Spiritual Makeover

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Colossians 3:1-17

Spiritual Makeover

Desired outcome: To understand that neither 1) a pleasing walk with the Lord, 2) focusing on Christ, or 3) living faith authentically and not artificially is possible without a complete spiritual makeover.

A middle aged woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience.

Upon seeing God, she asked, “Is my time up?”

“No, you have another 43 years, 2 months, and 8 days to live,” replies the Almighty

Upon recovery the woman decides to stay in the hospital and have a facelift, liposuction, and a tummy tuck. She even had a hairdresser come in and change her hair color. As she had lots of time left on earth she figured she might as well make the most of it. After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the road on the way home, she was knocked over and killed by an ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded, “ I thought you said I had another 40 odd years! Why didn’t you pull me from the path of the ambulance?”

“I didn’t recognize you.”

Think about how much in our society is geared towards making what we have better. Plastic surgery, house rehabs, TLC, Home & Garden Network, Extreme Makeover, Extreme Makover Home Edition, The Biggest Loser.

There is a desire deep within us to be accepted and to do things right and to look right. I also believe that part of that desire is spiritual. Every one of us on some level has a longing to be accepted by God and to be pleasing to God.

We’ve got to be on the right track after the last few weeks. If you remember, in chapter one of Colossians, we examined what our walk with the Lord should contain and that led us to look at who Christ is the following week. Then, last week we examined our own lives for any signs of counterfeit Christianity. But I’m here to tell you today that neither 1) a pleasing walk with the Lord, 2) focusing on Christ, or 3) living faith authentically and not artificially is possible without a complete 3-part spiritual makeover.

Throughout this passage, I want you to notice repeated words or phrases. The first one we come across is in vv.1 & 2: the things above. We are told to keep seeking and to set our minds on the things above. That is where Christ is. Kids, don’t try this at home, but have you ever had to stare up at the sun, maybe to catch a fly ball or if you spotted an eagle flying overhead? After you’ve looked up for a time, then you look around you, and anywhere you look, what do you see? That’s right, a big sunspot in your vision.

Now picture this. You’re looking up again but this time, instead of with your eyes, you’re using your soul. And instead of looking at the S-U-N, you’re looking at the S-O-N. Now, look around you, anywhere you look, what do you see? That’s right, Jesus. In every person you meet and every circumstance you encounter. Later, in v.10, Paul talks of being renewed in our Creator’s image, and by focusing on that image, things that are apparent opposites now look the same. Things like different cultural backgrounds (Greek, Jew, barbarians, Scythians, Cheese-heads, flatlanders), different religious practices (circumcision vs. uncircumcision, Methodist vs. Lutheran), different economic conditions (slave vs. free, swimming in debt or a millionaire) are all equal when focused on the things above.

So the first thing we need for our spiritual makeover is S-O-N glasses.

The next repeated phrase we come to is put aside or lay aside. What are we supposed to put or lay aside? Our old self. Our old nature. Our filthy rags. Our dirty habits like immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech. In summary, all of our evil practices. We can’t just cover over them. It’s like trying to paint white over dark, dirty stains. The stains always bleed through. No, it’s not enough to cover them. We’ve got to put them aside. And if you asked me, I wouldn’t just put them aside, I’d cast them out. I’d throw them away and burn them.
And then, I’d put on something new, a new self. This new self is Christ. Christ as our new skin. Why skin instead of clothes?
All animals, at regular intervals, shed their skin. Some, like humans, do it relatively unobtrusively in a sort of ongoing process (we shed 1.5 million skin cells every hour with a new skin surface every 28 days or so). Others do it quickly and cleanly, like the one-piece sheds produced by snakes and tarantulas. Most lizards are rather more leisurely about it, with their skin coming off in patches. Some lizards are like snakes, tarantulas, and stick insects: they climb out of their old skin, leaving it behind in one piece.
However you do it, get out of that dirty, stained skin and get into the new skin of Christ. It’s not just new once and then gets old, but it is a continual renewal. Christ can be our new skin for as long as we seek the things above.

So the second thing we need for our spiritual makeover is a new covering of Christ.

