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"Be
Ye Transformed" Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler
– November 24, 2013 Centenary United
Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43
Some of you may have been surprised by the Gospel reading this
morning. We have not yet
entered into the Advent season and this morning our congregation
listened to Luke’s reporting of events when Jesus was dying on the
cross. How can this be?
The answer is that the Sabbath just before the First Sunday of
Advent is called Christ, the King
Sunday. The emphasis of Christ being
a King grew from a Roman
Catholic tradition that was first celebrated by Pope Pius 11th
in 1925. The tradition has
spread across many Protestant churches.
The word
King in this context could
easily be translated as guide,
compass, or coach that
teaches people how to interpret their experiences in ways that produce
order, harmony and peace.
We have learned that how we
interpret our life-experiences can mean all the difference in the world
to the quality of our lives.
While talking to a skilled welder one afternoon, I asked, “What
is the most important aspect to remember about welding together two
pieces of steel?” He said,
“If the welder takes the time to prepare properly the surface of each
piece of steel, the two pieces will bond together as one.
Preparation is everything in this business. A good welder never
cuts corners.” That is a good lesson for us when we begin each day prepared to
face our daily experiences as God’s son or daughter.
If we want to live on the sunny
side of the street emotionally and spiritually every day, that does not
just happen on its own.
We have to prepare ourselves to live that way. Preparation is necessary
if we are going to bring compassion into every encounter or relationship
that may test our skills of spirit. I once had the privilege of listening to a lecture by Marva
Collins, the Principal of the Her four-year olds were reading the book,
Of Mice and Men.
Her six-year olds were reading
Shakespeare. The students
memorized poetry. They learned manners.
They were taught from the day they entered the school that they
are the sole captains of their ships and that no one would determine
their potential for them or how successful they may become. Think of it. Their
preparation for life saved them from embarking on life-styles that are
unproductive and not meaningful.
They were saved from accepting the labels that others in society
were willing to assign to them. They were saved from remaining ignorant.
They were saved by people who believed in them, who loved them
and who taught them that healthy boundaries are a gift.
The students were learning that there is only one way to live and
that one way had little to do with theology or religious beliefs.
The quality of their lives had
to do with the students’ choices.
The faculty made sure that the students took this task very
seriously. This is exactly
what Jesus was teaching his listeners to do and all the disciples in the
future that decided to have him as their
personal trainer.
Every classroom at Westside had a proverb on the wall in BIG
letters. It said, “Teach
children the right way to live and they will grow up to be a blessing to
themselves and to others.”
Marva talked about discipline. She said, “My students are not given the
opportunity to blame anyone else for their behavior and attitudes.
There are no victims in our school.”
She continued, “When students do not choose to deal appropriately
with their negative and hostile attitudes, I work with them personally
to write a statement which best describes their choices.
This statement is one that they will have to read to their
classmates and finally to their parents.
A sample of what such a statement might say is as follows:
I have made the
decision to refuse to learn a better way to live. I am very content to
remain ignorant about my potential.
I do not wish to make anything out of my life nor do I wish to
make any valuable contributions to our society.
My parents are wasting their money sending me to this school
because I am choosing to learn nothing to better my life. Marva finished her remarks with these words, “Not one of our
students has ever had to read that statement.
Once they finish writing it, students are very clear where their
attitudes and choices are leading them.
When our students leave our school, they are prepared
to set the world on fire with
what they plan to contribute.” We can easily go through the motions of Advent and Christmas.
People can think, “What preparation is necessary?
We go through this every year.
I know the story of the birth of Jesus very well.”
I am sure all of us can say this.
However, after Christmas, will we be visibly different in the way
we approach life in 2014?
Will we be prepared to welcome all experiences with new
attitudes, a new awareness of what lives inside of us and a new
understanding of what God can do through us?
The danger is that we have experienced so many Christmas seasons
and we are numbed by it all.
Have we changed and grown during the last 35 years?
This Scripture lesson was chosen to help disciples in the future
to understand why Jesus is our guide, compass, coach or teacher.
Jesus was modeling from
the cross the kind of spirit each one of us has the potential to reach
by using every painful and joyous moment to enable us to be transformed
from our animal nature to
assume our true identity as
spirit-beings.
Think about what Jesus modeled from the cross.
1) Jesus was crucified between two thieves and never lost his own
identity. He ate with sinners; why not die with a pair of them?
2)
He was able to let go of what others had done to him without any
judgment. 3)
He absorbed the mocking words from
religious leaders as they
made fun of him, “Come on, Jesus! If you are God’s chosen
Messiah.
Come down off that cross -- if you can.”
4) While
experiencing excruciating pain, Jesus paused for a moment to reassure
one of the thieves that, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Christ, the King Sunday
was a tool used by Pope Pius 11th to sensitize believers to take a
good look at what was accomplished by Jesus that inspired people to be
transformed. The Pope
realized that not everyone is transformed by Jesus’ message.
Just like the Parable of the Sower that our Bible Study class considered last Tuesday, not everyone understands what Jesus brought. As a farmer scattered seed, some fell on hard soil where birds ate it, some fell on rocky soil where the seeds sprouted and withered because the soil had no depth. Some fell near weeds and thorns. The seeds again sprouted but they were choked by the stronger weeds. Only some seed fell on good soil where they yielded a measurable crop We live in a world filled with enormous distractions that pull us
in hundreds of different directions.
Each distraction can trigger a well-rehearsed response from us.
Most of our responses have not changed in years.
As Marva Collins once said, “Each of you students is the captain
of your own ship.” Last
week we talked about our being the only artist that can apply
paint with each brush stroke to our individual canvas.
This image illustrates the same
understanding about how lives are formed. Have you ever noticed in the Gospels that Jesus did not bring a
sense of urgency to his teaching?
He knew that God’s mercy and
patience were inexhaustible.
Jesus also knew that
blindness and our selective
hearing were aspects of humankind’s nature.
Jesus could have easily said, “If you want to take a million
years to learn who you are and what you can do, have at it!”
Truth does not need a
sense of urgency.
Truth is always
true regardless of what
anyone thinks about it.
Jesus transformed cultures
just as we can become agents of change.
Just how does a transformed life transform others?
That process remains a mystery but it works.
A number of years ago,
a white Physician chose to bring 21st century medicine to
Africans who chose to live in the bush. These people were very proud and
chose not to pursue the opportunities that prevailed in the more
populated centers that had been organized by former colonial governors.
Their distrust of white people was well-founded.
They remembered stories of white traders years before that
kidnapped members of their families and deported them to the
Hannah was not liked
when she entered their tribal village because of those scars.
Sometimes when Hannah’s back was turned, a stone would find its
mark and she would nearly collapse in pain as she bled.
Even though she had gone through the tribal protocols of approval
to be there, no one socialized with her.
However, the children were innocent and had not yet been taught
to hate. She played games
with them, read stories to them, and lovingly treated them when they
were sick.
It took everything she had to stand in the darkness of their distrust. There were times when she wrote in her journal, “It remains a challenge to love these people. They do not understand what I am bringing to them. I empathize with what Jesus must have gone through as he ministered among his own people.”
One afternoon she
brought an infant into the world during a very difficult delivery, one
that could have easily ended the life of both the mother and baby.
Something happened that day to the women of the village as they watched
Hannah apply her skills. The women began to talk to people outside their
compound. Eventually, adults
began coming for medical care since
the chain of their
well-rehearsed responses had been broken.
For the first time, these people were able to see Hannah for who
she was. The delivery of
that baby transformed people from mistrust and hatred to being open to
the love that had been standing in their midst since Hannah arrived.
She had been giving her loving and healing energies away but
their well-rehearsed response-patterns prevented them from experiencing
it. All of us will be preparing ourselves to celebrate Jesus’ birth,
but have we been transformed from our
animal nature to becoming
spirit-beings?
The Apostle Paul clearly understood what such a life communicates
when he wrote, “Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control.” (Galatians
5:22) When we practice being who we really are, we are ready for Advent
and the birth of the one who came to teach others how
to
dance to the beautiful rhythms of
life. When we
dance, others learn to
dance as well.
This is what Hannah did and soon she had a village
dancing.
This is what can happen when a transformed person helps others to
rise above the place where they were content to stay. |