New Creations

2 Corinthians 5:6-17New International Version (NIV)
The Ministry of Reconciliation

6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.12 We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. 13 If we are “out of our mind,”as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

    I came across a great quote this week: “A man’s message is heard in the context of his character.”  That quote puts a lot of life into perspective.  We can do our best to get a point across but the point we are trying to make means nothing unless our character can back it up.  That is why Paul is writing what he is in our scripture for this morning.  Paul knows in his heart his message is pure and he is trying to get others to believe in his sincerity.  As Christians, this is something we try to do every day.  We try to get others to see our sincerity, in essence, our love for God, through our actions and words.  We do this so to bring others into a relationship with God.  For many reasons, our sincerity is often called into to question just like Paul’s was.  Whether it is our past, or something we have said, or maybe it was something that someone else said or did, many people have good reason to question the sincerity of our faith and the words that accompany our faith.  The focus of our message this morning will be the sincerity of our own relationship with God.  

Whenever you question someone’s motives, the results are rarely favorable.  Unless you have a very close relationship with another person, questioning the sincerity of someone’s actions is a fine line.  Even the closest of friendships can be weakened by doing this.  This sort of challenge to our faith and to our character is something that we don’t take lightly.  Nor is it something we should.  But, it is a challenge that we should be willing to take on.  If not for the sake of our faith, for the sake of the faith of many others.  I would go as far to say that the world has the right to question the sincerity of any Christian, God knows we have given them many reasons to do so.  For far too long, Christians have stood behind the walls of massive wealth, beautiful churches, and the exclusivity of faith and played defense when the world has questioned our faith.  We have used the dogma of faith as the trump card.  We have done this instead of looking at Paul’s words and doing something about it.

If the church is to survive into the next 2000 years, we can no longer hide from these questions of our sincerity.  Paul admits that when we are in the body we are away from the Lord.  Sin is the absence of God and we have sin in our lives.  That is the point Paul is making.  A point he mentioned in our reading from last week as well.  Our earthly body, or tent, is what we can see, smell, touch and hear.  Paul goes on to say that we would prefer to be away from the body.  In other words, we would prefer to be with Christ in heaven instead of being here, in our earthly body.  But verse nine says that whether we are away from the body or at home in it, our goal must be to please God.  And we do so because we will all face the judgment seat of Christ.  Therefore, if our goal is to please God we must be willing to answer the difficult questions.  A person’s message is heard in the context of their character.  We are here today because we trusted the person or people who taught us about faith.  We heard God’s message of love and grace through their character.  Their relationship with God was enough to convince us that we ought to do the same.  The sincerity of their faith caused you to seek God for yourself.  

For the past several weeks, the theme of most sermons have shifted our focus to the relationship with God and our relationship with one another.  Undoubtedly, we have some sort of a relationship with someone other person, our parents, friends, pastor, grandparents, etc. before we enter into a relationship with God.  From the very moment of conception, God has a relationship with us but someone has to show us their relationship with God before we choose to seek one for ourselves.  Think about that for a moment... The only reason we choose to have a relationship with God is because we have seen someone else’s relationship at work first.  What a responsibility we have! God loves us no matter what.  He has a relationship with us whether we choose to do something about it or not.  But the only reason we seek to have one with Him is because we have seen God work in someone else’s life.

I feel very passionately about this because I feel it to be true.  It is my experience and it is how I came to find my faith.  I can very vividly remember the person who showed me how their relationship with God impacted their life and for that I am thankful.  On the other hand, when some people started to doubt the sincerity of their actions, and verbally beat their character into the ground, I believed it.  It was based on rumors and lies and yet I believed it and as people tore down the faith of the one I looked up to, it also tore my faith apart.  This did not happen in a lunchroom or gymnasium or at work.  No.  It happened in a church.  The sincerity of one person’s faith was brought into question for no reason and I did not continue to see their message in the context of their character.  That was the biggest mistake I made.  It is the biggest mistake we too can make.  Our character can help others to see us for who we are initially but it can also serve as our defense when our actions are called into question.  A person’s character will stand the test of time while rumors and lies fade.  The person’s character to whom I am referring to survived because of their sincerity.  A lesson that should not be lost on any of us.  

Paul reminds us that we live by faith, not by sight.  Our faith is difficult for some to understand.  A study in 2014 found that 7.5 million people have abandoned their faith since 2012.  In the course of 2 years, 7.5 million people have left the Church!  The same study found that 35% of people in the U.S. do not attend any worship service which is also an all time high.  With that being said, of that 35% only 17% say they never pray.  Of the 35% of people who do not attend a church service, 18% of them still pray.  To me, that shows that for whatever reason, their relationship with other people has been damaged while their relationship with God is still in tact.  God’s message is still being heard but the church’s message is not.  That means there is a disconnect between the two.  That means that in the instance of that 18%, the church’s message is different than God’s.  Paul’s advice: regard no one from a worldly point of view.  In other words, do not see someone in the temporary.  Do not regard someone based on what you can see or hear.  See them how God sees them.  Christ makes us a new creation.  The old is gone and the new is here!  Your faith is viewed through the sincerity of your relationship with God and through the sincerity of your relationship with one another.    Your message is heard in the context of your character.  Amen.