Message given at Grace Church, Molokai 14 Feb 201

Metamorphosis

2 Corinthians 3:12-18

12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
We are so happy to see the Lewis family back among us! Thursday evening they stopped by and we were retelling some stories about rescues by Uncle Scotty. No, not the 9-1-1 sort, but how he saved the day by crushing centipedes and scorpions when they were small.

By the way, what do insects learn at school?
Mothmatics!

What pillar doesn't need holding up?
A caterpillar!

And last Sunday during thank offering Sonia shared insights about the book of Joel's reference to locusts. Quite an insect week! Sonia was saying that if we don't crush our relationship problems in the egg stage of development we can be completely wiped out when the locusts grow into adults and gobble everything up.
Insects grow in different ways. Some always look basically the same, only bigger. They eat the same stuff as they grow. The only real change is in size.

Other insects go through what's called complete metamorphosis. These young insects don't look at all like the adults. First they're eggs, and then they're grubs or maggots or caterpillars. Next they make cocoons and change into adults.

Metamorphosis actually means "change." I think there are truths about metamorphosis in the insect world that also apply to the kind of complete transformation that God brings followers of Christ through in the course of our lives as believers.

Remember, the young insects that go through complete metamorphosis don't look at all like the adults. They often live in different habitats and feed on different things.

If you've followed Christ for many years, chances are you don't "look like" you did when you first committed your life to Jesus, when you were "young" in the Lord.

A metamorphosis is a complete change, a full transformation. It changes what you're hungry for from the inside out. Your diet changes. Not just for 40 days, like giving up stuff for Lent, but for the rest of your life. A butterfly is more than just a worm that's won its wings.
We just heard 2 Corinthians 3:18 speak of this "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

In fact, the Greek word here that's translated "being transformed" is the basis for the English word "metamorphosis" and it's used only four times in the entire New Testament.

We know that when we commit our lives to Jesus and receive His forgiveness, we are in that instant declared righteous before Him. That's justification. Remember, it happens in an instant.
Here's an example of an "instant change." A man from the back mountains of Tennessee found himself one day in a large city, for the first time standing outside an elevator. He'd never seen one before. He watched as an old, haggard woman hobbled on, and the doors closed. A few minutes later the doors opened and a young, attractive woman stepped off the elevator. The father hollered to his youngest son, "Billy, go get mother."

But this verse is about what happens with the rest of our lives. In other words, it's the "what do I do next?" verse.

This verse is about the lifetime process where we allow the Holy Spirit to change us each day to be more and more like Jesus. It is about inside and outside changes. When I married Scotty I grew another 1" in height. Now we may not all grow in height or lose our freckles when we ask the Lord into our hearts, but real changes happen in our character, our attitudes, in our behavior. This is what is called sanctification. That's a big word that means: "The process of being made holy, set apart for service to God."

Now even though we know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, the Lord is not satisfied with leaving us as He found us. God is about changing us to be more like His Son and be reflections of His glory. That's why we need to be transformed, changed, metamorphicized.
Don't we all wish any kind of change was easy? But in reality, we have a choice every day.

Let me phrase it in complex theological terms… would you rather be a caterpillar or a butterfly?

You can crawl on your belly in the dirt, be kind of ugly and worried that the big feet of the world will squish you. Or you can let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit change you in to a beautiful creature that drinks nectar from the flowers and soars through the sky.

So what do you want to be… your own ugly bug or God's butterfly?

If you have been following the daily reading devo schedule you might have recognized this morning's reading from Exodus 3. Moses had encountered God, the Maker of the Universe, one-on-one, and face-to-face. In fact, God called Moses His friend. As Moses came back to the people he radiated the reflective glory of God. He glowed. His face shined. It was so bright that people couldn't look at him without actually becoming afraid. So he put a veil over his face.

But that was in the days of the old covenant. As followers of Jesus, we are under the promises of the new covenant. We don't have to veil our faces. In fact, we are urged to remove anything that blocks us from the glory of God so that we may become more like Christ and reflect His glory. The Lord wants the world to see that we have been in God's presence. God wants us to shine!

The New Living translation says it this way: "And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more."

You might be thinking, "wait a minute Lynette. I have read the Bible and I didn't see anything about being a caterpillar or a butterfly!"

OK - before I go on I need to give you a moment from my paramedic editor….

How do you revive a butterfly? Use moth-to-moth resuscitation!

