Today,
we are starting a summer sermon series based on 2 Corinthians 5:17 – called
Tending the New Creation. This is the
passage: So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! What does
it mean for us to be made new in Christ?
For many of us, it is the assurance that in and through Christ we are
forgiven, that we are loved, that we are children of the covenant, included in
God’s gift of salvation.
In
the time that Paul was writing this, there were some significant ways in which
people were made new. As small
communities of people gathered to live out the teachings of Jesus Christ, they
had to learn to let go of some of the cultural norms that existed. In Galatians Paul writes: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no
longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female;
for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
What
does it mean for us to be made new in Christ?
Some people have dramatic stories of how a life of faith has had a major
impact on them and they have left behind destructive choices and are seeking
wholeness in life But for many others,
we may not have put much thought into how being followers of the teachings of
Jesus have actually called us into God’s new creation. Just prior to this passage, Paul explains a
little more about what it means to be a new creation in Christ, he proclaims: that
those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and
was raised for them.
What
if we were to live for Christ? Many of us live for others, but what if we live
for Christ? What would this look like
for us? As we think about this, as we
take time to ponder within our own lives and how we live and what we live for,
we are going to allow the summer to be a time to let that New Creation within
us grow.
Maybe
you clearly know what the New Creation is within yourself. Or
perhaps you are sensing an area of your life that you would like to change, God
is always calling us into transformation.
Throughout our scriptures there are multiple suggestions as to how
people of faith should live, how they should reflect being a part of God’s New
Creation: we should feed the hungry,
clothe the naked – we do many of these things by volunteering, or what we like
to call it in the church – mission outreach.
The scriptures also call us to be good stewards, whether that is of our
treasures, our talent, our time, and the resources of our planet. In today’s day and age, being a part of God’s
New Creation might be calling us to consider the food we eat, do we buy organic
or locally? Do we compost? Do we think about our shopping patterns? Or perhaps being a part of the new creation
needs to begin with some self-care, such as exercise, learning more about the
scriptures, spending time writing, or studying.
The
new creation calls us to embrace God’s love, love for ourselves, love for
others, love for God, and love for the world in which we live. For the summer, I have chosen for my
spiritual practice of being a part of God’s new creation to be composting and
eating healthy. Each of these can be seen as seedlings within God’s
garden. And seedlings need care and
attention. I started off with a worm
compost, and it was an epic fail.
Somehow, I managed to kill two pounds of worms, even with very
intentional nurture. So, I decided to
purchase a compost tumbler and my compost is doing great.
The
eating healthier part of my self-care in God’s new creation is a bigger
struggle. We are buying farm fresh
vegetables for the summer, but there are still a ton of snacks around the house
with the children being home. So, this
is where I am going to have to work on nurturing the seedling within me.
Seeds,
seedlings, new growth, new creation, we all know the question – which came
first the chicken or the egg? So I
ask: Which came first: the flower of the seed? Then
God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit
trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it. Now, I am an evolutionist, but I do very much
believe God created this world, so which ever came first, God designed it and I
am lost in awe and wonder at how something so small as a seed can be
transformed into anything at all.
If
something as small as a mustard seed can become a great plant, why do we doubt
that we can be something amazing? If God
designed a seed to grow into something amazing, a tree, a flower, a plant, a
bush, can we not see how God designed us to be transformed into a glorious
garden filled with a glorious harvest?
But first, we have to plant with care.
A mustard seed will stay a mustard seed unless it is planted. Marcia
Mcfee writes: Germinated
seeds must be planted in order for roots to begin to dig deep in the soil. Is
the soil in which we plant our hopes fertile? Inherent in the action of
planting is an action of belief that something will come of our effort. Can we
imagine what will be? This is a work of the people for the sake of those who
will come. What are we planting for future generations?
I see the church as God’s garden. We are all the seeds, and now we must plant
with care. We plant the mustard seed of
faith within us, we patiently wait as the seed germinates, and we believe that
in Christ, we are made new, that we are a new creation, that God is alive
within this community and within ourselves to bring forth the Kingdom. We
also believe that our actions, when done as a part of God’s love, as a part of
God’s New Creation, have a ripple effect that spread out into the greater world
in ways we may never know or see. On our
bulletin cover, I used words from Mother Teresa that state? I alone cannot change the world, but I can
cast a stone across the waters and create many ripples. Is that now what we are called to do as a
part of God’s New Creation, create ripples?
Let us be the positive ripples of change, ripples of love, ripples of
forgiveness, ripples of God’s new creation.
Our call to worship – was:
You are a seed of the word, O people,
Bring forth the kingdom of God!
Seeds of mercy and seeds of justice,
Grow in the kingdom of God!
Bring forth the kingdom of mercy,
Bring forth the kingdom of peace.
Bring forth the kingdom of justice,
Bring forth the kingdom of God!
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