Transformed from the Inside Out
Everybody loves a good makeover! Why, some years ago, didn’t it seem like every network had a least one reality show that had a makeover element as a part of their line-up? Now there are entire cable networks and streaming programs dedicated to this idea of makeovers. People line up to have their living rooms, bedrooms, their kitchens, and even their entire homes made over. Some get their cars made over.
Others still have faces redone, or their entire look redone. In fact, there are doctors who are paid handsomely to makeover your entire body, should you so desire. People will undergo hours of surgery to have themselves cut up, opened up, and stitched back up, so that they can look brand new.
There have even been some who brought in the ‘parenting specialists’ (e.g., Supernanny) to tell them how they should be parenting. And, some of us even sit on the sofa hoping that a life coach will come in and Fix My Life! All of these were at one point hit programs. Why? because everyone loves a good makeover!
One particular family favorite was called the Extreme Home Makeover. I suppose this show was popular among many, simply because of the stories. Though they were predictable, everyone enjoyed seeing some poor family living in some deplorable, sub-par, sub-standard housing situation, with some tragic life story that resulted in their living in such wanting circumstances. And even though we all knew the format, we were still glued. Why?
Because everyone loves a good makeover; everyone longs for transformation!
We like makeovers because we innately understand that who we are or where we are in life is not all that there is; there’s got to be something more than this; there must be something greater!
Welp, we're in luck, because God also loves a good makeover! He wants to sweep in, dismantle the entire edifice of our lives and innermost being, lay down a new and everlasting foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11), and then build us up again from scratch into the very image of Christ!
"And to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).
Now THAT'S a makeover!
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:1-2, NIV).
Of Sinful Selves and Crushed Pretzels
Hand out a small ziplock bag with two pretzel sticks covered in salt. Explain how a pretzel is just a salt delivery device and that a pretzel without salt is pretty sad and worthless. Have the congregation take out one pretzel stick, then tell them, throughout the remainder of the message, to rub salt off the pretzel everytime they feel convicted of a sin.
Then walk through the 10 Commandments, traditional numbering: 1. Prioritizing other things over God; 2. Using His name as an expletive; 3. Failing to take a day of rest and reconnection with God; 4. Failing to honor your parents; 5. Harboring hatred and bitterness; 6. Looking lustfully at someone who is not your spouse; 7. Taking something that is not yours or failing to be generous; 8. Talking about others instead of to them; 9. & 10. Being envious of what God has given other people, or failing to be grateful for what God has given you.
If they're honest, no one should have any salt left on their pretzel. Jesus asks the question, "If salt loses it saltiness, how can it be made salty again?" Then he answers His own question by saying, "It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet." Tell people to put the now worthless, saltless pretzel stick back in the bag by itself, zip it up and do what Jesus says to do with it. Throw it down and stomp on it.
That broken worthless pretzel is a picture of what it means to be broken and sinful people. It is a picture of what it means to be poor in spirit or having nothing to offer God in terms of righteousness. Salt cannot be made salty again.
Take your broken, sinful flesh and throw it away. Bury it six feet deep.
Then realize this: Jesus says that the poor in spirit are blessed and that "theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Our sinful flesh is unsalvageable, but Jesus makes us a new creation, covered in His righteousness. Now hold up the second unmolested pretzel covered in salt.
Paul says in Gal 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." So burying that worthless pretzel is a daily activity. Everyday we crucify our flesh and live by the righteousness of Christ.
Stay With It
If you have ever had a bacterial infection, you’ve probably been prescribed antibiotics to treat it. Antibiotics are medicines that treat bacterial infections by either killing the bacteria or making it more difficult for them to grow and multiply. Illnesses that can be treated by antibiotics include respiratory tract infections such as whooping cough and pneumonia, as well as skin infections.
You’ll also remember your doctor telling you that it’s important to take ALL of the antibiotics, even after our symptoms have gone away. They tell us to do this because taking them regularly until the prescription is complete helps ensure that all of the illness-causing bacteria are killed or prevented from multiplying. Even if our symptoms go away, the bacteria may still be present in our body. If we stop treatment before the antibiotic treatment is over, the remaining bacteria can continue to multiply. If these bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics, they can potentially do even more harm. It may take us longer to recover from our illness and our physician may have to prescribe more medication.
While our salvation is the ultimate cure for our sin nature, it is our sanctification — our daily walk in Christ — that brings us ongoing spiritual health.
"But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant" (Colossians 1:22-23, NIV).
"Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5, ESV).
"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:3-11, NIV).