Turn with me to page 1205. Let's all read Romans 12:1-2. Ready? Go. " I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

You can be conformed or you can be transformed

It doesn't take much work to be conformed. All you have to do is to go with the flow. Just get up in the same old way, do the same old things, and crawl in the same old dirt. You don't have to work hard, struggle, or doubt. Just wiggle on the ground a bit.

Ah…but what do you have to do to be transformed into God's butterfly?

Here's the good news…. being transformed is the work of the Holy Spirit! Yay!

Here's the hard news…to be transformed we have to pay a price. But I love what Richard Bach wrote. "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly." That can feel scary… kinda like butterflies in your stomach.

Here are 4 things we need to do to be transformed

Number 1 - We need to be open to the Lord's touch, to the Potter's hand. It is an internal decision. We have to say, Lord, have Your way in my life. We need to say it once. We need to say it again and again. We need to say it daily. And often we need to say it second by second.

2. We need to be willing and obedient to make the external changes He requires. This can be the hardest part, especially when we are new in our walk, oh and when we are mature in our walk, and during each step of the walk. Face it…. if we were left to our own way our prayer life would be, "My will be done." We love being caterpillars. The dirt is familiar. We like the leaves we chew on. And who could ever believe that a worm like me could fly? Often we have to enter times of darkness without being able to guarantee the outcome BEFORE WE CAN FLY.

And we don't realize that the struggle to get out of the cocoon makes our wings stronger so that we can fly even when the wind blows. That's where we need to keep our eyes on God's promises to keep from crawling back into those dark holes because of our struggles.

3. We need to keep our eyes on the Lord and not get distracted. What can distract us? It's kind of a short list - temptation, fear, greed, lust, jealousy, anger, doubt, hatred, ambition, our jobs, our families, our health, our bills… uh oh. The list isn't all that short. And even good things like graduations, sports, baby parties, and even what kind of flowers am I getting for Valentine's Day, can distract us from keeping our eyes on Jesus.

And when our eyes drift, and we lose our willingness to follow Him, the glow of Christ begins to fade because it is at those times that we put the veil back on and block our hearts and lives from being transformed by His glory.

There's an old song that goes, "Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace…" If we do turn our eyes upon Jesus, and look fully into His wonderful face, we will also reflect His glory and we will be changed. In fact Philippians 3:21 promises that His power "will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

4. We need to let Him use us. One of the things that the Lord asks of the people He transforms is to carry His light. We carry His love, His hope and His light to the ones who are still struggling on the ground. How does the world see that God is good? How does the world see that God is love? They see His glory reflected in His people by the way we live, by the things we do. The willingness to serve has been a mark of God's butterflies from day one.

Here is a butterfly story. Dr. Paul Brand was the hand surgeon who discovered that Hansen's disease didn't rot away flesh. He discovered that leprosy actually deadened the nerves and that the disfigurement from that disease was from repeated injuries, infections and the nerves shrinking. He pioneered surgical techniques to free patient's hands as the lack of pain contracted their fingers. How did Dr Brand do this? He had to touch thousands of people who were considered untouchable. It wasn't courage that had him touch the untouchable. It was love, the love of Christ. Little did he know when he touched his first patient that God would use his work to touch millions. All he knew was that he wanted to use his talents for the Lord.

Today, you can find God's people feeding the hungry, clothing those who have nothing to wear, providing help to the sick, praying over broken soldiers in Afghanistan, walking alongside of those in prison, and reflecting God's glory in classrooms and hospitals. But you can also spot His butterflies swinging a hammer, farming, and serving in every walk of life.

As I look around the room today I am reminded that God has some pretty hefty sized butterflies! And there are others who once were so weighted down that they despaired that they would never fly. But with God, all things are possible. Through the blood of Jesus Christ, we can all be free and we can fly.

John 15 finds Jesus praying and talking with His disciples just before he was arrested. You might remember that Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches." But in verse 8 Jesus told them that when their lives were fruitful, they proved that they were His disciples and brought great glory to His Father in heaven.

Imagine being a caterpillar on the ground and seeing a beautiful butterfly go by, shining in the sunlight. And the caterpillar sighs and says, "I wish I could fly instead of being stuck in this dirt." Suddenly the butterfly swoops down and says, "Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. You can fly through His Son!" And then the butterfly lands and says, "Let me walk with you and show you how."

Join with me today and say, "As for me and my house, we will let God change us from worms to butterflies…. and we will serve the Lord!" AMEN? Amen.!

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