Trey H. Little

Sermon Text:  2 Corinthians 5:17

December 26, 2010

Albany, Texas

“Sustaining the Newness”

I have some great news for you this morning—you now have 364 shopping days until Christmas! 

Wait a minute—we can’t think that way—it is the day after Christmas.  Many of our homes are still littered with wrapping paper and bows and empty battery packages.  In fact, many of us might feel a bit uncomfortable today—after all, we had to get out of our PJ’s before noon today.

December 26 is an interesting day.  It is post-Christmas but it is really too early to celebrate the New Year. 

What to do?

I have an idea—turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5:17.

            So, are you over your Christmas yet? 

            That may sound like a crazy question to ask—after all, it is still the day after Christmas.  But I am always amazed at how much time, effort and anxiety goes into preparing for Christmas and then how quickly we move on.  In a matter of hours we spill hot sauce on the new shirt we got.  We get mud on the new shoes we got.  We lose the dice of the new game we got.  We put all the pieces of the new Lego set together.  We eat the candy cane.  We spend the money.  And we may have even begun taking things back.  The “newness” that comes Christmas morning so quickly fades.

            So I was thinking, how could we “sustain the newness?”  In other words, how can we continue to enjoy the gifts we received?  I suppose one way we could sustain the newness is to never use them.  We could simply hang that new shirt in the closet and never wear it therefore eliminating the risk of spilling anything on it.  We could never play the new game therefore eliminating any risk of losing the pieces.  We could never build the Lego set and instead just look at the picture on the box while keeping all the blocks safe and secure inside.  But then I thought, where is the fun in that?  Gifts were made to be enjoyed. 

            So that led me to a second option to consider.  What if we began to take care of the gifts we have received?  You see, I am convinced that our enjoyment is enhanced when we commit to sustaining the newness.

For Christians, Christmas is the day that we remember and celebrate the gift of Jesus.  We celebrate the Gift from God wrapped in swaddling clothes.  We remember that unwrapping this precious Gift reveals the One who will save us from our sins.  But the story does not end there—the newness of Christ is sustained throughout His life, death and resurrection.  All of His life was about sustaining the newness of the gift—the gift of grace and mercy and hope and forgiveness and love for the world. 

Paul talked about this in his second letter to the church in Corinth.  He said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (5:17). 

You and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, are NEW!  We are like the present that is still in the box.  We are like the candy cane that is still in the wrapper.  We are like the stamp that hasn’t been licked.  We are like the car that still smells good.  We are like the ticket that hasn’t been punched.  We are like the soda that hasn’t been opened.  Are you tracking with me yet?

So then, how do we sustain our newness in Christ? 

Well, first of all you must ask yourself if you are excited about Jesus and His church.  Does thinking about being a “new creation” quicken your pulse and stir your blood or does it encourage you to snooze?  Does living your life for Jesus seem more like an exciting journey of adventure or simply a means to a destination?

If you consider the first century church, those Christians were excited about the Gift.  They were so excited about telling everyone about their newness they were often accused of being drunk.  Sadly, what we hear people today saying about the church is we are dead.  The first century Christians became so energetic about being a part of the mission of God they were labeled “trouble makers,” and some were even thrown into prison or killed.  Today, many Christians say they don’t tell others about Jesus because they don’t want to cause any trouble.  The first century church was filled with the power of the Spirit and wherever the church was something significant was happening.  All too often today, we limit “church” to this Sanctuary rather than allowing the Spirit to move us to be church wherever we are.

I wonder, have we as Christians in the 21^st Century allowed our newness to wear off?  Have we become too much of an institution settled comfortably on the corner of Jacobs Street and the Cookfield Hwy?  Have we failed to sustain our newness—and in turn fallen short of participating in the redemptive mission God has called us to?

Friends, in the coming year I think we should refocus our attention—I think we should remember our newness and strive to sustain it.  I think it is time for us to allow God to breath new life into us by reminding us that the old has gone and the new has come.  New!  That is the promise of our text this morning.  New!  I think we have some exciting times ahead as God continues to give us and we begin to receive the gift of His newness in us.

So, how can we sustain the newness?

First, I think we show it off!  Think about it, how many of us have already “showed-off” what we got yesterday?  We are so quick to show off those things that we are most excited about. I am “showing off” this Texas A&M tie my son Luke gave me.  But, are we “showing off” our new identity in Christ?  Are we excited about being the people of Christ?  You see, the church is not this place—it is we people.  Somehow, all of us must begin to “show-off” our new identity.  Let the world around us see how excited we are about Jesus Christ.  We can’t continue to come to church on Sunday and then be someone completely different the rest of the week.  We are NEW every morning—show it off in such a way that people can’t help but ask, “Where did you get that?”  You see, if we are in fact a new creation in Christ, then wherever we go, we are the church! We are the presence of Christ in the world. We are the church at home, at the job, at the grocery store, at a Bowl game, at the deer camp, among friends.  Wherever we are, we are the church.   

Second, I think we need to stick together.  If we belong to Christ, then we also belong to one another. To be a Christian is to be a part of the Body of Christ.  We become like the group of children who were sitting on a curb, crying.  Then an adult came along and asked, “What’s the matter?  Why are you crying?”  Through her tears, one of the little girls replied, “We have a pain in Billy’s stomach” (From a sermon by James McCormick entitled “The Gift of Newness”).  One had an ache, but they all felt it.  I think another way we sustain our newness is by remembering that we are not alone; that there are others who will lovingly share in our joys and aches and struggles and service.  

Finally, I think we need to run and play!  I think we sustain the newness when we live with a new sense of urgency about our mission.  One of the things I have always found comical about Christmas is that we gather and scatter.  Family and friends come from all corners of the state or country, spend a couple of days, open some presents, and then scatter.  And if you have children, you really know this “gather and scatter” picture.  They spend about five minutes ripping through their gifts and then scatter and run and play with their new gifts. 

We, as new creations in Christ—specifically as the church, also need to gather and scatter.  We gather here on a Sunday morning for worship, for study, for prayer, for nurture, for laughs, for planning, for pooling of resources and then we scatter to be part of God’s redemptive mission in the world. 

Friends, we are NEW CREATIONS—WE have been given the greatest gift we could ever receive—it is time to run and play!  Be a blessing to someone and see if that doesn’t help sustain your newness.

So, are you over your Christmas yet?

Lord, I hope not!

AMEN.