New Life From Old
Sermon
THE VICTORY OF FAITH
New Testament Sermons For Lent And Easter
Easter is in springtime for a reason. Springtime is that time of year when new life emerges from the old. Easter is that time of history when New Life emerged from the old.
You might well imagine the surprise of the first disciples when they discovered the empty tomb, and later when they had a close encounter with the risen Christ. Peter, in a journal-like comment, rehearses the events in his conversation with Cornelius and his family and friends: "We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead."
We too have encountered the risen Christ through faith. We were not present at the empty tomb; we did not see the Lord as the disciples did, but yet we too believe. Jesus said to his disciples, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
Though we have not seen, we still have the privilege to eat and drink with our Lord. He has not left us without a sign of his resurrection, without a symbol of his eternal presence with his people. The close encounter continues. New life from old occurs as we receive Holy Communion, the family meal of the children of God, through which the crucified Jesus is truly present with us. Plain old bread is made into a witness of his body -- crucified, yet risen. Common old wine is made into a witness of his blood -- shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin. As we share in this sacred meal, we proclaim to the world that we are children of God now. God the Father has sent his Son for us, and by the power of the Holy Spirit we believe and are witnesses to the love of God for all people through Jesus Christ.
John's words describing his apostolic experience in his day are just as true for us today: "We have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us."
Just as the past is made present for believers through faith, so too is the future made present for believers through faith. New life from old happened through the historical events of Jesus 2,000 years ago, such that Paul wrote about the New Age dawning. New life from old will also happen in the resurrection unto life everlasting yet to come. And new life from old is happening today for believers through faith.
God does not give us merely a reflective faith that looks back and reminisces fondly. Nor does God give us only a far-flung hope into the future. God also gives us a present experience of new life from old. We are children of God, John writes. That is present tense reality. Paul expressed it this way, "You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Two caterpillars were crawling across the grass when they saw a butterfly flutter above them. One nudged the other and said, "You couldn't get me up in one of those things for a million dollars!"
Poor little caterpillars, can you not see what you may yet become? How much we are like these caterpillars! We become so familiar with what is, that we fail to see what God can make of us -- new life from old.
The gospel challenges us with new life. Through faith, God gives us the opportunity to view life differently, from a loftier height, from a resurrection height. There are great possibilities of creative living yet ahead of us. God calls us to a winged existence of faith that leaves behind the old, cumbersome past, laden with sin and death.
Like the caterpillars who follow nature's course and become dead to their old form in their cocoon, we must awaken to the fact that our old life is not worth hanging on to. Paul writes, "No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness."
Nicky Cruz came to this awareness. He was one of the most feared gang members in New York City, engaging in rumbles wearing a garbage can for protection and wielding a baseball bat for an instrument of destruction. When Nicky encountered the risen Lord Jesus, he received a new life through faith. He became an "instrument of righteousness" who was able to rise above the carnage of life on the street. He shared his newfound faith with others and led them to experience the power of new life in Jesus Christ. Just as the caterpillar has to be willing to die to the old self, so too the believer dies to an old life of sin.
Just as the butterfly replaces the caterpillar, so too there is a new life of faith that replaces the old life. What does that new life of faith look like?
There is an inherent danger in asking that question. It implies that one can observe the life of faith, as if it were an object to handle, put under the microscope, or display in a case. The life of faith is to be lived, not observed. God may indeed view it from the heavens, but as humans we can only perceive it by actually living it. Entomologists and curious children observe butterflies. But, the butterfly itself is totally involved in the art of flying and finding nectar daily to sustain its new life beyond the cocoon.
This danger acknowledged, let us dare to ask the question about the appearance of the new life. One of the Christian classics in literature is the book by Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, considered by some "the most perfect flower of medieval Christianity." The essential message of this work is that the Christian life is to be like Christ, following in his footsteps. Martin Luther was fond of saying that we are to be "little Christs" to our neighbors.
What would such a life look like? There are two things that immediately come to mind that can apply to every Christian life. First, the new life is characterized by forgiveness. Jesus taught us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." In one of the parables of the kingdom, he reminded us that we are to forgive one another, just as God has forgiven us. When Peter asks him how many times a person should forgive, "As many as seven times?" Jesus responds with an exaggerated sense of unlimited forgiveness, "Seventy times seven."
Forgiveness is the diamond in the treasure of Christian virtues. It is old hat to hold grudges and be bitter toward others because of some action in the past. It is powerfully new and refreshing for the relationship when a person is able to forgive. Let go and let God rebuild the relationship that had been lost.
The windmills of Holland were built to reclaim land lost to the ocean, so that it can be fertile for growth. Forgiveness is the windmill of Christian faith, reclaiming lost land in relationships, so that they can grow and flourish once again.
