Transformers

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
August 13, 2006
The 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Transformers
John 6:35, 41-51
Ephesians 4:25-5:2

I sat at my desk the other day and played --
played with a toy.
It was a toy a little boy from Washingtonville sent me,
one of those transformers.
You’ve seen them:
it looks like a car, a small plastic car,
a seriously cool car, with lots of chrome.
But then if you fold the hood one way,
the trunk another,
turn the wheels out and the doors up,
before you know it, what was once a car,
has been transformed --
transformed into a robot,
something straight out of intergalactic travel
in the 23rd century.

If you are a 5-year old boy, you flip back and forth
between car and robot with no problem.
But if you are a pastor of a certain age,
you might sit there for an hour trying to figure it out.
And even if you manage to transform it from car to robot,
transforming it back from robot to car is another matter entirely.

The word “Transformer” seems so 20th century.
We equate the word not only with toys,
but with power, electric power.
Transformers are all around us on poles and power lines:
they are the gadgets that step down the high voltage
that runs through the power lines that ring our community
and reduce it to 110 or 220 volts so you and I can
run the air conditioning, watch television,
or run the washer.

The word “transformer” is not new, however.
We can find it in the Bible, in Paul’s letter to the Romans.
In the midst of a letter deep in theology,
Paul wrote such a simple sentence:
“Do not be conformed to this age,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
(Romans 12.2).

Simple, yet incredibly challenging:
Be transformed.
The Greek word that we translate as “transform”
is one we actually use in English: “metamorphosis”.
Both words suggest a complete change,
a change as radical as going from car to a robot,

You and I are called to be transformed
utterly and completely, absolutely and without hesitation.
And it isn’t Paul who is calling us to be transformed.
In using the word, Paul is simply reinforcing the teachings
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now this is pretty strong stuff;
maybe too strong for most of us,
especially in mid-August.
So what we tend to do is interpret this thought
in way that makes us less uncomfortable:
We hear the word “transformed”
and we take it to mean that we should be
a little more loving, a little less temperamental;
a little more generous, a little less selfish;
a little more forgiving, a little less judgmental.

But that’s just not good enough.
Jesus expects more from us – much more.
We are called to be transformed,
metamorphosized,
changed utterly and completely;
dead to the old,
as we take on new life in Christ.

In trying to teach the Ephesians, Paul reinforced Jesus' lessons
with the same absolute instructions.
So we heard at the beginning of our lesson,
“Put away falsehood,
let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors.”
Paul leaves us with no wiggle room here.
But what do we do when our neighbor proudly displays
his latest purchase -- a new motorcycle, an enormous Harley,
acres of gleaming chrome,
and of course, that aftermarket muffler attachment
that makes the thing louder than a 747 taking off from Dulles.
When he asks you, “What do you think? Isn’t it great!”
what do we do with Paul’s words to us
that we speak the truth to our neighbors?

Now Paul was as fully human as you and I,
so he understood the dilemmas that we struggle with
in everyday life.
He gave the Ephesians and us a little help when he wrote:
“Let no evil come out of your mouth
but only what is useful for building up…
so that your words may give grace to those who hear.”
So your response to your neighbor might be a tactful,
“My, the chrome certainly gleams.”
But what Paul is trying to help us understand
is that we need to be thinking about every word
that comes out of our mouths.
That’s the beginning of Transformation:
to be more aware of what we are saying.

Transformation is not something that happened at our baptism,
or when we publicly professed our faith in Jesus Christ.
Transformation is a process that goes on all of our lives.
Dying to the old and
being reborn to new life in Christ is a process,
a process as we slowly squeeze out the old habits,
the old ways, and work at becoming more Christ-like.

In his classic book “Mere Christianity”,
British writer C.S. Lewis observed
that we are good at painting ourselves with a veneer of Christ,
we are good at the outward appearance.
We can give a good impression of one who is devout and faithful.
But transformation is not about surface impressions;
it is not about a new coat of paint.
Transformation goes to the deepest part of each of us.
Lewis likens it to dye, Christ injecting himself into us:
his love, wisdom, goodness, mercy all coursing through
our veins, our pores, our every neuron changing
and being transformed by Christ himself.
Transformation in Christ turns us from simply
bearing the image of God
to becoming “true sons and daughters of God.”
(220)

Paul helps us with small steps,
pieces that we can work on.
Paul encourages us to speak positively, carefully,
always trying to build up with words of grace.
But Paul also knows that there will be times
when we will lose our tempers, get angry,
words coming out of our mouths will not be filled with grace.
Paul doesn’t tell us never to be angry.
He knows that even our Lord displayed his temper
on more than a few occasions --
at the Temple, of course, when he turned over
the tables of the moneychangers,
but also on occasions with his disciples.
Peter in particular seemed to be on the receiving end
of Christ’s exasperation.
So Paul is realistic when he says,
“be angry, but do not sin;”
Don’t be abusive, vulgar, violent,
There is never any excuse for that sort of behavior.

