When I lived in Connecticut , one of my favorite things to do was to visit the thrift store outlet near my house.  At its heart a regular thrift store, the thrift store outlet differed from a regular thrift store in a few important ways.  For one thing, the inside of the store looked very much like a warehouse with cement floors.  There were no racks or hangers for clothes, just very large, flat bins on wheels, about 8’ by 12’ piled high with clothes and other household items.  Every few hours a new bin was brought onto the floor and exchanged with one that had been thoroughly picked over by customers.  Whenever a new bin came out, the customers in the store immediately stopped what they were doing to inspect the new old items.  At the checkout counter, all clothes cost the same -- $1.59 per pound.  

What I eventually discovered is -- the thrift store outlet is a “last stop” for clothes and household goods that nobody wants.  When items from a well known thrift store chain have failed to sell at their retail stores within six weeks these items are brought to the thrift store outlet including some items that are pricey even at a regular thrift store – leather coats, fancy suits and dresses, one of kind and designer clothing.  It was the latter that intrigued me and kept me coming back.  It was always an adventure sorting through the bins.  I never knew what I might find.  On any given visit, it might be a beautiful hand knit sweater obviously made with a special someone in mind, upscale European children’s clothing or clothing made by famous designers.  No matter which article attracted my attention, all of the clothes at the outlet were reduced to and priced according to one basic characteristic – their weight.  This sometimes set up an interesting paradox.  A silk blouse normally worth more than a double-knit polyester blouse of the same size cost less because it weighed less.  The normal relationship between cost and value was turned upside down at the thrift store outlet.

Almost all of the clothes at the thrift store outlet had belonged to someone at one time or another and then that person had discarded it for some reason.   I was amazed at how many designer clothes I found on a regular basis.  Often I could recognize them even before I checked the label, the maker’s mark, because they revealed the talent of the creative mind that had bought them into being – well made with the best materials, tailored for fit and styled to perfection.   Many of the clothes were perfectly fine to be worn again, but some had problems – they were damaged, soiled, torn, worn, pieces missing, ill-fitting or extremely unusual.  Many of them required extra care and attention to restore them to their former glory.  Yet, with a discerning eye one could see the evidence of the designers work in even the most damaged, soiled or torn garment and the value it once had.  A garment always bears the mark of the one who created it, label or no label, damage or no damage.  Sometimes it takes patience to know how to look for and to detect the fingerprints of the designer.

Just as designer clothes can become damaged and their resemblance to the work of the designer blurred, blocked or hidden, so also it is with people.  It can be difficult, because of the effects of sin, to discern God’s handiwork in humans created in His image.   Sin is everything that opposes God’s law and separates us from God.  Sometimes it is difficult for us to see the divine resemblance in others such as murderers, thieves, and betrayers among others.  Sometimes it is difficult for us to see the divine resemblance in ourselves because of our own sinfulness and weakness and its expression in our behavior including, greed, lust, anger and envy just to name a few.   The truth is, all of us struggle with sin and its effect upon our lives and upon our relationships. 

Untainted by sin yet tempted in every way that we are, Jesus Christ, both human and divine is the perfect image of God -- the first born of creation.  Those who look on Jesus Christ see God.  In Christ all of God’s fullness dwells.  In other words, Christ’s vicarious presence with us, in our worship, in His Word proclaimed and in his Holy Supper we know the whole presence of God.  This understanding is derived from a very old definition of the word “vicar” as one who is an earthly representative of God, often applied to the pope in Rome .   Although I have served as your vicar here nearly a year, the understanding of the role I have held and cherished among you is not quite the same.  Sometimes I have “stood in” for Pastor Rooney but mostly I have had ministered among you as one preparing for Word and Sacrament ministry.  At this, my final Sunday sermon, I’d like to thank Pastor Rooney and all of you for your feedback, support, and encouragement this past year. 

Although some among you have referred to me as the vicar of Christ this past year, only the real Christ can perfectly bring God to us.  In Christ all things were created in heaven and earth, visible things and invisible things.  Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord redeems us from sin and death, recreates us and reconciles us to God through his life giving death on the cross.

Not only is Christ the first born of creation, He is first born of the dead -- the one through whom God recreates and restores all of creation to himself including us.  Christ, the first one with human flesh to escape death leads us to the waters of baptism where we are crucified with him and receive new life by grace through faith.  There, in those waters, we are recreated and reimaged.  We become part of the new creation, re-born holy children of God because of Jesus Christ, first born of the dead.  In this way Christ reconciles us to God.

To be reconciled to God means the close relationship between God and humans which existed in the Garden of Eden before it was damaged by Adam and Eve’s sin is possible for us because of Christ.  To be reconciled to God means that we accept our createdness and total dependence upon God.  To be reconciled to God means that we become part of Christ’s body, the Church.  To be reconciled to God means we are made new again.  To be reconciled to God means that we are reconstituted – restored to the life with God that He always intended for us.  

I thought about reconstitution this past week as I was in my apartment packing up my things in preparation for finishing my internship and moving.  As I was packing, I found a Meal Ready to Eat, more commonly known as an MRE.   MRE’s aren’t normally sold but a few years ago I purchased one at the base commissary to put in my car with the emergency kit.  It is essentially a very high calorie military freeze-dried field ration, about the size of a study bible, intended primarily for soldiers to eat when they are away from their overseas base for extended periods of time.  I ate an MRE once when I went through Officer Training School .  Each part of the meal is barely recognizable as food until it is reconstituted or restored with water to close to its original form.  So it is with us, until we are reconstituted in baptismal waters, God’s image may be very difficult to recognize in us.  Regardless of damage caused by sin and difficulties we have encountered, we are of immense worth in the eyes of God and He desires for us to be reconciled with Him.    

Have you ever felt discarded like clothes left at a thrift store -- too young, too old, too worn, too broken, way out of style?  Know that by and through Jesus Christ you were created in God’s image and re-created, re-imaged, reconstituted, and reconciled to God and brought into the body of Christ through baptismal waters.  You bear your maker’s mark – the cross, with which you were signed and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever.  This label, this mark, this cross indicates your great worth, not by virtue of your works or what you do but because God made you, loves you and claims you as His own and by His grace is revealing Christ in You.  Not only do we bear his mark, we bear his very image.  Even as we struggle in the flesh with sin, God is faithful and provides for us the means of grace and forgiveness through his Word and Sacraments so that we may continue securely established and steadfast in our faith and hope until Christ returns, our bodies changed incorruptible, and we see our designer and creator face to face.  Amen