Romans 8.29 Driven by
Grace 4 03.13.05
Created
to become like Christ
Just as the children journey through
Lent,
learning
about symbols of the Season,
we too are on a journey.
Our journey is different.
Our journey is titled
"Driven by Grace,"
and
it is shaped by listening to Rick Warren’s book,
The Purpose Driven Life.
Some days, our journey has
been like a peaceful walk of agreement,
hand
in hand.
Like our first week,
We agreed that when it comes
to faith and knowledge of the Spirit of God, self help is no help at all. It all begins and ends in God.
Other days of the journey we
have disagreed on substantive issues and walked at a distance.
Like last week,
when we discussed God’s family and the differences in our
understanding of baptism.
Today, in our fourth week of the
journey as we explore what it means to be “Driven by Grace” we will look at
and
that is “to become like Christ.”
that
we are to become Christ like.
The Bible says:
“We see the original and intended
shape of our lives in Christ.”[1]
Colossians[2] says:
We look at the Son of God and see God’s original purpose in everything.
And Second Corinthians[3] says:
“As the Spirit of the Lord
works within us,
we
become more and more like Christ.”
God desires for us to be Christ
like.
This does not mean God wants
us to become God.
This does not mean we are to
think we are the messiah or a messiah.
But it does mean that our
character should reflect Christ’s grace and mercy.
“God’s ultimate goal for your
life on earth is not comfort, but character…
God wants you to grow up spiritually…
Becoming like Christ does not
mean losing your personality or becoming a clone.
God created you like no one
else.
Becoming like Christ is about
transforming your character,
not
your personality. .”[4]
What does it mean for our
character to be like Christ?
The Bible gives us some very
clear ideas.
It says, to be Christ like is
to bear fruit,
fruit of the
Spirit.
We are to reflect love, joy
peace, patience,
kindness,
generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness,
and self control.
What does it mean to become Christ
like?
It means our character is
shaped by love
Our character should be
patient and kind;
not envious, boastful,
arrogant or rude.
Our character
should
not insist on its own way;
It is
not irritable or resentful.
Character that does not
rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.[5]
“Every time we forget that
character is one of God’s purposes in life,
we
will become frustrated.
We’ll wonder: ‘Why is this happening
to me?
Why am I having such a
difficult time?’
It is happening because life
is supposed to be difficult!
Life is hard so that we can grow
and be transformed.’”
So how does this happen?
What are the tools that God
uses to change us?
but
for the sake of clarity and brevity,
I have chosen to organize the many ways
Time, temptation, and
inhabitation.
First - time.
For thousands of years, Christians
have identified time as a necessary part of becoming Christlike.
Our character is rarely
changed over night.
There are no shortcuts to maturity.[6]
It takes time for us to grow
to adulthood,
just
as it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen.
The same is true for the fruit
of the Spirit.
The development of Christ like
character cannot be rushed.
Spiritual growth, like
physical growth, takes time.
When you try to ripen fruit quickly,
it doesn’t work.
Tomatoes are picked before
they ripen so they can be transported while they are green so they won’t bruise
and then they are sprayed with CO2 to turn red.
Gassed tomatoes look like
vine ripened tomatoes but they are no match for the real thing in season.[7]
While we worry about how fast
we grow.
God worries about how strong
we grow.
It takes time to break old
habits.
It takes time to heal wounds
and become whole.
It takes a lifetime to grow
towards God and mature.
Some lessons can only be
taught with time.
I often stand at the front of
this church and I see friends who have gone through incredible loss.
Friends who have lost their spouses,
others
who have lost their children,
some who are struggling with cancer.
As a pastor I have seen these
losses have two affects.
Some, the loss makes bitter
and angry.
But there are others who respond
to loss and aging differently.
There are many in this room that
have been made more like Christ.
You have not lost your personality
but you have shed some of your hubris.
Your faith is tried
and
true.
Your character has been
forged by time and loss,
and
your faith and your character has a quality of being real,
tested,
honest.
Time leaves no human
untouched,
It can be friend or foe.
Crafter of character,
or enemy at large.
For us, time should be a tool
to shape us into something new,
something grand and gracious.
God uses time to help us become
like Christ.
Time, temptation, and inhabitation.
The second instrument God uses
to transform us is temptation.
Let’s be honest.
In our tradition, we are not
comfortable talking about temptation.
We rarely talk about
spiritual warfare,
where
there is a tempter, i.e. Satan,
and the temptee, i.e. Us.
When we think of temptation
we imagine a TV Evangelist
taking
about the power of Satan that can only be conquered by God
and a generous check to 1800 S A L V A T I O N.
