BE TRANSFORMED

Romans 12:1-8

In Confirmation Class this year we have discussed many of the nuts and bolts of Christian faith and Church membership. Among the topics we have discussed are Church history, the Bible, prayer, the Lord's Supper and baptism, the three persons of the trinity, and Presbyterian government and history. The guiding principle of each Confirmation Class has been to provide information about a given topic and discuss it together in order to stimulate independent thought that would promote the development of their Christian faith. This has been a tall order. And I am sure you can imagine that this was not always easy. But thankfully we have had support from many people in order to attain this goal.

Parents have added one more stop to their relentless chauffeur routes. Mentors have shared the experiences of their own faith with teenagers. Confirmation leaders have attempted to determine the most essential components of church membership and Christian faith and puzzled over interactive methods of discussing them with a group of teenagers. And last, but certainly not least has been the confirmands themselves. For an hour and half almost every Sunday since November they have given their time in order to discuss the meaning of faith and membership in a Christian church. In addition they have turned in three sermon reviews, composed and presented a written statement of faith to the church session, and memorized the Apostles Creed and the Lord's Prayer. If all of that wasn't enough they also attended a Presbytery-wide retreat at Camp Johnsonburg last weekend. They also participated in a special service last Wednesday evening and they are back again this morning to officially become members of this church. I don't know about all of you, but I am impressed by these achievements. But as Jeff Binder and I have continually stressed in the confirmation class this is only the beginning. We, that is, all who are a part of this community of faith, are not through with them yet.

And the good news is, neither is God. The truth is that each of our lives is a work-in-progress and we are constantly being transformed by God's grace.

What is grace? The term itself is difficult to define. Is grace an attitude, an action, or an attribute of God? Is grace synonymous with mercy, forgiveness, or salvation? The short answer is yes, all of the above. Oh, by the way confirmands there is no need to panic, this time there won't be a test over this material.

In order to get a more complete description of grace it will be helpful to take a look at chapter one through eight of the book of Romans. In these chapters Paul gives us a genealogical outline of God's love for us. Basically it is the history of God's grace for humanity. Now brace yourselves; I am going to summarize about one hour of reading in one minute. The book of Romans begins with the declaration that the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of all (1:1-17). Next we learn that everyone needs salvation because everyone lives in rejection of God. Since all are under the power of sin there is nothing, no action nor any purifying procedure, people can undertake to attain salvation. This is why we need God's grace. God's grace is the only effective means of salvation available to humanity and it is freely given to us (1:18-3:20). Because of God's sacrifice there is grace by which all people are accepted through faith. Nothing can overpower the force of God's love, not even the power(s) of sin or death. Therefore when a person is baptized into the life of Christ she or he has received the ability to overcome the destructive power of sin (5:1-6:14). Since the power of sin no longer controls us we are called to honor God with our lives. At the same time we are careful to remember that God's grace has not made us perfect. We are still sinners even though we have been saved by grace and so we must rely on the power of Christ when we wrestle with the power of sin in our lives (6:15-7:25).

By God's grace those who have faith in Christ are children of God and anxiously anticipate the total fulfillment of God's reign. Until that time we are sheltered by God's potent, perfect, and unchanging love (8:1-39). Now don't worry if you didn't follow all of that. Part of Paul's point is to overwhelm the reader with a sense of God's transforming grace, sacrifice, and loving-kindness for people. In short the previous section of Romans is a retelling of God's side of the story.

But what is my side of the story? What is yours? This is the question Paul asks in Romans chapter twelve. Verse one begins with the words, "and so, brothers and sisters." Essentially these words function as an enormous funnel that gathers together the story of two thousand years of God's grace and asks, "so what?" What are you going to do as a result of grace? What will be your part in the story? For a variety of reasons these can be difficult questions for people of faith to answer. Thankfully the New Testament lesson this morning offers some suggestions for followers of Christ to consider.

First, in response to God's grace Paul pleads, "Give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice." In other words Paul means that a Christian must offer all of her or his being to God and, in this sense, die to her own will and become alive to the will of God. When a person learns to trust God more than anything else and thus allows the will of God to have total control he will have become a living sacrifice.

Second Paul advises, "Don't become formed by the behavior and customs of this world." This doesn't mean that we are called to ignore the world and live in a Christian bubble. Each of us has been born into this world and we are called to be a part of it. What Paul means is that we must not allow our Christian character to be distorted by the endless pursuit of things that do not last. Symptoms that show we are at risk of being formed by the world include; being so busy caring for ourselves that we fail to recognize people who need our help and being so distracted by the busyness and business of life that we do not make time to know God and we fail to see God's grace at work in our lives. Paul also implies that one of the best ways to resist being formed by this world is to be aware of the behaviors and customs that threaten to chisel away our God given shape.

The third response to God's grace given in Romans twelve is to, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." In this verse we see that it is the power of God that changes the way a person thinks and Paul takes it for granted that if the way a person thinks is changed, the whole of the person will be altered. This sentiment is echoed in the words, "I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am," from the late Christian songwriter Rich Mullins. When this idea came up in Confirmation Class everyone agreed that this statement seemed to be true. But there is more to this verse than that, notice that in order to be transformed God wants to have our permission. That's right we are free to choose and God waits for our consent.

But why might a person want to be transformed by God? Well, Paul says that after one's mind has been transformed by God, "You will know what God wants you to do." This means that we will be capable of knowing God's will with more clarity than ever before. But we must be careful to note two important things. First, we are not guaranteed this knowledge without any effort on our part. Second, God's plan for us is dynamic and so we must seek to know it on a real time basis throughout our lives.

The fourth and final response to God's grace in the New Testament lesson is for us to joyfully take on our role as a part of the body of Christ. Romans chapter twelve verses four and five read, "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body.

We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do." The body of Christ is the Church and Christ is the head of it. A body needs a heart, hands, feet and countless other parts to be complete. What body part are you? Will you serve others? Will you teach? Will you give? Will you lead? Regardless of the kind of service you contribute always love one another and seek to work in concert together. Keep in mind the suggestion in verse five that, "Since we are all one body in Christ we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others." In closing consider the description of grace offered by Presbyterian minister and writer Frederick Buechner. "Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries or earn good looks or bring about your own birth. A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?"

Buechner continues saying, "A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. The grace of God means something like: Here's your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it."

Confirmands over the past five months you have been reaching out and responding to God's grace in a new way.

You have faithfully followed in the footsteps of the beggars, blind men, shunned women and others who responded in faith to Jesus when he said I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life.

My prayer for you and for all of us is that we will continue to say to God, show me the way, show me the truth, and show me the life. In gratitude for God's grace worship God with all of your life. Ignore the distractions of things that are passing away or and go all out against that which threatens your God given shape. Offer your entire person to God as a living sacrifice. Say yes to God and trust that God will renew your mind. Be transformed by God's grace. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 

April 2, 2006