To imitate Christ means to be willing to forgive. This willingness and this ability to forgive is a resurrection reality for those who believe in Christ.
Forgetting not is the old life; forgiving now is the new life.
Second, the new life is characterized by service. On Thursday evening before his crucifixion, Jesus washed the disciples' feet. He said, "If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you." The new life in Christ imitates Christ, and that means a life of service.
For centuries the servant's role has been considered one of lowly origin. The servant's quarters were distinct from the main house; the servant's entrance was around the side or in back, not at the main gate into the estate. In God's brave new world, it is the servant who is elevated to the status of the right hand of God. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Jesus responded to the issue of greatness in this way: "Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant ƒ just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Selfishness is the old life; service is the new life.
There was once a widow who visited the cemetery weekly. Tears were shed and bitter words expressed, as she reminded her husband of how he was so careless with his diet and ate himself into an early grave.
One day the pastor happened to walk by and noticed her standing by the headstone. He approached just in time to hear her describe the kind of meals she tried to fix for him, but which he refused to eat, preferring to snack on high fat, high salt foods instead.
"Sounds like you are still mad at George," the pastor said quietly.
"Sure am," the woman responded. "Why does he keep doing this to me? I can still see him late at night at the kitchen table, eating a greasy sandwich."
"I don't see where he is doing anything to you anymore, Mary," the pastor observed. "You are the one who won't change the channel in your mind."
"How can I? That's exactly what he would do."
"Yes, but you could forgive him for such decisions he made and then get on with your life. Right now, your anger is burying you with him."
Those words startled Mary into seeing how she was holding on to her anger at her husband, not forgiving him. "Am I still nagging my husband?" she thought to herself. She had been experiencing a certain smugness in his inability to answer her now.
"O, God in heaven," she sighed, "how could I be so mean?"
The pastor did not see Mary in the cemetery much anymore. The next time he did see her was at the community meal site for senior citizens, cooking over a hot stove, providing nutritious dinners for those who are on meager incomes or do not eat well alone.
God does not cotton much to graveyard people. The tomb is empty and God is with his people who are on the move, striving to live. God is a God of action, constantly bringing new life from old.
This new life from old happened dramatically, historically once for all in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It will certainly happen at the end of time, when Christ comes again. In the meantime, it is happening daily, as the breath of God gives flight to those who spread their wings of faith and learn how to imitate Christ in forgiveness and service. Amen.
You might well imagine the surprise of the first disciples when they discovered the empty tomb, and later when they had a close encounter with the risen Christ. Peter, in a journal-like comment, rehearses the events in his conversation with Cornelius and his family and friends: "We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead."
We too have encountered the risen Christ through faith. We were not present at the empty tomb; we did not see the Lord as the disciples did, but yet we too believe. Jesus said to his disciples, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."
Though we have not seen, we still have the privilege to eat and drink with our Lord. He has not left us without a sign of his resurrection, without a symbol of his eternal presence with his people. The close encounter continues. New life from old occurs as we receive Holy Communion, the family meal of the children of God, through which the crucified Jesus is truly present with us. Plain old bread is made into a witness of his body -- crucified, yet risen. Common old wine is made into a witness of his blood -- shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sin. As we share in this sacred meal, we proclaim to the world that we are children of God now. God the Father has sent his Son for us, and by the power of the Holy Spirit we believe and are witnesses to the love of God for all people through Jesus Christ.
John's words describing his apostolic experience in his day are just as true for us today: "We have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us."
Just as the past is made present for believers through faith, so too is the future made present for believers through faith. New life from old happened through the historical events of Jesus 2,000 years ago, such that Paul wrote about the New Age dawning. New life from old will also happen in the resurrection unto life everlasting yet to come. And new life from old is happening today for believers through faith.
God does not give us merely a reflective faith that looks back and reminisces fondly. Nor does God give us only a far-flung hope into the future. God also gives us a present experience of new life from old. We are children of God, John writes. That is present tense reality. Paul expressed it this way, "You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Two caterpillars were crawling across the grass when they saw a butterfly flutter above them. One nudged the other and said, "You couldn't get me up in one of those things for a million dollars!"
Poor little caterpillars, can you not see what you may yet become? How much we are like these caterpillars! We become so familiar with what is, that we fail to see what God can make of us -- new life from old.
The gospel challenges us with new life. Through faith, God gives us the opportunity to view life differently, from a loftier height, from a resurrection height. There are great possibilities of creative living yet ahead of us. God calls us to a winged existence of faith that leaves behind the old, cumbersome past, laden with sin and death.
