Dear friends in Christ,<\/p>\n
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Let\u2019s do a little survey this morning. You don\u2019t have to raise your hand, but just answer the questions in your mind. I assume that you all got something new for Christmas. Can you think of three gifts you received this past Christmas? \u2026\u2026. Now go back to the Christmas before that. Can you think of two new gifts you received two years ago for Christmas?…… Now go back one more year. Can you remember one gift you received at Christmas three years ago? ……<\/p>\n
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Well how did you do? Could you think of three gifts you received this past Christmas? Maybe you only thought of one. Could you remember two things you got two years ago? How about three years ago? Could you remember just one thing that you received three years ago? <\/p>\n
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You might be wondering what the point of this little survey is. The point I want to make is that when we get something new it is very exciting for a while, but before long the excitement fades and I suspect that most of us, in time, forget about it altogether. What is new doesn\u2019t seem to hold its attraction for very long. Before long our attention and desires are drawn to some other thing that we just have to have. The new clothes you got for Easter, if you got a new dress or shirt, don\u2019t seem so new anymore. The birthday present you received at your last birthday isn\u2019t so exciting anymore. We always want something new!<\/p>\n
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This recurring human desire for something new doesn\u2019t only have to do with toys or material possessions. We are in a constant search for new solutions to our problems, for new hope and joy in our life, a new image perhaps, or a new purpose, a new dream to follow. <\/p>\n
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We search for something new to give our life meaning and purpose, to bring a sense of fulfillment or accomplishment \u2014 a new relationship, a new job, a new home in a new location \u2014 anything to lift us out of the ordinary, hum-drum routine of our daily existence. <\/p>\n
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We certainly do need that kind of a lift. We need joy and purpose and fulfillment in our lives. But when we depend do plan and work hard to achieve these things, we quickly discover that all the \u201cnew\u201d things in the world soon grow old. New clothes fade, new toys break, new solutions only bring new problems. Our creative energies are sapped when we are separated from the Source of our energy and life. In a newspaper editorial, Ron Dreher, columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press, put it very well: \u201cIn a culture with an insatiable craving for sensation, boredom becomes the root of all evil.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It hasn\u2019t always been this way. Before the fall into sin every day was a new day for Adam and Eve \u2014 every day was a day of joy and wonder and fulfillment. There was no dullness, no drudgery. New things didn\u2019t grow old, they just kept on being renewed in the innocence and wonder of that earthly paradise. That\u2019s because there was a perfect harmony and Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God. He was with them daily and every day they looked forward to being with Him, walking with Him and talking to Him. <\/p>\n
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But Adam and Eve\u2019s sinful rebellion ended that perfect relationship. And it also ended the joy and fulfillment in their lives. From now on, there would be, not only pain and hardship, but also estrangement and alienation from one another and from God. And there would be death, the ultimate destination for a meaningless existence. So now mankind\u2019s search for joy and meaning and fulfillment began. It was ultimately a search for God \u2014 for the restoration of that perfect relationship with God that once was, but now was lost. But we looked for it in all the wrong places. For Adam and Eve\u2019s firstborn, Cain, personal fulfillment could only come from being acknowledged as # 1, and when his offering wasn\u2019t # 1, he rose up in anger and killed his brother Abel. For the people of Sodom and Gomorrah it was finding personal fulfillment in sexual perversion so great that God destroyed both cities. For King Ahab, it was Nabboth\u2019s vineyard. If only he could have that vineyard for his own he would be happy. But that search for fulfillment ultimately lead only to Nabboth\u2019s death and God\u2019s judgment on Ahab and his evil wife Jezebel. <\/p>\n
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Their search for paradise isn\u2019t much different from ours, is it? We keep looking but never finding. We keep searching, but often in the wrong places, thinking that perhaps something new will bring us peace and happiness \u2014 whether it be a new toy, a new relationship, or a new attitude. But as long as we rely on our own efforts and as long as our desires and efforts are away from God\u2019s plan for us, we will fail. We will find no lasting peace.<\/p>\n
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We will find no lasting peace until we realize that the very thing we long for \u2014 a restored relationship with God \u2014 is, in fact, God\u2019s gift to us in Jesus Christ. St. John tells us that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, made his home among us. Jesus didn\u2019t remove the pain and sorrow and frustration and fear and death from us, but He made these things his own. He makes our tears His tears, our crying His crying, our mourning His mourning, our pain His pain, our death his death. Crushed and killed by the very things that crush us, he redeems us and restores us. Death has been conquered and now becomes the portal to life, and WE become a new creation. <\/p>\n
