Titled: "Holey, Wholly, Holy"
Based on John Ortberg's book: The Me I Want to Be
January 20 - Mind
Romans 11:33-36
Contemporary English Version (CEV)33 Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does?
34 "Has anyone known
the thoughts of the Lord
or given him advice?
35 Has anyone loaned
something to the Lord
that must be repaid?"
36 Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.Romans 12:1-3
Contemporary English Version (CEV)Christ Brings New Life
12 Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. 2 Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think.[Or... Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.]
Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.
3 I realize how kind God has been to me, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you.
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...
[... wait for it] The tale of a fateful trip.
that started from this tropic port
[... wait for it] Aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailing man
[... wait for it] the skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
[... wait for it] on a three hour tour. (A three hour tour.)
---
Isn't it amazing the silly things our minds pick up? And we pick them up without even trying. Sometimes even when we're trying really hard NOT to pick up what we pick up. Like viruses. That won't go away.
Let's do another one.
We-eee are never, ever, ever...
[... wait for it] getting back together.
See? See how easy it is for stuff to get embedded in our minds? Our minds are big, holey sponges for mindlessness. And if innocent little urchins like Gilligan and Taylor Swift can do it so effortlessly, imagine how easy it is for the malevolent forces of eeeeevil. Like, the shows on TLC. Imagine how even more easier it is for stuff that's alluring on the outside, yet hollow on the inside. Imagine how even double-plus easier it is for stuff that's harmful, but adaptive... the stuff we hate, but that gets us through the day without getting threatened, without getting yelled at, without getting hurt.
We don't have to imagine at all, do we? We all know what it's like to get junk stuck inside our heads that we can't get out. We'd like to think another way, but nobody will tell us how. Because they're all the same way, too. Sometimes, the junk is so old and so stuck that we can't imagine life without it. We just get this feeling, that something's wrong, because life seems like it ought to be so much better. That our heads ought to be quieter.
The Bible says, "Don't be CONFORMED to the patterns of this world, [don't be CONformed] but be TRANSFORMED [How?] by the renewing of your mind."
Our continuing series of messages today and for the next weeks is called, "Holey, Wholly, Holy," and it's about how we can move - yes, we can move - from being a hol-ey mess to being more whole in our lives, and even to approach the holiness of God.
Today we're talking about our minds. The holes in our minds get filled so effortlessly with junk we don't want in there, but don't know how to chase out. And after you chase, how do you replace the junk with something to make you more whole, the person Holy God intends you to be?
---
Chapter 12 of Paul's Letter to the Romans starts out,
Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. 2 Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think.
[Or... Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.]
Don't Conform; be Transformed.
How? By the renewing of your mind. Simple, right?
Do you ever get to the point where there's just so much going on inside your head that you don't know where to start?
Do you ever get to the point where you feel like your thoughts are a ping-pong ball and you're the only one without a paddle?
Maybe it's just me. But I don't think so.
The other day I was thinking - there it is again, thinking - how cool it would be if we could hose out our brains and start fresh. Wouldn't that be great? You tilt your head to the side and all the troubles go streaming out. All the worries, and the wild ideas you can never get around to, but would be just Nobel Prize winning if you could? All the pressure and all the things left undone. All the things badly done. All that, just, whooosh! And then you start fresh. Reboot.
I mean, you clean out your house, you clean out your car, you hose out the boat -- why can't you do the same thing with your mind?
Hose 'em out, Flush 'em out, waaay out.
Like in that science-fiction movie, "Total Recall." Not the remake, but the original, which was one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's greatest moment of cinematic genius, second only to the first Terminator. Don't like who you are? Just flush out your brain and replace it with something new. Be a new self, who can pronounce Collyfornyia.
I'm sorry. That was mean. I know you're all huge Arnold fans.
But you wouldn't want to flush out the good stuff. Just the stuff that you don't like or that bosses you around. Nobody wants a bossy brain. BBS: Bossy Brain Syndrome. We all have it.
Preachers often have the shorter version, which leaves off one of the B's.
The Bible says, Don't Conform; be Transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. The more contemporary version that I usually prefer says, "Let God change the way you think."
Let God change the way you think. Think about that.
But didn't God make me? And in making me, didn't God make the way I think? And if I don't think the way God made me think, then why am I thinking that way? Does God think I'm bad because of how I think? But the Bible says God thinks I'm good.
I think I have a headache.
"I think, therefore, I am." But that's not quite right. Dogs think. Cats think. Cats scheme. Scientists who classify stuff call us homo sapiens, which means, "thinking man." But no, that's still leaving out our middle name. Our full scientific name is homo sapiens sapiens. Which means, roughly, the man (or woman) who thinks about thinking.
Dogs think. I guarantee you. Ours think they want food, all the time. But dogs can't think about what they're thinking. Only humans can do that. And as amazing as that is, it's also what ties us up in knots. It can give us headaches. Stuff on our minds can make us physically sick to our stomachs.
Oh, and speaking of stomachs, there's something else the Apostle Paul didn't know. Did you know your gut also has a full-fledged brain? Independent of the brain in your head?
