NYUBF | New York UBF

2012 New Year – II

BE TRANSFORMED…

Romans 12:1-8
Key Verse: 12:2

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Last summer, Missionary Dr. William Kim moved from Louisiana to Indonesia with his family members. As soon as he arrived there, he got sick with typhoid fever. In fact, he almost died. This is how his new life in Indonesia began. Of course, things have gotten much better now. However, in his recent letter to me, he said that 2011 was like an action movie to him because it was a mixture of excitements, thrills and many difficulties. 2011 was a tumultuous year for most of us, filled with many big and small challenges, most of which were out of our control. But we thank God that He is always with us in spite of all the ups and downs in our lives and all that that is happening in the world around us. In fact, I see many of us have grown mature in Christ-like character and personal faith in God especially through the difficulties and challenges in their lives. I am truly thankful that although we all still have long way to grow, our faith and characteristics are becoming more mature and refined like pure gold than ever. Today’s key verse, Romans 12:2, is my New Year key verse for this year. Let me first share with you why I chose this verse.

During the Well Conference last weekend in Michigan, it became evident to me that in spite of our limitation and shortcomings, God is still working mightily among us for His good purpose. I saw God’s hope through many young people at the conference, including our young disciples in NY. Someone asked me “Pastor David, what is your new direction for 2012?” I couldn’t say anything at the moment. Then I realized why God had brought me to the conference, to think about this question, “What is God’s will for me this year – God’s will that will never fail?” Being a pastor and missionary, I always seem to have my own ideas about what God’s work in UBF should be like and where our ministry should go. Of course, a lot of things will happen in 2012; good and bad, positive and negative, and encouraging and discouraging. I was aware of God’s powerful work. But I wasn’t always happy. Maybe I felt that I was getting old. I realized that I was like Nicodemus who saw God’s powerful work through Jesus, yet had been puzzled with many questions. When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, Jesus told him, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  (Jn 3:3) Jesus seems to be telling me the same thing that I should be born again this year. In fact, Jesus told Nicodemus about the work of the Holy Spirit in John 3:7-8. “You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (Jn 3:7-8) The Holy Spirit works like wind. In other words, one of the most important characteristics of God’s kingdom is fluidity, not rigidity, like wind and water. Therefore, if I want to continue to be led by the Holy Spirit, I must be born again. In other words, I shouldn’t remain rigid, like old wineskins. I said to myself, “That’s it! I need to become a new creation!” It means that I might need to allow myself to be even vulnerable by only trusting in God’s control and His good and perfect work, in spite of the circumstances I find myself in. The fact is that I can be a new creation. I may not become younger. But I can become wholesome in Christ.

Actually, for a few days I was struggling to decide which verse I should take as my New Year key verse because there are so many beautiful verses that caught my attention; such as Galatians 6:15, which reads, “Neither circumcision nor un-circumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation”, 2 Corinthians 5:17, which reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has gone, but the new has come!” and Ephesians 4:22-24, which reads, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” These are all wonderful verses that basically teach us the same thing, that a Christian life is a continual process of transformation, from old self to new self in Christ. Among all these verses, I liked Romans 12:2 the most because it seems to present practical steps I should take for real transformation to happen to my life. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

This morning, I would like to focus my message on first two verses of Romans 12. Look at verse 1. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans chapter 12 starts with a conjunctive “therefore.” This could refer back to what Paul had been saying in Romans chapters 1-11, which can possibly be summarized in a phrase “God’s mercy on all human races through Jesus Christ.” That’s why Saint Paul said, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy.” If God were not merciful to us, we would have no hope at all. All of us would have remained in the power of sin and death. But God’s mercy to us is like the rising sun. When the sun rises, the darkness disappears. Likewise, God’s mercy shines on those who living in darkness and in the shadow of death and guides our feet into the path of peace. (Lk 1:78-79) This means a lot.

Sometimes, we fall into an illusion that we can live without God’s mercy. We tend to depend on ourselves instead of depending on God’s mercy. But can we live a healthy life without the sunlight? During the winter season, the sun rises late and sets too early, so we don’t have enough sunlight to enjoy. Many people get easily tired, depressed and even feel sick. Trying to live without the mercy of God is like living in the darkness without sunlight. We need God’s mercy. Last year, people cheered when several evil dictators, like Kim Jung Il, Muammar Gaddafi, Osama Bin Laden, died. Sometimes, we wonder why God doesn’t destroy evil people in the world. But in fact if he does, none of us would have been here today. I heard that Martin Luther once said that if he were God, he would have killed all human race three times a day. Thank God that he was not God. However, we must know that we are alive today because of God’s mercy. If God wasn’t merciful to me, he could have struck me down many times. But he had shown His mercy to me over and over again. I should never forget that I am what I am because of His mercy (1 Cor 15:10). And to know the grace of Jesus Christ is truly God’s great mercy to us. (1 Timothy 1:15)

In verse 1, Saint Paul said that in view of God’s mercy, we need to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, and this is our spiritual act of worship. What does it mean to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and as a spiritual act of worship? Obviously, it does not mean that we should offer our physical bodies in place of animal sacrifices. It means that our life should be set apart for God and fully dedicated to His services. Romans 6:13 reads, “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but … offer every part of your self to him as an instrument of righteousness.” What does God’s mercy have to do with offering our bodies as living sacrifice to God? Here, we learn that offering our bodies as living sacrifice to God is closely related to God’s mercy.

In other words, we cannot say that we are dedicating ourselves to God when we actually hate someone and ignore those who need God’s mercy. In fact, Jesus said that we should not even hate our enemies. He said in Matthew 5:43-46, “You have heard that it was said ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” I think when Jesus said “Be perfect, there, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” he meant “Be merciful, as your heaven Father is merciful.” Actually, Luke 6:36 reads, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” If we are merciless to any human being, we are misrepresenting God who is a merciful God. We must not forget that we became God’s children because of God’s mercy, not because of our goodness. We must learn to see other people in view of God’s mercy, not in view of our own standards or self-righteousness, remembering that we are shown God’s mercy so that we may also show His mercy to others.

One of my dear friends in Korea was a strong-willed person with huge spiritual and human ambitions. He happened to marry a very strong willed lady. Even though they were both very sincere Christians, their strong characters often crashed and brought a lot of conflicts into their marriage. They just couldn’t get along. Whenever I met either of them, they were so critical of the other spouse that I wasn’t able to handle their problems at all. The only thing I could do for them was to listen to their endless complaints, criticism, blame and self-pity.  When I left Chicago to come to New York, they also left Chicago. I thought that their marriage was over. I hadn’t seen them in over ten years, until one day I met them together in Korea. Surprisingly enough, they had big smiles on their faces. I asked them “What happened to you guys? You look so happy.” They told us that when they began to see one another in view of God’s mercy their relationship began to change. I know it wasn’t easy at all. But that was truly the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Actually, it was the wife who began to see her husband in view of God’s mercy. She used to think that her life was ruined because she married to a wrong person. But I found that their attitude toward one another has been changed. And they stopped comparing themselves with others. Now, they are serving a small congregation in one of the churches in Georgia. What a great transformation it is! A great transformation can happen in our lives and our relationships when we see each other in view of God’s mercy.

Paul emphasizes further in verse 2. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by renewing of your mind.” Today, the world is changing so fast. When Paul said that we should not conform to the pattern of this world, he didn’t necessarily mean that we should live like monk, or act old-fashioned, be anti-social or even anti-cultural. What he meant by not following the pattern of this world is more likely that we should not follow worldly values and standards, but rather hold on to godly values and spiritual principles. It’s very easy for us to blindly follow the pattern of this world, without carefully examining it. In fact, there is a great concern for some contemporary Christian movements that seem to follow the pattern of this world. However, it’s hard to draw the line between being spiritual and being worldly. There are even different understandings and different style of worshiping God even among Christians, depending on culture, gender, generation and temperament.  Christians can be very diverse in unity and yet very divisive as well because of the freedom we have. Having unity in Christ among believers even in a small congregation is not easy. What can we do?

Verse 2b reads, “Be transformed by renewing of your mind.” The word “transformation” in Greek is “metamorphosis”, which means a change of outward appearance, like larvae turning into butterflies and tadpoles into frogs. But when Paul said that we should be transformed, he meant a change of one’s ideas and attitude. When Daniel Solazzo was converted, the change of his physical appearance was evident. He used to have long and uncombed hairs. But now he is so neat and handsome. Yet, the renewal of his mind and the change of his attitude are the integral part of his transformation.

In the parable of the sower, Jesus compares human minds to four different kinds of soils. Even though we are Christians, our minds and hearts are not always in good condition for the seed of the gospel to grow and bear fruit. Sometimes, if we are too hard-hearted, our minds are so closed that God’s words cannot take place in us. Therefore, we need to continually cultivate our minds and hearts. Sometimes, we need to break the wall of our sinful desires, such as pride, lust, preconceptions and prejudices through sincere repentance. To become emotionally high is not enough. We also need to take deep roots in God’s words by meditating on them as much as we can. We also need to remove the thorns and thistles of worries, anxieties and unbelief through sincere repentance based on God’s promises.

Transformation does happen to us automatically or in a day. It is a lifelong process. We need to make effort to abide in Jesus, so that Jesus may be in control over our lives. Jesus said to his followers in John 15:5-8, “I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart fro me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Here, we learn that transformation can continue to happen in our lives as we continue to abide in Jesus and his words. This year, we are going to study John’s Gospel, Exodus and Mark chapters 13-16. Psalm 1 says that those who meditate on the word of the Lord is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season. Their life will never be dry but will be full of life. These people are happy not because they don’t have any problem. They are happy because they develop the right attitude of life to rise above their difficult circumstances.

What do we expect to see happening this year? I hope all of us are happy this year. I hope all of us become successful in our study, business and ministry. I hope that God’s blessing may overflow in our lives. We would also like to see a lot of good changes happening in the world around us this year. But one thing we should not forget is that the change should start from within us. If I want to see the world being changed, if I want my church to be changed, if I want my spouse to be changed, if I want my children to be changed, I must be the first one who should be changed. Someone once said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Let us first be the change that we wish to see in the world by renewing of our minds and attitude through God’s words this year. Let us first be the change by learning to see one another in view of God’s mercy. Let us develop the right attitude before God and become more and more like Jesus. Happiness begins with the choice of our attitude. Let us stop following the pattern of this world. Let us be transformed in Jesus Christ until God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for us is fulfilled. Happy New Year!