Transformers

from my message on Aug.  24, 2014, from Rom. 12:1-8

(video clip from Transformers recent movie)  Anybody see this movie?  It is like the 4th in  a series.  Anybody have these toys?  I know our boys who are now 32 and 30 years of age used to play with these Transformers.  Is is a car or a robot?  Is it a plane or a robot?  They transform.

Our God is about transformation.  The old line is that God loves us just the way we are, but God loves us far too much to leave us that way.  Repeat after me:  Thank God, we are not who we once were.  Thank God, we are not who we will be.  We are being transformed.

Paul says, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.  I know you like it when I do the Greek words with you.  The word for transformed here is metamorphsis.  It has an outward component.  It is the same word used when Jesus is transfigured on the mountaintop, when his clothes glow bright white.  It has an inner component, as here, Paul says our minds are renewed.  That word for renewing of minds is found only in Christian literature.  I like it that our God is about changing our minds!

Which is more important, the outward or the inward?  Both!  Which comes first?  It could be either.  Sometimes God does that interior work first, and the actions follow.  For some of us, it is like we are in AA.  We have to fake it till we make it.  We go through the motions of loving and serving and giving until we actually become loving and serving and giving.

Transformation looks like this (video clip of our work at the back to school blast at Parker Lane UMC last Sunday)

We are being transformed in order to transform others.  For a school setting, I will share a report I heard on National Public Radio as I was driving around this past week.  It talked about the MVP, Mentors in Violence Prevention.  These were seniors in high school who shepherded incoming freshmen.  Often they were athletes and others who were looked up to as role models.  These MVP's would not keep silent in situations of bullying or when a young woman was taken advantage of.  One MVP was the captain of the football team.  He said about those he mentors, "I try to get into their heads."  Transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Thank God, we are not who we once were.  Thank God, we are not who we will be.

Then this past week, I heard again about this talk called the Last Lecture.  You can look it up online by Jerry Pausch.  It is subtitled Realizing your Childhood Dreams.  He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in virtual reality.  He starts by saying, I was diagnosed with liver cancer a month ago and given 3-4 months to live; you do the math.  The talk is very upbeat, humorous.  It is not particularly religious our spiritual, but we Methodists have been trained to find good news everywhere.

In the talk he says about fundamentals, we're going to work on the things those other 21 players are doing.  Jerry wanted to be a NFL football player.  He never made it.  He started playing football in middle school.  The first few practices, the coach never even brought a football to the field.  They worked on blocking and tackling and other techniques.  When Jerry asked the coach why they didn't get to use a football, the coach asked, How many players on the field at a time?  22!  And how many of them are touching the ball at any one time?  1!  We're going to work on the things those other 21 players are doing.  Jerry learned the fundamentals and teamwork.

Another saying was experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted.  He wanted to become the captain of the USS Enterprise.  It didn't happen.  He did get to meet William Shatner who played Capt. James T. Kirk.  Jerry had his virtual reality team set up the command deck of the USS Enterprise for William to use.

Another saying was the brick wall is there to show you how much you want things.  Jerry wanted to be an Imagineer for Disney.  He got rejected time and again.  He finally figured a way to take sabbatical leave, write a paper and work at Disney.  He continued to consult for them.

Another saying was wait long enough and people will astound and amaze you.  He said we get impatient with ourselves and others too quickly.

The best saying was maybe the most important thing is to help others realize their dreams instead of realizing your own.  His last years were spent in recruiting students from across the disciplines in a class of 50 where they could work in teams on creative projects. He said it was the best work he did.

We are being transformed for others.  All of those gifts listed here in Romans are for building up the community.  Prophecy and teaching and giving and serving are not just for ourselves but for others.

Let's practice that now as we bless students, parents, and workers in our schools--teachers, administrators and support staff.

Thank God, we are not who we once were.  Thank God, we are not who we will be.  That's the good news  have to share.