“Not Conformed But Transformed” (Romans 12:1-2) - Christian Education Sunday 2017 -

It Takes a Village

It takes a village to raise a child. This ancient African proverb teaches eternal truth. A child does not grow up in isolation. A child becomes a healthy adult if the entire community takes an active role in nurturing the child. Parents and immediate family might be the primary source of support, but there are many other people involved in a child’s growth. Every child is nurtured and shaped by a community. Schools, churches – teachers and congregations – all have an important role in nurturing and guiding the next generation. No child is an island. It does take a village.

Do Not Be Conformed

This truth equally applies to people of all ages, to all of us in this room, not just to children. We are consciously and unconsciously shaped by a community and this world. Then, what is the pattern of this world? The world tells us that happiness consists in the size of our cars, the impressiveness of our houses, and the expensiveness of our clothes, but our Lord Jesus reminds us, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). The world tells us that sexual promiscuity is just part of self-expression. But Jesu tells us that “anyone who looks a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt 5:28). Therefore, in today’s passage the Apostle Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world – its ways, values and customs.” The word “conform” means to have the same shape, style, obedient to, or in harmony with. Here Paul is saying, “Don’t let the world shape, mold, influence you, or to pull you in its direction. Don’t get caught in its flow; it will pull you away.” So we Christians actually live under a lot of pressure to fit in.

Max Lucado’s If Only I Had a Green Nose is a wonderful story for teaching children to be themselves. But it is also a great story for teaching adults to nonconform to the pattern of this world. It’s about a little boy named Punchinello, who is struggling with a really hard decision, to be like everyone else in town or to be himself. The towns people decided that by painting their nose green they would feel better about themselves. At first, Punchinello thought a green nose is just silly. It wouldn't make him faster, stronger, or even smarter. It would only make him just like everyone else. But as time goes by, he eventually wants to have a green nose just because all the other Wemmicks have a green nose. Then, he hears the news that a red nose is now the latest thing in town. Then a blue nose, then pink nose, then yellow nose… And eventually, Punchinello was totally exhausted. Just like Punchinello, we all want to fit in. To be accepted by the crowd. Our sinful nature – sexual immorality, lust, hatred, strife, anger, dissensions, factions, addictions – just wants to follow and conform to the behavior, customs, and culture of this world. But, our Lord Jesus commands us to live differently. Then, where can we find strength to swim upstream against the current and all these pressures of this world?

Be Transformed

Today’s scripture gives us an answer: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind!” Here the word “transformed” means to change into something different. It means to have new nature, new character – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – from the inside out. How does this happen? The answer is “by the renewing of our mind.” Then our next question is how can we renew our mind? The answer is by the living and active power of God’s word. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” I don’t know about you, but for me I find very difficult and almost impossible to renew my own mind, let alone others. But only the word of God is able to reshape, renew, retrain our mind, our thoughts, our values. In Psalm 119 David says, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word… I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Be saturated with the word of God! By this, we renew our mind. And help and teach your (biological and spiritual) children to saturate their minds with God’s word.

As I look back on my Sunday school days, I particularly remember three teachers – my 3^rd, 7^th and 12^th grade Sunday school teachers. They all have one thing in common. They did teach me the Bible, God’s word. Interestingly, all of them were kind of shy, quiet, ineloquent. But they were something different. There was power when they taught me. Intuitively, I could sense they were teaching the truth with conviction. Though there were times I was bored, for some reason their teaching did stay in me for a long time, shape my values, reshape my sinful heart and mind. By this experience, I have learned there is power in the word of God to renew, reshape our hearts and minds. In my college years I myself became a Sunday school teacher for the youth group. I taught 10^th and 11^th students. Some of them were from broken and dysfunctional families. They had no dreams, visions, or purpose of life. I had tried hard to build up a relationship with them, but they did not trust me. So I started “Vision Study Club” to teach them some academic subjects such as English and mathematics. But more importantly, I taught them the Bible. We met twice a week, and during summer break we met Monday through Friday. After about two years I began to see how God’s word renews and transforms their minds. They stopped using filthy language. They stopped wasting time. Instead, they started to discover the goals of their lives and eventually entered college they aimed at. It was the most exciting and honorable experience for me to watch them to be transformed and grow in faith by the power of God’s word.

