Getting a Makeover

Acts 2: 41-47

So those who welcomed his message were baptized,

and that day about three thousand persons were added.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching

and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Awe came upon everyone,

because many wonders and signs were being done

by the apostles.

All who believed were together and had all things in common;

they would sell their possessions and goods

and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.

Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple,

they broke bread at home and ate their food

with glad and generous hearts,

praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.

And day by day the Lord added to their number

those who were being saved. 

Colossians 3: 12-17

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,

humility, meekness, and patience.

Bear with one another and,

if anyone has a complaint against another,

forgive each other;

just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love,

which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

to which indeed you were called in the one body.

And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly;

teach and admonish one another in all wisdom;

and with gratitude in your hearts

sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

And whatever you do, in word or deed,

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,

giving thanks to God the Father through him.

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I will confess that I am a fan of Project Runway.

My daughter got me hooked on this show in its second season,

and I still try to see it when I have a chance.

I love to see how they design, cut, fit, and present

         a different piece of fashion in only a day or two,

         in response to the crazy challenges they are given.

Lots of people watch the food channel,

         Top Chef and all those, but for me, it’s Project Runway.

Just about once each season,

         they bring in a group of “normal people”

         and are given the challenge to do “a makeover”.

And of course, the before/after pictures show significant

         changes that have been made.

The hair, the makeup, the clothes, the style, the walk –

         all completely different.

And of course, any of us who have gotten ourselves all fixed up

         for a special occasion know, that the next morning,

we go back to being who we are every day.

The letter to the Colossians was written to encourage

this early Christian community to live the life they see

in Jesus Christ.

It encourages them to form and maintain a sense of community,

based on the virtues that Christ reflected.

These are new lifestyles for them to put on –

they reflect a change from earthly life.

In fact, the letter tells them to get rid of things

         like anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abuse.

Take off those clothes, and instead clothe yourselves

         with the new life that comes from your baptism,

         the new life that reflects the image of your creator.

So we have received a makeover from Christ –

         not for a day, but for a lifetime – in fact, for an eternity.

We are now given to wear

         the clothes of compassion, kindness, humility,

         meekness, and patience, forgiveness, and above all, love,

         which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Wrap your hearts in the peace of Christ, and be thankful.

This is the way we live, and the way we worship.

We are transformed people, redeemed people,

         and resurrection people. We are Easter people.

This is the type of transformation that comes from

         New Life in Christ.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul sends a similar message, when he says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

This is not about tweaking, this Christian life we have been chosen for, but it is about complete transformation.

Christ intends to make of us something far beyond

         the relatively minor corrections that we may imagine

         is all we need.

C.S. Lewis describes it well in his book of collected essays

         entitled “Mere Christianity”. He says,

“Imagine yourself as a living house.

God comes in to rebuild that house.

At first, perhaps, you can understand what God is doing.

God is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof

         and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing

         and so you are not surprised.

But presently God starts knocking the house about

         in a way that hurts abominably

         and does not seem to make any sense.

What on earth is God up to?

The explanation is that God is building

         quite a different house from the one you thought of –

         throwing out a new wing here,

         putting on an extra floor there,

         running up towers, making courtyards.

You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage:

but God is building a palace. God intends to come and live in it Himself.”

A palace from a cottage. Now that is transformation – a permanent makeover!

I had conversations with some of you this week

         about what God expects of us.

The idea that grace is freely given to us

         can create tension and confusion

         when we consider that God must expect each of us

         to do something meaningful with our lives.

Are we earning God’s favor?

Are we responding to it?

Are we disappointing God if we don’t?

How does God judge us if we are unproductive,

         if we don’t use our gifts effectively?

These are good and difficult questions,

         and indeed we cannot ultimately understand

         God’s mercy and God’s grace,

         all wrapped up in some sort of God’s judgment.

This is a mystery beyond our understanding.

Christ gave us an answer in the story of the prodigal son, where the father first gives the full inheritance to the son – to us – to use as he chooses. And he squanders it. But every day the father looks down the road for the son. And the day he sees him coming home, he bypasses any words of apology or forgiveness, and runs to the end of the road to embrace him. He sees his beloved child, not as needing to be judged, but needing to be loved and embraced and welcomed, and celebrated with a big party! This is how God sees each person in the world.

But perhaps there is something significant God wants us to do

         in the days after our return.

Perhaps these words from Colossians

         give us our starting point.

Perhaps this is the good news in today’s Living Word.

Perhaps what God expects of us is to act

         as the people we’ve been made into -

         to put on these work clothes we have been given –

the clothes of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness,

         and patience, forgiveness, stitched together with love,

for the purpose of receiving and sharing Christ’s peace –

         and to do the work these clothes are made for doing.

If we are to be productive, it is in these things.

If we are now made over and dressed up for God’s work,

         let our hands act justly,

         let our hearts love mercy,

         let our feet walk humbly with God.

If we are to stand before God someday to be judged for our work, let it be the work we do in these clothes –

         the work we do to further the kingdom of God –

the work we do as the body of Christ.

The early church worked hard to figure out

         how to live the life they experienced in Christ,

         how to obey the new commandments

         they were given by Christ,

how to be sheep and to feed sheep and to rejoice in God

         and to worship with thankful hearts.

We are working hard to figure all that out today, too,

         in our congregation and in the church all over the world.

45 or so of you were here yesterday,

         considering our call

         as a congregation who has received New Life in Christ

         and is intent on living it as fully as Christ intends us to do.

There is still a lot for us to consider, to discern,

         to prayerfully agree upon.

It takes all of us to best know where the Holy Spirit is leading us,

         and if you were not able to be with us yesterday,

I hope you will read the flip charts that have been left up

         in Agape Hall

         for all of you to consider,

         and that you will talk to people who were there,

and that you will participate in the next workshop on April 30.

But there is one thing that we already know for sure –

         and that is that our dress code has been well defined;

         our uniform is consistent everywhere –

it is compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, forgiveness, love, peace.

By our fruits we will be recognized – by the fruits of the spirit –

         by the clothes we wear,

         by the uniform all people see us in.

We are new people,

         transformed by the power of God in Jesus Christ,

         and we are called to show it

         with everything we have and with every breath we take.

May the Holy Spirit show us every day

         what we are being called to do,

and may we see ourselves as courageous enough

         and generous enough and loving enough

         to live out our calling,

because it is not us doing it anyway –

         it is Christ who’s doing it in and through us always.

Amen.