What's Next, Not What Was
“I just want to go back to the way things used to be.” “When is all this going to be over?” “I miss the good ol’ days.” I’m sure almost all of us have expressed these or similar sentiments at some point over these last few months, with good and completely understandable reasons. I, too, would love for things to not be so, well, restricted.
But, as is usually the case, when one is immersed in the scriptures, one discovers that maybe humanity’s natural inclination to resist change may not actually be in line with the ideals laid out for the faithful in the sacred texts.
After reading today’s verses, I felt slapped in the face because it became obvious to me why living a life of faith many times makes us feel anxious and more than a little bit nervous. Keeping in mind how much we chafe against restrictions and change, let us hear from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Chapter 4, verses 22-24:
You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
“Oh, come on, Lamar. Are you REALLY trying to say that us wanting to go back to the way things were before all this happened compares in ANY WAY to how we are called to a new life when we choose to accept God’s grace in Christ?”
Yup. Sure am. How can I be so sure? Well, take a look at the witness of scripture - not just what I’ve quoted above but in more than a couple of other places in the scriptures.
While Paul was, most definitely, writing to a specific church in a specific area in a specific historical period, the eternal truth remains that if we are faithful disciples of Jesus Christ then OF COURSE we have put away our former selves.
To reduce Christianity to simply leaving behind the old ways, though, is, as they say, a bit extreme and, I must say, a little misleading. How so? Look more deeply at what Paul writes in these verses. We see here that leaving behind the old is not simply abandoning what was; to reduce it simply to that is to miss a much bigger point about what God is doing within those who have chosen to follow him.
For, you see, Paul speaks here of a disciple’s life in Christ as being a life in which our minds have been renewed. In other words, to live a life transformed by the grace of God incarnate in Christ focuses on what is to be embraced, not dwelling on what is now in the past.
Why does that matter? That, too, is pretty simple. A life focused on what is no longer is a life that cannot be focused on what is to come. We have no idea what all God has in store for our future - but it is apparent from the witness of scripture that while we cannot eliminate our past, true joy and peace is found in embracing what is to come, not in going back to what was.
So, let’s be folks who are all about, “What is it that our gracious Lord has in store for us, knowing there is nothing we will go through that God will not walk us through?” Let us be people who have a spirit of anticipation, knowing that we worship a God who not only calls us to a new life but sustains us through that new life no matter what may come.
Grace & Peace,
Lamar