I love the show Extreme Makeover Home Edition. I love how the crew turns a shabby
old home filled with dysfunction and falling apart into a new house. I oh and ah
over how they reconstructed and revamped the kitchen and bathroom and back
yard.
And the special projects that speak to one
family member always melt my heart! Then they throw in a car, a college
education or pay off the mortgage and I find myself once again believing there
is good in the world! Really it is quite a lot of emotions packed into 1 hour.
Growing up, I always watch it with my mom or my
grandma, who, being realists, asked questions like “what is the electric bill
going to be now,” or “oh the taxes on that place now,” or “what is the
landscape upkeep going to be like.” Really it boiled down to, what is the
upkeep on this thing?
In spite of all the really good things that
happened on the show my family would get caught up with the electric bills and
upkeep. While this put a slight realism on my whimsical idealistic redemption
dreams, maybe they understood something that my naïve little revamp, restore
and redeem throbbing life didn’t catch.
Here's the thing about newness; you have to
upkeep it to keep it new and fresh.
I just got a new car. Bought off the lot,
beautiful mountain air blue with hands free technology super safe and reliable
SUV (thanks mom!). It has been in about in my care about two weeks and last
night I wanted to take it through the car wash and clean it out.
Now, I have owned used cars before and can
count on my hands how many times I drove them through the car wash. But after
not even 2 weeks I wanted to take this car through the wash.
Why?
Because it has sea air on it and sand inside
and my books are everywhere and there’s a slight layer of grim on it.
It’s not new looking anymore. This never
bothered me in the past, I had old cars that were already ‘broken in’ so to
speak, with scuffs and scratches and quirks.
But this one is new. And entrusted to me. I
know one day it will get a scratch and I’ll probably spill coffee on the seats.
Life will happen, but I want to do my best to upkeep it, to maintain it.
In Matthew, there is a story where Jesus’
followers ask about fasting, a ritual tradition they grew up with. An old habit
if you will. They asked, “How come others do it but we don’t?” Jesus responds
with the relation of putting new wine into old wine skins. It just wasn’t done
because the old wine skins were worn out and would leak, not keeping the new
wine fresh or secure. The wine skins were old, and a new way had to be made.
Christ gave us a new heart, a new life. We can easily try old ways
and old habits, like a used car mentality with a new car. Those ways might work
for a while, but eventually, the newness is going to seep out, just like old
wine skins, or the car is going to become filthy and scratched, just like a
used car.
I am not preaching a shiny, perfect life because only one person can
do that and his name is Jesus.
What I am saying is maybe there is something to this gift we have
been given that goes beyond receiving. Maybe there is something to be said for
asking the question of what is the upkeep going to be like? And maybe obeying a
new way that the Holy Spirit reveals to you, to upkeep a new life with Christ
is the next step.
