The First Christian Church Disciples of Christ is located on East Church Street near the Berryville Town Square. Worship Services are at 11:00 AM on Sunday. Bible Study at 1:15 PM Tuesdays.
Tonight, in keeping with the purpose of an Ash Wednesday theme, we come to repent of our sins and to get back on a path toward spiritual purity. This is consistent with God’s calling of us to become his representative people, showing forth his character in our daily lives and interactions.
Many people believe that the purpose of salvation is to give us a way to escape hell so that we can go to heaven, and that all we have to do to receive this salvation is to say the sinner’s prayer and profess our faith in the fact that Jesus is our only Savior, with some churches adding baptism at this point, and when we have done those things, we will be set for eternity. This cannot be true because it does not fit with God’s purpose for offering us salvation.
God’s purpose in offering salvation is that we might be restored as his royal children and obedient servants, able and willing to represent his holy character in our daily lives. It is true that, as a by-product of this restoring work of God in our lives, we will when we die enter eternal blessedness, but, let me re-emphasize, that is a by-product not the goal of God’s salvation. The goal of God’s salvation is to restore us to being able to live for the praise of the glory of God by demonstrating God’s character to people around us.
People who try to slide by with claiming salvation without surrendering control of their lives to God would not even like the new heaven and new earth where God reigns totally and eternally; they would hate it and want to escape. They might even prefer to be in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, but where they are free to rage against a Sovereign God who requires their submission.
Far better it is to get to know God in this life and to be pre-shaped by God’s character, to be in the process of being made fit to reign with him in eternity. It is not so bad as the slackards imagine. Indeed, the greatest secret in this world is that highest pleasure to be found is being restored, degree by degree, as children of God in God’s likeness.
All the hymns we have sung in this service are about the joy of submitting ourselves for being transformed in Christ, “changed from glory into glory,” “Take your truth, plant it deep in us; shape and fashion us in your likeness, that the light of faith may be seen today in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.” “Purify my heart, cleanse me from within and make me holy.”“Change my heart, O God, may I be like you.” “All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; fill me with thy love and power, let thy blessing fall on me.”
The scriptures we have read are also on this theme.
Our Old Testament text: While Moses was on Mount Sinai with the Lord God, the people of Israel had seriously broken their recently formed covenant by making and worshiping the golden calf.The Lord and Moses, both angry, had negotiated what to do with “Your people,” “No, your people.” Moses agreed to lead the people only if the Lord would accompany them. He argued that, if the Lord did not go with them, they would not have the distinctive character that they needed to fulfill their end of the covenant with the Lord, for the Lord had called them to be his representative nation among all nations. Moses finally asked that the Lord reveal his glory to him so that he would better know the Lord’s character. The Lord complied, revealing his glory as resting in his character as a God who is not only holy, righteous, and just, but also merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Our Psalm text: Our Exodus passage is reinforced in Psalm 103 where it says that the Lord made his ways known to Moses and then gives the description that he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Actually, the Exodus passage has echoes not just in Psalm 103, but also throughout the Old Testament.
If we may pick one of those characteristics as dominant, as involved in all the other characteristics, it would surely be steadfast love, the Hebrew word being hesed. This is the kind of love that does for the loved ones what they cannot do for themselves so that they can remain in the divine family covenant. This is the kind of love that, in human terms, is shown by a kinsman redeemer who takes risks and makes sacrifices to maintain weaker members of the family in the family fabric. The Lord God is the very model of a kinsman redeemer, and that is the character he wants his people to demonstrate in their relationships with one another and even with peoples of other nations. It takes a lot of transformation for the people of God to show kinsman redeemer type love for the lost, the last, the lagging, and the lawless.
Remember that Moses said that the reason he needed to know God’s character was that otherwise, the people of God could not be distinctive. If we do not know who God is, we cannot be shaped in God’s image.
Our Gospel Text: Luke reports that Jesus asks us to love our enemies and to do good without expecting anything in return. He sums this up as being merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful. In other words, we are to replicate God’s own qualities in our relationships with even the difficult people in our lives. Indeed, it becomes evident that Jesus is our model, our exceedingly high standard of how to do what he asks of us.
