James McTyre
Lake Hills Presbyterian Church (USA)
Isaiah 55:6-9
Seek the LORD
when he can still be found;
call him while he is yet near.
7 Let the wicked abandon their ways
and the sinful their schemes.
Let them return to the LORD
so that he may have mercy on them,
to our God, because he is generous
with forgiveness.
8 My plans aren't your plans,
nor are your ways my ways,
says the LORD.
9 Just as the heavens
are higher than the earth,
so are my ways
higher than your ways,
and my plans than your plans.
Romans 12:1-2
1 So, brothers and sisters, because of God's mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service.
2 Don't be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God's will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.
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So we're doing this series of four sermons called, "Why?"
We're asking, "Why?" with the help of a really good book, called Why? Making Sense of God's Will. It's by Adam Hamilton. You can find it on Amazon and at www.AdamHamilton.org. If you need help in asking "Why?" we also have an adult Sunday school class that's studying the book and the sermons and asking "Why?" a lot. If you need more help asking why, there's always preschool nursery. They're experts at it.
Today's message is part 3 of the series on "Why?" and it's "Why Can't I See God's Will for My Life?" I don't know. Maybe you can. I don't want to make assumptions. Maybe God's will for your life is crystal clear. You get a pass on today's sermon. Could have gone to the lake. It's important to read the announcements.
Speaking of passing on church, I have noticed that attendance goes down when UT wins a football game. Why? Best not to ask. Thank goodness we don't play Akron every week.
So, this sermon's for you if you're seeking God's will for your life. If you've got God's will all sewn up, or if you're not concerned about God's will - you're only here because your parents make you - just bear with us and have mercy.
Today's question is: Why can't I... why can't you... why can't we... see God's will for our life?
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Church brand recognition isn't what it used to be. It's getting harder to tell one denomination from the other. You tell someone you're Presbyterian and they say, "Funny. You don't look Jamaican." No. That's Rastafarian.
You say you're Presbyterian and if people think they know anything about us it's that we're the people who believe in predestination. "Oh, you people believe in predestination." I get that a lot. Love the "you people" part. That's the problem with being a minority. People make assumptions about you. Sometimes they tell you the joke about the Presbyterian Preacher who fell down the flight of stairs. He says, "Well, Lord, I know that was predestined, but I sure am glad it's over." I fail to see the humor. But I always smile and say, "That's a good one."
People think predestination means you don't believe in free will. That we're like puppets on God's strings. Like God says, "10:45? Oh it's time for James to trip over his robe." "Time for him to fall down a flight of stairs." Apparently God's into slapstick.
Can you imagine how boring that would be for God? I mean, how exciting would it be to go to football games if you knew UT was going to win every game before they played it? That's LSU. Bet their church attendance is awful. Not only would it be boring for God to be a puppetmaster, it kind of takes all the excitement out of life. Like we're just acting out a script that was written for us.
Predestination doesn't mean that. Frankly it's one of those concepts that meant something good back in the day, but doesn't translate well. Like Methodists and Perfection. Episcopalians and Moderation. Predestination was just a 10 dollar word for saying that God's in charge, not you. It came up about 500 years ago when people were scared to death their relatives might not get to heaven unless they gave the church building fund a large sum of money. Which worked really well, for the church. So, reformers, radicals, progressives came along and said, "No. That's spiritual extortion. God's in charge of your ultimate destination - your -pre-destination - not the church, not the clergy, not even you."
In 2012, it's more like saying that the Grand, Supreme, Architect and Creator of all there is, seen and unseen, the universe and all its infinity, dark matter, black holes, galaxies, humanity, bunnies, and bugs - Almighty God - is more powerful than you. God is more powerful than your choices. God's mercy and salvation are greater than your choices, even the bad ones, even the good ones. You can't earn your way into heaven. Salvation isn't an exclusive club.
So, if someone gives you that, "You believe in predestination" stuff, just smile and say, "Yup. And you won't believe what's gonna happen to you. Might wanna stay away from stairs."
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God doesn't have us hanging on a string. You're not some wooden imitation. You're a real boy. You're a real girl. You're not a puppet. You've got no strings.
God gives us hands to serve. God gives us feet to go to people in need. God gives us hearts to open to people who need love. God gives us ears to listen to people who need sympathy. God gives us backbones to stand up to mean people.
And God gives us brains. Brains are just another part of the bodies God's given us. And they need exercise, too.
Brains store memories. Brains create new ideas. Brains make choices. Just as it's God's will for you to use your hands, feet, ears, and hearts to work to do God's work in the world - Just as it's God's will that we use our bodies to be the Body of Christ - it's God's will that we use our brains to make choices. Hopefully, ones that are good, and pleasing, and mature.
That's not just me saying that. It's what the Bible says in the letter to the Romans.
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The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2 -
1 So, brothers and sisters, because of God's mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service.
2 Don't be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God's will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.
Now, everyone always latches onto the first part of verse 2, 2a, that says, "Don't be conformed to the patterns of this world..." Don't do bad, worldly things. Like bad people do. Sure. But that's only half the story. The next half of the line is even more important. Verse 2b. 2b or not 2b. It's 2b. And it says,
"Be transformed..."
Wha? Transformed? Uh, excuse me? Hold on there. I thought God made me just the way I am. Well, yeah. But did God make you EXACTLY the way you are? Because, honestly, you could use some work.
