Sunday, October 5, 2008 
Scripture reading: Romans 12: 1-2
12I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,* by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual* worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world,* but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.*
Sermon Title: "WHAT DOES TRANSFORMATION LOOK LIKE?" Sunday, October 5, 2008
PASTOR HUDSON:
My friends, let's ask ourselves a
question this morning. What does
transformation look like? We've talked about it in a
number of ways over the last few weeks, but I want to
give you a little different image. It may be a little
different approach to the Romans passage of Chapter 12
than you've heard in the past, but I believe it is an
accurate expression of what Paul is saying about
transformation and its benefit to us.
We often think of transformation as
addressing what we do or don't do in terms of good
stuff or bad stuff. I think that that is accurate,
but I'm not exactly sure that's what Paul is talking
about in this particular passage where he says, “In
view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living
sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. Do not conform
any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you
will be able to test and prove what God's will is.”
In this passage Paul is talking about what God's
will is for our personal life. Now do not hear that as
asking, “Is it God's will for me to get married or not
get married”, or is it “God's will for me to invest in
the stock market or not.” Those are not issues that
Paul is necessarily talking about. Rather, he is
talking about being fully a Christian.
In the body of Christ there are many members, but
not all members have the same function. We have
different gifts according to the grace given us. His
point is that we have to determine and test and find
out what God's ministry will is for us individually. It has to
do with what is our part in the adventure of being a
Christian. What is it that you are passionate about?
What is it that you are excited about? God really
wants you to be in this adventure in a way that is
most meaningful to you.
If you really want to embark on this adventure of
Christianity, you need to be willing to give yourself
to God in an act of volition. You can't get in the
adventure if you don't get in the boat. When we do
that, we discover something. All of a sudden the
adventure begins to play out in a sense of belonging
to something that is greater than we are.
Maybe the most direct way to illustrate that is
to simply remind all of you who have been a part of
some of our outreach programs or mission projects, you
discovered that in the midst of the heat, and the
effort, and the dust, or whatever else it was, there
was such a powerful sense of belonging that you came
back from that realizing you suddenly had a group of
friends you never had before.
Surrendering ourselves as a living sacrifice is
more than just whether I do good things or bad things.
It's about whether I do the right thing, whether I
have proven and tested what God has gifted me to do.
Have you found your gift? Do you know what it is that
really excites you?
I believe that that is the first thing you ought
to be doing in the life of the church. Whatever it is
it ought to be something that you say “I can't wait
until I can do that again.” Sure, there are always
going to be those tasks that are just kind of tough,
and you say, okay, I've got to do it, it's a chore,
but our first priority ought to be on the things that
make this experience called the church such an adventure
that you can't wait to do it again.
So let me invite you to present yourselves to God
as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing, for you
cannot worship the Lord in any way richer. In the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.