GOSPEL MESSAGE & RECORDING
There once was a man who wanted to get his clothes dry cleaned for an occasion the next day. Unfortunately, all the dry-cleaning places he went to could not fulfill that order within one day. He did, however, remember that there was a one-hour dry cleaning establishment further from his home. He went there and gave his clothes. When the owner told him that he could pick up his clothes in three days, the man was confused. He asked, “No, I need it tomorrow.” The owner said, “O, we can’t do that…that would be too soon.” The man asked, “But, then why does your sign say, “One-hour dry cleaning?” The owner replied, “O that’s just our sign, we actually don’t do that…” The theme of the story and how it is connected to my message is this: our Christianity is often a label, sort of like the advertisement. We are known as Christians. We have the baptismal certificate to prove it. We have our church membership. All of this is necessary. But if Christ visits our life (spiritually), like the man visited the dry-cleaner, what do we have to show as proof of our Christianity. If Christ says to us, “You advertised that you are Christian, so can you show me your prayer life, your parish attendance, your fasting, your giving to the poor, your forgiveness toward others who have offended you.” What would we have to show? Most of us, like that owner, may have to be honest and say that “It is a sign that we have but we don’t really practice what the sign says.”
In the Pauline Epistle today, the Apostle states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17) For us this means that as Christians, our faith should be a way of life; because through baptism, and through our life, which is a continuous baptism, we are made new. If we are made new then there is something old that we had to put away. In order to understand this idea, we must realize that St. Paul was not speaking in the context of child baptism. After the resurrection of Christ, the Gospel had only started to be preached and so those who were coming into the Church through baptism were adults. In this way, an adult, who we can suppose, was living a worldly life, had to “put away” sinful behaviors; further, from that time forward, it was expected that the “new creation,” that is, the new Christian, would not revert to his or her old ways, which could have been, idol worship or any form of luscious behavior. Again, this is in the context of adult baptism. So then how do we apply it to our context, where we come into the Church through child baptism?
Baptism, either if it is adult or child, was never meant to be a “once and for all” solution to the problem of sin or the salvation of a person. Rather, it was meant as a “stepping point,” “a beginning,” to a “life lived in and through Christ.” This means that a person would have to continuously be in a state of baptism throughout his or her life. It’s not an entrance into perfection. It is, however, an entrance into a “relationship” with Christ for the rest of life. This is what is means to be a “new creation;” that is, to see our whole life as a baptism.
A life of baptism, a person who is a new creation, has four key features:
We struggle with sin but we don’t live in sin. Sin is not condoned. It is, on the contrary, hated. This does not mean; we are not tempted or that we don’t fall into sin. Sin is something we, the new creation, all struggle with. But that does not mean that we have a sin “condition” that has taken over our lives. Such sin can damage our relationship with God.
People hurt us but we forgive. As a new creation, we should always forgive, either if someone did something to us by word or deed. I am well aware that certain circumstance and people that are toxic should be avoided. But I have also learned this idea of avoiding people who are so-called “toxic” is abused by us to justify our unforgiving attitude.
Prayer and fasting are not optional. If we are a new creation then prayer and fasting are as normal as breathing. Maybe we are not there yet, where it becomes like breathing. The point is that we should live a life of prayer and fasting. That DOES NOT mean that every moment and day is spent in fasting or prayer; it DOES mean that both are done consistently in life.
Caring for the poor and hurting is something that comes naturally. If we are a new creation, we have a natural tendency to care for others. No, I am not saying we need to be Mother Theresa. Of course, you want to be—you can. I am simply saying that we (myself included) should want to help others who are suffering, either monetarily, or by helping them physically or emotionally.