Everything Has Become New

II Corinthians 5:16-21
by the Rev. Dr. E. Scott Jones
Cathedral of Hope — Oklahoma City
14 March 2010

At the conclusion of The Last Battle, the seventh and final of The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, the Pevensie children and the heroes of Narnia have escaped through a door into a new land and have watched the destruction of the Narnia they loved through the open door. Then, as they journey through this new land, they realize that it is like Narnia, but bigger and better, and this fills them with ecstatic joy.

They eventually make their way to a garden where they encounter friends and family long deceased and their receive a vision of how the many worlds are connected. Aslan the great lion is talking to them and explaining things, and the book, and The Chronicles, concludes with this paragraph:

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them down. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

If you’ve listened to my preaching for any length of time, then you probably know that one of my favourite phrases is “Christians are the eternal beginners.” It was originally said by Franz Rosenzweig.

And this passage in II Corinthians expresses that truth. Everything old has passed away; everything has become new; and we are the ambassadors of that new creation bringing reconciliation to a world in need.

The novelty of adventure is central to our Christian spirituality. Like C. S. Lewis expressed, every chapter of our story is better than the one before.

And, so, today we, the Cathedral of Hope, live into our Christian identity and spirituality by embarking on a new adventure, writing a new chapter, living as ambassadors of change and new beginnings.

With great meaning and emotion last week we took leave of the building of the First Unitarian Church which we had called “home” for almost ten years. And today we begin life together in a new home with new hosts. We will develop new relationships and friendships and ministries together with the Mayflower Congregational Church as a result of their hospitality and overwhelming generosity. With enthusiasm and joy we look forward to what God will have us do in and from this place.

But this change of location is not the conclusion of our adventure. It is only a new beginning in a series of new beginnings and fresh starts.

For the last five months our congregation has been in a process of congregational renewal, exploring what needed to change about our church. We began asking “What new things is God calling us to?” It has been an exciting process. As old friends have returned and new people have joined in, becoming more active in service to the church. New leadership has risen to the occasion and great study and reflection has been done.
But, I think we have begun to experience a little fatigue. Old anxieties are creeping back in. We are learning that building an alternative community is a difficult task, as individual members have greatly differing visions of what the church should do.

But this is all healthy process, as we are dying to the old, so that God might give birth to something new.

Yet, I even hear that some are saying that we have experienced enough change. To those I would say that it is God who declares to us, “Everything has become new!”

As I said last week, only we can exclude ourselves from the promises and the blessings of God. Only we can get in the way of God’s vision for the future being fulfilled.

So, I call for your continued courage, the virtue most required for success in an adventure. From where will we get the courage required of us?

Commenting on this passage in II Corinthians, Casey Thompson a Presbyterian pastor from Memphis, wrote,

New creation is conceived in imagination – and imagination begins in prayer, in the images that God plants within us. Prayer, of course, begins in holy silence.

We know that God wants to use us to bring reconciliation to this world. That is central to our vision as a church of progressive Christians who witness to liberation and hope. Our journey to that future begins in prayer.

In order to pray in silence we must give up our ego and our own notions of what we expect. Silent prayer trains us in humility and patience, those difficult virtues. As God fills the silence, we begin to see ourselves, each other, and the future in a new and different light. From this divine source arises our hope for what is possible. Our faith that we will achieve it. Our compassion toward one another on the journey. And our courage to take the risks, to be the ambassadors of change and the new.

Do not stop now. Do not exclude yourself from God’s promise and blessing. Instead, set aside the ego. Develop generosity of spirit and courage of will. Embrace your role as God’s ambassadors.

Let us be open to what more and what new God has in store for us. Let our story be that each chapter was better than the one before. Let it be true of us that we are “eternal beginners.” This we pray. May it be so.

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