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08.24.08

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time

CHANGING HEARTS AND MINDS

MATTHEW 16:13-20; ROMANS 12:1-8

• The Transforming Power of God
• Steve & Jamie’s Story
• Steve and Jamie had a lot in common
• They were from the same hometown in California, they were products of Lutheran families, and they both became anti-Christian during college
• When they got married, they insisted that the ceremony be held outside the church and that no mention of God be used in the ceremony
• They were married by a friend who was a federal judge, and the wedding was held in a beautiful historic mansion
• Jamie remembers that when they were in college, they learned to question and to rely on facts instead of mythical teachings
• When they attended church with their families as children, they were too young to make up their own minds, so people in the church tried to brainwash them into following what they believed
• Steve says that they used science and logic to get to the cold hard facts
• After all, life is more complicated than the simplistic answers Christianity seems to provide
• So they left the church and began their careers—Jamie as a teacher and Steve as a historian
• They weren’t bad people, they told themselves
• They both had helping jobs and they didn’t hurt others, so they believed they were OK
• They could make it through life just fine on their own
• There wasn’t a need to believe in a God they were sure didn’t exist
• But a number of things happened over the next few years that tested and challenged them
• Steve was offered a dream job in Houston
• After struggling with the choice, Steve and Jamie decided to move to Texas, even though it meant that Jamie would have to leave a teaching job she loved
• Unwilling to quit the job outright, she arranged to take a leave of absence in case Steve’s new job didn’t work out
• But Jamie was very depressed and lonely in Texas, far away from her family, and during their time there, her mother had heart bypass surgery
• Jamie flew back to California to be at her mother’s side, and while waiting for the results of the surgery, she found herself drawn to the hospital chapel where she went in to say a few words to the “life force,” whatever it was
• After a year and a half in Texas, Jamie’s leave of absence was coming to an end, so they had to decide whether to stay in Houston or return to California
• They decided to return to California
• Leaving his dream job in Texas was traumatic for Steve
• Although he found employment in California right away, he felt leaving Houston was a big mistake
• Adding to that stress was the death of three of their closest friends, one of whom was Steve’s college professor and mentor who had committed suicide
• Steve fell into a deep depression and was plagued with panic attacks
• He was so despondent that he could barely get himself out of bed in the morning
• He finally decided to seek the help of a psychologist and Jamie accompanied him because they had heard that this psychologist was a Christian
• Neither of them trusted him to keep his faith to himself during Steve’s counseling sessions
• In fact, during his first session, Steve said to the counselor, “Look, I know you are a Christian, but don’t bring your beliefs into these sessions.  Don’t bring anything spiritual in.  Just help me work on my problems.”
• Still feeling depressed, Steve woke up one day and announced to Jamie that he wanted to go to church
• Jamie was shocked and asked Steve to give her a week to think about it, but Steve insisted
• He wanted to go to church right then
• Jamie was afraid that once those church people got a hold of him that he’d be different, like a cult member
• Together they went to the Glenkirk Presbyterian Church and sat in the back so they wouldn’t be noticed
• But a few things happened they didn’t expect
• The service really touched their hearts, and during the next week, the pastor called them to see if they wanted to come in and talk
• This was the beginning of their journey of faith, and it’s been a time of discovery for both of them
• Steve says, “My outlook on life is different.  Things that used to bother me don’t seem to get to me like they used to.  Things that used to seem too simple now become focal points.  We’re learning that life is more about relationships than getting things done.”
• And Jamie says, “The Scripture is starting to make sense to me.  I find myself humming hymns and thinking about God.  I also seem to be purchasing a lot of spiritual books, which is something I never would have considered before.”
• They admit that they have a lot of questions, but that’s part of the process of being on a spiritual journey
• “It’s a lifelong process,” they say.  “We’re enjoying every minute of it and our hearts have been opened.”
• This story of transformation is part of a collection of stories entitled Presbyterians: A Spiritual Journey, compiled by Dirk Wierenga
• Dirk collected these stories as he crisscrossed the U.S. by car over an eighteen month period
• He logged over 92,000 miles and interviewed over 200 people
• Eighty of those stories are contained in his book
• God’s Transformative Work
• God is in the business of transformation and has been since the beginning of time
• In the act of creation, God transformed chaos into the order of life
• Ever since humanity’s fall into sin, God has been working to transform creation by changing hearts and minds, to redeem creation from the chaos of sin and return it to a state of grace
• Throughout the stories of the Bible we see God’s hand at work to transform and redeem
• We see it in the story of the flood as God brought forth new life from the old through the faithfulness of Noah
• We see it in the story of Abraham as God called him to leave his past behind and journey in faith into a future blessed by God
• We see it in the story of the exodus as God intervened to free God’s people from bondage and lead them to the promised land
• Through the voice of the prophets God spoke of transformation, not only for humanity but for all of life
• “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” (Isaiah 2:4)
• “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” (Isaiah 65:25)
• And in his vision of the future, John writes in Revelation, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” (21:1)

