SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
TEXT: 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. THEME: Christ in us enables us to create in new ways. INTRODUCTION Our world used to be a tricycle. Riding around as fast as we could pedal. Until we got a bicycle with training wheels. Faster speed and yet ridged turns that slowed us down. With practice we master balancing on our own, the training wheels came off and all kind of possibilities became available to us as we begin to lean into turns and exceed speed and distances previously unknown. The old is past and we were new creations. Paul sees this progression of the community of faith. We start off by beloving, taking what we believe about God and Jesus and applying this in loving actions with those around us. We imitate Jesus’ game plan of how to live the Commandments with gentleness, kindness, grace and endurance, drawing those around us towards God. Then we can begin to imagine what the world could be like, in our communities, in our nation and between nations. We imagine, justice, equity, harmony, sharing, respect and an enrichment from everybody’s culture and backgrounds. There is a transformation that takes place inside of us that gives us wheels for mountain biking, for cross county rides, for cruises to the mall with friends. Not to mention romance on a bicycle built for two. We can’t go back to the limitations of a tricycle. We are new. SCRIPTURE We no longer see ourselves from a human point of view, but what we know about God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit enables us to see each other from the perspective of God. We are good, redeemable, loved, and a valued part of God’s People. This perspective gives us a new way to live with God and others. We don’t have to reach for past glories but are able to build on our cherished foundations for something new. Remember how we thought for each sin we had to make a sacrifice or ask for forgiveness to make it go away. We don’t have to do that anymore with God or with Jesus because their love for us supersedes our trying to make amends. If we as parents, can do this for our children, certainly God, as our heavenly parent does this for us. Not counting our trespasses against us, we can get out of that cycle and begin to imagine a new reconciliation based on what love can do. Reconciliation not in the way we balance our check book with checks and balances, debts and funds, but a drawing us into God, because God loves us. Our lives are lived informed by God’s love for us in; our families, our work, our play and even in how we practice our faith. Compelling, real, caring, kind, and welcoming. Imagine if we can be this in our homes, in our church, in our community, in our work and as a people. This is a mission of reconciliation of which we are called as Ambassadors for Christ. APPLICATION Our old perspective came from the Law of Moses and obeying the Commandments. These were the rule of the games. We played a game of not trying to break the rules in fear of punishments. Jesus gives us the Game Plan of living within the will of God, with grace and freedom. How does our perspective of faith help us to create something new? All of the teams in March Madness play by the same Basketball rules but each team has their own game plan on defense, speed, offense, transition, and rhythm. We all do things differently according to our talent, skill, teammates, help and resources. Those who do the best are cohesive, imitate the best moves, and are imaginative. Building on the way the game has been played in the past, they create something new. It is very rare for a team to three peat, so every team has a chance to win. Irish poet, John O’Donohue says we are all artist, involved in the construction of our world. We are always shaping and building it. Everyone has imagination, and when Christ is in us, it is transformative. Being loved, valued, cared for, forgiven and accepted informs our imagination. Then living becomes a creative act of growing and moving forward in Christ and community. This is where I think our church is exceptional, in thinking about what God might be calling us to do, and then to being willing to take action in those directions. As we begin moving on the idea of housing units on the Mission Ground, we said that God would provide for us if this is what God wants us to do. So, we could change our project according to where we would find funding, and that we would keep on going with this project until God closed the door. So far God continues to open doors for us towards providing affordable rental units for those born and raised on Maui wanting to raise their families here. The other thing O’Donohue said about our creative lives, is that it is a calling. The Greek work for ‘calling’ finds its root in the word for “beauty”. We are called to be in the presence of beauty. This is not passive, but calls us to be changed from what has harden us or wounded, to have a heart of creativity. CONCLUSION Paul’s letters to the church are an encouragement for the church to take action and create something new. With Christ in us a transformation takes place as we see glimpses of how God sees the world and us as good. Taking what we learn about God’s love for us and Jesus’ ministry among us, to take action to love others in being patient, forgiving, gracious and kind. What Jesus models for us in living in relationship with God, gives us freedom to be creative and inventive in our relationship with God and others. God gives us the capacity to imagine a better world than the one we are living and we like an artist we have a chance to create something better. This call, is to be partners in life with God, as co-creators and stewards of something new.
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