Flip Flop

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

June 9, 2013

Flip Flop

Galatians 1:13-24

It’s epic, when you think about it.

There’s Saul, the Pharisee’s Pharisee,

the central pillar of the Jewish community.

No one was better at chasing down the troublemakers,

those followers of the carpenter from Nazareth.

Saul was relentless;

he was ruthless.

We read in Acts:

“Saul was ravaging the church

by entering house after house;

dragging off both men and women;

he committed them to prison.”

(Acts 8:3)

When Stephen was stoned to death for his faith,

becoming the first Christian martyr,

“Saul approved of their killing him.”

(Acts 8:1)

Saul himself was candid about his actions, saying:

“I was violently persecuting the church of God,

and was trying to destroy it.”

(Galatians 1:13)

He persecuted the church because he saw it as a threat:

a threat to the Temple,

a threat to his faith,

a threat to God,

a threat to all he believed in.

And so he would stop at nothing to snuff the very life

out of the newly formed church:

persecution,

prison,

stoning,

even killing their leaders,

He’d do whatever it took.

But suddenly he turned;

180 degrees,

a complete U-turn,

from Saul the zealous prosecutor and persecutor,

to Paul the zealous follower of Jesus Christ,

zealous witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He didn’t just join those whom he had persecuted,

he led them.

And he went even further

as he sought to convince others to follow,

to become part of the growing church.

Where Saul had once sought to erase all traces

of the body of Christ,

Paul sought to grow the body, nurture it,

expand it throughout all the known world.

Was there ever in history a more epic flip flop?

We know that term, “flip flop”.

It is a derogatory term politicians love to hurl at each other,

throwing the term at each other like spitballs:

“my opponent who now speaks in favor of an idea

that she spoke against with uncommon vehemence

only two short months ago

clearly shows by her flip flop

that she is an opportunist

who blows with whatever wind

her latest polls tell her to go with.

Surely you do not want to elect a flip-flopper.

Surely you don’t want to elect someone

who doesn’t stand firm in her beliefs.”

But what if the person changed her mind

for reasons she thought sound,

wise,

prudent,

considered?

What if she had revisited the issue, the topic,

the subject,

since her first statement

and came to a different conclusion?

Doesn’t that show wisdom?

An open mind?

Isn’t that a good thing—

that she’s capable of change?

An open mind is a sign of wisdom.

For us as men and women of faith,

an open mind is a mind ready to be led by the Holy Spirit.

A closed mind will push the Spirit away.

A closed mind lives stubbornly in the land of

“We’ve always done it this way.”

“Do I contradict myself?

Very well, then I contradict myself,”

wrote the poet Walt Whitman,

defiant, making no apologies for changing his mind.

(Song of Myself, 1324)

In his verse he shows us the way,

shows us that we need never be apologetic

for changing our minds,

shows us the folly of criticizing someone

for being a flip flopper.

No, we don’t want to blow with the winds,

riding the zephyrs this way, and then that way.

But we should never fear changing our minds,

thinking in a different way, a new way,

a fresh way.

One of our goals for our Christian Education program

is to open minds,

minds of all ages, adults as well as young people;

perhaps even adults more than young people!

Yes, we want to teach facts and information

but we do that to help build a foundation for an open mind.

Paul’s fellow Pharisees,

along with the Sadducees and the Scribes in Judea,

taught rules,

taught law,

taught what steps to follow:

“Here are the things you need to do

to be a faithful follower of the Lord God.”

That’s not how we teach.

As the English preacher Dr. Leslie Weatherhead wrote,

“Christianity is a way of life,

not a system of theological doctrines…

(The Christian Agnostic, 61)

To reduce the Bible to a rule book,

Jesus’ teachings to regulations

is to close minds,

not open them.

Think about how our Lord taught:

He didn’t rattle off creeds and doctrines;

he didn’t require his followers to take oaths,

to memorize precepts.

He taught through stories,

through metaphor,

through allegory,

and of course, through parables.

Jesus spoke, saying something like,

“You have heard that it was said,

‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer.

But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek,

turn the other also;”

(Matthew 5:38)

And then he left it to his listeners,

to you and me,

to do the hard work of interpreting,

figuring out what it is that Jesus hopes

we will learn from his teaching,

wants us to learn.

His goal was never to fill heads with information;

His goal was to call all who listened to new life,

transformed life.

As we mature in faith,

as we grow in understanding and wisdom,

our interpretation may change,

our understanding of a lesson may change,

our thinking may change,

our minds may change.

This has happened to me many times.

This isn’t flip flopping;

this is growing in faith.

So, where, just a few generations ago,

we might have agreed without hesitation

with this passage from Scripture,

“Women, learn in silence

with full submission to men,”

(1 Timothy 2:11)

the Holy Spirit has helped us to think differently

when we hear these words.

The Holy Spirit has helped us to change our minds,

to see that women are also created in God’s image,

equally in God’s image,

and that they need not learn in silence,

nor in submission to men.

The Holy Spirit has helped us to learn

that we should all learn together,

learn with and from each other.

It is the Holy Spirit that is the agent of change,

that helps us to see things from a different perspective –

if we have an open mind.

We can and often do block the Holy Spirit.

Even the Holy Spirit cannot get through the steel and concrete

of a closed mind.  

Closed minds are a mixture of arrogance,

self-righteousness,

and more than a little laziness.

Paul reminds us that we should never be too sure of ourselves,

that we don’t have all the answers.

As he wrote in his letter to the Corinthians:

“For now we see in a mirror dimly;”

“Now we know only in part.”

Sclerosis of the mind sets in

long before sclerosis of our arteries.

An open mind, a probing mind,

a mind that is willing to consider

and then willing to reconsider –

that’s how to prevent sclerosis of the mind;

that’s what we need as faithful disciples of Christ.

As Paul teaches us:

“Be transformed by the renewing of your minds,

so you may discern what is the will of God…”

(Romans 12:2)

“I certainly may accept today what I reject tomorrow.

If further light dawns on my dark mind,

then this must be so.”

These very wise words from Reverend Leslie Weatherhead

call us to open our minds,

and be willing to change.

The Reverend William Sloane Coffin put it so well

when he wrote,

“It’s always a good time to change your mind

when to do so will widen your heart.”

(Letters to a Young Doubter, 116)

when to do so will help us live a more compassionate life,

a more grace-giving life,

a more love-filled life.

Perhaps the Holy Spirit is calling you even now

to change your thinking,

change your mind about something:

about war;

about our responsibility to care for God’s creation;

about guns and violence in our society;

about how to help the billions of men, women and children

who live in poverty here in this country

and throughout the world.

                 

Perhaps the Spirit is calling you

to change your mind about

your reluctance to forgive someone.

Perhaps the Spirit is calling you to think differently

about a passage from the Bible

you’ve been so sure about.

Perhaps the Spirit is calling you to change your mind

and walk with a little less certainty

and a little more humility.

So go ahead: change your mind.

Go ahead.

Don’t think of it as flip flopping;

think of it as expanding your heart,

expanding your love.      

Think of it as renewing yourself,

transforming yourself,

drawing yourself ever closer to Christ.                                                                        

AMEN