Reading Paul's letter to the Galatians put me in mind of the work the Property Brothers do. Paul tells us that following or not following outmoded religious practices (such as circumcision) makes no difference to our salvation. What matters, Paul says, is "new creation" (Galatians 6:5).
New creation, renovation, is what God is all about. This is so true that in Revelation 21, when God the Father speaks for only the second time in the entire book, He sums up His work with the words, "Behold, I make all things new."
That's the Father's work, to make all things new. He does this work in harmony with His Son, Jesus, who purchased us at the price of His blood, and through the effort of the Holy Spirit, who does the renovation work. Jesus found and purchased the rundown property, you and me, and the Spirit transforms us into "dream homes" suitable for Him to inhabit.
On the show, after the home is purchased, that's when the "reno" work begins. Jonathan and his crew will tear down walls, remove outdated flooring and fixtures, reconfigure rooms, replace wiring and plumbing that is nowhere near up to code, and do whatever else need to be done. In the process, the home gets pretty messy. As my dad would often say, it has to look bad before it can look better.
In much the same way, the Holy Spirit goes to work in us. Each of us has all sorts of faulty thoughts and outdated attitudes and beliefs that need to be "demoed." Our hearts need to be reconfigured from their self-centered focus so that sight lines are opened up and we can see the needs of those around us. Walls of division and strife need to be torn down. We need to be brought up to God's code. It can be a messy, even painful, process, but it has to look bad before it can look better.
The Spirit does that through the power of God's Word and the blessings of Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are His sledgehammer and sawzall, His hammer and paintbrush, His tape measure and level. Through the word of law the Spirit demolishes our sinful nature and through the word of grace He renovates us, makes us new, brings us up to code.
Jonathan will readily admit that one of the most frustrating aspects of his job is when homeowners doubt his design plan rather than trusting that he knows what he is doing. They have "better ideas" about how the work should be done, ideas which would end up costing more time and more money and make Jonathan's work more difficult to complete.
Maybe that's what Paul means when he urges us not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). We grieve the Spirit when we come up with a "better idea" of how to be renovated or what we want to look like when the job is done. We are inclined to hang on to the ugly fixtures of anger, greed, deceit, and lust because we are attached to them and are comfortable with them. We think that simply painting over moldy walls or rotten trim will be sufficient. We doubt that the Spirit knows what He is doing, and end up making His work in us more difficult.
But if we trust the Spirit's wisdom and experience, we will see the results in our lives. The Spirit's fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will abound in us. We will be renovated into dream homes, holy temples in which God's Spirit can dwell.
No comments:
Post a Comment