Stop This Ride! Handling the Relentless Changes of Life as a Baptized Child of God

By Rev. Mark Buetow

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Let’s face it: Most of us don’t like change. We don’t like things that make us uncomfortable and demand that we alter the way we live. Maybe you had to move in the middle of the school year and suddenly find yourself in a new town and new school with all your friends left behind. Perhaps you’re starting college, far away from Mom and Dad with a stranger for a roommate. Maybe you’re trying to figure out how to pick up the pieces after a nasty break-up. Perhaps you’re learning to live without a parent or brother or sister who died. Sometimes illness forces us to change how we live and what we can do. No, we don’t like change. It takes us out of our comfort zone. The question is: How do we handle change in our lives? How do we deal with our lives being turned upside down and inside out? How do we adapt and move forward, especially when it’s not change we want?

Well, first of all, we are grounded in the one thing that doesn’t change: Jesus. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But what sort of same? It’s the sameness of His never leaving you nor forsaking you. That never changes. It’s the unchanging promise that His death and resurrection have answered for your sins. Yes, even your doubt, frustration, and turning away from the Lord and being nasty to others around you because of the changes you face— all of that is covered and washed away by the blood of Jesus. Jesus reminds you of this with His unchanging gifts. Your baptism can’t change. It can’t be undone. At the font, the unchanging Triune God made you His child. You are forever a part of a family that cannot be broken apart or altered, not even by death! There is the Absolution. In every bit of frustration, outburst, and nastiness, the words of Jesus don’t change: Your sins are forgiven. There is the preaching of the Gospel. That Good News never changes. Jesus died and rose for you. Nothing can make that not true. And finally, there is the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Sacrament of the Altar is a meal of forgiveness, life, and salvation. It is also a powerful reminder and witness to the unchanging church. There at the altar, you are united, not only with the brothers and sisters in Christ whom you can see with your eyes, but also with your fellow Christians of all times and places who are with Jesus. They have passed through many changes, too—even death—and the Lord has kept them with Him. So there’s your anchor: Jesus and His gifts. He doesn’t change even when the world around you does.

Now in Christ we have a little perspective on the change that happens in our lives. We can learn that change is actually a gift. A gift? That’s right. How can change be a gift? How can bad change be a gift? How can being dragged away from something you know and being put into a situation with which you’re uncomfortable and unfamiliar—how can that be a gift? Let’s zoom out on our lives a little to answer that question.

If you think about it, change is really just a result of death being in this world. From the moment we are conceived, we are living and growing toward the day we will die. Even unavoidable changes like our bodies growing up remind us of this. You can’t be a baby in diapers forever. You grow up. But you can’t be a young specimen of health and vitality forever either. You grow old. Life moves along and you see things you like come and go. You see people you love come and go. Finally, you will go. You will go to sleep in death. And even after your death, natural processes will change your body into dust. And seeing that change happen and recognizing it for what it is…well, that’s a gift!

Change is a gift because through it the Lord reminds us that nothing lasts forever in this world. Let’s admit something. We would love to keep our favorite things forever. We would really love to be with certain people all the time forever. But our stuff goes away. People go away. Money disappears. Our health gets worse. Everything changes. That sometimes slow plodding slog, sometimes racing rush to death is the Lord’s way of reminding you that your heart and soul and mind and strength should not be attached to things that perish but to things that last, like Jesus and His Word. The change we experience in the world reminds us that all things are passing away. That’s a gift through which the Lord teaches us not to become too attached to things and to make idols of them. But the gifts of Jesus are unchanging. So against the constant change and upheaval we have those gifts of Jesus in water, Word and Supper that never expire, become outdated, or turn into something else.

A very practical and concrete way of helping you deal with change is to seek out your pastor. Maybe it’s the pastor you’ve known all your life. Maybe it’s the pastor of the Lutheran campus ministry or church. Perhaps it’s a new pastor in a new town. Regardless, the Lord has given you that pastor to comfort you when the change is relentless and wears you down. He’s there to hear your complaints. He can use God’s Word to help you think through what steps you can take to focus on loving and serving those around you instead of just wallowing in the self-pity. But most of all, your pastor is there to remind you of your unchanging baptism into Christ. He is there to hear your confession for whatever sins trouble you and to pronounce forgiveness to you in Christ’s stead. Your pastor is there to give you the Body and Blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. When change hits you hard, seek out your pastor and he will do the faithful work of pointing you to your Savior and His unchanging gifts.

Sometimes the changes you face seem to be completely overwhelming. It may be that you are even afflicted with depression or anxiety as a result of the stress and unfamiliarity you face. All of that change can throw things out of whack. If that is possibly the case, then in addition to seeking out your pastor for spiritual care, you should talk to your parents and maybe even your doctor to see whether you might be suffering from those particular illnesses and need treatment for them. Again, all of this is a gift! The Lord is reminding you that it’s not all you out there on your own. He has given you all sorts of people to love you and to help you adapt and deal with the turmoil that comes from just going through life.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You were different yesterday than you are today than you will be tomorrow. But in your yesterday, your today, and your tomorrow—and your forever—Jesus is right there with you. He’s right beside you through your baptism and His Supper. He dwells in you through His Word and the Spirit. There is no change, nothing so new or different or awful that it can get rid of Jesus and His love and forgiveness. Most of us don’t like change, but for you, baptized child of God, your unchanging Savior makes sure that not even the changes of this world can change what He has done and gives to you.

Rev. Mark Buetow is the associate pastor of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in McHenry, Illinois. He can be reached at buetowmt@gmail.com