So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

This time of year, in both the church year and the meteorological year, we are reminded of death and new life. We watch for those little green shoots to pop through the dirt (or decaying leaves or snow). We look for new buds on the trees. Farmers keep vigil over ewes and cows. The mornings are rich in the (mostly) sweet melodies of songbirds. And of course, critters awaken from long winter’s naps to wander the countryside looking for grub (often in the garbage cans of their human neighbors).  

All these signs of Spring also serve to remind us of new life. Whether it be in literal birth, rebirth, or awakening, we witness life arising in places that seem desolate and deserted. Energy springs forth from barrenness and stagnation. New life emerges amid remnants of death and decay.

We are baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. God gives us new life each and every day. Paul reminded the Romans, “Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) Our sinful self has died. We have been freed from our bondage to sin and raised in the image of Jesus Christ.

Freedom comes in the form of forgiveness. Luther’s remarks in his explanation to the benefits of the Lord’s Supper, “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.” Christ makes us new by granting us life and salvation with the forgiveness of sin. Each day we undergo this transformation as we journey on this earth. We experience the death and rebirth of forgiveness.

Paul continued his advice, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11) You live to God. You have been blessed with new life. Luther concludes his explanation to the Second Article (On Redemption) of the Apostles’ Creed, “He (Jesus) has done all this so that I may belong to him, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in eternal righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true.” Let us live new life in Christ, lives lived to God, now and forever. The grace and peace of God keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.