Our Epistle Text: Paul understands that our maturation in Christlikeness is gradual, step by step, degree by degree. We do not get there all at once. We invite Jesus to rule our lives, and then we grow in our ability to follow him. But Paul expects us to be clear about the direction we are moving, that we are putting off the old self, corrupt through deceitful desires, and we are putting on the new self in which our dominant desire is to be shaped by the character of God as we know him through Jesus Christ. Our new self is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. The characteristics of this new self sound a lot like the character of God which God revealed to Moses: mercy, grace, patience, steadfast love, and faithfulness.
Of what do we most need to repent? Sin. Sin is anything that causes us to miss the mark, to become diverted from the goal of our calling to represent the character of God that has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ. What is it that makes us less merciful, gracious, patient, steadfastly loving, and faithful than God is?It is that of which we most need to repent and to be purified.
Around the spring and autumn equinoxes, from the mailbox of Christview Ministries Center, we can on a clear day look across the King's River Valley and see the sun rising over the distinctive hills that mark Berryville on the horizon. I assure you that the real scene is far more glorious than this photo can convey. Some days, the glory is beyond taking in, no matter how deeply I spontaneously inhale. I cannot imagine why I do not time my arrival at the mailbox to glimpse it each day.
There are constant glories to behold in this creation. The evening of September 27, as Judy and I ate supper, looking across the Keel's Creek Valley, we saw monarch butterflies passing overhead on their migration to Mexico. As sundown was nearing, we grabbed a camera and headed out to see if any of the intrepid fluttering pilgrims would choose to spend the night at Christview. Sure enough, some of them picked the southeast side of an oak tree, bordering our power line as it comes off C.R. 309.
The next morning I waited for the sun to get full light on the tree and caught a few sluggard monarchs still in bed, waiting for the warmth to strengthen their wings for flight.
But those lie-a-beds were one-by-one, stretching and mounting up with wings like...well, like monarchs, rulers of the earth, riding upon the winds toward their far-off goal.
Actually, Judy and I founded Christview in order to see such glimpses of glory in our guests and among those to whom and with whom we minister. Our founding text is 2 Corinthians 3:18: "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another...."
The source of the transforming glory is described in 2 Corinthians 4:6: "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
Today we are on the second and concluding week of examining the holiness tradition. I will focus on the defining aim of the holiness stream of living water, our gaining the mind of Christ.
In order to offer a figure of speech for gaining the mind of Christ, I am going to quote from the Ozarks Gardening column by Jim Long of Blue Eye, Missouri, that appeared in last Wednesday’s Carroll County News. See http://jimlongscolumns.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html for the full column.
Long says, “I hosted a group of visitors in my garden last summer and as I toured them through the herbs, I stopped beside a big clump of fennel to point out a caterpillar. Just as I pointed, a woman spoke up and said, ‘Oh I hate those nasty things. I keep a can of kerosene in the garden and a pair of gloves beside it. Every time I see one of those black, green and yellow striped devils, I put on my gloves and toss them into the kerosene and watch them die.’
“I noticed the gaping, open mouths of others in the group but before I could respond to the lady, she pointed in the air and said, as if on cue, ‘Ohhh, look at the butterfly. I just love butterflies. I wish I had them in my garden.’
“When she finally quit chattering, I again pointed …, ‘Ma'am…, see the butterfly? See the caterpillar? They are one and the same thing.’
“She gasped, and literally went pale. She had never made the connection between the striped caterpillar and the black swallowtail butterfly, and promised she would never hunt them down and douse them with kerosene again.” End quote
What do we call the process of going from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly? Metamorphosis. The word transfers into English from the Greek word meaning changed form or transformation. The woman did not know the details of metamorphosis, did not think that the ugly striped caterpillar chomping away on fennel, parsley, carrot tops, or more likely Queen Anne’s lace, could be connected to the beautiful Black Swallowtail butterfly. Multiply that ignorance across the species, and she was robbing herself of the joy of butterflies. She also was cutting down her pollinators. She wished that butterflies would come to her garden, and did not know that she was keeping them out.Obviously, it is important that gardeners understand metamorphosis, transformation.
The word metamorphosis applies outside the realm of biology. The Greek root word appears four times in the Bible. Did you know that the word is used in the Bible? It is used in two verses to describe Jesus’ transfiguration, when he shone with divine glory. It is also used to describe the change that occurs in believers as we follow Christ in 2 Corinthians 3:18 and Romans 12:2. 2 Corinthians 3:18 is our Christview Ministries theme text: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (metamorphized) into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” The point is that, when we really see the glory of Christ, that glory begins to metamorphize us, to change us from ugly, chomping caterpillars into beautiful, fruitful butterflies. Romans 12:1-2 indicates that the change occurs through the renewing of our minds: “Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed (metamorphized) by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” By following Christ, we come to see the world and to think about the world through different eyes. This is the essence of being born again. This is the heart of the holiness tradition. It is about how we gain new minds, how we break free from the habits of worldly thinking.
The Greek root word of metamorphosis is used only four times in the New Testament. The cousin root word metanoia meaning tochange our minds or torepent appears 56 times, but that does not begin to capture the frequency of the theme of our gaining new minds through Christ. The theme is everywhere present in the New Testament. Truly this theme is basic, foundational, to Christian life.We need to be sure that Christian metamorphosis is happening in our lives, and we need to be sure that we are serving as agents of Christian metamorphosis in the lives of others.
The metamorphosis of the disciples of Jesus Christ was a long and difficult process. They had a really hard time getting out of their heads that the job of the Messiah was to build a revolutionary army that would overthrow the occupying Roman army. This says that deep down, unconsciously, they believed that national independence, government, politics, and armies, taken together, were what was really powerful. Jesus had a different view. He held that the saving grace and reigning love of God conveyed by the Holy Spirit and accessed through faith, taken together, was what was really powerful. Sometimes the disciples such as Simon Peter would get a portion of this for a moment, and Jesus would say something like, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter (Rocky), and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Other times, Simon Peter would reject the costly, self-giving path of redeeming love, and Jesus would say to this same Rock, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your minds on the things of God, but on the things of man.” The point is that there is a crucial difference between godly thinking and mere human thinking. How Peter was thinking, where he was setting his mind, made all the difference between his being a rock in the foundation of the church or an adversary in the way of the church. We need to know clearly and unmistakably what that difference is.
For the disciples, the difference came clear in four events: the crucifixion of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the ascension of Jesus, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. The crucifixion gave them a clear and potent picture of costly, self-giving redeeming love. The resurrection showed that the cost of redeeming love was not the final word, but only the prelude to perfected, enduring life. The ascension demonstrated the enthronement of their crucified and risen Savior as Lord of the universe. But they did not quite get the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension until Pentecost when God the Holy Spirit came to live within them and to give them constant access to the mind of their Lord. From the time of Pentecost on, while they still had things to learn about God’s plan for his church, they had the guiding voice within them, shaping them and guiding their mission. We really cannot make Christian decisions and carry out Christian actions until God lives within us, shaping our minds.
Most of us very early in life were impressed with what power really seemed to us to be; most of us were wrong, but a great many of us may never have never questioned those early impressions. At age four or five, I concluded that real power was in reason, and that unexamined conviction ruled me for thirty years, until Jesus set me free. The lie I believed may have aided my academic life, but it seriously depleted my Christian fruitfulness. As long as that lie was in place, I had only a little room for the mind of Christ.
What early impressed you to be the source of power? Physical strength? Money? Smooth personality? Clever strategies? Good looks? Having lots of friends? Being loved by a cute member of the opposite sex? Emotional intimidation or manipulation? Our national citizenship or political loyalties? Seeking pleasure? Avoiding pain? The possibilities are endless. But when we live out those false impressions, the consequences are destructive. Those false impressions make us ugly chompers, in short, caterpillars. When we come to believe in Jesus, his crucifixion, his resurrection, his ascension, and when the Holy Spirit comes to live within us, we are given an alternative, a metamorphosis moment when we can become fruitful children of God, the spiritual equivalent of beautiful butterflies.
In Romans 8, Paul challenges us to set our minds not on human and worldly perspectives but on the things we are taught by the indwelling Spirit. That is the path of fruitful living.
If that is not clear enough, in Philippians 2:5-11, Paul shows that Jesus is the model for our spiritual transformation, for our new understanding of what is powerful. As we read this passage, ask yourself, what is the source of real power revealed in this passage? 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What is the real source of power in Christ’s life? Is it not humble submission to paying the cost of doing God’s will, of carrying out God’s mission, of living out God’s love for lost and broken humanity? Is notthat the path to real power in our lives?
When asked to think whether we have the mind of Christ, we may think of the nice Jesus of Sunday school lessons, who somehow ended up teaching us to mind our parents, to do our chores, to be nice to our brothers and sisters, to play fair with our friends, to sit quietly in worship services, and to say our prayers at meals and bedtime. Those may be important points in our socialization. I would rather have the people around me know those things than not. But that Christ can hardly be found in the Bible.
What is the mind of Christ actually like? The Christ of the Bible looks at a broken reed and, rather than destroying it, mends it. He looks at a feeble lamp flame and, rather than discarding the wick, trims it. He looks at the crooked tax collector, and rather than running the other way, calls him to discipleship and has him invite all his disreputable friends to a party where they too can discover the reigning love of God. The Christ of the Bible tells a story about a father who sees that the love of the penitent, prodigal, younger son is far more real than the pretend love of a hardworking elder son who has been biding his time awaiting his reward. The Christ of the Bible sees a temple that is not serving its calling, but is instead creating barriers for outreach, and takes prophetic actions condemning the temple and opening it up for a celebration of healing for the desperate. He then assigns his disciples to go out and to be a living, portable temple for the lost and broken of the world. “Oh, you mean the mind of that Christ?”
Do we have the mind of that Christ? Let’s see. How many of us show any sign of even seeing the lonely visitor standing or sitting in our midst during fellowship time, especially if that visitor does not happen to be of our age group or social class or education level or friendship circle? How many of us have prepared ourselves to tell someone who is searching for Jesus the basics of how to become one of his disciples? Of course, just as there are many kinds of butterflies, there are many ways we will reach out to hurting people. Some of us will do it one way and some another. But, if we have the mind of Christ, we will be doing all the reaching out of which we are capable, and maybe a bit more. Whether we are actually doing that reaching out tells us all we need to know about whether we have the mind of Christ. It is how we know whether we are still an ugly, chomping caterpillar or whether we have become a beautiful, fruitful butterfly.
If we do not yet have the mind of Christ, if that mind is not showing up in our hearts being focused on redeeming love, it is high time for metamorphosis.
How do we get the mind of Christ? A caterpillar goes into a quiet chrysalis stage, and after a short time emerges greatly slimmed down and with beautiful wings. We have something similar.
What percentage of our lives do we spend pouring junk into our minds? The television and movies we watch, the websites we visit, the music to which we listen, the sports through which we vicariously do battle, the imaginary romances we entertain, the things we talk about, or text about, or post on Facebook about with our friends…How many of these things actually feed our minds on things that are quite contrary to the mind of Christ? Whether sex, violence, hatred, fear, gossip, or mere fluff, much of what we pour into our minds contains false messages about what is powerful or important in life. Even so-called Christian radio and television tend to get us off on things that distract us from learning and living out the mind of Christ.
It is time for us to take some time apart with God, to take stock of how we really want to live our lives for Christ. We need to spend time in prayer and study, taking in the mind of Christ and letting the Holy Spirit speak to us to direct our lives in more fruitful paths. We need some chrysalis time, and before long, it will be time to fly. Metamorphosis!
Here is my prayer of metamorphosis:
Gracious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I cannot really live a Christian life until I have spiritual ears, eyes, mind, and heart open to your direction. Drill out my earplugs, wash out my eyes, awaken my mind, and fire my heart so that I may behold the wonders of your redeeming love and give myself unreservedly to your service. Let me fly for your glory. Amen.
