Being transformed by the renewing of our minds

The Rev. Kathi Johnson

Lectionary 21, Year A – 24 August 2014 (Back to School Blessing)

Text: Romans 12:1-8 and Matthew 16:13-20

Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas

+ INJ +

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

In spite of the fact that the outdoor temperatures continue to top the 100-degree mark, for many of us, this week (or maybe sometime this month), the summer is now over. Those of us who have lived in Texas for any length of time are, of course, used to this tension between entering the “Fall” semester at school (or watching others do so), while at the same time running our air conditioning at full blast. We are surrounded by Back-to-School messages in stores and in commercials.

So, in light of getting ready for another academic year, it felt very appropriate to discover what the New Testament reading from Romans today has to say: “…present your bodies as a living sacrifice,” writes Paul, “holy and acceptable to God.” And it sounds sort of foreign to us, like something leftover from an ancient society: a sacrifice?

It is foreign to us, and we should remember that Paul is writing to a much different audience than us. His audience would’ve been very accustomed to sacrificial language from the standpoint of bringing animals or crops as sacrifices as part of their worship of whatever gods they worshipped. So, for us, the question becomes: what does this “living sacrifice” look like, here, in 2014?

If we return to our text for a moment, we see that Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world – in others words, we should be different, somehow. I don’t know about you, but I don’t necessarily find that direction very easy to follow. There are things about this world that I conform to on a regular basis – I drive a car, for instance, and Steve and I have bought a home. We live in a neighborhood where our house conforms just fine, and I like having steak every so often, and pizza and frozen yogurt.

But I don’t think that steak and pizza and frozen yogurt are what Paul has in mind here because if we keep going in our text, we see that Paul is concerned with our minds being renewed so that we can pay attention to what God’s will is – God’s good and perfect will – and that is where we return to the idea of offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

Some of us may have a negative connotation to the word “sacrifice” – that sacrificing something means that we are automatically giving it up. Sometimes, that is true. But to sacrifice ourselves to God has a more positive connotation. Offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God means that we are so dedicated to God and so devoted to living out God’s will that we give ourselves fully to God in everything we do - each day, every day. At our jobs, at our schools, in our homes – everywhere – we live the faith that God has given to us.

It is not always easy. We are surrounded by bad news on every side – in newspapers, on televisions, even on the screens of our smart phones. We all have bad days from time to time. It can be very easy to conform to the world’s anxiety, hatred, or prejudice.

And so what a blessing it is that God has made us for each other – to be “members one of another,” as Paul writes in verse 5. We each have gifts that we bring to the table – those gifts are part of that living sacrifice, too – so that we care for others as God has given us the ability to do so: with grace, with diligence, with compassion – showing others who Jesus is.

I don’t know about you, but – even as a pastor – I don’t have too many people asking me who Jesus is. But even as that may be true, that doesn’t mean that I can’t show people who I believe Jesus to be: loving, compassionate, forgiving.

For I do believe Jesus to be loving – even in the face of so much fear in the world. I believe Jesus to be compassionate – even in the face of so much hatred in the world. I believe Jesus to be forgiving – even in the face of so much prejudice and violence in the world. I trust in the great love of God, not because I see it in the world (although sometimes, I might), but because God has promised his love to us - over and over again.

Each time we into another new season of life – whether that is now, with a new school year, or another time, I pray we will present ourselves to God with openness to his will. I pray we will use our gifts fully, wherever we may find ourselves. I pray all of this in the name of Jesus, who loves us and gave himself for us.

Amen.

+ SDG +