Like the caterpillars who follow nature's course and become dead to their old form in their cocoon, we must awaken to the fact that our old life is not worth hanging on to. Paul writes, "No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness."
Nicky Cruz came to this awareness. He was one of the most feared gang members in New York City, engaging in rumbles wearing a garbage can for protection and wielding a baseball bat for an instrument of destruction. When Nicky encountered the risen Lord Jesus, he received a new life through faith. He became an "instrument of righteousness" who was able to rise above the carnage of life on the street. He shared his newfound faith with others and led them to experience the power of new life in Jesus Christ. Just as the caterpillar has to be willing to die to the old self, so too the believer dies to an old life of sin.
Just as the butterfly replaces the caterpillar, so too there is a new life of faith that replaces the old life. What does that new life of faith look like?
There is an inherent danger in asking that question. It implies that one can observe the life of faith, as if it were an object to handle, put under the microscope, or display in a case. The life of faith is to be lived, not observed. God may indeed view it from the heavens, but as humans we can only perceive it by actually living it. Entomologists and curious children observe butterflies. But, the butterfly itself is totally involved in the art of flying and finding nectar daily to sustain its new life beyond the cocoon.
This danger acknowledged, let us dare to ask the question about the appearance of the new life. One of the Christian classics in literature is the book by Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, considered by some "the most perfect flower of medieval Christianity." The essential message of this work is that the Christian life is to be like Christ, following in his footsteps. Martin Luther was fond of saying that we are to be "little Christs" to our neighbors.
What would such a life look like? There are two things that immediately come to mind that can apply to every Christian life. First, the new life is characterized by forgiveness. Jesus taught us to pray, "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." In one of the parables of the kingdom, he reminded us that we are to forgive one another, just as God has forgiven us. When Peter asks him how many times a person should forgive, "As many as seven times?" Jesus responds with an exaggerated sense of unlimited forgiveness, "Seventy times seven."
Forgiveness is the diamond in the treasure of Christian virtues. It is old hat to hold grudges and be bitter toward others because of some action in the past. It is powerfully new and refreshing for the relationship when a person is able to forgive. Let go and let God rebuild the relationship that had been lost.
The windmills of Holland were built to reclaim land lost to the ocean, so that it can be fertile for growth. Forgiveness is the windmill of Christian faith, reclaiming lost land in relationships, so that they can grow and flourish once again.
To imitate Christ means to be willing to forgive. This willingness and this ability to forgive is a resurrection reality for those who believe in Christ.
Forgetting not is the old life; forgiving now is the new life.
Second, the new life is characterized by service. On Thursday evening before his crucifixion, Jesus washed the disciples' feet. He said, "If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you." The new life in Christ imitates Christ, and that means a life of service.
For centuries the servant's role has been considered one of lowly origin. The servant's quarters were distinct from the main house; the servant's entrance was around the side or in back, not at the main gate into the estate. In God's brave new world, it is the servant who is elevated to the status of the right hand of God. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. Jesus responded to the issue of greatness in this way: "Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant ƒ just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
Selfishness is the old life; service is the new life.
There was once a widow who visited the cemetery weekly. Tears were shed and bitter words expressed, as she reminded her husband of how he was so careless with his diet and ate himself into an early grave.
One day the pastor happened to walk by and noticed her standing by the headstone. He approached just in time to hear her describe the kind of meals she tried to fix for him, but which he refused to eat, preferring to snack on high fat, high salt foods instead.
"Sounds like you are still mad at George," the pastor said quietly.
"Sure am," the woman responded. "Why does he keep doing this to me? I can still see him late at night at the kitchen table, eating a greasy sandwich."
"I don't see where he is doing anything to you anymore, Mary," the pastor observed. "You are the one who won't change the channel in your mind."
"How can I? That's exactly what he would do."
"Yes, but you could forgive him for such decisions he made and then get on with your life. Right now, your anger is burying you with him."
Those words startled Mary into seeing how she was holding on to her anger at her husband, not forgiving him. "Am I still nagging my husband?" she thought to herself. She had been experiencing a certain smugness in his inability to answer her now.
"O, God in heaven," she sighed, "how could I be so mean?"
The pastor did not see Mary in the cemetery much anymore. The next time he did see her was at the community meal site for senior citizens, cooking over a hot stove, providing nutritious dinners for those who are on meager incomes or do not eat well alone.
God does not cotton much to graveyard people. The tomb is empty and God is with his people who are on the move, striving to live. God is a God of action, constantly bringing new life from old.
This new life from old happened dramatically, historically once for all in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It will certainly happen at the end of time, when Christ comes again. In the meantime, it is happening daily, as the breath of God gives flight to those who spread their wings of faith and learn how to imitate Christ in forgiveness and service. Amen.