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In the midst of our reality, God dwells with us today, in Jesus! That word \u201cdwells\u201d really means \u201cto tabernacle\u201d, \u201cto tent\u201d. It\u2019s a concept that goes back to the days when the Children of Israel were camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai. God gave the people instructions to build a Tabernacle \u2014 a place where God would be a present reality in the midst of the people as they traveled through the wilderness. When the tabernacle was ready, God moved into this great tent. Listen to this description from Exodus 40: \u201cThen the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out to travel; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out \u2014 until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.\u201d<\/p>\n
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My friends, God tabernacles with us, in our life\u2019s journey. He comes to us in His Word of forgiveness and life. Jesus doesn\u2019t just \u201cmake new things\u201d for us, but he \u201cmakes all things new.\u201d In Holy Baptism, water embraced by the Word is \u201cnew\u201d water, a life-giving water. One of our former students is a young woman from Korea. Her name is Serena and while she lived with us she was catechized and on a very special day, I baptized her. When she left our home, Serena wrote about the significance of her baptism. This is what she said: \u201cThe most important thing in the church was the baptism. That day was another birthday for me. I can\u2019t forget that in all my life. I thank you for receiving me as a member of your church…\u201d In Baptism Serena experienced what is true for all baptized people — \u201canother birthday\u201d — a brand new life given by God!<\/p>\n
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Bread and wine embraced by the Word of God are the very body and blood of Christ, providing new sustenance for God\u2019s new creation. We, ourselves, become that \u201cnew creation\u201d transformed by His own death and resurrection. Old, broken-down relationships can be made new by His power. Old, broken-down marriages can be renewed. Old, broken-down people have hope and new life. <\/p>\n
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Everything is made new in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We rejoice because he creates a new heart within us and restores to us the joy of His salvation. We celebrate because he renews a right spirit within us and \u201ctabernacles\u201d with us on our life\u2019s journey, sustaining and upholding us by His presence in Word and Sacrament. And as we continue our journey, we look forward to that time when all things are consummated, when we see with our eyes the \u201cnew Jerusalem\u201d where God will dwell among his people for all eternity! <\/p>\n
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\u201cBehold, I am making all things new!\u201d, Jesus says in our text. That was His word to 1st century Christians who were facing persecution and even death at the hands of the enemies of Christ. That Word breathed new life into them. That Word breathes new life into us. We can rejoice as we are turned from looking inside ourselves and from thinking that we can somehow do something that will last forever. <\/p>\n
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That has been done already in Jesus! He makes all things new! As you receive His Word and blessing through your ears and in your mouths, you are made over, restored, redeemed \u2014 not just for a few months or years, but for all eternity. Everything is being made new, and everything will be new when Jesus comes to end all suffering and sadness! Until He comes, the message to you is the same as it was to the 1st century believers: keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, where true joys are found. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus whenever your old Adam or old Eve, tempts you to find a different source of joy, excitement or fulfillment. Living your life in Him is the only thing that will keep all things new. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear friends in Christ, Let\u2019s do a little survey this morning. You don\u2019t have to raise your hand, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[176],"wpfc_sermon_series":[],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-pastor-j-fritsche","wpfc-sermon-single","post-4552","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","hentry"],"sermon_audio":"","sermon_audio_duration":"","_views":"10","bible_passage":"Revelation 21:1-5 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \u201cBehold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.\u201d And he who was seated on the throne said, \u201cBehold, I am making all things new.\u201d","sermon_video_embed":"","sermon_video_url":"","sermon_bulletin":"","_featured_url":false,"sermon_date":1747569654,"_sermon_date_auto":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon\/4552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/wpfc_sermon"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4552"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon\/4552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4554,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/wpfc_sermon\/4552\/revisions\/4554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wpfc_preacher","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_preacher&post=4552"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_sermon_series","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_sermon_series&post=4552"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_sermon_topics","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_sermon_topics&post=4552"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_bible_book","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_bible_book&post=4552"},{"taxonomy":"wpfc_service_type","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/redeemerlutheranchurch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwpfc_service_type&post=4552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}