Do you still marvel at the transformation? People in the community do. A week ago Saturday a man pulled up in the church driveway, got out of his truck, and started pacing around the parking lot with a bemused look on his face. When I went outside he gestured at the church with tattooed arms and said, “What happened to the old building? I grew up in the neighborhood but haven’t been around in a while. Wow. What a change! Is it still the same congregation? I just can’t over the difference!” Do you still marvel at the transformation like that guy did? If not, I’d probably just have to show you a few pictures of the old church and you will marvel again at what an improved facility we are now enjoying.
But according to our Epistle Lesson this morning, the Apostle Paul wants you to know that it’s not just our building that’s new – so are you! You too are a new creation. Do you still marvel at that transformation? If not, it’s probably because you have forgotten what you once looked like without Christ. Today the Holy Spirit reminds us what a difference Jesus has made in our lives. Understanding that change will make a difference in the way we interact with one another.
Listen to a passage which describes what we used to be like before being brought to faith in Jesus. Paul wrote, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). Those without faith in Jesus are foolish because they don’t understand what’s really important in life. Money, fame, good looks, artistic, musical, and athletic skill, all considered to be important by most, will not help you on Judgment Day. Even now as Christians we often spend more time striving after those things than we should.
Before we came to know Jesus we were also deceived when we believed perhaps that there was no God and that this world just kind of happened by accident, and that we evolved from other life forms. We were also enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. Our goal was to gratify our sinful nature, but doing so was never fulfilling. That crazy party with lots of booze was always followed by a hangover so that we probably vowed, “I won’t do that again.” But then we were back at it the following week - slaves to our passions and pleasures.
We also lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another, says Paul. We once had a hard time rejoicing at anyone else’s good fortune. We would not enthusiastically tell our spouse about the promotion of a co-worker, but would explain why the management didn’t know what it was doing by promoting this individual. Little did we realize, or at least we didn’t want to admit, that others were saying the same thing about us in private. That’s the kind of dog-eat-dog world we live in.
But Jesus came to break that cycle. Paul wrote: “…we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died…” (2 Corinthians 5:14). I was recently reading about Genghis Kahn, the ruthless Mongol ruler who lived in the 1200’s. When he and his armies attacked a village, they wouldn’t quit until everyone in the village was dead. Only then would they move on to attack the next target. God’s anger over sin is like that. He won’t quit until every sin and every sinner has been brought to justice. No, God isn’t ruthless like Genghis Kahn; he’s simply righteous and therefore can’t stand any kind of selfish behavior we might display. God is like a gardener that will not rest until every pest has been eradicated and can no longer threaten his tomato plants.
But God is also merciful and doesn’t look at people as pests. We are, after all, the crown of his creation. That’s why he sent his Son to become one of us. That way when God took out his anger on Jesus for our sins at the cross, Jesus’ death became our death. When Jesus died it was as if we all died so that God’s anger could now move away from us, like Genghis Kahn riding away from a village where he thought all the inhabitants were dead.
But the thing is we’re not dead! We’re now very much alive thanks to Jesus’ self-sacrifice. So now what? Paul tells us. “Christ’s love compels us… that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (2 Corinthians 5:15, 16a). What’s translated as “compels” actually means “squeeze.” Jesus’ love for Paul moved him into motion the way squeezing a tube of toothpaste will move the toothpaste onto your toothbrush. And what exactly was Jesus’ love squeezing Paul to do? To no longer live for himself. That’s also God’s will for us now. That means that we will no longer simply leave our toys or our art supplies where we were playing with them because someone else will tidy them up. Nor will we simply step over the dirty socks in the entryway because they’re not ours. It means that we will use our money to support the work of the church, and not just spend it on ourselves. It means that we won’t always try to get attention, but will give other people our attention so that we can figure out what they need and how we can best provide it.
Jesus’ love squeezes us to do this because we no longer look at others from a worldly point of view. The way the world looks at others is that it sees people to manipulate or ignore. Oh sure, we’ll gladly help our neighbor with his chores, but only the neighbor who lets us use his trailer from time to time. The other neighbor who drives a beat up car, well he’s not worth helping because there’s not much he can do for us in return. Why waste our time with him? Only it’s not a waste of time when we serve people like that because every person is a blood-bought soul. Every person is loved by Jesus, and it’s Jesus’ desire that they be in heaven too. When we look at others that way, we won’t care that they don’t have money, or don’t dress the way we do. We’ll simply see people who need Jesus, even as we do, and we’ll be glad to reach out to them with the grace we ourselves have received.
But are we really able to stop being so self-centered and able to view others with love? Yes! Because, says Paul, “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) You really are as different as a caterpillar is from a butterfly. Caterpillars are slow and ugly. They only think of themselves as they move from one leaf to another eating their fill and not caring what happens to the plants they devour. Because caterpillars are so slow they’re easy targets for birds. Butterflies on the other hand soar above the landscape in brilliant colors. As they flit from flower to flower they spread pollen helping those plants multiple. When a caterpillar would come to a boulder, it would see an obstacle that would take a long time to crawl around. When a butterfly comes to a boulder, however, it sees a perch from which it can gain perspective on the world around.
Now consider how Paul is not telling you to act more like a butterfly. He’s telling you that this is what you are. He states a fact when he says: those who are in Jesus are a new creation. Repeat that truth when you’re facing the temptation to overdrink, or view dirty pictures, or gossip, or when tempted with any other sin. Stop yourself and say, “Nope. I’m not going to do those things because I’m in Christ. I’m a new creation. The old me has gone and the new has come!” Just as I doubt a butterfly ever pines for the “good” ol’ days of being a caterpillar, nor should we pine for the days when we were without Christ.
And yet we will fall back into our sinful ways. When you do, don’t deny your wrongdoing, but don’t despair because of them either. Take comfort in the fact that Jesus has washed away all the wrong you did that day. Therefore you can face tomorrow, not because tomorrow is a new day for you to try to get it right again. No, you can face tomorrow because you have the confidence that Jesus has already gotten it right for you! (Preach the Word newsletter, July/Aug 2015, p. 4) It’s Jesus’ love for you, and not your love for Jesus that will compel you to live for him and not yourself.
No, it’s not just our church building that’s new – so are you! Keep marveling at the transformation as you keep treasuring Jesus’ sacrifice. Keep letting Jesus’ love for you squeeze you, like toothpaste out of the tube, so that you refresh every life you touch. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
In what four ways did Paul describe what we once were like before being brought to faith in Jesus?
What did Paul mean when he said, “...one died for all, and therefore all died”?
Christ’s love now compels (lit. squeezes) us to do what two things?
Give more than one example of how you can put the truths listed above into action this week.
Why is it comforting to hear Paul say that we “are” a new creation, and not that we should “become” a new creation?
