance. She faces starvation or exploitation.

The Lord Jesus Christ, seeing this woman, whom he made in his own image, has compassion on her and restores her son to her, so that she receives what she needs. To her son he restores the life he was meant for.

Solomon says,

God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things that they might exist, and the generations of the world so they might be preserved… for righteousness does not die (Wisdom 1:13-15).

Here is how the Kingdom of Heaven is manifest here this morning. God the Word, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, calls this young man back from death to life. And we read that “great fear came upon all.” Why fear? Because this is something only God can do, and here he is among them as a Man. They exclaim, “God has visited His people!”

God has visited His people. Okay, now what? The curse of death has been undone. Okay, now what?

Well, after church we’ll have some lunch, maybe a nap, and probably spend a little time scrolling Facebook or watching the TV. Then back to work or school on Monday, where we will forget that we ever had an encounter with the living Christ.

Does any of that sound familiar? Why bring it up? Because it is possible to witness the saving power of the living God and to do nothing about it. To be unchanged by it.

And to be unchanged by grace, that is a sin. Because the Kingdom of Heaven is manifest to you, precisely so that you may repent, so you might change the direction of your life, so you might stop existing in the same sad status quo, so that you might live up to your purpose.

In a few minutes we’ll sing, “Let us who mystically represent the cherubim, and sing the thrice-holy hymn to the life-creating Trinity, now lay aside all earthly cares, and receive the King of All, who comes invisibly upborne by the angelic hosts.”

And then we will receive into our own bodies the present, living, resurrected, deified body of Christ the resurrected God-man, for the remission of our sins and unto life everlasting.

The Kingdom of Heaven is come for you today. Today the Lord wants to get your attention. Don’t settle for life as usual. Don’t settle for what you are now.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things are made new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We know, personally, that settling for the familiar is the way of regret. And yet, we stay where we are. Because it’s familiar. Because it takes little effort. Because it does not require us to care.

You know, not a one of us gathered here today wants to experience change. We want to be different, but we hate change. Change is hard. And that’s normal. But if we’re going to live in the Kingdom of Heaven, in this life and in the life to come, then change is coming. All things are made new.

And every change is a little death. What we were ends, and someone a little different carries on. “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him… It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me…” (Romans 6:8; Galatians 2:20).

In the lives of the saints we keep encountering these amazing warriors of faith, who did miracles, endured torments, and were made holy by the wonderworking grace of God. And when we read that, it is meant to move the needle just a bit on what we believe God can do in us. I’m not raising the dead, I’m not converting the nations, I’m not praying all night. But I could be praying just one prayer rope before bed.

But where the examples of the saints and heroes of faith are meant to kindle in us a spark of hope and expectation that God wants to transform us, instead we often just feel sad and failed.

You know, the spirit of discouragement and distraction is not a minor thing. It is an attack, it’s an assault by the enemy of your soul. He is gambling that he can make you feel so sad or mediocre or guilty that you’ll shrug and give up on becoming holy.

But when we recognize to the demonic attacks of distraction, discouragement, despair, despondency, we are meant to respond with aggression: “The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

So, when you find yourself distant from any sense of awe and fear of God, don’t surrender and say “I really ought to do better.”

Instead, zoom in. Consciously, intentionally focus your attention on the fact of the living God who is beside you and in you, closer than your breath. “God has visited his people.” He’s raised the widow’s son from death to life. Can he awaken your cold soul and bring you to your feet to walk the way with him?

You know, the Lord sends you a sunrise every morning, and an evening at the end of every day, because we are creatures of rhythm. What we only ever do one time   doesn’t have much effect on our life.

The apostle teaches us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and we want to “pray at all times” (Ephesians 6:16). But to pray at all times, we need to pray at some particular time.

Aside: If you’ve been keeping track, you know I talk a lot about fasting, almsgiving, and daily prayer. That’s not because these are the goal or substance of life in Christ; it’s because these are weapons, they are tools, they are tactics in our spiritual warfare. In ancient times, if you wanted to conquer a city, you’d send soldiers to storm the gates. You’d also send marines, the fighters who arrive by boat in the harbor, to take the city from within. And you’d send sappers, who dig under the walls to bring them down. All three methods, together, accomplish your goal of winning the city. The Church’s experience is that fasting, prayer, and almsgiving are methods proven to work in our struggle to uproot the sins and compulsions that entangle us, and to grow into the likeness of Christ. The goal is to be united to Christ in our present experience, in purity, mercy, peace-making, and all the other beatitudes we just sang about. If that’s who we want to be, then prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are among the best tools we have to get us there.

We are called disciples because we have accepted a discipline. I want to ask you today to undertake this discipline.

CS Lewis write that “When we carry out our ‘religious duties,’ we are like people digging channels in a waterless land, in order that when at last water comes, it may find them ready.”

Does your heart agree that you need to be transformed? Then I want to ask you to do something. I want to ask you to come to the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer, at least briefly, every single day. Spend just a little time with him.

Pour your heart out to him; he is listening. He cares about you and does not miss a thing you do, not a thought or a tear or a sigh.

Cry out to him every day. In the morning, in the evening, cry out to him, and don’t miss it.

You were made for Christ. You were made for the Kingdom. You were made to walk with the Lord in the cool of the day.  

Don’t settle for anything less. Daily prayer: Start with this. Dedicate yourself to this wholeheartedly and see if things don’t change.

I take one minute first thing in the morning to greet the Lord. As soon as my feet hit the floor, beside my bed I face my icon of Christ and simply bless myself with the sign of the cross and say “Glory to God the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” Then some time in the morning, as early as possible, I stand in my prayer corner and say the Trisagion prayers – “Holy God, Holy Mighty… Most Holy Trinity… Our Father.” That’s not a long or difficult rule of prayer, and I have never not had time to do it in the morning.

I’ve begun doing my real rule of prayer in the evening. The alarm goes off at 9 pm, when I’ve finished dinner, done with chores, and I’m probably reading a book. Now I have some time to light a candle, stand before the Lord, and spend a little time on just one thing.

You remember when the Lord visited his friends in Bethany, Martha was busy cleaning, cooking, making everything ready, while her sister Mary simply sat at Jesus’s feet hearing what he said. And the Lord says, “Only one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” What you gain at the feet of Jesus will not be taken away.

Saint Luke the Surgeon wrote, “Make your heart a monastery. There sound the semantron, there call your vigil, cense and whisper ceaseless prayers. God is next to you!”

From Saints Sophrony and Porphyrios, I learned the idea of meeting together in prayer. In their monastic cells in Greece and England, they used to practice the Prayer at the same hour, and that was how they met daily to pray, two thousand miles apart.

Do you have a few minutes at 9:00 in the evening? Can you set a daily alarm to light your lamp, pick up your prayer rope, or your Psalter, or your prayer book – and join me.

Is 9:00 not a good time for you? Pick a time, day or night, and make that your time to begin. The Spirit of God is everywhere present and fills all things and every hour; meet him.

In fact, let’s put a time frame on it. Let’s try this for three months. Three months, see what happens. You won’t walk away from it unchanged. Our Lord who loves you and made you for his Kingdom, is calling. Answer the call and keep answering the call.

And when you fail to answer it? Make the sign of the cross and get up. Do this continuously. Let this be the substance of your life.

Grace is God’s job. Our part is simply to be present. So we come to the feet of Jesus. And what we receive there will not be taken away.

And if this shapes your life, then the Kingdom of Heaven will be yours.

To the glory of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.