Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like His glorious body.

In case you haven’t noticed we continue to be on a diet-marketing craze. You can’t turn on the TV or open a newspaper without seeing one of those diets - “Lose 10 pounds in 7 days”, “Lose 20 pounds in 30 days- Guaranteed!” Restaurants and grocery stores sell foods prepared and/or packaged for specific diets. And there is no storage of plans- the Atkins diet, Weight Watchers, The South Beach Diet, LA Weight Loss, Jenny Craig just to name a few. I’m sure you could name a few more.

All these diets have the same objective, I mean after they take your money, they all claim you’ll lose weight. Many are marketed by showing the results of those who have lost weight and now sport slimmer and trimmer bodies. The TV and magazine ads show before and after pictures of people whose bodies have been transformed by this diet or that diet. Usually there is a tag line that mentions, “this diet is truly amazing and oh yeah, you need to exercise.” Of course, there is the really big question, “which one of these diets really works?”

I saw recently read in the paper a study that came to the conclusion that “ one needs to pick a diet and stick to it.” It wasn’t so much the diet as the consistency. One doctor tracked for one year four groups of 40 people who were on different diets. The study discovered that “3 out of 4 quit the diets before the year was out” and in most cases the weight comes back.

Another study concluded that no one diet works for everyone. You need to try “dating diets “ as is you were looking for a life-long partner. You may “ kiss a few frogs along the way” but once you find the one you can live with a lifetime, “stand by your plan.” This seems to be why the original Weight Watchers was so successful- it was not so much a diet but a way of life- a transformation of eating habits.

The things that made these reports on diets so interesting is how they parallel the way many people view faith and religion. Many try “dating the religions” approach in their attempts to find a “life long partner.” But like diets, even though some may actually stumble across Christianity, many quit and the benefits are never realized.

However, unlike the findings of the report where many different diets may work, in the area of faith there is only one “diet plan” among the various religions of the world that really works for salvation. That is the plan made known to us only in the Lord Jesus Christ. His plan of salvation, and His alone, is the one that holds the promise of transforming lives here in time and there for eternity. He is the one that promises to transform our lowly bodies so that they will like His glorious body – not just for a week or a month or a year, but for all eternity. His is “The Diet that Transforms Lives.”

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3.12-14)

The Apostle “pressed on” “sticking to” his goal of taking hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of him.” It is important to note in this passage of Holy Scripture that Christ took hold first. He took hold of us by tasting the bitterness and pain of this world. God sent His Son, born of woman, born under Law to redeem those under the Law. (Gal 4.4-5)

He drank the cup of suffering. He prayed in the Garden, Father, if you are wiling, take this cup from Me: yet not My will, but Yours be done….and being in anguish…His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. (Luke 22,42, 44) His was a diet of suffering, sacrificing His body, and dying on the cross so that we might receive the forgiveness of our sins.

This Christ has also been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep….In Christ all will be made alive.,.. Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, those who belong to Him. (1 Cor 15.20, 22-23) Through Him, death is swallowed up in victory. Through His death and resurrection, Christ takes hold of us. He won for us hope and life – all of which He gives us as a gift by grace through faith. By faith, we press on to take hold of that for which Christ first took hold of us. We have been given a balanced serving of forgiveness and righteousness, which brings us spiritual health and life, a diet which transforms us.

Yet, even as chocolate, temptations, or in my case vacations with lots of snacks and high calorie foods loom around every corner cause us to stray from our diets, worldly temptations lead us to stray from our faith. Jesus describes these as the “thorns that choke out the crop” – worries and distractions of this world. We have seen them and experienced them- all wooing us to give up and give in.

There is the temptation of discouragement- the temptation to walk away from our faith in Christ when things don’t go our way or what we are facing is so hard. We don’t seem to the get the results we want in life or don’t like the answers God is giving us right now. We get discouraged and selfishly believe God doesn’t care, we are tempted to give up rather than trusting and relying on the One who has promised to hear us and act on our behalf.

There is the temptation of Pluralism- going around and “kissing the frogs “ of other man made religions hoping to find One better suited to us than the “ Prince of Peace.” This causes us to fall into the trap of “picking and choosing” from a whole buffet of false beliefs and worldly philosophies, trying to define one’s own truth instead of being totally committed and reliant upon the truth of God as reveled in His Holy Word. The Apostle wrote, For as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

God’s Word reminds us there is no other salvation except that which comes from Christ. There is no other real God other than One revealed to us in Scripture –Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is no other hope of eternal salvation other than that which rests upon Christ Jesus, our Lord. Everything else will leave us with empty stomachs, empty lives, and on that yo-yo of chasing after this fade and that craze.

Yes, there are many temptations that cause one to stray from the “diet of Christ” and many have fallen to those temptations- even those of us gathered here. But the Good News is that even these indulgences of the world are forgiven in repentance at the feet of Jesus. That is one of the best parts of His diet for us. It finds its recipe at the cross where our sins were placed on Him; it is there we find our mercy. He is the Bread of Life who continues to feed us with forgiveness and righteousness. Therefore, we forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.

By His Spirit we hold fast to the diet, a way of eating, that feeds upon heavenly food and heavenly drink because our citizenship is in heaven. We receive His Body and Blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of His Holy Supper, whereby we are strengthened through the forgiveness of sins knowing that “wherever there is forgiveness of sins there is life and salvation.” (Luther’ s Small Catechism) His grace transforms us; this grace isn’t a passing fade but it is grace that becomes a way of life. It is a way of life that brings real relief from spiritual hunger. It transforms our lowly bodies that one day they will be like His glorious body.

All around are people who don’t know of Jesus who is the Prince of Peace. They are kissing a lot of worldly frogs and getting nothing but warts. They need to know of our Jesus and His grace, a grace that can and does transform lives and eternities. Amen