The final piece of our spiritual makeover gets a little trickier. We find it in our next repeated phrase: to put on. After putting our Christ as our clothing, now we are told to put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. And in addition to or on top of that we are to put on love as the final bond of unity.

I don’t know about you, but I was lost at the heart of compassion. How am I supposed to put on all of these things? Kindness, humility, gentleness. They sound so good, but they’re not so easy to pull off in real life. Here’s the key. It’s found in v.15: “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” That’s how gentleness and patience and love get into our hearts; because the peace of Christ rules there.

Blood sustains life. It delivers oxygen, nutrients and other essential substances, including vitamins and medicines to the different cells and tissues of the body. A deficiency in the supply or quality of blood will impair the quality of life and even compromise life itself. For example, if oxygen does not reach the brain, the lack of it would cause death within three minutes. Blood also removes carbon dioxide and other harmful wastes, which in turn are eliminated by the different organs of the body.

Blood has to flow freely to keep the body performing at optimum levels and help eliminate risks from diseases, infections, free radicals and the natural decay of body organs due to the aging process. But blood needs a healthy circulatory system to pass through – from the heart, which pumps the blood; to the veins and arteries, which distribute the blood; to the capillaries, from which blood is supplied to the brain; to the nervous system, which regulates and controls blood flow.

Our body is made up of many different systems: There’s the nervous system, and the cardio-vascular system, the muscular system and the skeletal system and the digestive system. These systems all work intricately together to keep the whole body running and healthy powered by the life-blood within us.

We are called by God to be the Body of Christ. The life blood of that Body is the word of Christ. The word of Christ allows for these dynamic interactions. We can all minister to one another because of Christ in us. We’ve all been given different gifts and view points and backgrounds that when put together are completed and perfected in Christ. We can teach and admonish one another, sing with one another, and serve together. We can speak together and learn from each other. There’s collective wisdom we can gather from the word of Christ within each of us.

2 summers ago, I was sitting in the doctor’s office waiting to get antibiotics. I had gotten Lymes disease earlier that summer and as soon as I thought possible I came in to get the necessary medicine. The doctor did a few routine checks, then left the room. When she came back, she did a few more tests on my joints and my reactions. She left again and came back with an EKG machine. I thought this was all a little unnecessary, but I played along. After my EKG, I was informed that there was something seriously wrong with my heart. There is an electrical impulse in your heart that communicates with your heart valves so that they open and close in sync. My heart valves were not communicating with each other so each valve opened and closed at random. What this meant is that is I climbed stairs or tried to run, my heart would not respond by allowing my blood to flow through so I would get very light headed. It turns out that the Lymes disease went to my nervous system and then straight to my heart. One small little communication piece out of whack and it almost cost me my life. That’s what it looks like when our bodies systems are not working together.

But what happens if those body systems are attacking one another or not working together? Chaos, sickness, disease, and death. That’s why we’re admonished in v.13 to bear with one another and forgive one another. So that “whatever we do in word or deed, we do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

So the last piece of our spiritual makeover is a blood transfusion of the word of Christ dwelling within us richly.

It’s important to put on our S-O-N glasses to see the world with the right perspective.

It’s important to cast off our filthy rags and put on Christ so we can be accepted into God’s Kingdom.

And it’s important to have the rich blood of the word of Christ within us so that we can work together as the Body of Christ as God intended us to.

Let’s take a minute right now to pray and ask God to give us the spiritual makeover that we need in our lives.

Lord, we desire this morning to walk with you, to focus on you, and live authentically for you. But we get overwhelmed sometimes. Please give us the makeover that we need.

Lord, for some of us this morning, we need your eyes to see the people around us as you see them so that we can love them unconditionally.

For others here, we ask that we You would take away our filthy rags of our former life and clothe us with You. We want to die in You so that we might live eternally in You.

And finally, Lord, you’ve called us to operate in this world as Your Body. Lord Jesus, flow through us as our very life-blood so that we can love one another and serve one another like only You can. We ask all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Desired outcome: To understand that neither 1) a pleasing walk with the Lord, 2) focusing on Christ, or 3) living faith authentically and not artificially is possible without a complete spiritual makeover.