Radical Transformation Through God's Grace and Love

Max was a defense attorney. And over the years, Max learned about what was right and what was wrong. He grew up in Sunday school and he went to church mainly because his grandmother made him go and he learned about what was right and what was wrong and the other stuff. Well, quite frankly, he didn't pay much attention to because he knew at an early age that he wanted to be a crusader for what's right and what's wrong. So he went to law school and once he graduated and got a taste of the income from a defense attorney, the right and wrong was sprinkled with the notion of winning. So it's not just being right, it's also about winning. [00:27:38]

And over the time it became about winning at all cost. No matter whether the person that he was defending was actually telling the entire truth, it was about winning for Max. And one day, his 14-year-old niece went to the local convenience store. And going in, everything seemed to be fine. But coming out, something happened. You see, there was a dispute that was going on at the gas pumps. And one thing led to another and then gunshots rang out and Max's 14-year-old niece got caught in the crossfire. [00:29:00]

And so Max with this notion of right and wrong heads to the hospital and sits beside his young niec's bed. With the machines whirling and the tubes in and the beeping going on, he said in a loud voice, "God, if you are there, it doesn't seem like you care. And God, if you're there, it certainly doesn't seem like you're paying any attention because I need you now. Max's niece got stronger and she survived. But the marks of that day not only had an imprint on his niece's life because they were physical marks that she and scars that she could not remove as well as emotional scars. [00:30:06]

But Max was numbed that day and all he could do was pour himself into his profession. case after case after case he would win. And he was more adamant about being right. And one afternoon as he was driving home from a particular case, there was an accident and a car overturned. And for whatever reason, Max felt inclined to pull off the road. Call it care, call it concern, or call it downright nosiness. Max pulls over and it's before the paramedics get there and Max sits with the person in the car not trying to move them because he recognizes that through the labored breathing the many lacerations the glass shattered and the airbags dispersed deployed. [00:31:23]

He didn't know what to do. And once the medics got there, this person that was in the passenger seat looked at Max and said these words, "God still knows your name. You're never too far. You see, the person that had that accident was Max's old Sunday school teacher that he hadn't seen in 15 years. And from that day on, something shifted in Max. You might say it was a turning point because he could not shake the voice that God hasn't forgotten about you. He still knows your name. That day, Max changed. And friends, I believe that Max's story is some of our story. [00:32:43]

Maybe the details are different, but I believe that God is a God of big change. When God shows up, sometimes like Max, we are bewildered because we don't understand God's ways. And yet, like this man named Saul, it stops us in our tracks and we can't get past the incident and we're never the same. In our Bible lesson that Pastor Eston read, we find this man named Saul who was a person and very similar to Max who believed in doing what's right and following the law of Moses. He believed in God's righteousness and trying to convince people who didn't follow God's righteousness to do otherwise. [00:33:55]

And if they wouldn't stop, then he would try to eliminate them. And so there is a group of followers in a town called Damascus in Syria. They are followers of the Bible says the way. Before we were called Christians, we were called followers of the way. Some begin believe that it's because Jesus says, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life." The way was the teachings of Jesus's life, death, resurrection, and the ability to have a transformed life. But that went against in Saul's mind the law of Moses. And so he was on a crusade to stamp it out. [00:34:57]

But on the way he gets interrupted. Blinded by a light on the Damascus road and knocked off his horse by a voice from Jesus. He is stopped in his tracks. Friends, how many of you have ever ever had an encounter that stops you in your tracks where you begin to realize that you don't know as much as you thought you knew? Where sometimes you thought the direction that was going one way, you ended up hitting a wall. Now friends, let me just describe it this way. Some of us might hit a brick wall. Some of us might be like the three pigs and hit a straw wall. [00:35:43]

Others of us might hit a wooden wall. And then there are people like me who hit marshmallow walls. But friends, it doesn't matter what type of wall it is. when you're going headstrong in front of it, whether it's a brick wall or a marshmallow wall, it will stop you in your tracks. And I've been hit by several marshmallow walls and I've got the wounds to show for it because I thought that one way was a direction to go and God says, "No, we're going in a different direction." I thought I could see very clearly now that the rain is gone. I thought that the sun was coming up, but I couldn't see it. [00:36:24]

