BE TRANSFORMED!

September 13, 2020

Rev. Mark F. Bartels

Old Testament Lesson; Jeremiah 15:15-21

Psalm of the Day; Psalm 121

Gospel Lesson; Matthew 16:21-26

Sermon Text; Romans 12:1-8

Our scripture reading is taken from Romans, chapter 12, verses one through eight.

Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice – holy and pleasing to God – which is your appropriate worship. Also, do not continue to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you test and approve what is the Will of God – what is good, pleasing, and perfect.

So by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think in a way that results in sound judgment, as God distributed a measure of faith to each of you. For we have many members in one body, and not all the members have the same function. In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

We have different gifts, according to the grace God has given us. If the gift is prophecy, do it in complete agreement with the faith. If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. If it is encouraging, then encourage. If it is contributing, be generous. If it is leadership, be diligent. If it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.

These are your words. Heavenly Father lead us in the way of truth. Your Word is truth.

Amen

Camp Randall can hold about eighty thousand people. Lambeau Field can hold about eighty one thousand people. If you have ever been in either of those stadiums, that is a 'ton' of people. You can get caught up in the emotion, and the feeling of that huge crowd that is in those stadiums.

The Roman Coliseum, which was built around New Testament times, in Rome, could hold about eighty thousand people. It was an architectural feat.

One day, in Rome, there was a crowd of people who went in to the Coliseum. They were there for the entertainment, or sporting event of the day. There were two gladiators who were going to fight each other. This was a brutal sport. They were two, grown men who were going to use their power, their strength, their prowess, their intellect, and their deceptive abilities. They were going to take whips, clubs, swords, (and whatever it was), to stab, slash, crush, and smash each other, until one of them was murdered in front of the entire group of spectators.

The people were there in anticipation, and the people would cheer, or they would boo, depending upon how the fight was going.

So, here it was one day in Rome, and this fight was about to start.

The gladiators walked up to Caesar, and they said, (as was tradition), “We who are about to die, hail you Caesar”, and the crowd erupted in cheers.

Then, these two gladiators made their way to the center of the stadium. There was anticipation in the hearts of the people, this whole crowd.

They were about to fight, when all of a sudden, unexpectedly, a man jumped over the edge of the stadium. (He was small in stature.) He started running up towards these two gladiators.

The crowd did not know what was going on. They thought it was maybe part of the entertainment. So, they started to cheer, “Yeah!”

This small guy got up to these two gladiators, and the crowd hushed. This small man was surrounded by all of these thousands and thousands of people, and those two, fierce gladiators looking at him. They could hear that small man say, “In the name of Christ, stop.”

The crowd erupted into boos, and jeers. Then, they calmed down.

When the crowd calmed down, this man, whose name was Telemachus, said again, “In the name of Christ, stop.”
Now, there are two versions to this story.

-One version is that at that point, one of the gladiators took his sword, and ran it through Telemachus. Telemachus bled to death right there on the floor of the stadium.

-The other account, which is probably more accurate, was that at that point, the crowd was furious with Telemachus. They began to throw objects at him. They actually pelted him to death, and he died on the stadium floor.

Then, one of the versions goes on, and says this. All of a sudden, when the crowd realized what had happened, this huge hush grew over the whole stadium. They realized what had just happened. One guy way up at the top of the stadium, slowly in the silence, made his way out. And then, the next one. And then, the next one, until the whole stadium had cleared out.
What we do know from history is that day in January, 404 A.D., was the last gladiator fight that was ever fought in Rome, as a result of what Telemachus had done.

You can either be (I am going to use the words) a 'thermometer', or a 'thermostat'.

-A thermometer takes the temperature of the room, and adjusts to the temperature of the room.

Telemachus could have been a 'thermometer'. He could have 'taken the temperature' of the crowd around him, adjusted his heart and attitude toward the crowd around him, and cheered along with everybody else.

But, Telemachus was not a 'thermometer'. Telemachus was a 'thermostat'.

-A thermostat sets the temperature of the room.

Telemachus did something different, and he set a different attitude in that area. He was even willing, as a Christian, to offer himself as a sacrifice.

Now, listen to what our scripture reading says to you.

“I urge you, brothers, by the mercy of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice - holy and pleasing to God - which is your appropriate worship. Also, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...”

So, scripture calls us not to be 'thermometers', not to 'take the temperature' of the crowd around us, and then follow according to what the crowd is doing. But, it calls us to be 'thermostats', as it were, to set a different standard.