Then

Before we are transformed, the Bible doesn’t make sense at all. It is just a medley of contradictions. Indeed, on a superficial level different Bible verses seem to be contradictory to one another. And God’s word seems difficult, burdensome, not relevant to our daily life. But once we are transformed, we come to understand that God’s word does make sense. We discover that God’s will is the very best and perfect for our lives. NLT version translates Romans 12:2 in this way: “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

It Takes a Village, but…

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed. How? By the renewing of our mind. We must renew our minds. Our children must renew their minds. Our children need godly parents, godly grandparents, godly Sunday school teachers, godly pastors, who are able to teach God’s word and live out God’s word in everyday life. In Nehemiah 8 revival comes. People ask Ezra to bring the Book of Moses’ Law. As he opens the book, all the people stand. As he reads the word, they answer “Amen, Amen” and worship the Lord with their faces to the ground. It was a team effort. Nehemiah united the people all together. The Scribe Ezra read the word. And the Levites helped the people to understand clearly the reading. They explained the meaning. When the people of Israel understood the reading, they wept. They were transformed by the word of God. And it was a team effort. It takes a congregation to raise the children. It takes a congregation to nurture and guide our new believers on the road of discipleship. It takes a congregation to reach out to those who slip away. It takes a congregation to nudge us into spiritual growth, to take another step, when we are more comfortable staying where we are. It takes a congregation to encourage and support one another as we travel our pilgrim journey together that are sometimes smooth and clear, but at other times are filled with potholes and conflict. It takes a congregation…

But it always begins with me. The revival written in Nehemiah 8 did not just happen. This revival begins with one person, Ezra. Ezra 7:10 says, “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel” (ESV). Ezra did study the word, do the word, and teach the word. And when the time had fully come, revival started. Some of you may have heard D.L. Moody’s famous “T and P” Bible. In the margin of many pages in D. L. Moody’s Bible, he wrote the letters T and P, meaning “Tried and Proved.” He read it, digested it, underlined it, and put it into practice. And he proved that the word of God actually works. Let us try and prove God’s wonder-working Word. Let us set aside time daily to actually read the word, study the word, meditate on the word, memorize the word, and do the word, until God’s word reshapes us, renews us, transforms us from the inside out. Then, like Dr. King said, we will stop marching to the drumbeat of conformity. We will begin listening to the beat of a more distant drum from above and marching to the music of eternity that is good, pleasing, and perfect. More than ever before, we are today challenged by the words of Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” 

“Fellowship with the Trinity” (Job 38:1-7; 42:1-6)

The Shack and the Trinity

Today we celebrate Pentecost and next Sunday Trinity Sunday. As I was preparing the message for these important celebrations, William P. Young’s The Shack came to my mind. I think some of you have had a chance to either read or watch this story. The brief plot goes like this: The main character, “Mack” is a father of five. One day he takes three of his children on a camping trip. Two of his children are playing in a canoe when it flips and almost drowns Mack's son. Mack is able to save his son by rushing to the water, but unintentionally leaves his youngest daughter Missy alone at their campsite. After Mack returns, he sees that Missy is missing. The police discover that Missy has been abducted and murdered by a serial killer. The police find an abandoned shack in the woods where Missy was taken. Her bloodied clothing is found, but her body is not there. Since that time, Mack's life sinks into what he calls "The Great Sadness.” In this story the author asks this question: “Where is God in our suffering? Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?” It was Job’s question in the Bible, and it is our question today. We still ask, “Where is God when…?”

The author Young finds the answer in the fellowship with the Holy Trinity. He himself asked this question many times throughout his life journey. Young’s parents were missionaries. He and his family went to the Netherlands New Guinea when he was a year old. He had a difficult relationship with his dad, who was very broken. He had also been sexually abused by the natives as early as 5 years old. Those experiences did devastate, fracture, damage his soul. He then learned how to emotionally detach himself and leave and never dealt with his stuff. But, he had to deal with all his stuff in his marriage. Finally, he got caught in adultery in a three-month affair with one of his wife’s best friends. That started a long process of dealing with his stuff. In this painful healing journey Young did meet the Trinity in the shack, the very place he got stuck, got hurt, got damaged. And now he invites us to go to our shack, the house we build out of our own pain, and to meet the Trinity right there to be healed.

“Papa” Father

In the book of Job in His providence God allows Satan to test Job. In one day Job lost all his property and all his ten children. To make things worse, he was ulcers and scabs from head to foot. The worst scenario possible! In this respect Job and Mack in the story of the Shack have in common. Job begins questioning: “Why is all this happening?” “Why me?” “Where is God?” “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?” After all these questions, God appears. He doesn’t answer Job’s questions. Instead, he asks questions. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much!” (38:4) “Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?” (40:8) Then, Job begins to understand his ability to discern what is good, or what is evil is quite self-serving and self-centered. He repents that he has become the judge.

