“But Be Transformed By The Renewing Of Your Minds” August 24, 2008 Time After Pentecost – Lectionary 21

(First, read the text for this sermon: Romans 12:1-8)

This morning’s reading from Romans sounds a theme of my sabbatical reading and thinking. Listen for how often you’ll hear the words, “transformed” and ”transformation” and “transforming.”

First, from this morning’s verses in Romans: I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Next, listen to a paragraph I marked in one of the books I read over the summer, a book entitled Transformational Ministry: "The question we ask in these pages is: ‘How…can we…say that Christ provides our model for ministry, ministry in the way of the cross, not a ministry merely of vested interest and jealous professionalism, but ministry that is poured out without reservation in the hope that God will provide what is needed, in the incredible hope that we can be partners with God in God’s miraculous work of transforming persons!’"

And then, here are some sentences describing a congregation researched in the book, Christianity For The Rest Of Us (that many of you have been reading over the summer): "the church asks that people go through an extended process of Christian formation in scripture study, prayer, discernment, and reflection before they join….In the process, they became more than members. Their lives were transformed in authentic Christian community."

And here are some notes I made to myself, at one point during the sabbatical reading: “Transformation. Conversion. Deepening our trust in God. Giving our hearts to God. This is the purpose of our practices. Transformation is the purpose of everything we do in the congregation. We need to be conscious of this.”

So: an obvious theme, running through my reading and my thoughts while on sabbatical. I couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate “theme passage” to be among our readings for this morning! St. Paul writes to the first-generation Christian congregation in Rome: I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What does that mean? What is Paul saying when he warns us against being “conformed to this world,” and, instead, urges you and me to be “transformed by the renewing of your minds?”

I think that Paul means this: To turn away from the bad news message (that you and I receive all the time!) that you are valuable because of what you accomplish, …

… and to be transformed, instead, by the gospel, by the good news, of Jesus the Christ.

I think that Paul means this: To turn away from the bad news message that you are valuable because of how hard you drive yourself, …

… and to be transformed, instead, by the grace and forgiveness and love, the salvation from God that Jesus the Christ embodied in flesh and blood and human spirit.

To be “transformed by the renewing of your minds” means to live in the joy that comes from the good news of Jesus the Christ.

The reason I think this is what Paul means is because of what Paul has been writing in the three chapters of Romans leading up to this morning’s passage. We’re reading from the beginning of chapter 12. In chapters nine through 11, Paul, a Jew (and indeed, a former Pharisee), has been trying to understand and to work out how it is that he is now called to follow the Christ.

In chapters nine through 11, Paul writes that God has not revoked the promise made to the Jews; that the Jews are still God’s chosen people; that Christians are as a branch grafted onto the tree that is Judaism. But, Paul writes that God makes us righteous through faith. It’s not because of what we do. We cannot work to attain that right relationship with God. Righteousness and salvation is a gift from God, because of the death and resurrection of Christ. God changes everything by coming to us in Jesus. The old religious system was turned on its head when Jesus the Christ won our salvation!

That’s all a bunch of preacher talk, I know. So, before your eyes glaze over, let me get at it this way, by asking you a question: Have you ever been entirely satisfied with your performance? Say you take on a job to do. And you do it well! And people even compliment you on how well you performed! Still, don’t you always think of how you really could have done it better?

What if our salvation was based on such a system of works? Could you ever feel secure, that you were doing a good enough job of “being religious,” good enough to earn salvation? In Romans, St. Paul is announcing that the whole system of religious laws that have to be followed for salvation, interpreted by the Pharisees, including the whole system of temple sacrifice – that’s out the window! Instead: I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Your “bodies”: that means your whole selves, all of you as a person, mind, spirit, flesh. “Present your whole selves to God,” Paul is telling us, as our response to the salvation that has been won through Jesus the Christ. Turn away from conformity to that bad news message we receive about 10,000 times a day: that you are worth something only if your work hard enough and do well enough and look beautiful enough. Conforming to that lie is living under the law, and it is deadening.

Instead, Paul writes, turn towards the gospel, the good news. But be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.

How do we do that? That’s what Paul writes about in the rest of this morning’s passage. God the Holy Spirit transforms us through life in the community of believers, the body of Christ. We are members of one another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, and we use those gifts to benefit others in the body, to strengthen and encourage each other in the practices of the faith, so that the Spirit continues to transformus.

So, instead of conforming to the message that there are some who are more important than others, be transformed in grace, by the renewing of your minds, so that you do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Here, in community, we help each other learn to live in such healthy, life-giving humility! We are free to live that way because our salvation is a gift through Jesus the Christ, and the Spirit empowers us to respond in joy!

Instead of conforming to the deadening anxiety of “What have you accomplished today?”; be transformed in grace to practice the presence of God. Hear what the Vietnamese teacher Thich Nhat Hanh writes:

"Every morning, when we wake up, we have twenty-four brand new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these twenty-four hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and others. …

"We can smile, breathe, walk and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available….Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment."

Here, in community, we help each other learn to live in such grace-filled presence! We are free to live that way because our salvation is a gift through Jesus the Christ, and the Spirit empowers us to respond in joy!

I could name many, many other examples! To college students returning and new: do not be conformed to the message that your self-worth is measured by your GPA! To parents of young children: do not be conformed to the message that your children need to be perfect in every way! To those who have retired: do not be conformed to the message that you are what you do.

Turn away from all of that. It’s law. It’s deadening.

Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.

God the Holy Spirit transforms us as we practice the faith in this community of believers, in this local expression of the body of Christ.

What a gift of grace!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia