Change happens.  Seasons and phases of life come and go no matter where you live in the world. We can’t stop change from happening. Change just is.  It seems the older we get the faster change happens.  Changes roar past us like speeding freight trains, at times.  When we were young, change seemed slow as molasses but when we are older, we not only see rapid changes taking place; we see, hear, taste, feel and touch change that is undeniably occurring daily all around us.  We cannot control change, but what we can control is choosing a life that changes us in the best way, from the inside out, by the One who created us and loves us so much He laid down His life for us.

Jesus changes us by removing what is not of God.  He works from the inside out and outside in with the compassionate love of God!  God created us with uniqueness.  There is no one exactly like us. Who we are, designed by God, is not thrown out but shaped and molded by The Potter.  For this to happen, we as the “clay” must go through radical changes as it becomes a work of art for His glory.  As the changes are made by God’s Holy Spirit, we become a masterpiece of God’s heart!

Luke 5, The Message

Invitation to a Changed Life

¹² One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

¹³ Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone.

^14-16 Jesus instructed him, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.” But the man couldn’t keep it to himself, and the word got out. Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of their sicknesses. As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.

¹⁷ One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. The healing power of God was on him.

^18-20 Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, “Friend, I forgive your sins.”

²¹ That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins.”

^22-26 Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, “Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both. . . .” He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: “Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.” Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, stunned—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, “We’ve never seen anything like that!”

^27-28 After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” And he did—walked away from everything and went with him.

^29-30 Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. “What is he doing eating and drinking with misfits and ‘sinners’?”

^31-32 Jesus heard about it and spoke up, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I’m here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out.”

³³ They asked him, “John’s disciples are well-known for keeping fasts and saying prayers. Also the Pharisees. But you seem to spend most of your time at parties. Why?”

^34-35 Jesus said, “When you’re celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to exercise moderation, but this isn’t the time. As long as the bride and groom are with you, you have a good time. When the groom is gone, the fasting can begin. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!

^36-39 “No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don’t put wine in old, cracked bottles; you get strong, clean bottles for your fresh vintage wine. And no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine prefers unaged wine.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“If you want to…”  There was never a more humbled request, expressed by a man with an illness that forced him to be an outcast of society.  Jesus simply responded in kind, “I want to.”  Because the man humbly came to Jesus with a sincere heart, the man was healed. God looks at the heart and know the intent of the soul.  The man was changed from the outside in and inside out! 

When Jesus does the changing, we are compelled to talk about our new life in Him!  Jesus instructed the now clean from leprosy man to first quietly do what the law required him to do so he could come back to live in his community a changed man.  Jesus gave him an extra piece of wisdom and encouragement along with the instruction: “Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.”  This statement leaps off the page for me this morning.  Our changed lives will bear witness to what Jesus has done in us! 

God’s Holy Spirit enters in when we say a heartfelt, humbled yes to Jesus.  God’s Holy Spirit who lives in us is the secret to our changed behaviors that will occur as our Helper renews our devoted hearts, minds, and souls given to Jesus.  This is a decision made daily to trade our very limited, imperfect will, based on what we see in front of us, for knowing God’s perfect and pleasing will that He all-knowingly sees ahead of us.  See Romans 12:1-2

“If you want to …Believe it, God wants to!

Not everyone wants to change, however.  Jesus’ healing power has brought many people with all kinds of ailments seeking His touch. While sitting around in a clustered discussion group, you know the type, the religious leaders come to watch.  The have also come to judge the situation and decide whether to “sanction” Jesus’ actions—or not. They lie in wait, like lions getting ready to pounce, watching and listening to see what He will say and do next with hardened hearts looking for ways to bring Him down.

Everything about Jesus is called into question by those unwilling to believe Him.  The finale comes when Jesus parties in celebration of the newly called, changed life of a tax collector.  Oh my, this is the last straw for the religious leaders who devoted their whole lives to teaching every snippet of the Law without knowing the intent of God who wrote the Law!  Jesus is Kingdom come!  But they refuse to acknowledge that Jesus is the Messiah they have read about, talked about and taught to others for generations! Centuries have passed but the Promise of Messiah come has been fulfilled! 

But they missed it.  Their heads were far too deep in the scrolls to see Messiah move about the neighborhood providing what the people needed most—A Savior with authority to heal and forgive.  They missed Jesus who came to show the Way back to God.  They refused the offer for a new life with a forever relationship with God who has loved them from the beginning of creation.  “God with us” was indeed with them, in person, relating to all people in incredibly, unforgettable ways.  But they missed Him.  They missed celebrating the Lord of the Sabbath.  They missed the very One who the empty chair was for that was traditionally placed at The Passover Table each year.  Most of all, they missed a beautiful, loving, compassionate, relentless relationship with our Savior and Lord who sacrificed Himself to pay the debt of our sins.  No, they did not want to anyone to change their hearts and minds.  They did not want Jesus to change their ways of doing life.  Instead, they wanted to kill Him and remain unchanged.

Jesus is still calling out to the lost today.  Don’t be the one who misses His calling out to you.  He loves you more than humans can even imagine.  Because of His love, there is nothing you have said or done that He will not forgive.  Don’t miss Him.  It’s a matter of life and death! 

If you want to … Believe, accept the gift of eternal life, repent, love God back, while following the One who loves you most and gave His life for yours!  Your life will never be the same—you will be changed for eternity! 

How do I know?  I am a life that was changed and is changing still in the Name of Jesus.

Lord,

Thank you for teaching us from so many angles about how you love people and long to save us.  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh our souls with your new mercies, and restore the joy of your salvation at work with us all because of your love for us.

In Jesus Name, Amen