And then he gives us that little nugget
that we so frequently overlook:
“do not let the sun go down on your anger”
If you get angry, let it go, seek forgiveness and reconciliation.
Don’t hold a grudge.
This is something I share with every
newly engaged couple I speak with
as we talk about their upcoming wedding.
I think this is one of the most valuable pieces
of counsel Paul gives us.
Paul builds on this thought by then reminding us
that we each are called to forgive one another
in the same way that Christ has forgiven us.
Working on forgiveness is yet another step
in our transformation:
To offer forgiveness to the person who angered you
earlier in the day;
to offer forgiveness even if the person did not apologize,
or ask for forgiveness;
To offer forgiveness even for the most devastating injury.
Holding a grudge, holding onto anger,
saying that you will never forgive a person who has wronged you
puts an enormous obstacle
in the path of your transformation process.

Forgiving another person may not be easy;
in fact, there are times when the injury is so great
that forgiving seems virtually impossible.
It may take time and work
to sort out our feelings.
But don’t you see that working through them
is part of transformation, part of becoming more Christ-like.

Paul is easier on us than our Lord,
gives us more space to work;
Jesus did not settle for half-measures.
In his Sermon on the Mount, he made clear for us the standard:
“Be perfect,… as your Heavenly Father is perfect” ……….
(Matthew 5:48)
No compromise there: this is what we are to aim for.
Lewis reminds us that when Jesus said this, “he meant it.
He meant that we must go in for the full treatment.” (198)
And the only way we will get there
is through complete transformation.

We have help, of course:
not just through Paul’s words,
the gentle words of the nurturing teacher.
We have our Lord, the living Christ,
to encourage us, pull us, prod us.
We heard his promise in our gospel lesson
when Jesus reminded us that we will be “taught by God”.
Taught by the living Christ,
taught through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We will be taught if we open ourselves to God’s teaching,
if we open ourselves to transformation.
The leaders of the Jewish community
who were listening to Jesus
were not going to be taught by God,
because they had closed their minds and hearts to him.
They were convinced that they already had
all the answers they needed.
Their arrogance and sense of self-righteousness
stopped any prospect of transformation.
And we all have our moments of arrogance,
when we are filled with a sense of self-righteousness.

Let’s not wait.
Let’s work on transformation;
Find one thing, even just one thing that you can work on.
Are you worried about something? Filled with anxiety?
Are you too focused on things, on money, on possessions?
Perhaps it is a strong feeling of self-righteousness;
that that you need to work on,
that you have all the answers.
Is there someone with whom you have had an argument?
Someone who has angered you?
Someone who is angry with you?
Did you let the sun go down on your anger?
Are you waiting for the other person
to take the first step toward reconciliation?

Acknowledge whatever it is that is your obstacle here and now.
Commit yourself to working on it.
There will be other obstacles that will reveal themselves,
but work on one at a time beginning today.

Jesus sets the bar high with his call to each of us to “be perfect”
We will never make it, but we must work toward it,
through our own personal transformation.
With Christ as our teacher, our guide, our mentor,
how can we go wrong?

Lewis ends his wonderful little book by encouraging us:
“The more we get what we now call ‘ourselves’ out of the way,
and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become….
But there must be a real giving up of the self.
You must throw [your old self] away ‘
…[so that ] Christ [can give] you a real personality.” 226

Now it may look a little silly,
but I am going to keep that toy on my desk,
that Transformer.
I am going to keep it to remind me
of that little boy who sent it to me.
But I am also going to keep it to remind me that each day
I have to take another step in my own transformation,
transformation from a man who bears the image of God,
to a true son of God and disciple of Christ.
Who would have thought that a trip to the toy store
could provide such a compelling lesson in faithfulness
and God’s everlasting love for us?
AMEN