In the story of the Shack Mack went to see “Sophia” (Wisdom) inside of the thick, dark mountain. He was then invited to sit on the judgment seat himself to be the judge. Sophia said to him, “Now you must choose two of your children to spend eternity in heaven and three of them to spend eternity in hell.” Mack said, “I can’t. I can’t. I won’t! Could I go instead? If you need someone to torture for eternity. Please let me go for my children. Please…” And she said, “And now you know Papa’s heart who loves all her children perfectly.”  By this, Mack realized that was exactly what God did for him as a righteous Judge and loving Advocate. As a righteous Judge, God had to sentence us to death because “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23a). But as a loving Advocate, God chose to give his unique Son. He chose to walk the path of his own child loss to save all who believe, including even child abusers and abductors. So the first step towards our healing journey is to “give up” being the judge and “trust” God as a good Father and righteous Judge all the time.

Jesus the Son

Now Jesus the Son. How do we know God really love us, care about us? We do know His love perfectly in Jesus Christ. 1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” We feel God’s love through Jesus Christ the Son. Then, where do we see Jesus in the book of Job? In fact, Job foreshadows Jesus, the righteous man who suffers unjustly and is finally vindicated by his Father. Timothy Keller rightly said, “Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.”

Where and how do we see Jesus in our suffering? In the story of the Shack one time Mack was boating on a peaceful lake. All of sudden, the lake was boiling, and the boat was sinking in the middle of the lake. He cried out for help. Right away, Jesus walked on the water to help, saying, “That’s what is happening inside of you. Why do you have so much fear in your life? Look at me. Fix your eyes on me. Trust me!” Then, he offered his hand to him to come out of the boat. At first, Mack was hesitant, afraid, but eventually he came out of it. Later, Mack and Jesus ran on the water together! Run with Jesus! So the second step to our healing journey is to “trust” Jesus, trust his finished work on the cross no matter what fear or pain we have, and to be submitted to him out of love and respect.

The Holy Spirit

Last but not least, the Holy Spirit. We come to God the Father through Jesus the Son by the power and work of the Holy Spirit. Think about it. The Bible says Jesus is the exact imprint of God’s very being (Heb 1:3). We know God through Jesus. But how do we experience Jesus? How do we talk with him, walk with him, dine with him who lived 2000 years ago? The answer is by the Holy Spirit! Job had heard about God, knew about God. But when the Holy Spirit opened his eyes, Job shouted with joy, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes!” (42:5) This is the creative, regenerative work of the Holy Spirit. The same thing happened to Nicodemus. He had heard about God, knew about God, taught about God. But Jesus said to him, “You must be born again!” (John 3:3) It is never enough to do a little bit of improvement or renovation of our old self. What we need is a new foundation, new nature, new self, new life. This is possible only by the work of the Holy Spirit. When we are born of the Spirit, we become like a wind. There is freedom, creativity, life. Though it is intangible, we ourselves know for sure we have new, abundant, eternal life. And others also notice something different. This is the work of the Holy Spirit.

In the story of the Shack the Holy Spirit is “Sarayu,” an Asian woman. Sarayu took Mack to a messy garden. And she asked him to help clearing the entire plot of ground because she would plant something new and special here. They together cut off at the roots all the weeds and plants. The plot looked like a wound in the garden. Mack called this garden a mess, but Sarayu called this messy garden wild and beautiful. In fact, this garden was Mack’s soul. When the Holy Spirit comes, he does something brand-new. He tears down our old foundation and builds an entirely new foundation. He gives us new nature. At first, it is so small like a mustard seed, but it slowly grows and grows, and eventually changes our whole being from inside out. So the third step to the healing journey is to “trust” the Holy Spirit and His life-giving work within us.

The Flyer and The Catcher

As I close, I would like to share a circus story with you. I think many of you in this room have seen a circus. One day I was reading Henri Nouwen’s book, I was very impressed by his reflection on the art of the trapeze at the circus. Many of us are impressed by the performance of the flyer. We think the flyer is the great star of the trapeze. But the real star is the catcher. In fact, the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything. The flyer has simply to stretch out his arms and hands and wait for him to catch him. In the art of the trapeze the worst thing the flyer can do is to try to catch the catcher. If he grabbed the catcher’s wrists, he might break them. A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch. And the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him with split-second precision. God is the Catcher, and we are the flyer. As a flyer, all we need to do is to stretch out our arms and hands and trust the Catcher. And in his time God will be there for us. He will heal us, restore us, make us whole. So let us trust, trust, trust. Trust the Catcher. Amen.