| |
January 20, 2008
|
Transformation
|
Pastor Brian Shimer
|
|
"Being Transformed Along the Way"
Romans 12: 1,2
Brian has spent two weeks talking about Romans 12:2. He has spoken about what it means to be a sacrifice and shared a story from Beth Moore's life about the man she reached out to at the airport which illustrated the idea of presenting herself as a living sacrifice. I would like to take some time today to look at verse 2 and how we are directed to BE.
Our culture is flooded with ideas of how to "be." We can be popular, rich, strong; we can be slim, in good shape, healthy; we can be happy, relaxed, and gorgeous, or we can be depressed, stressed, and down. Advertising is abundant with directions on how to achieve any or all of these states of being. The key to all of it is how hard we work at it. Even when we might see a weight loss plan advertised as "easy" we know it isn't true (probably). Something will take effort-No Pain No Gain, after all.
Perhaps you are interested in making lots of money. There are plenty of books, websites, and telemarketers who will offer easy ways to "be" rich and successful.
Perhaps you want to be a more spiritual person, a stronger Christian. That is an admirable goal. Just like everything else you want to achieve in your life, you go after it with all your energy, so that you can be the best Christian ever. You have a daily quiet time, pray for others, read good Christian books, help out at church, even carry groceries for a lady you don't know, so that you can be a witness to her. Those are all good and important things and I am not downplaying any of them.
The question really is, "What is your motivation for living and being the way you are?" Let's see how different translations shed light on this thought. Verse 2, in the NIV, says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The Contemporary English Version says, "Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think." The Message states it this way, "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out." And the NASB says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…" In English, it appears that the "not being conformed" is through some effort on our part. At least that's how I've seen it for the most part.
How have I not conformed to the world? It's mostly through many things I don't do, after all, it does say, DON'T. So I don't listen to music with deadly lyrics, I don't read trashy books, I monitor the movies I watch trying to screen out the pictures and messages that are meant to mold my thinking and my living. Am I entirely successful at that? No. Messages still come through to me about what the world thinks is important and how I am to achieve greater status, etc. Honestly, I have most often approached this process with my own effort at the source. How about you?
The Greek text brings a surprise (and I get this from a reliable authority…I haven't taken Greek yet). The "don't be conformed" and the "be transformed" are both passive verbs which means that both of them refer to something or someone else doing the conforming and the transforming. It is not something I am responsible for. In the case of conforming, the world is a major influence. We are surrounded by all of it, all the time. It is difficult to resist being formed by the world.
Look at the second part of this verse with me: "but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The way the verb is used in the Greek it could read, "be being transformed." It is, first of all, an action that God takes, not an action we take. We are the recipients of the transformation, if we are willing. Secondly, it is an action that is continual. It is happening all the time. Even as we speak (or I speak and you listen) God is at work in you to transform your heart and mind in some way. It may be through this sermon or He may be working through something else entirely. This is where the presenting of ourselves as sacrifices becomes so important. If one is not open to God with a sacrificial heart, I think we can miss the depth of transformation God wants to bring in our lives.
When Brian received his call into the ministry, I was finishing my first year of teaching at Santa Barbara Christian School. I loved working there. My principal was also my spiritual mentor and a dear friend. I certainly faced challenges there but I also came to know God in a much deeper way. Brian became aware of his call to ministry in February of my first year. It became clear that we were to spend a year getting ready to go to seminary, so I taught a second year at Santa Barbara Christian School. In March of that school year, Brian and I went as chaperones on a Historic Tour to Washington D.C. with Tirzah Riley, my principal. One day after we returned from D.C. I found a letter in my box at school, a form I was to fill out indicating whether or not I would be returning to teach the following year. Just a formality. I carried it into the bathroom, stepped into the privacy of a stall and began sobbing. I did not want to leave. I did not want to mark "Not Returning." There was no other option. Sadly, I put a small X in the last box in the column and placed the form in the principal's box. It was a difficult thing for me to give up that great job and the wonderful people with whom I worked, to move to Wilmore, Kentucky, and begin again. I was bitter toward God for making me leave my job, for calling my husband into ministry without consulting me. I'm sure there were other things, too.
Two weeks before we left for Asbury, I discovered I was pregnant with Anna. So much for working to put my husband through school. When we got settled, I took temporary jobs, filing, typing, organizing. I had lots of time to nurse my anger at God.
All of my resentment went underground gradually though as I began to find an incredible gift to my life through life at Asbury. During one of my first chapel services, I had a sense that there was something in this place I had been looking for my whole life. Wilmore turned out to be a great place for us. Brian grew and changed so much, so did I and actually so did our family. Grace was born 10 months before we left Wilmore in 1988. We drove back across the country to begin pastoral ministry in San Jacinto, California.
About 7 years ago, I was attending a retreat and God gently reminded me of my bitterness about leaving my job. I saw how part of me had been angry at God, and angry at Brian for taking away something so precious to me. I had nursed that unforgiveness for about 15 years. I let it go. Finally. And thanked God for being patient with me, and for touching my life so dramatically through our time in Wilmore even though I went unwillingly. In this instance God was working to transform me, but I refused to present myself as a living sacrifice. Notice that God did not stop transforming. My resentment only robbed me of deeper levels of growth, but I was being transformed even in spite of my unwillingness.
