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February 21, 2010
 
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March 7, 2010
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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March 14, 2010—Fourth Sunday of Lent

Lectionary Texts: Judges 5:9-12; Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Sermon Text: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

A New Worldview

Have to ever wanted a giant do-over? Perhaps you are in the middle of an argument with your spouse and you realize that you are the one actually being the jerk and you just want a do over about the whole thing. Or perhaps you lost your temper with your kids, you yelled at them and now they are in the rooms crying. You realize that you have just taken all of your frustrations out on your kids; you want a do over.

I love the Southwest Airline commercials. Have you seen them? The commercials that end with the phrase, “wanna get away?” My favorite is the one when the lady is having trouble with her contact lenses and so she heads to the bathroom. She gets her contact fixed only to realize that she is in the men’s bathroom, “wanna get away?”

Ever wanted a giant “do over” or just to get away? Life has gotten too crazy. If you could start over, everything would be better. If we could wake up tomorrow and the regrets of past decisions would be gone; if all of our relationships would be made right; if we could actually live the life we’ve always wanted instead of having to settle for the one we have. If we could actually believe God; if we could break our addictions; if we could control our tempers; if we could actually love others as God loves them.

It seems we live a lot of life somewhere between the decisions of the past and the life we want to live. Sometimes getting to the life we want to be living just seems impossible.

The apostle Paul paints a picture of this human predicament in his second letter to the Corinthian church. This is what he has to say: [Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21]

Life doesn’t have to be the way it has always been. The things that hold us back from living the life God intended us to live is actually possible--here and now. Paul tell us that anyone who is in Christ is a “new creation.” Anyone who has faith in Christ and lives for him no longer has to live with regrets of the past, addictions or failures. He or she can actually live a new life--one that is right with God and one that is right with others.

The good news is that this new life isn’t something we have to figure out on our own. We cannot read this in a book found in the self-help section of Barnes & Noble. This new life is not about us trying to attain it on our own, by our own strength. The Scripture tells us that this new creation is from God.

On of my favorite kid toys is the Etch-A-Sketch. Now, I’m not very good at it, but I love that if you mess up all you have to do is give it a little shake. The mistake goes away and you can start over again.

This is exactly what Paul is referring to in our passage. God can give us a little shake or perhaps a big shake and we get to start all over again. A new life is possible. A new etch-a-sketch of a life is possible. God in his grace lets us have “do overs.” No matter how much we mess our lives up, God is still there willing to help us start over again. It doesn’t matter how much we haven’t believed in God, how much we’ve messed life up, or how far or how close we are to God-- God is still reminding us that when we are in him. We are new creations, the old is gone and new life is possible.

I don’t know about you, but even those of us who have been on the journey for quite some time can use a good little shaking, a little do-over in life. God is offering this to us this morning.