Loving God, you pour out your life-giving Spirit upon us and draw us to yourself.  Help us to continue to learn from Jesus, abiding in him in all that we do, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Those of you who have spent any amount of time reading Paul’s letters in the New Testament have probably noticed that often we need to read it slowly and carefully in order to unravel what Paul is saying.  Today’s reading from 2 Corinthians is no different.  So, let’s begin by trying to follow Paul’s line of thought, step by step.

         Today’s reading begins with a comparison of our fragile, temporary, tent-like mortal bodies with our far more permanent heavenly dwelling.  The burdens of this earthly life are acknowledged, as well as the difference between being “at home in the body” and being “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:6, 8).  “We walk by faith, not by sight,” because we are not yet in our heavenly home.

         Still, Paul is confident about what is yet to come.  All of us will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and thus Paul tries to convince others to live for God and for Christ.  He also insists that when we are “in Christ” our way of viewing the world has changed.  We are a new creation.  The old has passed away.

         All of this is part of God reconciling us to Godself through Christ.  Thus, Paul and his co-workers in the gospel have become ambassadors for Christ, appealing to others to be reconciled to God and to one another.  For, when we are in Christ, God’s righteousness becomes visible through us.

         Out of all of this, the part that catches my attention is the new creation in Christ.  Last Sunday, we sang a hymn that begins like this:

My life flows on in endless song; above earth’s lamentation,

I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation. (ELW #763)

It seems as though a lot of people can relate to “earth’s lamentation” these days.  When we look around at what is going on in our world, it can be hard to see any signs of the new creation that is in Christ.

         Yet, this is the new life that is promised throughout the Scriptures – a new life that begins in baptism.  You may have noticed at one time or another that many baptismal fonts are eight-sided.  This is symbolic of the eighth day of creation – or, in other words, the new creation.  In baptism, we leave our old self behind and emerge with a new self.  In baptism, we leave our self-centered ways behind and are given the means to become Christ-centered.  However, as you may have noticed, this does not happen without our cooperation.  As we are reminded in today’s reading, it is those who are “in Christ” who are a new creation.

         One of the best images to help us understand what it means to be in Christ comes from the gospel of John – the vine and the branches.  Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches” (Jn. 15:5).  To be “in Christ” is to have that close, vital, life-giving connection just like the branches on the vine.  We are allowing the Spirit of Christ to be at work within us, just as the branches draw their nutrients and life-giving water from the vine, and it is this same Spirit that enables us to bear fruit.

         Mystics speak in terms like “tuning in” to the Holy Spirit.  Others use more concrete means to establish and maintain their connection with Jesus – like reading and studying the Scriptures; like worshiping and hearing God’s Word; like spending time in prayer both alone and with others.  It is practices like these that help us to know Jesus, and to grow in our faith and in our discipleship.

         Still, the world in which we live needs a lot of help!  Even back in the first century, Paul wrote that Jesus “gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age” (Gal. 1:4).  God does not simply remove us from this world.  We remain “at home in the body” rather than “at home with the Lord.”  However, God does transform the way in which we view both the people and the world around us.  In fact, being “in Christ” transforms our point of view.

         Many people these days are discouraged when they look around and see all of the corruption and greed and sickness and death and violence, among other things.  In the midst of all this, it helps to develop the ability to see God at work, even in the midst of chaos.  In Jesus’ teaching, he often spoke about the kingdom of God as small and hidden and even subversive.  It is like yeast working in a batch of dough, or a tiny mustard seed growing into a tree.  In the same way, we never know what might happen with the seeds that we plant along the way for Jesus.

         The new creation that starts within us by water and the Spirit has the potential to grow and to transform our little corner of the world as we live out our faith in Jesus.  As we heard at the end of today’s reading, being “in Christ” also empowers us to live as God would have us live – that others might encounter Jesus through us.

         We mentioned earlier how, when we are “in Christ,” we see things differently, and no longer “from a human point of view” (2 Cor. 5:16).  These differences in vision are evident in the portion of a parable that we heard today.  The elder brother sees things from a human point of view.  He sees his younger brother as a good-for-nothing, greedy, wasteful human being who doesn’t deserve his father’s blessing.  However, the father rejoices because his son has repented of his former life and has come back home.

         In the same way, our God rejoices when the lost are found and the dead are raised, and those who have been living only for themselves turn to Christ, and live.  For, “if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new” (2 Cor. 5:17)!  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Pentecost 9 (NL summer)              2 Corinthians 5:1-21

August 2, 2020                                 Luke 15:25-32

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2020 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved