First Sunday After Christmas December 28-29, 2024
“Therefore…” Colossians 3:12-17
Rev. John R. Larson Ascension Lutheran Church Littleton, Colorado
Most good TV shows are connected to a ball. Football. Baseball. Basketball. But not all. “Extreme Makeover – Home Edition” is one of those good shows. It has been around, on one channel or another, for about 20 years. It is a show that just makes you feel good.
Some family has a home that has fallen into disrepair or neglect. They can’t maintain it for a number of reasons. And because of this the foundation might be crumbling, mold has taken over the bathrooms, kitchen or laundry room, they have cracked walls and dated paint. You name it – it isn’t pretty, it doesn’t work – it needs an extreme makeover.
And if you and your house are selected, you leave your house, head to a motel and the crew from Extreme Makeover comes in. The crew usually finds more things wrong with the house than they even knew. One problem leads to another. But progress is made. There is a timeline for the job to be done and as you watch on TV you have to wonder if they will be able to meet the deadline.
The excitement about when the family is able to move back into their home grows daily. They can’t wait. What has the construction crew been able to do? On the day when their renovated house is ready they approach the house with eyes closed or covered and then, in a flash, they are told to open them. When they open their eyes, they are astonished. WOW!! You did that? How did you do that? The eyes now have tears. This was all a gift. They had been selected. They had been nominated from someone else. They now walk through their home with joy. We see the before and after pictures and decide we need to spend a few bucks to do a few of those things that were done on their homes.
Extreme makeover isn’t just for homes. It is also for people’s hearts and lives. Extreme makeovers are for us. That is what Paul is speaking about in Colossians 3. Paul uses phrases like “Once you were”, “but now you are” to speak about the transformation that Christ was making in their life. He uses phrases, “take off” and “put on” to emphasize the changes that God brings in life. There was a “then” and there is “now”. God is in the process of an extreme makeover in your life and mine.
Colossians 3 says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:5-9)
There is a then and a now for a Christian. This is an old and a new. There is how I once was and how I now am. Paul to the Romans states the contrast like this, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:13) What a makeover.
But how is it done? If you struggle with your anger or lust, if your mouth can be vile, if you can’t be trusted because you lie about way too many things, what can be done? Paul begins the chapter with the foundation of how an extreme makeover in us happens. Listen, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3)
What is he talking about? “You died”? They weren’t dead. They were reading his letter. You’re not dead. You’re here. And what is he talking about when he mentions, “You have been raised with Christ?” Paul uses these same terms in Romans 6 when he speaks about Baptism. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4)
Are you baptized? Then you have already died. Spiritually you died. Your sins were buried when you were covered with that baptismal water. And then you rose. You came up from that water and you were a new creation. You were saved from sin and hell. You were given faith. You became a new creation. That was the extreme makeover. The old man died and the new man was born. Like Paul says in his word to Titus, “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 3:5-6)
Are you baptized? Live in this baptism. Die to sin. Don’t accept its dominion in your life. Don’t live in its constant bondage. He called you to be free, don’t live in slavery to your sin. And you rose to new life. You are redeemed and you are called to honor God in your life. As the Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” (II Corinthians 5:17) Elsewhere we are told, “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:2) You aren’t baptized? You need to get baptized. The Bible shoots straight on this, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)
Because we are His, because He has put His name on us, there is a new way to live. Earlier I read in Colossians 3 about those things that are to put to death; now we are told what we are to put on, how we are to live as children of God, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them together in perfect unity.” (Colossians 3:12-14)
In “Extreme Makeover – Home Edition” the person who sees their renovated house is thrilled – to tears. But who else has joy? Those who made it happen. The craftsmen whose skills were used on that house. The plumber, the carpenter, the electrician, the painters, the one laying tile – all who contributed.
Who joys in the “then” and “now” in the transformation of a human life? First of all, God does. His creation is now His redemption. The Old Testament prophet Zephaniah has these words, “The Lord is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (3:17)
I bet God has used you in the transformation of another. I thank God for you parents and grandparents who didn’t give up on your kid or grandkid when they took the wrong path in life. You didn’t stop praying. You left doors open for them to return.
You teachers, counselors, social workers, and friends, you have found yourself right in the middle of a life that has been damaged and pained. You are involved in the hardest reclamation project you could ever imagine and you had the grit and determination and power of God’s Holy Spirit to work good, and God, into the life of that damaged soul. You are looking and praying for the great work of “once you were…”, but “now you are.”
It takes many people to accomplish God’s work among others. Paul said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (I Corinthians 3:6) It isn’t the work of one, it is the work of many. It is the work of God. And the work that is done has a promise, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
Extreme Makeover. What a joy. It is God’s way to bring us and others full life. Amen!!