It's true. Your stomach and intestines have 500 million nerve cells, and 100 million neurons, about the size of a cat brain. You have a cat brain in your stomach. That explains a lot. Your gut-brain is hardwired to your emotions. People say, "Trust your gut." They're right. But we don't, do we? The gut-brain sends signals to your head-brain. But your head-brain is like the Security Council at the United Nations. It has veto power. That's why when your gut-brain says, "No more cheesecake! Please!" you say, "But it's soooo gooood." And then your gut takes revenge.
If you find this interesting, there's a link in the text of this sermon to a really cool website where a portly German scientist explains it all. You can get there from our church site. (http://www.ted.com/talks/heribert_watzke_the_brain_in_your_gut.html).
If you don't find it interesting, sorry.
The Bible says to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, but which one? We're barely aware of how many minds we have. And yet we have this amazing, special gift. We can think about our thoughts. Compared to other animals it's a superpower. But with any superpower, with great power, comes great responsibility.
The mind can be this amazing tool, but like any tool, we have to learn how it works before we can work it to our advantage. For instance, you can build things with a hammer. Or, you can bust stuff up. You can hurt yourself with it. You can hurt others. Or you can help. Your mind's the same. You can build things with it, or you can break things. You can use it to help or to hurt.
You pick.
But if your mind feels like the Williams Sisters are playing ping pong inside it, how do you even find the handle? You can't do a brain-flush. And you wouldn't want to. So how do you start to let God change the way you think? How do you chase out the junk and fill the holes with good stuff? How do you "be transformed" by the renewing of your mind?
---
The Bible takes this really simple approach. And, it is a start. It's a start, that you can keep starting over again and again and again.
If we pick up where we left off in Romans 12, Paul says,
4 A body is made up of many parts, and each of them has its own use.
Wow. Even your gut? Yup. Even your gut. Paul may not be a neuroscientist, but he's smart enough to trust that his gut can tune him in to God. He says,
6 God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. 7 If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. 8 If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.
In other words, start simple. Don't worry about changing what you can't do. Don't worry about changing your mind. Do the good stuff you already know how to do and your mind will change. Your brain-brain may be a mess, but your gut-brain knows. Trust your gut, Luke. Keep it simple. Use the tools you've already got.
Chapter 12 of Romans is chock-full of simple steps. Here's another one, and it's so easy. Verse 13.
"Take care of God's needy people."
Why? (A) because they're God's people, and (B) because they need what you've got. And you've got so much you don't even think about. Like that extra coat in the closet that you never wear. Take it to the Volunteer Ministry Center. Take it to Goodwill.
That's easy. That's change. I promise you, the Bible promises you, that if you do that enough, your mind will be transformed. When? I don't know. It doesn't say when. Do you really have to know everything? No.
Here's another simple step. Verse 15:
"When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad."
In other words, stop forcing your judgments, your emotions, your opinions on other people. Stop trying to fix them. Just be with them. If they're happy and you know it, clap your hands. If they're sad and you know it, bring 'em a box of Kleenex and give 'em a hug.
That's easy. That's change. I promise you, the Bible promises you, that if you do that enough, your mind will be transformed.
And here's one more that's a twist on verse 15. It's not exactly what the Bible says, so you're gonna have to just trust me on this one.
When you're happy, be happy with other people. When you're sad, be sad with other people.
It's verse 15 turned sideways. When you're happy, be happy with other people. When you're sad, be sad with other people.
The prerequisite for this is the big IF in "IF you're happy and you know it," or "IF you're sad and you know it." You've gotta know which one you are. Again, you can think about what you're thinking about. You can think about what your gut is telling you. It's your unique, homo sapiens sapiens superpower.
Which means you can't lie to yourself and say you're happy when you're not, and deep down you know it. You can't lie to yourself and say you're sad when you're not, and deep down you know it. You've gotta sit still long enough to listen to your gut and stop vetoing your feelings. Because they are cat-like smart.
When you're happy, be happy with other people. When you're sad, be sad with other people.
If knowing what you know is the first half of this, then being it with other people is the second half.
I'm pretty introverted, so I can be happy or I can be sad, and I'll go off by myself, either physically or in my mind, and no one will know. Maybe that's just me, but I doubt it. It's kind of a man-thing.
And the being it with other people part gets really, really important if your mind is so overloaded that you can't even do the simple stuff. Or at least sustain it. In that case, please, please, please be with other people, like your doctor, or a therapist, or a psychiatrist. Or your grandmother. Or someone else's grandmother. Because grandmothers can be really smart. Be happy or be sad with people who know how to help you sort through the tangled spaghetti in your brain.
And finally, and I'm required by the Minister's Union to say this. And also by the Holy Spirit. Check out Romans, chapters 12 through 15. It really does have a great list of some really simple steps to practicing, to setting your brain up, to be transformed by God. If they don't seem so simple, or if you read a verse and go, "I'm not so sure about that," call me. Email me. Because I like talking about that Bible stuff. It's kind of my thing.
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It's so easy to have your mind filled up and transformed by garbage. It's so easy. But the starting steps that you can do over and over, every day, to get your mind ready to be transformed by God, aren't really any harder.
Simple steps, simple awareness of the steps, will change the way your mind works. You can grow more holy in God. You can live more wholly, more completely, in God. And that can fill your mind and actions.
Let's pray.
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