"OLD DOG . . . NEW TRICKS"
Second Sunday in Lent
March 8, 2017
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
The Lord said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you." So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Genesis 12:1; 4 (ESV)
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks." At least that's what they say. And I'm afraid that many of us have begun to believe it--or at least to use it as a convenient excuse to avoid any kind of change on our own part or to justify our giving up on the possibility of others changing. And if you know me at all, you know that I stand accused just as well as any of you! We shrug off any suggestion that we might learn anything new by claiming that we're too old and "set in our ways" to change. At the same time, we contend that "it's no use" trying to get "old So-and-So" to look at things a little differently because he's too old and stubborn to change. It's a defeatist attitude really--a blueprint for failure--because when we take that attitude we are guaranteeing that we will always be locked in the old ways of thinking and will thereby lose out on all of the new possibilities that lie before us.
I can't help but think of this self-defeating attitude whenever I read or hear this story of the call of Abraham. Here is a guy who is seventy-five years old and who is not only set in his ways but through the years has accumulated quite a bit of property and wealth. He is called by God to pack up everything that he owns and to forsake everything that is familiar and dear to him in order to go somewhere else. Not only is his destination new and unfamiliar to him; it is unknown to him. He has absolutely no idea where he is to go--he only knows that the Lord will show him the way to his new home. Looking at the experience of Abraham as an example, let's take a look at both our blessings and our responsibilities as the Lord attempts to teach "old dogs" like us some new tricks.
One of the greatest blessings that is ours because of God's call is that we, as the people of God in Jesus Christ, are made new by the Holy Spirit every day of our lives. In our Baptism we have been united with the slain and risen Christ in His death and resurrection, so that we may daily die to sin just as He died on the cross and rise to live the New Life in Him just as He rose from the grave and lived again. What this means is that we never have to be haunted by our past, no matter how sinful or painful that past may have been. It also means that we don't have to be enslaved by our past sins and bad attitudes, because we are free from them as well. The apostle Paul describes it this way: "If anyone is in Christ," he writes, "he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17). This New Life that is ours in Christ makes it possible for us to "turn over a new leaf" as often as we need to--as often as we sin and need God's forgiveness and His encouragement and strength to try again, knowing that our sincere efforts to do this, no matter how imperfect they may be, are nevertheless acceptable and pleasing to Him because we are united with His perfectly righteous Son.
This great blessing of God's call benefits us also in a practical way because it reminds us that no matter how many times we may have failed in the past, it's never too late for us to start all over again on the journey of faith and obedience to which He has called us. Neither is it ever too late for any of those people who we love dearly but who do not share our faith in the Savior. Since God never gives up on us, we have no reason to give up on anyone else either. As long as there is life and breath in a person, that person is a viable candidate for receiving in faith God's grace in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God's call to New Life in Christ, like every good thing that we receive from His bountiful hand, has certain responsibilities that come with it. Answering God's call means forsaking the old ways of selfishness and sin. Saying yes to Jesus means simultaneously saying no to everyone and everything else that may come between our Savior and us. This is something that people have always had a difficult time with. In the Gospels we encounter a number of people who sincerely loved the Lord Jesus and really wanted to follow Him, but they had other people and things in their lives that they apparently loved more and were more committed to. There was the rich young ruler who honestly wanted to be a disciple of Jesus, but not if it meant parting with his wealth (Luke 18:18-23). There was the man who was willing and eager to follow Jesus but first had to go and bury his father (Luke 9:59, 60). And there was the man who wanted to follow Jesus but first wanted to go back home and say goodbye to his family (Luke 9:61, 62). At least two of these people seemed to have good excuses, but in each of these cases, the "bottom line" is that, when it came time when these would-be disciples had to make a choice between Jesus and their other interests, it was the other people and things that won out. In today's world people have even more conflicting interests that clutter up their lives, but the call of Jesus still impresses upon us the fact that He is to be the Number One Priority in our lives.
God's call also brings with it the responsibility of living the New Life that is ours in Christ. Being a Christian is not some kind of sedentary state or a state of suspended animation. The life of the Christian is not supposed to be a life of just sitting around waiting for heaven, as the angels made clear when they said to the disciples at Jesus' ascension: "Why do you [just] stand [there] looking into heaven?" (Acts 1:11). We have been made alive in the Lord Jesus in order that we might live in Him, doing the things that bring glory to His name by proclaiming His love in words and in acts of Christian service toward our neighbor. If we're not willing to do that, then we may as well still be dead in our trespasses and sins. I have no idea where it originated, but the most profound question in this regard that I've ever heard went something like this: If there was a new outbreak of persecution against the Church and you were arrested and charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? No matter how uncomfortable the experience may be for us, I think it would be a good discipline for us to ask ourselves that question every day.
The lesson for us in all of this is that no matter what you may have been taught in the past and no matter what you may be convinced of, you can teach an old dog new tricks--or at least God can. He taught old Abram the new trick of leaving his comfortable home and starting a new nation--God's chosen nation--the nation from which would come the Savior of the whole world. He has taught you and me a new trick too. We who are set in our ways of sin and self-centeredness have been taught and empowered to escape from that mindset and way of life and to live the New Life of serving the One who first served us by laying down His very life to save us. We can show in our daily conduct and conversation that we have learned the lesson well, because it is God alone, through His Holy Spirit, who does this in us and through us by the power of the Gospel of His Son.
Amen.
May the One who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, making us kings and priests before His God and Father, lead you to a life of repentance and trust. May He also be glorified in the lives of you, His people. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.