6-21-2022

 Good Morning!    

              2 Corinthians 5:17; “Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.”   

    I love my wife dearly; I really do but sometimes her taste in TV shows leave me wanting.  She likes to watch those home makeover shows.  She likes those tearjerker ones where they remodel a house for a good cause.  She likes the ones where the guy just stops someone on the street and offers to redo s complete stranger’s house.  She likes the ones where three people compete in a contest to remodel houses.  She likes the ones where the neighbors swap and remodel the other one’s house.  She loves them; I just don’t get them.

   I cannot ever imagine having someone, friend, or complete stranger, just walk into my house, start knocking down walls, going to junkyards and “salvaging” some old piece of whatever and painting my house.  I don’t think that there is anyone who could really know what I would truly like.  There are a lot of styles I can tolerate but if it is supposed to be what I would like; I think you should ask me.  Because no matter how close we are to one another, I don’t really think we can absolutely say we can positively know what the other person would like without some direction from the other person.  Needless to say, I would never remodel your house.

    I say this because we can never really know what another person likes.  We might understand their likings, their tendencies.  We might be able to do something that they would be impressed with or satisfied with but to do so in a fashion that the recipient would find completely right just seems highly unlikely.  It takes a complete understanding which we lack.

    Yet we know that God does know exactly what we need.  He knows that our sinful nature needs to disappear.  This sinful nature is not just offensive to God; it causes us to turn away from God.  Our sinful nature seeks to control our life and make us think that our own selfish and self-centered desires are what will truly make us happy.  Our sinful nature clouds our eyes from the truth.  Yet the blood of Christ removes that cloud and makes everything new for us.  We receive a total makeover that gives us a whole new life.  It is not just redone; it is completely changed into the new life as a redeemed child of God. 

   This is the makeover that changes life for us.  We no longer have to face the trials alone, but we have God’s grace guarding us, God’s Spirit guiding us and God’s ear to listen to us and to hear our cries of sadness or gladness.  He gives us our comfort through his Word both spoken and touched.  He comforts us with our fellow redeemed brothers and sisters.  We are completely changed from lonely, selfish beings to ones who seek God and all that he offers us.  We are new creatures, a total makeover.

Gracious Father, you make us new creatures through the Baptism we receive because of Jesus.  We are new in your grace and brought back from the old, decrepit being that we were.  Give us the certainty of hope in you.  Be with those who feel most lost.  Bring them comfort and hope. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret