Word of Salvation – October 2015

 

Holy Habits for Following Jesus

A sermon by Rev. Pieter Tuit on 1Corinthians 13

 

Habits, we all have them. Some of them are good habits. Like bringing your husband a cup of tea in bed in the morning before he goes to work, giving your wife flowers when it is not her birthday, eating all your food on your plate, hanging up your clothes before you go to bed, giving generously to church and ministry. Other habits can be annoying like talking with your mouth full, not putting the cap on the toothpaste, leaving the toilet seat up, wearing a well loved frayed blue sweater. Other habits are addictive or enslaving like drinking too much alcohol, watching pornography, gambling, workaholicism.

Some habits are family habits and we learn them from our parents. Some habits we learn from the friends we associate with. Some habits we learn from our cultural or ethnic group. For example, when we got married Gail learned that people from Dutch background had developed certain habits that she, as an American was not used to. Everybody who is, or has been married knows about the challenges that different family habits bring to your marriage.

The dictionary defines a habit as follows “An action or pattern of behavior that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody although he or she may be unaware of it.” Allow me to repeat this, “An action or pattern of behavior that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody although he or she may be unaware of it.”

Habits can be learned. We can also unlearn habits. One young football player from Ulverstone told me how he had to unlearn bad habits of football playing and acquire good habits in order to become a good player. Those of you who play musical instruments know of the importance of developing good habits of practice. Some of us have even experienced what it means to kick a habit, maybe smoking, or drinking.

This new series of sermons is about habits. To be precise it is about holy habits. To be even more precise it is about developing holy habits for following Jesus. We are taking a break from our series in Mark Consider Christ. We will come back to Mark in the new year. Mark taught us that if Christ is who he says he is than our whole life, heart, and existence must revolve around him. Love so amazing so divine demands our soul, our life, our all.

In this new series we are going to put wheels under that. We are going to hear and learn about holy habits for following Jesus. In accordance with the definition of habits we want to learn a pattern of Christlike behavior that is repeated so often so that it becomes so typical of us so that we become unaware of it.

I realize that this series will impact us in a variety of ways. This series will be encouragement for those who have considered Christ, who do have Jesus as the still point around which your whole life and existence revolves. You have developed holy habits. You will be encouraged to continue the good work that the Holy Spirit has began in you.

This series will be an encouragement as well as a challenge for those who have made a beginning in developing holy habits for following Jesus. At the same time you have a long way to go. You have hit a road block. You are not as committed as you were in following Jesus. You are still too entrenched in unholy habits.

This series will be an invitation to those who have not yet started to develop holy habits for following Jesus. You will be invited to start a journey that will change your life, impact your character, and make a difference with those you come in contact with especially those very close to you like a spouse or a child or a parent.

This series will be a call to kick old habits for those of us who are still deliberately following habits that Scriptures describes as being habits or works of the flesh. Some of us may need to take some strong work boots to church in the next couple months in order to do the kind of kicking that is required. In case you do not have them I took a pair with me.( Bring working boots to church) However, regardless of where you are in your journey of developing holy habits for following Jesus, I encourage you to listen carefully, to reflect on it during the week. I want you to discuss it together as husband and wife, and parents and children, talk about it in your Bible studies. I encourage you to encourage your children and each other to develop holy habits. If you have questions or concerns give me a call, talk to your elder or a trusted Christian friend.

This series will not be about learning legalistic rules. Even though holy habits include rules and advice, it is about more than that. Rules have their place in pointing us in the right direction and helping us to check whether we are still on track. This is one reason why we do at times have the reading of God’s will for our lives in the worship service. We read Gods will for our lives so that we can develop holy habits for following Jesus. But I want us to go deeper than that. Developing holy habits is a matter of learning to think and act in accordance with the Spirit of Jesus Christ so that it becomes second nature to us, or to use more Biblical language so that it becomes our new nature. Remember that text in 2 Cor. 5: 17,” if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creation.”

Congregation, we read in 1 Peter that “we are a chosen people, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”Peter is talking about the church here, a church with holy habits, a church for whom holy habits has become second nature. Learning about, and developing holy habits will help us to become what we are in Christ. Maybe we can even become known in our community as the Holy Habits Church.

I am indebted for this idea of developing holy habits to N.T Wright a bishop in the Church of England in the United Kingdom. I heartily recommend to you his book After Your Believe Why Christian character matters. He compares conversion to falling in love and to the excitement of striking a match. It’s sudden, sparky, and dramatic…..and it does not last long. And he asks the question “what are you going to do with the match once you’ve struck it?” His answer is that you use the match to light a candle. (TAKE A MATCH AND CANDLE WITH YOU ON THE PULPIT AND LIGHT THEM)

Now a candle is not as excited as a match, but it is so much more beautiful,………………… and far more long lasting. Couples need to learn this so that they do not think that when the match goes out the marriage is gone and they must light another match as soon as possible. Learning about holy habits for following Jesus is like lightning the candle after we have considered Christ and have decided to follow him and have our life center around him

The whole of Scripture is there of course to teach us about holy habits. However, for this series we will concentrate on that well known chapter on love 1 Corinthians 13.We will read it each time and will use various translations. We will look at each section piece by piece, habit by habit. It will be different from our series on Mark. Some of you commented to me about how much Scripture we read for that series. And I admit we did. I do not apologize for it. We drank Scripture as it were with the glass full. We were immersed in the water of Scripture so to say. In this series we are going to savor Scripture drop by drop. It will be like savouring a very good glass of port. Both approaches have their use and value.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is basically about behavior, about habits. The only chapter where Paul deals with theology is chapter 15 where we find the explanation of the meaning of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The rest is about behavior, habits, holy habits and chapter 13 forms an important part in this.

