The written word of the sermon is never exactly what is spoken in the moment. But it is typically a good idea of what the overall theme is/was. In reading the sermon, you don't get the added comments and you do get the things that were left out during the sermon. It's a different experience, yet hopefully and prayerfully there is something in the message to take away and reflect upon, at least for a moment or two.
A few thoughts and reflections prior to the sermon.
New Salem UMC in Rising Fawn, GA has two services, the first at 9am and the second at 11am. It has been a while since I've had the opportunity to preach twice in one morning and I was looking forward to doing it. I was also looking forward to being up on Lookout Mountain, one of my favorite spots, no matter where on that mountain I am.
I had a wonderful time of meeting new people that morning and interacting with folks who knew our worship leader at Burks UMC, Wil Martin. It was a blessing to be there to worship with them and to share together. I met some retired missionaries and spoke Spanish after the second service briefly with them. ☺
The pictures at the bottom of the page are the visuals I used in the service. You can picture them being used about the time they are mentioned in the service. It may be hard to tell from the pictures themselves, but the pictures in the bags represent the cocoons.
This sermon fell the week after an intensive week of seminary on campus at Asbury Theological Seminary where I took Philosophy of Religion. My prof shared a story about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and that made it into the sermon. I will include a link at the end of the post for a detailed version of the story.
Interestingly, "transformation" was one of the themes I was living into throughout the summer. I was on a team for a Chrysalis Flight (youth Emmaus) and we talked about transformation and growth throughout our team meetings. Also, the July/August edition of Alive Now was all about transformation with a butterfly and an empty cocoon on the front cover. I thought I was just preaching the lectionary, but it turns out that the lectionary was preaching me.... working not just through me, but definitely in me throughout the entire summer. I love how God works like that. The theme of transformation was applicable in other areas of my circles too.
I don't know about you, your life, your ministry, etc. I don't know if or how this message will touch you or even relate to you. Maybe the Holy Spirit has something in it for you. If not you, maybe someone else.
Blessings on you and your journey,
Debra
"Transformed Living, It's a
Sacrifice"
New Salem UMC
August 24, 2014
Romans 12:1-8
12I 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. 2Do 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. 3For by the grace given
to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you
ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure
of faith that God has assigned. 4For as in one body we
have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we
are members one of another. 6We have gifts that
differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the
leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
LEADER:
This is the Word of God for the people of God.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
As
I read and studied this passage, I kept staying on verse 2: "be transformed by the renewing of your minds,
so that you may discern what is the will of God" That is a key verse for this passage as
everything hinges on it. Without the
transformation, we are not able to discern what is the will of God nor are we
able to sufficiently use the gifts God has given us according to the grace
given us.
So, what is this
transformation? What does transformation
mean? Let's look at transformation and
how this relates both to our gifts and to a sacrificial living.
The word
transformation here is from the Greek "metamorphoō" and means to undergo a spiritual
transformation as it is used here in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. We get the English word "metamorphosis" from this and we'll
talk more about that later. I know there
is danger in throwing out Greek words in sermons, but I'm a language geek by
trade, having taught Spanish and French for 24 years and just couldn't resist
this time.
The verse here in
Romans tells us that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our
minds. How do we accomplish that? [feedback??]
We could consider the means of grace, such as study, read the
Scriptures, prayer, fellowship, gather for worship, fasting, journaling,
etc. There are classic means of grace
and there are some practices that are just as ancient, but not always considered
and there are modern ways, which may simply be variations on classic or ancient
ways of doing things.
For example, take
reading the Scripture as a way to renew the mind. You may read a daily verse, or a chapter, you
may read from the Upper Room or another devotional. You may listen to the Scripture on the radio
or a DVD or an mp3 or online. You may
use some form of online Scripture resource to aid in your reading. You may read the Scripture in a studious way
or you may read it more in a sacred reading way, lectio divina, to see what the word has to say to you for that
particular reading. Regardless of the
format or method, the Scripture has potential to transform our mind, as we
allow it.
As
you reflect on these various ways of transforming the mind, you may be more
accustomed to some and practice them more regularly. You may be introduced to a new way of
transforming your mind by a practice you haven't considered.
The
goal of our transformation is new life, a life from which we offer the gifts
given to us uniquely back to the body of Christ. The gifts given to us can be an entire
different sermon and it's worth exploring if you're sure about your gifts. We'll take a brief look at them now from verses
6 and 7: "6We have gifts that differ according to the
grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the
leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness." Gifts are just one part of the transformed
life, but it does help to know that we are all uniquely gifted as different
members of the body. And, it helps to
know what our giftedness is. Spiritual
gift inventories are a good way to figure these out. You can also figure out some of these by
listening to what others say to you. For
example, has anyone ever told you that you encourage them? If you've heard that over and over, you might
have the gift of encouragement, exhortation.
