Extreme Makeover
John 21: 12-19
First United Methodist Church, Vineland
Georgina Pando-Connolly
Humor:
How come when you mix water and flour together you get glue..
and then you add eggs and sugar... and you get cake?
Where did the glue go?
NEED AN ANSWER?
You know very well where it went!
That’s what makes the cake... Stick to your hips.
Well, that’s it, it finally happened to me! In spite of the constant warnings from the cosmetic industry, regardless of the tons of cold-cream, Oil of Olay and thousand of Lancome samples. Even with a regimen of exercise, weight training, breakfast with Dr. Pericone and dinner with Dr. Atkins, everything my mom told me about aging is happening to me.
I call it gravitational readjustments because I refuse to call it drooping. Why the other day I was resting in bed, and as I turned over, parts of my body left the bed before I did. I’m sure that has never happened to anyone here. Then that same day I bump into Adell and Virginia and . . . as I’m describing my troubles they speak these comforting words, “Ha! Wait until you get to be our age!
Well in a world full of runway models and movie stars, a world ruled by magazines and TV adds, in a world where everyone is supposed to look like Jennifer Lopez or Brad Pitt, common, ordinary people like you and me look at ourselves in the mirror and scream …….Ouch! I need a makeover.
It’s great to be healthy and to want to look our best, but we need to be realistic and not only accept, but find joy, humor and yes, beauty in the body and face that God has given us, and yes, even in the changes that take place in these faces and bodies. We know there are many different kinds of beauty, even in the physical realm.
There is a royal dignity in displaying your gray mane. Is there anyone here as beautiful as Bessie or Evelyn, with their ninety-plus years of age? Who says bald isn’t handsome? And why not feel proud of the stretch marks in your belly, aren’t they reminders of the children God gave you to carry and to love. Young girls, the average dress size in America isn’t size 2 petite, but size 12. So take care of what you have been given but be content with your size and shape.
But no, people are no longer satisfied with simple makeovers to help them look their best. No, now there’s a reality TV show called EXTREME makeovers, where plastic surgeons, cut, remove and replace flesh, teeth, hair, bones, fat, from any part of one “lucky” person’s body to make them “perfect”. Extreme Makeover! Physical perfection. Shallow beauty for a shallow world. What about us, believers, do we get caught in all this?
The letter to the Romans Chapter13, Verse 11 speaks to us today:
“ Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers.”
Do we realize that the time is today, to wake up from this clueless Christianity, for our salvation is here! Jesus did His part, we must wake up and let the Spirit of God change us!
When I was 29 I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus. As April and my 30th birthdays approached I panicked. I won’t be young any more, I thought. But on March 12 of that same year an amazing thing happened in my life. I met Jesus and His love and His power. Jesus touched my heart and changed it and anointed my life. By the time my 30 birthday came, I was too busy and too much in love with my Lord to focus on vanity.
The Holy Spirit of God had given me a Radical makeover. I changed !
Extreme Makeover of the Spiritual kind. Do you need one? Well I know a Divine Physician willing to assist just for the asking. I know a God so good that He was willing to suffer and to die for you and for me. I know a God so powerful, so forgiving that He takes a bunch of cowardly men, including a mess like Peter and turns them into anointed leaders of His church. I know of a love so strong that it invades a bunch of sinful women and suddenly they are clean, and powerful and brave enough to stand at the foot of the cross and catch the drops of blood from their Rabbi’s wounds. Complete change, extreme makeover.
Our Gospel this morning presents some of the apostles, led by Peter, fishing again all night at the Sea of Tiberias and catching nothing. Then just after daybreak a man calls to them from the shore, “Did you catch anything?” They say, “no.” Then the man instructs them to throw the net to the right and they catch so many fish that they can’t pull the net. Immediately John realizes that this is Jesus and tells Peter. And what does Peter do? He puts some clothes on and jumps into the water, rushing desperately to be with Jesus.
Now remember Peter’s betrayal and denial of Jesus. Imagine the heavy burden in his heart as he swam ashore. What would Jesus say to him? Peter deserved whatever! He didn’t care. He wanted to be near his Lord!
And you? How do you react when you have to face a person whom you have hurt? Do you rush into their presence or do you swim the other way?
Why was Peter portrayed by the Evangelist as naked? Do we have to strip our souls naked before receiving an extreme makeover? Why did he take the time to put his clothes on? Was he covering his shame? Did he not remember that Jesus had seen his naked soul?
Why is a spiritual makeover so painful and difficult? Is it because our ugliness is so pervasive? Why is it so slow? Is it because we cling to the old flesh and it hurts so much to let go?
Fat is sucked out of our bodies with liposuction and in a tummy tuck two thirds of the hanging skin, real flesh, is cut off and discarded into trash bins. When we allow the Spirit of God to perform an extreme makeover in us, our sins and ugliness are cut off and discarded from us forever. And Grace is the suture that keeps our wounds closed and clean.
Extreme makeover, radical change, that’s what took place in Peter, He broke bread with Jesus and then heard the question: , "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
John 21:16
A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep."
And then there was a third time. . . and the words came: "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.
Can you feel the sorrow, can you almost see the tears in Peter’s eyes? Jesus had no reproach for him, no harsh words, no “if onlys”. There was only tenderness, and repetition, as if to say, “you, Peter, must be sure.” Are you aware, do you realize that YOU have changed? Do you know that your own pain, and my suffering and nails and death, and Resurrection has transformed you?
And how about you, dear friend? Are you willing to put aside the ugliness that’s still there? Are you willing to let God change you from the inside out? Are you aware that there are areas in you that need radical surgery. Will you be willing to undergo spiritual liposuction? Sometimes bones need to be crushed and teeth need to be drilled in order to be made healthy and beautiful. Are you willing to
Change so that you can be used?
The old Simon Peter, with his strong temperament, his ups and downs, his cowardice and his temper, was of no great use to the Lord. He wasn’t a good example for the sheep.
After his extreme makeover, Simon Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he was brave and bold and anointed. He allowed himself to be led. He died to what He wanted and lived to do God’s will, to go where God wanted him to go and do what God wanted him to do. When loved transformed him, only then was he able to truly lead and feed God’s sheep.
How about you? are you here for yourself or for the Lord? Do you get in the way of ministry? Who’s number one? Do you need a ego tuck? Do you even know?
Are you willing to take an honest look at yourself this morning? Will you undergo an extreme makeover for your Lord? Can you hear Jesus asking:
Do you love me?
Do you love me?
Do you love me more than these?