Now, you may say to yourself, “Pastor I would like to do that, but how do I do that? What would give me the motivation to go out, and set a different standard?”
I love how St. Paul starts this whole section out. He starts it out with the word “Therefore...”. What he is saying is, “Everything I just said, the past eleven chapters, lead us to this conclusion right here in Romans, chapter twelve.”

“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God...”

So, what he is saying is, “For the last eleven chapters I have been talking to you about the mercies of God. Now, based on that, what do you do? How do you live?”
So, I want to go back, and look at the mercies of God. They get laid out to us in the first eleven chapters of Romans.

Actually, the first three chapters of Romans don't talk about the mercies of God. The first three chapters of Romans are some of the most difficult chapters in The Bible to read, when you really apply them to yourself. They just 'knock you down flat'. The first three chapters in the book of Romans look you in the eye, and say, “It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter if you have never read The Bible before in your life, or whether you live an outwardly very honorable life, or whether you are a really religious person, it doesn't matter. We are all by nature sinful, depraved, worthless in God's eyes, because of our sin, incapable, and unable to please God.” So, it 'lays us out flat' in the first three chapters of Romans.

Now, why would God do that? Let me ask you a question. “If I walked up to the wealthiest man in the world and I gave him a check for a thousand dollars, what would he do?” It would not mean anything to him.

“But, if I walked up to a beggar, who had no food, no clothes, no place to live, and was shivering, and I gave that person a thousand dollar check, what do you think that person would do?” That person would get up, hug me, kiss me, and tell everybody what I had done for him.

So, God 'lays us flat' in the first three chapters of Romans so we understand what God has done for us.

Then the next eight chapters Paul presents this huge 'diamond', this 'diamond of priceless worth', called the mercies of God. He puts it in our arms, beggars that we are, and says, “This is yours”. That 'diamond' has all these different facets, the mercies of God. (Not just the mercy of God, but the mercies of God.) He begins to show us the different facets of the mercies of God.

-He begins to show us that, because we don't have a righteousness of our own, (look at this facet), God gives you a righteousness. It is not yours, but it is Christ's. Christ has died, and paid for your sins.

-Then, he shows us another facet. That facet is, not only did Jesus die for your sins, but Jesus lived a perfect life in your place. Mercies of God.

-Then, he shows us another facet. It is called justification. He says, “On the basis of what Jesus did for you, God in His heart, declares you just, or holy in His eyes.”

-Then, he shows us another facet. It is called reconciliation. He says, “Because of what Jesus has done for you, God has now reconciled Himself to you. He is your friend. God is your friend.”
-Then, he shows us another facet of the mercies of God, that 'diamond'. He says, “We are forgiven.” To be forgiven means we don't owe God anything, anymore, for anything we have done wrong. It all has been paid for.

-Then, he shows us the facet of grace. We don't have to earn God's favor. It's all given to us in the free gift by Christ.

-Then, he shows us the facet of son-ship. You are adopted. Now, just pause for a second. It is amazing that when God created this world, He created it literally out of nothing. He made something out of nothing. But, that in a sense, is a small miracle, compared to what God did to you. He took less than nothing. He took somebody worthless, opposed to Him, His enemy. And by the power of His Word, He made you a child of God, one of the facets of God's mercy shown us in Romans.

-Because of that, another facet we see in those first eight chapters is that someday we are going to share in the glory of God.

-And, because of that, another facet we see is that we are going to have eternal life. Death cannot conquer us.

-Another facet we see in the book of Romans, of God's mercies, is that we are going to rise from the dead, someday.

So, Paul spends these chapters, laying this 'diamond' in your hand, beggars that we are, and lays the mercies of God before us.

Then, the only conclusion we can come to is this. “Well then, how should I live? Now what? God has done this for me!”

That is when Paul says,

“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God...”

There is your motivation to do what?

“to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice...”

We have our offering here at church, right after the sermon, because having heard the sermon, you hear the mercies of God. Then, our reaction is, “What do I give to God in return?”

Some of you today walk out of here, and put an offering in the offering plate. It may be the change in your pocket. You may pull out your wallet, pull out a twenty dollar bill, and put that in. Some of you may have a check you have written for one hundred, two hundred, or five hundred dollars, and you put it in there.

I have had people ask me, when they are thinking about joining here at Holy Cross, “What is an appropriate amount for me to give?”

Paul answers that, when he says,

“I urge you, brothers,

by the mercies of God

to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice...

which is your appropriate worship.”

The appropriate amount to give, when we look at what God has given to us, is everything. “God, I give you everything. I give you my body, my hands, my ears, my eyes, my mouth, my thoughts, my feet, the wallet in my pocket. It is yours.”