At the outset I need to explain that Corinth was not like Penguin and that the Corinthian church was not like Sanctuary Hill Christian Fellowship. I am grateful that I am the pastor of this congregation and not the one in Corinth.

The city of Corinth, because of its strategic location was an important city in the vast Roman empire. Commercially, culturally, socially, and religiously Corinth belonged to the top cities of the Roman world. It was not an easy place to live in. There were strong social tensions between the rich and the poor. Most people were considered boorish in their behavior and cultural sophistication was at a very low level. Because it was a port city, prostitution of every kind flourished. The word to Corinthianize became a substitute for immoral behavior, something like the tv program Californication. Venerial disease was rife.

Religion of many different kinds abounded in Corinth. There were at least 26 temples devoted to the worship of many different gods. There was also a Jewish synagogue. One commentator noted that Corinth was the New York, The Los Angeles and the Las Vegas of the ancient world. Here in Australia we would say it was the Melbourne, the Cairns, and Sidney of the Southern world.

It was to this city and to these people with their particular ungodly habits that the gospel was brought. It was in this city that sinners of every kind were challenged to consider Christ and to make him the center of their life and existence. And the Word and Holy Spirit did their work. A church was established. A worshiping, caring and discipling kingdom community was formed. This church reflected the social-economic make up of the city. Paul tells us that most were poor and just a few were well off.

A reading of first and second Corinthians makes it clear that though this Kingdom community had come out of the surrounding and from the surrounding society there was much of the old Corinth still in the church and its members. In other words the habits of pagan Corinth were very much part of the habits of the Corinthian Christians. The divisions, social injustice, sexual immorality and other vices that characterized pagan Corinth were still part and parcel of the Corinthian church. Old habits die hard we say and that was certainly true of Corinth.

Paul wrote this epistle therefore to encourage them to learn new habits, holy habits, holy habits for following Jesus. Remember our definition of a habit.”An action or pattern of behavior that is repeated so often that it becomes typical of somebody although he or she may be unaware of it.”This is what Paul had in mind when he wrote his epistles to the Corinthians. This is what he had in mind when he wrote these lofty words of 1Corinthians 13. He wanted the habits of love, patience, kindness etc become so engrained that they would become second nature, a new nature, a Christlike nature in the Corinthian Christians who were still so much enslaved to their old world habits. Paul would never say as we hear It sometimes with us well that’s the way he or she is and not much you can do about it. His father, mother or grandparents were just like it. Paul would say this may be the case but there is the challenge of developing new habits, holy habits for following Jesus.

This is also his purpose for us, we who have considered Christ. We, who have decided to believe in and follow him. We, who want to make him the still point of our lives. We who want to learn and develop holy habits for following Jesus so that it becomes typical of us. Sometimes I hear it say, this is typical for a Compagne, a Weeda, a De Jong, A South AFrican, a Tatenhove, A Frisian. With the Spirit of Christ using the Word may it be said of us this community of faith is so typical Christlike. Our vision statement is “ GOD SEES A CHRISTIAN FAITH COMMUNITY IN ULVERSTONE THROUGH GRACE MAKING A DFERENCE FOR CHIRT, BUILDING HIS KINGDOM IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY AND THE WORLD. First Corinthians 13 will help us to put wheels under this by encouraging us to develop holy habits for following Jesus.

In conclusion there are two things we should note about this chapter. First, we should not isolate it from its context. Paul had been writing about spiritual gifts and the importance of vibrant worship. There was a lot of disagreement in the church about these matters. In the expression of these disagreements the Corinthian Christians showed how much the old habits were still very much part of them. It showed how much they still needed to learn holy habits for following Jesus.

Paul also points out that at the heart, at the basis of developing holy habits is love. And this is not any kind of love. This is God’s love, this is agape love. This is the love that God showed in Jesus Christ. This is the love that was manifested in the birth life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was the love that was preached to the Corinthians in the gospel. This was the love that was personified in the story of the good shepherd who left the 99 good sheep in order to find that one lost sheep. This love is modeled in the father of the prodigal who killed the fatted calf when his lost son returned. This love is especially shown on the cross because while we were yet sinner Christ died for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ. This is the love that God has poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Without that love in our heart there is no way that we can develop holy habits for following Jesus. God’s love in Jesus Christ, as preached and revealed in the gospel is the beginning, the middle and the end. It is this love that starts to work on our unholy and worldly habits and transforms them into holy habits for following Jesus.

Do you find that love in you my friends? Has God began his good work in you? If not, make a beginning by opening your heart for Christ, consider him, make him the still point around which your whole life and existence revolves and join Corinthian’s call to transfer worldly and unholy habits into holy habits for following Jesus.

Holy habits for following Jesus. This is what we are going to be all about in the next couple months. It is my prayer that the habits Paul will explain to us from 1 Corinthians 13 will become so typical of us that we are really unaware of it.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. These are the holy habits the Spirit and the Word are going to teach us in the month to come. Amen!

Lord Jesus may your Holy Spirit help us kick our unholy habits. May he help us to develop holy habits for following Jesus. May these holy habits become second nature to us. May we be known as a holy habit church.

Amen!