• Yet, God’s supreme act of transformation is seen in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ
• That was the purpose of his coming—to transform human lives corrupted by sin into new lives of faith and trust so that through them the entire world might be redeemed and transformed
• The word “transformed” that Paul uses in Romans is the same Greek word used in the Gospels to describe Jesus’ transfiguration
• The same thing that happened to Jesus in his transfiguration is what ought to happen to us when our lives are transformed by the love and grace of God
• As the glory of God shone through Jesus, so God’s glory ought to shine in us as we witness to God’s love and grace and as we work to bring God’s grace to others and to establish God’s realm on earth
• What happens in transformation is best illustrated with a butterfly
• The butterfly is the beautiful new life that emerges from the cocoon of a caterpillar
• The life of the caterpillar and the life of the butterfly is one and the same, but it has been radically transformed into something new and different and beautiful
• That is what Jesus desires to do for us, but we must first allow him to take charge of our life, to wrap us in the cocoon of his love and grace, so that life in its old form can die and new life can emerge
• The Process of Transformation
• Our Answer to the Question
• That was the motivation for Jesus’ two-part question posed to the disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” and “What about you?  Who do you say I am?”
• Jesus certainly needed to know the effectiveness of his ministry, especially among his closest followers since it would soon become their responsibility to carry on the work of transformation in the world
• Peter’s answer is the only correct response: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
• That answer can only be revealed to us by God, and to answer that way is to accept Jesus by faith
• It is that rock-solid faith that is the foundation upon which Christ’s Church is built
• This profession of faith was the moment when Peter’s transformation began, but at this moment, his transformation was by no means complete
• Transformation doesn’t occur in an instant, it occurs over time
• Just as we are not born into adulthood, but as infants who grow up over time, so we too must grow up spiritually
• Peter’s faith would be tested significantly during Jesus’ crucifixion, and Peter would fail, but he would emerge from that cocoon of failure with new life because even in his failure he was wrapped in the cocoon of Jesus’ love and grace
• He would emerge from that moment of weakness with a faith that was strong, a faith that would serve him well as he went out to transform the world in Jesus’ name
• Sacrifice and Renewal
• Through his words to the Romans, the apostle Paul urges us—compels us—in view of God’s mercy to present our bodies as living sacrifices to God
• This is the most supreme act of worship we can give
• Unlike the animal sacrifices offered in the temple that were dead animals with no life left in them, we are called to live and to give the best of our life in service to the purposes of God, to use the gifts God gives us to bring transformation and new life to others
• But before we can do that, we must first give God the opportunity to renew our minds, for we can’t give to others something we don’t possess ourselves
• So Jesus’ question to the disciples is also his question to us: “What about you?  Who do you say I am?”
• Our answer to that is the moment when our own transformation begins and new life starts to emerge, for at that moment the heart has been changed
• What’s left to work on is the renewal of our mind
• Renewal of the mind comes through education in the teachings of the Scripture and the Christian faith
• Our mind is renewed as we worship together, listening to the Word of God read and explained
• Our mind is renewed as we gather together in small groups to study the Scriptures together
• Our mind is renewed as we support and encourage one another through prayer
• Our mind is renewed as we make it a daily habit to study and reflect on God’s Word individually and converse with God in prayer as friend to friend
• Regular daily Bible reading and prayer is one of the best ways to get to know God personally and understand God’s will for our life
• Our minds are renewed as we make worship and prayer and Bible reading a regular part of our family activities
• Family life is so much richer when God is welcome as a member of the family
• The primary mission of the church is to participate actively in the transforming ministry of Jesus Christ in the world, but today many churches are in need of transformation themselves
• They seem to have lost their passion for ministry, their vision and their focus
• But churches can’t be transformed unless the people in the church are transformed because the church is people
• We ought to be—we need to be—people committed to loving and serving Jesus Christ, people committed to learning and growing in the faith, people with a passion to share Christ’s love with others, people who genuinely desire to transform the world
• We here at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church have begun the journey of transformation, seeking a new vision from God, a new calling to ministry and service
• As we begin this journey together, we need to struggle with our answer to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?”
• Can we truly answer, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”?
• Is that really what we believe?
• How willing are we to have our minds renewed through worship, study and prayer?
• Do we really want to know and do God’s will in the world?
• Are we willing to have our hearts and minds changed so that we might offer ourselves completely to God and allow God to use our gifts to change the hearts and minds of others?