Ask a trusted friend what he/she thinks your gifts are if you're not
sure. Study the Scriptures for more
references to spiritual gifts. This
isn't the only passage that mentions them.
Verse 1 tells us that
we are to be a living sacrifice. How
does that fit with us being transformed?
Well, that's where the metamorphosis explanation comes in. How many of you know about the cycle of the
caterpillar and the butterfly? I'm not a
scientist, but this does interest me.
But because I'm not a scientist, I'm not going to explain this in
scientific terms.
Here's my
explanation: the caterpillar munches on
leaves and grows bigger and stronger (visuals).
Then it makes its cocoon (chrysalis) and remains in there in the dark,
waiting, while it is being transformed.
When the time is right, the new creation, the butterfly struggles to
break open the chrysalis to get out. We
are told to not help the butterfly break out because it must do so on its own
in order to strengthen its wings. Then,
upon becoming free, the butterfly's wings must first dry before it can fly.
[visual throughout]
Much like the
caterpillar and the butterfly, we go through transformational times in our
lives. Our cocoons, our times of waiting
and darkness look much different, but they exist. There are often struggles that strengthen us
along the way and many times of waiting before we can fly. Not knowing, the waiting, the struggles....
it is all a sacrifice. The caterpillar
gives its life in order to become a butterfly.
It may not realize the sacrifices nor the transformation that is about
to occur, but the transformational process occurs nonetheless.
Just like the
caterpillar, we must be willing to let go of what was (the former life) in
order to live into the new life.
Sometimes we enter times of waiting and sacrifice more aware than the
caterpillar. At other times, we are
thrust into the waiting and impending change because of illness, accidents, and
other situations. These transformational
situations may not always be evident to us until we look back and recognize
that we have indeed been transformed.
Yet, even if weren't fully aware of the transformational process, there
usually is a time of giving something up and/or letting something go along the
way. So there is always an aspect of
sacrifice, no doubt about it. One that
results in a transformed, changed life.
In
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis there is an example of the sacrifice of a
transformed life in a scene between Eustace and Aslan. Eustace was tired of being a dragon--the
result of being selfish and stubborn-- and wanted to return to being a
boy. He was unsuccessful in tearing off
his own dragon scales. Aslan came and
began to tear them off. Eustace was
scared. It was painful. But, the transformation was made complete.
Transformation
is often painful because growth and change don't come easily. But the pain endured for transformation is a
worthwhile pain and leads to restoration and wholeness.
Bishop
Rueben Job of the United Methodist Church says this about the transformed life
in A Guide to Prayer For All Who Seek God:
"Living a transformed life is not
possible on our own. Most of us do not
live up to the best we know how to live.
Deep within we know that there is room for improvement. We can do better. Connecting our desire to do and be better
with God's amazing grace creates a partnership that leads to transformation.
We know that living a transformed life
means living at God's direction with grace-given capacity. This is more than we can do on our own, and,
in fact, living the transformed life does not mean trying harder. It means trusting more and staying close to
the only One who can make us more than we are.
As we learn to put our trust and faith in
God, we become open and available to receive God's forming and transforming
power in our own lives. In our better
moments we know that it is God at work within us that provides the
transformation. This is the day to claim
God's presence and help as you live the transformed life."
--Rueben
P. Job (141-142) A Guide To Prayer For
All Who Seek God
This IS the day to claim God's presence
and help as you live the transformed life.....
How will you live out your transformed self with the
giftedness that God has graced you?
As
the Holy Spirit continues to work in the renewing of your mind, may you await
with eagerness the moment your wings are dry so that you can fly!
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit, Amen!
Pictures of the church:
Pictures of the visuals used in the sermon:
 |
| the baby caterpillar ate the green leaf |
 |
| the caterpillar grew |
 |
| the caterpillar made its chyrsalis/cocoon |
 |
| this hat contains both cocoons |
 |
| the butterfly is preparing to emerge its darkness |
 |
| the butterfly allows its wings to dry before it flies |
LINKS TO ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
The passage mentioned from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Blog post by Adam Powers-- "Pleasing Pain"
Blog post by Luma Simms-- "My Dragon Skin Torn Off"
Alive Now Transformation Reflection (June 30)
Alive Now Transformation Reflection (July 26)
Alive Now website (one of The Upper Room publications)
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