Christ Makes Us a New Creation
Pentecost 3 – June 17, 2012
Many of you know that my husband Andy has a curious condition. It started before I knew him, and really only got worse after we got married, especially during our first year of marriage when we were on my internship in Michigan, where a whole bunch of other people had the same problem. It's kind of contagious. Don't worry though – it's not a disease. It's just a bad case of motorcycle-itis! See, Andy had wanted a motorcycle for a while, and when we were in Michigan, he actually went and took the motorcycle saftey course to learn how to ride and how to do it as safely as possible – but he didn't have a bike to call his own.
But one day, I was at a breakfast with some other pastors, and one of them said he had an old, “vintage” Honda at home that he was looking to get rid of. It wasn't in great shape, he said, but with some new points and new tires and some cleaning up, he said, it'd be good to go – he just didn't have the time to fix it up himself – and he was willing to give away, free to a good home.
Well, good wife that I am, my ears perked up, and I said that Andy might be interested in something like that. So, lo & behold, we became the owners of a 1969 Honda CL175. Andy & someone from the church who had a motorcycle trailer went to pick it up and when he got it home, even someone like me, who has no real experience or interest in working on a motorcycle could tell that this bike would require more than just a little work. It needed a lot more than just new tires and new points to get the engine firing. It was dirty and rusty from sitting around, and the more Andy worked on it, the more things he realized would have to be fixed – not just to get it running, but to get it running well. You know the kind of project I'm talking about. The list goes on and on until it seems like you'll never be done.
Now someone without the motorcycle bug, like me, would look at this bike and just shake their head. It's a hopeless case! Why bother?! It's obviously going to take tons of time and money and effort to get it back into riding shape. Why not just spend your money on one to get a new or used one that works?” And truth be told, that bike is still sitting in our garage. It's still got lots of work to be done. And it's coming with us to Wisconsin – and I'm still shaking my head.
But Andy sees things differently. He loves this beat-up old bike. He knows all the work that's needed, but he also sees what it can become! He sees it the way it was meant to be, back when it had just come off the line, shiny and new and running like a dream. He has a vision of this old bike becoming new again, of it having a brand-new life, and so he's willing to keep at it – to put in the time and work and money to get it there.
The apostle Paul would have understood this kind of project. He speaks about the same kind of thing in our 2nd lesson today, as he writes his 2nd letter to the community of believers in Corinth. He talks in the very last verse of this section about a new creation. I love that line: “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” Powerful and inspiring words, until you stop for a minute and realize what they mean. Because if a brand new creation is necessary, if everything old must pass away, that means that something has gone terribly, horribly wrong with the old. We're like that old rusty motorcycle. We don't just need a tune-up – we need a complete overhaul, from the inside out – an engine rebuild, new gaskets and seals, and on and on. This is total transformation that Paul is talking about! And that can be exciting, but it's also terrifying! If we had our say, we'd probably be content with a new coat of paint and some shiny new parts – the kind of superficial repairs that make the outside look good, but don't really get to the heart of the problem. Paul says in this letter that Jesus “died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them,” but truthfully, most of us are not living for Jesus – we're still trying to live for ourselves! We'd just as soon not have to go through this whole “new creation” business because recognizing our need to change, to grow, to become more than we are today is painful. Being taken apart and cleaned up and getting replacement parts is a long, challenging process – and who wants to go through all that work when most of the time, we think we're fine just the way we are?
Paul was being a little optimistic in this letter, I think, when he says that we now regard no one from a human point of view. I think that's usually how we see things; it's only once in a while that we get a glimpse from God's perspective. But Jesus sees things differently – and he loves the beat-up old bikes that we are. He knows all the work that has to go into each and every one of us, but in his eyes, we're so worth it. Because Jesus sees past the built-up grime and the rust, he sees past the clogged valves and worthless tires – and he sees in us what we can become. He sees us the way we were created to be, when we came off the line, shiny and new and revving our engines, before sin in all its many forms took its toll on us. He wants to get us back there – and he's willing to put in the time and the effort to make it happen. Jesus will stop at nothing to make us a new creation in him – and he proved it on the cross. That's how much he loves us. That's how much he loves you. He was willing to die so that we may have new life, so that we can become, in him, a new creation!
It's Christ's love for us that changes us, his love that transforms us into the people he sees when he looks at us. And once that happens, there's no telling where the transformation will end! But I do know that letting Jesus change us doesn't stop with us – through us, he starts changing the world around us, when we start seeing ourselves and others and God's whole creation from his point of view, we get a taste of what God's never-ending love is like and we want to share that! And other people get a taste of that love and they want to share it too, and it goes on and on! There’ll be no stopping it when we are truly living out Christ’s love for us in our lives & in the world. Then we will be able to say with Paul, “everything old has passed away; see everything has become new!” Thanks be to God!
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment