Ever since I arrived in Dallas last August, I have heard excited talk of the new building at Christ Lutheran Church.

As I watched the new construction progress it was not immediately clear to me that the new building was rising from the dust of the old. It is only recently that I realized part of why I’m having a hard time grasping the layout of the new fellowship hall and where it attaches to the existing building is that it has been described to me in terms of what was. Now I see that the old and the new overlap and interweave in ways that improve on what used to be and enhance what is to come.

I love playing with metaphors, and in this description of the building, I see another way to talk about how God claims us and uses us for ministry. As we are claimed in baptism, the old creation is destroyed. In its place, from its dust, so to speak, rises a new and improved model, built to the designer’s precise specifications. From the outside, it may not look all that different, but when we go exploring inside, we’ll discover features that are just begging to be tested.

In the new building, we’re finding storage spaces we hadn’t anticipated, switches that operate groups of lights we wouldn’t have guessed were connected, windows that offer views we hadn’t envisioned. Dealing with these unexpected features offers challenges as well as frustrations, as we learn to adapt to and rejoice in the new while also mourning and letting go of the old. Surrounded by the new, we don’t really want to return to the old, but it’s hard to loosen its grip of familiarity.

God, in baptism, bestows on us a wealth of possibilities such as we might never have expected, never considered. We can delight in the opportunity to explore, to try out, to make use of the blessings that are ours in the new creation. Some are welcome additions: hope in the promise of resurrection, peace in the assurance of God’s love. Others are harder to adjust to: freedom that can be both liberating and intimidating, expectations that can be both guiding and condemning.

The space and features of the new building offer opportunities for ministry that the old construction did not contain. The gifts and promises of baptism offer opportunities for life that the “old Adam” could not embrace. In both the new building and the new being, I pray for God’s presence and guidance as we explore and use the attributes that have risen from the dust of the old.

Blessings!

Kathy