[Pentecost+22] "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed..."

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--God's good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2 (NRSV)

[I've gotta say, I prefer the alternate translation, "what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God" -- it just flows better.]

One of the people at Tuesday night Bible study commented that there are so many ways to conform to the world -- but what does being transformed mean?

In the next few verses (3-5), Paul elaborates:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

My paraphrase of that is that we are called to use the gifts we are given, not to build ourselves up but to do the work that we're called to do -- and that we're called to do this work together.

I think community is really big for Paul, and William Loader agrees with me, saying:

Paul never saw being a Christian as a life membership on a roll somewhere. It was always entry into a relationship and growth in that relationship. Paul is always thinking about what shapes people's lives. It is another way of speaking of one's god. In his day - and certainly in ours - there are many people who count themselves as Christian, but are shaped by the prevailing values of those around them in a way that undoes anything that Christ might have wanted in their lives.

What is it that shapes your life, Beloved?

Are there ways you yearn to fall deeper into this community of love and service, to be shaped by relationships and values at work in this community?

At Bible study this week we had a couple newbies -- people who'd seen on the website that we had Bible study but had never worshiped at our church before. And I confess that I made assumptions about how conservative they might be, and further, that because of those assumptions I was hesitant to talk about Drag Gospel. The hesitation didn't seem to occur to anyone, and they spoke naturally about Sunday's service, which for me is a model of authenticity, of living out the reality of that which we profess.

On Sunday, Molly said:

God asks us in the letter to the Romans, to be transformed. God pleads with us not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Now the word Paul uses for "renewing" is not neo, like neologism or neoconservative, the putting on of a new label or face. Paul says we are to be metamorphousthei, metamorphosed into kainos, something whose character has been utterly changed.

I looked up that "transformation" ("metamorphosis") word in my Interlinear Bible, and interestingly it only shows up only a few times in Scripture.

It shows up in the Transfiguration story (Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2, specifically), which gives me an entirely new way of imaging that story -- I'm used to thinking of Jesus as just made kinda glowy, but this idea of Jesus as really transformed is intriguing to me.

The one other time it shows up is also from Paul, in 2 Corinthians 3:18 -- "And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of God as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from God, the Spirit." (This perhaps helps with thinking about what it means that Jesus was "transfigured.")

Someone brought up the idea that using the gerund form of "renewing" in Sunday's text implies that it's not something that happens just one time but is a continuous process. John Wesley talks about journeying on toward Christian perfection, and certainly we know from our own experience that there is never a time when we have "arrived," when we can rest on our laurels knowing we don't have any more internal work or growth we need to do.

Are there ways this community can support you (perhaps spur you) on this journey?

Are there ways that you feel God's call on your heart, calling you to be transformed in some way, calling you out of the places the world is pressing on your soul and into more fulness of life?

I invite you to continue the conversation in the comments on this post (as always, you're invited to comment anonymously/pseudonymously if you prefer), or in conversation with others perhaps during Coffee Hour, or in the silence of your heart (or a little bit of each, or some way else altogether).

As a final meditation, I leave you with further words from Paul, as he continues on this theme:

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve God. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says God." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

(Romans 12:9-22)