"I can't help it. It's just the way I am." Sounds like something Honey Boo Boo's family says. I know they're on TV, which makes them celebrities. But please don't be conformed by their world.
The Bible says, whoever you are, "Be transformed." In other words, don't live your life thinking you're imprisoned in your boo-boo bubble. You are not your parents. You are not your genes. You are not your environment. You are not what that girl in high school said you were. You are not your grades. You are not your job performance review. You are not a medical chart. You aren't the kidney in room 12.
You are not a puppet tied up in strings. Not by anyone. Not even by God. And if you're stuck thinking that way, be transformed. Your life is NOT predetermined. You cannot say, you do not know, how the end is going to turn out.
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But, 2b has even more.
"Be transformed..." it says. But how? Not by magic. Not by angels.
"Be transformed," it says, "by the renewing..."
the renewing, the be-newing... the renewing and be-newing of what?
"Be transformed by the renewing... of your minds."
Hm.
It would be so cool, if someone else could renew your mind for you. It would be so nice if you could go to the salon and get a mind makeover. Now, there are stories of people having marvelous epiphanies, blinding flashes, after which everything is made clear. It happens. But the other 99.9% of us - if we wait for the lightning bolt, if we sit around waiting for God to do it to us or for us, we are gonna be waiting a long time.
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I'm on this kick where I'm trying to renew my body. I turned 50 this year, so it's time. I've been trying to eat better. Started running. Very, very slowly. But I asked a doctor and he said it does resemble real running. Been going to Sweaty Souls every Sunday night at 5PM by the Fellowship Hall. You should, too. It's rewarding. Renewing your body isn't really fun. It's not as fun as sitting on the couch and eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's. But it is rewarding. It's enriching. It's hard work. I hope I live to see the benefits.
Your brain is just another part of your body. The gray, squishy part. Looking at a brain from the outside, it doesn't do much. And yet, you can't transform anything without first moving your mind. Renewing your mind is really, really hard work. Transforming your mind makes your waistline look easy. And even if you do it, you've gotta renew it. You can't just be-new it. You've gotta re-new it. Again. And again. Every day. Because yesterday's renewal is today's be-old-al.
But why? What's the payoff? Why does the Bible say to be transformed by the renewal your mind? What difference does it make?
That's exactly what 2b says next. Here's the big answer.
be transformed by the renewing of your minds..."
Why?
"...so that you can figure out what God's will is..."
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can figure out God's will.
So, back to the original question.
Why can't I see God's will for my life? I don't know. Maybe God's being sneaky. God's not telling. But maybe I can't see God's will for my life because I missed what it says in 2b. Maybe I can't see God's will for my life because I'm hung up on what *I think* God's will SHOULD be. Maybe I can't see God's will for my life because I'm stuck on answers that worked yesterday, or last year, or in the Eisenhower administration.
The Bible's pretty clear.
Don't be conformed to the patterns of this world [that is, yesterday's answers], but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God's will is...
- Final kicker -
—what is good and pleasing and mature.
I like that word, "mature." It means, appropriate to your time. So, every day, we've gotta figure out what God's will is, appropriate to this day. Today is different than yesterday. I guarantee you, your opportunities to do something good and pleasing and mature are different than they were 24 hours ago.
And, yeah. I know. That's annoying. That's work. That's not easy. That's not a one and done. It would be so much nicer if instead of re-newed, you could just be-newed.
I should rephrase that.
It would be nicer if you could be renewed and stay that way, once and for all. It would be so much nicer if someone else could do it for you. If someone were pulling the strings. If someone else's answers worked 100% for you.
But that's not God's will. God gave you a body, in which resides a brain. The Bible says God's will for us is that we renew our minds so that we can figure out God's will today, and tomorrow, when it's today. Every day.
God wants us to cut the strings. And be transformed. So we can do stuff today that's good, and pleasing, and mature.
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So, how do you do this? How do you be transformed? Adam Hamilton gives a suggestion from his own life. He says,
Every morning, I wake up and slip to my knees beside my bed and, after thanking God for the day, I pray, "Lord, once again, I offer my life to you. Use me today to do your work and your will. Help me to honor you and to live for you and to be used by you."
He says, then, "Throughout the day, I seek to pay attention."
I can tell you from my own experience, that the times when I mess up, are the times when I'm not paying attention. I mess up most when I'm not working to renew my mind in ways appropriate to the moment. Why do I do that? Because I'm lazy. I let my responses get lazy. My mind's eating a pint of Ben and Jerry's, when it should be going an extra mile for someone else.
I'm guessing you're not that different.
But here's some really, really good news. And I can't let you go without saying this. You're not alone. The really, really good news is that you're in a church full of minds seeking God's will. You're in a church full of people seeking to be transformed, today. We have this amazing opportunity to put our heads together, to seek to pay attention together to how God wants to use us, today. You can pray that on your own, and seek to do it on your own, but imagine how much more we can do, when we do it together.
Would you pray that morning prayer with me? Let's do it like the kids who are always asking "Why?" do it in the Children's Sermon. I'll pray a line, then you repeat it. Renew it, in your heart. Let's pray.
"Lord, once again, I offer my life to you.
Use me today
to do your work and your will.
Help me to honor you
and to live for you
and to be used by you."
Amen.
Now, go. And pay attention. See God's will for you.