What does that look like? Paul goes on, and says,

“Do not continue to conform to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...”

There is huge pressure for us, from our sinful nature, plus the pressure of the world, to conform to a certain pattern. The Bible says when you give your body as a living sacrifice to God, don't conform, anymore, to that pattern.

Let me give you some examples.

-If you have ever lived in a dormitory, there is a very specific pattern of thinking, living, and acting that you will probably discover. The Bible says, “Don't conform to that anymore.”

-If you work somewhere, you will discover there is a specific way at work where people talk about their coworkers, or they talk about the boss, or maybe the ethics there. The Bible says, “Don't conform to the pattern of this world, anymore.”
-If you go on Facebook, there is a certain pattern you can discover pretty quickly about how people talk about things, talk to each other, and talk about each other. The Bible says, “Don't conform anymore to the pattern of this world.”

-If you look at politics, or society, or you go to the entertainment industry, there are clear patterns of this world that are constantly laid out before us. “Don't conform to that anymore.”

The Bible is saying, “Don't be a 'thermometer'. Don't 'take the temperature' of the kids in the dorm, or the people at work, or the people on Facebook, or the people in the entertainment industry, and assume that temperature yourself.”

But, it says,

“...be transformed by the renewal of your mind.”

Now, it is very interestingly here. It doesn't say, “transform yourself”. The verb tense here is what we call a passive imperative. You don't have to know what that means, but basically, it is a verb tense that says, “You are not doing the acting. Somebody, or something is doing the acting on you.”

It says,

“...be transformed...”

Somebody needs to transform us. Something needs to change us. The word for 'transform' is 'metamorphao'. We get the word 'metamorphosis'. It is like being transformed from this ugly caterpillar that the world wants to mold us in to, and being transformed in to this beautiful butterfly.

“...be transformed...”, how?

“...by the renewal of your mind...”

The only thing that can transform us is The Word of God, as it is applied to our thoughts, and our minds, as we take in The Word of God, which is what shows us the mercies of God. It can motivate us, and then lead us into ways that are God pleasing. We can think, and look at things, not from the world's world view, but from scripture's world view. Then, instead of being 'thermometers that take on the temperature' of those around us, 'the temperature' of the people in the coliseum, we become 'thermostats'. Then, we can set a different standard, having been transformed by the renewing of our minds. And, we can set a different standard in the dorm. We can set a different standard at work. We can set a different standard on Facebook.

Our scripture goes on, and says this.

“So by the grace given to me,

I tell everyone among you

not to think of yourself more highly than you ought,

but think in a way that results in sound judgment,

as God distributed a measure of faith to each of you.

For we have many members in one body,

and not all members have the same function.”

I want to tell you about an interesting study that was done. There was a survey taken of a whole bunch of young people who claimed to be Christian. One of the survey questions asked this. “Do you think it is always, or sometimes ok to be sexually active with somebody you are not married to?”

There were a substantial number of young people, who claimed to be Christians, who said, “Yes, I think it is ok, always or sometimes, to be sexually active, outside of marriage.”

The people who were doing the study were so intrigued by that they began to dig a little deeper. Here is what they discovered. Some kids said, “No, I don't think it is ever ok.” They discovered the answers came from two distinct categories of young people. Those who claimed to be Christians, but did not go to church, were far more apt to say, “I think it is always, or sometimes ok to be sexually active outside of marriage”, than those who regularly went to church.

How does that renewing of the mind take place? It takes place when we place ourselves in The Word of God, (and here, in this section of scripture), and when you place yourself among God's people. We are not islands to our self. If I am away from all other Christians, the body of Christ, it is much easier for this world to have an influence on me, and an impact on me. We need each other.

It goes on, and talks about how some of you are teachers. Some of you encourage. We need each other, the body of Christ, to put our arms around each other, and help keep one another from becoming 'thermometers', and to be 'thermostats', to urge us to live Christian lives.

That is one of the things that really concerns me about this pandemic. It is hard for the body of Christ to be together, and we need each other. We need each other, to urge one another, to admonish one another, to encourage one another. And so, I urge you to join me in praying soon these pews can be filled again, this pandemic is over, and we, as the body of Christ, can continue to wrap our arms around one another.

I am going to close with a hymn. It is about offering yourself as a living sacrifice.

Take my life and let it be

Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days;

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be

Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing

Always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be

Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;

Not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect and use

Ev'ry pow'r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine;

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart – it is Thine own;

It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee.

Amen