There are many ways to think about the journey of transformation and to become aware of God's continuing transformational work in our lives. Sharing with others in a small group, talking to a spiritual director one on one, and private journaling and prayer all provide avenues for seeing and understanding how God is working to transform us. We can also take our temperature on how willing we are to be transformed when we look at our spiritual lives.
Another way to understand your own heart and motives and relationship to God is by walking a labyrinth. The labyrinth has a mixed history. It appears in Greek mythology when King Minos created what was really a maze to contain the Minotaur, a terrifying creature, half-bull, half man. Of course a hero, Theseus, made it through the deadly maze with the help of one of the gods. Other cultures employed the maze idea as well. IN our current culture, there is a movie called Labyrinth which looks very frightening, from what I saw of it in pictures online. This conversation has nothing to do with that. Also, other non-Christian seekers of spirituality use the labyrinth in their practices as well which may cause you to think of throwing out the idea altogether.
The labyrinth has Christian roots also. One practice in medieval Christianity was to take a pilgrimage. This was intended to be a deeply spiritual experience, both on the journey and at one's destination. Not all of the reasons for taking a pilgrimage were entirely spiritual, but mixed motivation is part of the human condition. Jerusalem was the ideal destination, but many could not afford to travel that far. Often people went as far east as they could go, which is why in England people went on pilgrimage to Canterbury, the easternmost cathedral in England. For those who could not travel at all, a labyrinth provided the experience of the journey in a local setting. Many churches were constructed with a labyrinth set in stone in the end of the church opposite the altar. Thus, believers could make a pilgrimage without ever leaving their home town.
Today you can find labyrinths in both expected and surprising places. The most famous labyrinth is in Chartes Cathedral in France. Some of you may have seen or walked (or walked over) the labyrinth at Camp MacGruder constructed with shells. Today many people walk a labyrinth and use it as a way to reflect on different aspects of their spiritual lives. There is no right way to walk the labyrinth, but often people enter from the outside and view the center as the goal. Many walk slowly along the path, taking time to meditate on God's work in their lives as they come to each turning in the path.
We have a labyrinth at the corner of the Pacific University campus in Forest Grove. I felt Jesus prompt me to walk it in the last days of December. I learned many things about how I approach my spiritual journey, how I enter into my relationship with God. I could not help but evaluate and ask, "How far is it to the goal?" "How am I doing?" "Am I going too fast, too slow?" I saw myself working so hard to please God. I do not rest easily in the "be being transformed" but rather work to transform myself.
During this walk I was seeking clarity on a change in my life direction. I walked on the path, keeping my eyes on the center goal. I didn't have a deep moment of inspiration as I meandered around the labyrinth. I did notice, though, how the goal got closer and then farther away. The path doesn't lead directly to the center. There are many twistings and turnings that seem to lead away from the goal. When I reached the center of the labyrinth, I rested there for a moment and then walked straight out, right over the separations of red and gray stones. At the entrance, I paused to look at the whole thing. I had an understanding of how to proceed in my life.
Seminary story #2. As most of you know I began classes at George Fox Seminary in the Spring of 2005. I started in the Masters in Spiritual Formation Program, a 42 credit degree. About halfway through that, in the fall of 2006, I sensed that it would be more advantageous to earn a Masters in Christian Ministry, a 64 credit program. I thought it would make me a more versatile pastor. During this time, I would tell anyone who asked that I was not interested in a Masters of Divinity. I will not do the Greek. I cannot do the Greek. I am afraid of Greek, bad at languages. It will never happen!
This past fall I wrote a paper on 4th century Greek liturgy and ran into sources I couldn't read because they were in … Greek. I began to long to know it. To be able to read the Bible in the original language. I found myself walking the labyrinth, asking God, "Do you want me to go for the MDiv?" As I finished and looked at the path I had walked, Jesus whispered to me, "Go for it, Karen. It's what I was wanting all along for you." He had to work me into the idea, to transform my thinking bit by bit until I could walk this way. In the time at the labyrinth, Jesus showed me that His goal for me is always there and always clear. Sometimes I am closer to it, sometimes I am farther away, but the goal doesn't change. Right now I see the goal as the MDiv, but in reality I know the goal is transformation and the studies for the MDiv are just one more way to get there.
There is one crucial thing to mention that is present in my story and in yours, but not always recognized: We present ourselves willing to be being transformed and God works in our lives. The work is done through and by the Holy Spirit and affected greatly by God's grace. The Holy Spirit whispers directions, questions, things to pray for, desires, thoughts and God's grace is part of what brings us to a place where we can listen and respond to God.
How about you? Are there areas in your life where you have fought God's direction? Or lived in unforgiveness and bitterness toward God and/or others who made certain circumstances difficult in your life? God has brought transformation in spite of your resistance I am sure, like He did with me. Are you longing to have those barriers removed? Are you willing to "be being transformed" by the journey on which God is leading you?
The New Living Translation says, "Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." Are you willing? Are you ready? It's the Adventure of a Lifetime.
|
|
|