You know why? Because I was facing the wrong way. Friends, in the morning, if you want to see the sun, you got to turn to the east. Some of us are looking west, some of us are looking south, some of us are looking north, and we can't find the sun in the morning. It's because we're facing the wrong direction. Turn around. The sun always rises in the east. It sets in the west, but it rises in the east. And so Paul's story, Saul's story is changed. It goes like this. My name used to be Saul. I used to be the follower of Moses's law. [00:36:56]

Now my name is Paul. And now I'm acting on behalf of God. Somebody has um um um a device that's kind of loud. Can we make sure we take care of that? I want to make sure that you can hear, but I also want to make sure that everybody else can hear. Saul says, "My name used to be Saul. I was this way. Now I'm Paul. Now I'm that way. is because of my experience with Jesus. Now, my story and your story is very similar. In fact, I was reminded of my story on yesterday. my brother, you know, the one that visits us. [00:38:19]

He was talking and he was talking that he had met some of our cousins and I've got a lot of them. Twins seem to run in my family. So, I've had several twins and my father was a twin, but one of the twins uh was talking to some of the cousins and the subject came up about me. Now, why are they talking about me? Well, I'm not there. Well, that's another story for another day. And so, one of the cousins says, you know, tell me about Quincy growing up cuz he I'm older than these cousins. So, so all they knew was Quincy the preacher. [00:38:59]

And so, one cousin says, "Well, Quincy ain't always been a preacher." And so, my brother's telling me this story. I'm like, "Okay, where where are we going with this?" Right? is is this a is this a story for public or is this a story for behind uh closed doors? And he says, "Well, y'all remember when um me and my brother, the cousin saying this, they're twins, and they were playing touch football out in the front yard and I was playing with them." Well, there was a neighbor who was four years older than me. I'm four years older than the cousins telling this story. [00:39:32]

So, if you do the math, this guy's eight years older than my younger cousins. And my cousin, um, well, let's say that when we were young, um, we bought jeans and some of us bought jeans that says Hefty. Y'all y'all remember those days? And so that was my cousin at the time. And Ricky was a person who would always pick on people. And so he started to pick on my little cousin. And I said, "Leave him alone. He he he can't help who he is. He's done nothing wrong. He's fine. Leave him alone." And he kept picking. And he kept picking. I kept saying, "Leave him alone." [00:40:41]

And he says, "Well, what you going to do about it?" Well, something in me snapped. And I came from Sarasota, Florida, right in his face. And then we ended up fighting. And I realized, okay, this guy's four years older than me. He's bigger, faster, stronger. I'm about to get my behind whipped. But in the behind whooping, I'm going to make sure he knows you don't mess with my family. You see, I ain't always been a preacher. And when you mess with my family, the tiger will come out. You can talk about me, but if you talk about my family, them fighting words. [00:41:25]

Some of y'all know what I'm talking about. I can talk about my family, but you can't talk about my family. And so I grew up in a time where I used to be someone that when they talked about my family, I would handle things with my fist. Now I'm a person that when you talk about my family, I try to find words. Why? because of what Jesus has done in my life. And I'm too old to be fighting. I'm too pretty to fight. Amen, somebody. You see, I'm learning what Paul did. And as they share that story about me, friends, we are called to share our life changing story with God, with others. [00:41:59]

Here's the formula. I used to be and you fill in the blank. Maybe you used to be short-tempered. Maybe you used to be judgmental. Maybe you used to be condescending. Maybe you used to have the need to be right. Maybe you used to be a smart alec. You fill in the blank of whatever you used to be, but now I'm this. And it's typically the opposite of what you used to be. And because of what God has done, Paul used to be a person who persecuted Christians. Now, he's the very person that spreads the word of God to create opportunities for other Christians. Why? Because of what God did for him. [00:42:44]

And friends, when you share your story, you help others to experience the lifechanging grace of God. Why? Because if God can do it for you, then God can do it for them. Those who have ears, let them hear. [00:44:17]

Or maybe you come from a tradition that is called the Lord's supper. Whatever you call it, the experience and the meaning is still the same. It helps us to share our story. For we used to be sinners, but now we're redeemed and saved by God because of what Jesus did on the cross. And he was raised from the dead so that we might have life and have it more abundantly. [00:49:21]