To Break Down... to Build and to Plant

I wish I would have taken a picture of this building back in May when I was here for my interview with Trinity.  Back then it was an an ugly empty building that apparently no one could use.  Now as I walk by it everyday on my way to and from Trinity, they are in the slow process of tearing it down - a dirty, time consuming process.  But if this valuable piece of property (it sits on a major road) is going to be useful again... if some new building is going to be built there, then this building has to first be torn down.  Each time I have walked by this building Jeremiah 1:9b-10 has come to mind. These words take place in the context of God calling Jeremiah to be His prophet. Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down,  to destroy and to overthrow,  to build and to plant.” 

Why would God through His word "pluck up and break down, to destroy and overthrow? He would do this in our lives for the same reason they are tearing down this building.  God often has to tear down the old in order to "build and to plant" His new creation in our lives.

This past Sunday we heard again about John the Baptist and His message of "Repentance for the forgiveness of sins."  Think about that - In order to do His work of forgiveness in our lives God has to first do the work of repentance.  He has to show us our sin.  He has to tear down the walls of sin with which we separate ourselves from Him.  Why?  In order that we might be ready for Him to do His wonderful work of forgiving us all our sins for the sake of Jesus!  He tears down the old in order to build and to plant His new life in us. 

As I look at the picture of this building being torn down, I am struck by the fact that it may have been much easier to have just left this building the way it was - an empty eyesore - than it is to do this messy, costly work of tearing down the building.  I am the same way.   I would sometimes like to leave things the way they are... ignore the dirt and ruin in my life that needs to be torn down.  After all when God does this tearing down work in me that's not easy.  Things about myself that I would rather deny or not deal with - hatreds, weaknesses, old grudges, sinful habits, struggles in my relationships - get exposed.  I don't like looking at those things.  I would rather not admit they are true.  My guess is that you are no different.  God's work of tearing down is not fun.  As I once read on a sign in a counselors office - "The truth will make you free but first it will make you miserable."  It just seems so much easier to ignore these truths about us than to go through the struggle of facing them.

That's when we need to remember why God "tears down."  He is eager to "build and to plant" His new life in us.  He works repentance in our hearts because His greatest desire is for us to know and believe in His forgiveness and love.  He sent John the Baptist to "make the rough places plain... He sent John preaching a baptism of repentance to "prepare the way of the Lord."   He sent John to tear down because He was about give the world our Savior - Jesus.  He was about to build and to plant.

I love the season of Advent.  Each year we hear John the Baptist cry, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near."  Then a couple of short weeks later comes Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Our homes, our churches are filled with light and song. We sing "Joy to the World" because God planted Himself in our midst, in flesh and blood as a tiny baby in a manger sent to "make all things new."  What a great reminder this season is that our God is one who tears down the old in us because more than anything He desires to make us new in Christ.  

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