But
For
It isn’t a way out; it’s a
way to God.
He helps us see the
difference between temptation and sin.
It is not a sin to be
tempted.
Jesus was tempted.
Temptation only becomes a sin
when we give in to it.
He quotes Martin Luther, who
said:
“You cannot keep the birds
from flying over your head,
but you
can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”
You will be tempted, but you
have a choice![8]
Temptation gives us an opportunity
to choose God.
It give us an opportunity to
say “No” to the things that we know God hates.
And “Yes” to the things God
cherishes.
Temptation shapes us,
sharpens us, grows us, and conforms us,
like
iron sharpening iron.
This does not mean that temptation
will go away.
It does not mean it will get
easier.
But it does mean we will
grow.
Temptation helps us
understand our vulnerability.
It helps us see our
dependence on God.
It brings us home, to the
place where we call to God for help.
Reveal your struggle to a friend
or a support group.
Don’t go it alone.
In my first church a woman
told me a story.
She said she had been a
member of a Presbyterian church all of her life and one night something extraordinary
happened.
She was scheduled to go to a
committee meeting of some sort
but
she wasn’t quite sure where to go.
She eventually found the committee
and although she didn’t recognize anybody she sat down and was greeted by one person
and then anther.
She said there was a warmth
and a friendliness that she had never experienced before.
It just seemed as if the
people were more real.
When the meeting started,
she
realized she was in the wrong place.
It was called to order and someone
said:
“Hi, I’m John, and I’m an alcoholic.”
Later, she observed:
“I never felt so welcomed.
There is something about
those people.
They
knew how much they needed each other.”
We need help.
Going it alone
is
no way to go.
We need the help of a friend
or a support group to fight temptation.
He helps us see temptation
with new eyes.
Temptation can be God’s tool
for transformation.
Temptation and time are
necessary for us to become like Christ.
How do we become like Christ?
Time, temptation, and
inhabitation.
You may not recognize the
word inhabitation but it is at the corps of what we believe.
Our tradition emphasizes inhabitation
over imitation.
Do you see the difference?
Imitation is something we try
to do on our own.
Imitation can be a good
thing.
(I’m so glad my oldest child
makes so many good choices.
His younger brothers look to
him and they learn about life thr0ugh him by imitating him.)
When it comes to professions,
isn’t the best way we learn a career, through a mentor or a teacher,
someone
who serves as an example.
But when it comes to faith,
imitation has interesting consequences.
Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic
theologian of the 12th century,
helped
people change their lives,
and
shaped much of Christianity in the Middle ages by encouraging people to imitate
Christ.
In the 20th
century, a popular program swept through many churches in the
When we would go to work camp
and see Christian students form around the country, many of them would have bracelets
or rings, with four letters:
“WWJD”
for
“What would Jesus do?”
It encouraged the students to
imitate Christ in their decision making.
WWJD and Thomas Aquinas’
instruction to imitate Christ had many positive results,
but do you see the danger?
When we imitate Christ, we set
out to do the impossible.
Who can imitate Jesus Christ?
Who can be the Son of God?
We
start off knowing it is impossible.
But the more we are at it,
and
the more we get rid of the stuff we know is wrong,
the more we
are inclined to think that we’re getting close.
And the longer we persist,
imitating Christ,
the
more we start to believe that The I’ve got it, and they don’t.
And before we know it,
our attempt at imitation has led to self righteousness.
The heart of the Reformed tradition
helps us.
It reminds us that faith is
more about God than us.
It is more important what God
has done for us in Christ than what we can do for God.
Our tradition reminds us:
God is God, and we are not.
So Presbyterians offer
another model.
Instead of imitation we focus
on inhabitation.
Presbyterians say, “The way
for us to claim our true identity and purpose is for us to invite God in.”
Revelation 3, quotes the
words of Jesus, who says:
“Behold I stand at the door
and knock.
If anyone opens the door, I
will come in and have fellowship with them.”
In other words the way that
we claim our true identity,
the
way that we conform to the image of God.
the way that we become more like Christ,
is by inviting Christ into
our hearts and lives.
We invite the One who called
us into being to dwell with us and inhabit our hopes and dreams, even our
disappointments.
It is not something we will
into reality.
It is something that God
does, when we say “Yes.”
“Yes,” to the One who called
us into being.
“Yes,” to the One who calls us
from a cross.
“Yes!”
Time, temptation, and inhabitation.
Ways for us to grow into God,
and
become transformed into the likeness of Christ,
as we are
“Driven by Grace.”
Amen