Pastor Jon Enter                 SalemLutheran.org

Theme: By Faith, God Makes You New

Text: John 6:35-51 & Hebrews 11:31

Today we are continuing our series examining Jesus’ words in John 6 where He calls Himself the Bread of Life. Bread was a staple food back in Jesus’ day. For many, it still is today, especially if someone follows the old food pyramid built on the foundation of whole grains. But there’s many theories about the healthiest way to eat. There’s the Mediterranean diet, the Atkins diet, the Paleo diet, and many others. No matter what diet you choose (or don’t choose) the same truth is true for everyone. Eventually, no diet will stop death. In Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, He offers food that enables us to live forever!

If fact, Jesus said it this way. “I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.” (John 6:48-49) The Jews wandering in the wilderness were sustained by manna, that bread-like substance which miraculously appeared on the ground to feed them. They ate a rather specific diet of manna, quail meat and whatever they could scrounge up from the desert floor. We’ll just call it the Desert Diet. (Not dessert diet…that’s different) They all died.

Jesus was offering His listeners then and now something different. “Here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die.” (John 6:50) Jesus was referring with these words to Himself. When someone believes in Jesus as their Savior, their lives change both now on earth and especially eternally in heaven. And, Jesus said that “anyone may eat”. God’s grace, the forgiveness of Jesus, is so powerful, so permanent it doesn’t matter how often you’ve sinned or how you’ve sinned; Jesus forgives.

To understand this truth, we are going to talk through the story of Rahab, from the Old Testament. She lived about 3,500 years ago in the city of Jericho, which was on the border of the land God promised to give to the Israelites.

God fulfilled that promise. After the Jewish people crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, they had a big, huge problem. The fortified city of Jericho had massive walls they couldn’t penetrate. So Joshua, the leader of the Israelites wisely sent out spies to Jericho to find the city’s weakness. That’s how we meet Rehab, the prostitute, because the first place those spies went in the city was to the local brothel.

I remember hearing about this story as a child in grade school. After our Lutheran Elementary School teacher gingerly answered the question, “What’s a prostitute?” I remember thinking, “Those dirty Israelite spies! I can’t believe they went to visit a prostitute!” But God never condemned their action which meant they weren’t there to sleep with Rehab, they were there to cover their tracks. It was a brilliant plan. The spies knew it wouldn’t seem strange for strange men to be seen visiting Rahab’s house.

But those tricky and crafty spies weren’t as tricky and crafty as they thought. Their deception was quickly discovered because the people of Jericho were on high alert. They heard what the Lord led the Israelites through the wilderness to their doorstep. They were watching Rehab’s house because they knew spies might try to hide there. Rehab quickly realized the men in her house were Men of God. They weren’t there for the usual reasons; they were sent by God.

So when the townspeople demanded that Rehab hand over the spies, she refused. She hid them on her roof and sent her angry neighbors away on a fake trial. When the “coast was clear”, when the “getting was good”, Rehab lowered the spies out of her window and out of the city. At any point, Rehab could have betrayed their trust. At any point, Rehab could have claimed they threatened to kill her and set an ambush for the Israelites when they came to attack Jericho. But she didn’t. Rehab trusted in the Lord and so she—of all people—is listed in the Bible as a Hero of Faith in Hebrews 13. “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” (vs 31)

Just let that sink in for a second. She was a prostitute. A prostitute! A prostitute became one of God’s great Heroes of Faith! Right next to Abraham and Moses! If you had the ability to travel back in time to talk with Rehab and if you asked her if she felt worthy to be called a Hero of the Faith, I’m certain she’d say, “No way! Do you know what I’ve done?”

What if God made a new list of the Heroes of Faith from the time of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday until now…would you make the list? There were only 17 people specifically named in Hebrews 11 for God’s original Heroes of Faith list. What if God selected only 17 people from year 33 (when Jesus died) until year 2033 (we’ll jump into the future for an even 2,000 year period). Would your name make God’s tiny list of just 17 people in the past 2,000 years who were the best of the best believers? I’m guessing you’d say, “No way! Don’t you know what I’ve done!?”

What have you done? What makes you feel unworthy like Rehab? What have you done? What makes you feel downright dirty before God? What have you done? What pains you, plagues you and paralyzes your joy in Jesus because you know, you remember what you’ve done? We all have that horrible, horrific sin that we can’t seem to shake—the memory of that act of rebellion replays in your mind over and over again. When it does, you feel unworthy. What have you done?!

