Starting Over

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning the 12th of January, 2020 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of our services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Before going on vacation, we talked about how we view the new year as an opportunity to improve ourselves.  And from that we saw how God gives us chance after chance to do just that - to make something better of ourselves.  In our church reading a little while ago we acknowledged that modern life has become so confusing and complex, so full of pressures and stress.

We long for the simpler times, now long past.  We may not be able to change the times, but we can change our lives and how we react to the times.  And who better to tell us how than the Apostle Paul?  Paul did a complete about-face once our Lord Jesus blinded him to the world, opening his eyes to the truth.  He truly became a new person.

Listen to what Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, from the 4th chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, verses 17 through 24, and I’ll be reading from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible because it pulls no punches…

17 As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. 18 Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, 19 and they are so greedy that they do all kinds of indecent things.

20-21 But that isn’t what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about Him and learned about Him. 22 You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. 23 Let the Spirit change your way of thinking 24 and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please Him and be truly holy.

--Ephesians 4:17-24 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, as a Pharisee, Paul persecuted Your Son’s church, and in doing so actually persecuted Jesus Himself.  But then Jesus showed him the truth of Your kingdom, and he became arguably the most effective and dedicated servant Jesus has ever had.  Father, thank You for giving us so many chances to do better in this life.  Please help to be more like Paul and to serve Jesus more faithfully.  Help us be better disciples, better servants, better people.

Speak to us now, Father, through Your Spirit, with the message we need to hear this morning.  Show us how we can better serve You and Jesus.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.


Over 2000 years ago, a young Greek artist named Timanthes studied under a respected tutor.  After several years the teacher's efforts seemed to have paid off when Timanthes painted an exquisite work of art.  Unfortunately, the pupil became so enraptured with the painting that he spent days doing little more than gazing at it.  One morning when he arrived to admire his work, he was shocked to find it blotted out with paint.  Angry, Timanthes ran to his teacher, who admitted he had destroyed the painting.  "I did it for your own good", the teacher replied.  "That painting was retarding your progress.  Start again and see if you can do better."  Timanthes took his teacher's advice and produced "Sacrifice of Iphigenia", which is regarded as one of the finest paintings of antiquity.


Timanthes created a beautiful painting that he himself greatly admired, to the point of neglecting other areas of his studies and life.  To break the spell the painting held over the young student, his teacher ruined it, destroyed its beauty.  And then he challenged his pupil to start all over again, and make it even better than before.

Sometimes we take too much pride in our own accomplishments.  We get so caught up in what we’ve done that we forget who makes anything we do possible.  Our Bible tells us to be humble, that pride can be our downfall.  And like the teacher in this little story, our Bible tells us this for our own good.

God gives us the chance to start over and make things even better than before.  Of course, sometimes He has to ruin what we had, so that we can strive even harder, to make it better, to make ourselves better.


A couple weeks ago in the scripture I read, Paul explained his conversion to King Agrippa.  He told the king of the old Paul, who persecuted those who followed Jesus, arresting them and bringing them to trial, even voting for their execution.  And then he told of the new Paul, the faithful servant of Jesus, the church planter, the evangelist.  So we can see that Paul is not only a great example of how God gives us second chances, but also how to use those extra chances, how to shed the old life and fully adopt the new life.

In our scripture reading this morning, Paul takes the next step and tells us how we should respond to our second chances, how our new life should differ from the old life we used to live.  And he does not hold back.

Stop living like stupid, godless people, lost and stumbling around in the dark, not knowing wrong from right, letting greed overwhelm moral decency.  We know better than that now.  We’ve been told the truth about Jesus.  He sacrificed Himself so that God would give us another chance to get it right.  We know that our foolish desires will eventually destroy our chance of salvation if we don’t let go of them, if we don’t let go of the old way of living and put on the new life we’ve been so graciously given.  We were created in the image of God and Jesus, created to be like Them, so we should do everything we can to please Them and to be truly holy, truly righteous, right in God’s eyes.

Paul doesn’t stop there in his instructions to us.  Listen as I continue reading from where I left off in chapter 4 of his letter, verses 25 through 32…

25 We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other the truth. 26 Don’t get so angry that you sin. Don’t go to bed angry 27 and don’t give the devil a chance.

28 If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need.

29 Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say.

30 Don’t make God’s Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins.

31 Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. 32 Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.

--Ephesians 4:25-32 (CEV)

That’s a whole bunch of stops and starts there.  Stop doing all these things from the old life, start doing these things to show the new life.  Let’s face it…  if we keep on acting the same way as those folks who have not accepted the truth, who have not accepted Jesus as Lord, then how will anyone be able to tell the difference between us and them?

We must stop lying, control our anger before it leads to sin, don’t steal, stop talking bad about others, don’t be bitter, don’t be rude, and certainly don’t make God sad by our thoughtless lives.  Instead, we should tell each other nothing but the truth, especially the truth of Jesus and God’s kingdom.  We should work hard so that we’ll have something to share with others.  We should be sure that anything we say is said in love and intended to help others, to lift them up.  We must be kind, merciful, and forgiving of others, for God is kind, merciful, and forgiving of us.


Now this concept of letting go of the old life and clothing ourselves in the new life Jesus gives is not entirely a New Testament message or unique to Paul.  We see something similar in the Old Testament writings of the prophet Amos, chapter 7 verses 7 and 8, and to a lesser degree in 2nd Kings chapter 21 verse 13 and Isaiah chapter 28 verse 17.  In these we’re told that God uses a plumb line to measure us.

Do you know what a plumb line is?  You suspend a weight from a string and let it hang.  No matter the terrain, no matter the elevation, no matter where you are or what you’re on, that line will always hang straight and true.  God measures us by a straight and true line.  If there is anything out of plumb in our lives, we need to tear it down and rebuild it.  We need to get rid of the old and start new again.

We must stop fixating on past glories and accomplishments and do something new and better.  Our Lord has given us the chance to be new again.  Let’s take full advantage of it.  Put off the old, put on the new.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, we want to be more like Paul.  We want to serve You and Jesus faithfully, with all our heart.  We want to be the new person that You have given us the chance to become.  But Father, sometimes we just have trouble completely throwing off the old life.  There are some things we just can’t force ourselves to let go of.  Thank You, Father, for giving us another chance to truly be new.  Please help us let go of the world and our old way of living so that we can better serve You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our disobedient ways, seeking Your forgiveness and Your help…

Lord Jesus, You showed Paul the truth and he became a new man, an entirely different person, in full and complete service to You.  Help us, please Lord, to be like Paul.  Help us throw off the old person, the old life, and take on the new life You have given us.  Help us live only for You.  This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Master and our Savior.  Amen.