How do you handle change? Does it freak you out or energise you? When meetings get postponed, or events cancelled at short notice how do you respond? How flexible are you? If we are following Jesus we should expect him to make changes to our plans because we are not in control and we don’t know what the future holds. How we handle the challenges of life, especially how we manage change, will reveal our character; for what life does to us depends on what life finds in us. In the verses before us tonight, Paul shows us how to handle change and the misunderstandings that change sometimes brings. Paul had been criticized because he had changed his plans and apparently did not kept his promise. When Christians misunderstand each other, the wounds can go very deep. There were also those who opposed his apostolic authority in the church. One—possibly a leader—needed discipline, and this gave Paul great sorrow.
Paul confesses in chapter 1 that the trials they faced in Asia were so severe, he even despaired of life. What kept Paul from giving up? How can we keep going? By realising what John Maxwell once said, “Change is inevitable, growth is optional.”
1. Maintain a Clear Conscience (2 Cor. 1:12-24)
The conscience is that inner faculty that approves when we do right, but accuses when we do wrong. Conscience is the window that lets in the light; but if the window gets dirty because we disobey, and we don’t keep it clean by confession, then the light becomes dimmer and dimmer.
Paul says “So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.” (Acts 24:16).
“High Noon” released in 1952, starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, is one of my favourite films. Gary Cooper was the sheriff of a small western town. Earlier a gang of four outlaw brothers had terrorized the town. The sheriff had brought them to justice and sent them to prison.
In prison they vowed that when they got out they would kill the sheriff. The movie focuses on one particular day. The sheriff has just married Grace Kelly. She happens to be a devout Quaker utterly opposed to all violence. The sheriff resigns from law enforcement and the couple are to leave town on their honeymoon. He is going to start a new life as a rancher. Suddenly word comes that the outlaw brothers have been released from prison and are due to arrive that very day on the noon train. Everybody urges the couple to get out of town quickly. They ride away, but the sheriff is troubled. Finally, he turns the wagon around and heads back to town, much to the consternation of his bride.
Scientists have proven that birthdays are good for you, the more you have, the longer you live. Norman Wisdom once said, “As you get older, three things happen: The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two.” Inside every older person is a younger person, wondering what on earth happened. In a couple of weeks we will celebrate the 176th birthday of Christ Church. Today we remember the birthday of the Church under three headings: the context, the message and the experience of Pentecost. Please turn with me to Acts 2.
There is deep inside each one of us a subconscious awareness that life is precarious. It is implicit when we kiss the children goodbye on their way to school with the words ‘Take care’ or to an adult friend, “Hope you keep well.” The fact is, disease can strike, accidents do happen, and unforeseen events interrupt our carefully planned and manicured lives. Naturally, we do everything we can to reduce the possibility. And in our relatively affluent, peaceful community, we can convince ourselves that we really are in control of our lives, cocooned from the world outside. Bad things happen to other people, and we’re confident they won’t happen to us.