When you came into church today, you each received a blank half sheet of paper. I need you to do something for your soul. In one word, write down what makes you feel unworthy to be in God’s presence. In one word, write down the sin that has plagued you for years; write down in one word the way the devil is working to destroy you and your confidence in Christ. Now, please fold that paper in half so no one can see it and so you can focus on the rest of today’s sermon.

First of all, thank you for trusting me that I’m not going to collect your personal sins and read them out loud today! I’m not. I want to show you in a vivid way that God makes beautiful things; He makes beautiful things out of the dust. Because by faith, God makes you new.

I don’t know what you wrote. I won’t know what you wrote. But God does. He knows what’s afflicting you. Maybe, for you, it’s greed. Our nation’s economy is eating itself alive. Our country spends more than it makes in income tax. But it’s not just your uncle—Uncle Sam—who does it. So do you. You are part of the problem. You spend more than you make. You don’t budget or if you have a budget, you don’t follow it. You want, want, want so you buy, buy, buy. Your debt is weighing you down. And you are sinking. You wonder if you’ll ever find a way. You wonder if your life could really change at all. But God makes beautiful things; He makes beautiful things out of the dust. God is making you new.

Maybe, for you, it’s lust. When you drive past a strip club, your mind goes through those doors and sits down for an imaginary live show. Maybe worse, it actually carries you inside. Or you click, click, click your way to visual pleasure. The statistics on pornography reveal how bad of an epidemic it is. There are 4.2 million pornographic websites and that number is growing. 42.7% of internet users have gone online to view porn at sometime. Each month, there are 1.5 billion downloads of improper images or videos off the internet. 53% of men who joined Promise Keepers—a Christian Accountability Group—continue to view pornography on a weekly basis! Your lust is destroying you. You wonder if you’ll ever find a way. You wonder if your life could really change at all. But God makes beautiful things; He makes beautiful things out of the dust. God is making you new. (www.FamilySafeMedia.com)

Maybe, for you, it’s gossip. It’s just so easy. It’s just so fun when you have a juicy bit of dirt on someone. Especially when it’s on the know-it-all neighbor, the do-no-wrong coworker, the what-did-he-do-this-time loser family member. It’s just so much fun to dish that dirt. And you don’t even have to go through the difficulty of finding a waiting ear. You don’t even have the fuss of picking up the phone to call. You have Facebook to do your dirty work. For some reason this public venue has become thee place to take shots at each other’s character flaws and thee place to bash one another. It has got to stop. You need to stop! Gossip is destroying you. You wonder if you’ll ever find a way. You wonder if your life could really change at all. But God makes beautiful things; He makes beautiful things out of the dust. God is making you new.

Maybe, for you, it’s addiction. Oh, how much more fun life is when the alcohol is flowing! But you’re not an addict; no, not at all. You could stop. But you don’t. You won’t. But you’re okay, right? Wrong. Or what the pills, the pot, the drugs. They can’t be that bad, right? Since everyone’s doing it. 40.6% of all Americans have tried marijuana in their lifetime. 85.8% of seniors in high school can “easily obtain” marijuana if they wanted. (www.marijuana-addiction.org) Doing drugs, no matter how “recreational”, will destroy you. Drinking away your problems only multiplies them. You wonder if you’ll ever find a way. You wonder if your life could really change at all. But God makes beautiful things; He makes beautiful things out of the dust. God is making you new.

That word you wrote on your piece of paper only defines you if you let it. You have a God who can change your life and your reputation for an eternity. That’s exactly what He did for Rehab! When those Israelite spies stood before her, she looked at a snapshot of her life and she didn’t like what she saw. She crumpled up her old life confessing her sins to God and then realized that God made beautiful things even out of the dust of her life. God made her new. And God will make you new. What’s it going to be? Where is your focus going to be? On this? [Hold up a piece of paper.] Or on that? [Point at the cross.] As you watch this video illustration, listen closely to the words. And pray. Pray a prayer of confession to your merciful Lord that He destroys this sin in your life [I’ll crumple up a piece of paper in my hand] through His merciful forgiveness.

God makes beautiful things; He makes beautiful things out of the dust. God has made you new. Your past doesn’t determine your future. Whatever you wrote on your piece of paper, doesn’t exist to God. Jesus crumpled up that sin and destroyed its eternal consequences. Take your paper home with you today and destroy it! Shred it! Burn it! And know you are forgiven! You have been made worthy of the Lord’s love. Amen.