Change your mind Sermon preached at Grace Episcopal Church,

Moloka'i 14

March 2010 Joshua 5:9-12 Psalm 37:1-9 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Luke 15:11-32

Please join me in repeating the response together from the top of your prayer list once more "If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"

You just heard Oli and Alyne's take-away from the Hawaiian Islands Ministries HONOLULU 2010 conference. We have 32 Grace Church folks who went last weekend and their sharing was so great. They all seemed NEW. Don't you think? In fact our visitor from Nebraska last Sunday, Dr. Tom Tonniges, gave me this page from his pediatrics journal after worship, "Here, wonder never ceases." He said that it describes Grace Church. WOW!

Mountaintop experiences are great! But one of our biggest challenges as Christians is changing our minds. I'm not talking about wavering back and forth between decisions like should I have the pork and peas or the fried fish? And I'm not even speaking about deciding on a career. The challenge for most people is that each of us thinks we're pretty normal and fine just as we are. If we were totally honest we would find that most of us here today believe that how we think and how we feel is probably just as regular, or even a bit better, than the person next to you, The people we see at work or at the market may be nuttier than a fruitcake but thankfully, we're kind of normal, right?
But did you know that the Bible says that normal thinking isn't good enough? In fact, one of the reasons God gave us His Word was to help straighten out our normal thinking so that we are able to do the work of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

And Romans 12 tells us that instead of conforming to the world around us, we should let our minds be transformed.

So if our normal thinking isn't quite on track, what does the Lord desire from our minds? If we really want to grow in the Lord, then we have to think like Jesus. We need to trade our minds in for the mind of Christ. That's not the same as "blowing your mind."

This isn't a crazy idea that I just came up with. Throughout Paul's letters he writes about us having the mind of Christ.

But you can't just wake up in the morning and say, "Today I think I'll be a new creation. I'll have the mind of Christ." It happens partly by imitation, but having the mind of Christ happens mostly by inhabitation. Having the mind of Christ means desiring the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out to be more and more like Jesus.

Let me give you an example. Here is one of Satan's biggest lies that many of us buy into: God wants me to live a comfortable life and to be happy above all else. Sounds really cool, but it is "normal thinking" that in no way reflects the life or the mind of Christ. If God's desire was for us be happy above all else, Jesus would have been a circus clown and made toy balloons. His teachings sure wouldn't have included, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Jesus is more concerned about our character than our short-term happiness. And we aren't able to have our character built up unless we desire to surrender our minds and lives to Him.

Psalm 37:4 tells us that if we first take delight in the Lord that He will give us the desires of our hearts.

We have Kaoliakeakua Place with us to prove the point. Most of you know the story. Alison and Kolo were married. They were happy. But years passed and there were no children. They hoped. They prayed. And then one day this psalm leapt off the page at them. They began to understand that they needed to take delight in the LORD first - to find their happiness in who He is. So they began to position themselves dead center in the middle of His will for their lives. Almost immediately after God changed their minds Alison and Kolo conceived. And in October of 1993 Kaoliakeakua - the Oli, the prayer of God - was born.

But there's a new chapter to this story… first thing this past Monday morning after being at the HIM conference, Kaoli went to his advisor at Molokai High and asked for his senior project to be changed. Kaoli heard from God. He wants to start a Christian club at Molokai High. And that will be his senior project! As the next verse of Psalm 37 says, he wants to "Commit his way to the LORD; trusting in Him knowing that God will act." Kaoli also hopes to begin a Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter at the school.

Now THAT'S the sign of a transformed mind, the mind of a new creation in Jesus Christ! Remember K - A=0 (Knowledge without Application is nothing!)

In this morning's OT reading from Joshua the Jewish nation had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years waiting to live in the Promised Land. While they were in the wilderness, God supplied them food from heaven called manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. It was a special gift from God to keep them going in the desert. Do you remember why they were kept in the desert for 40 years instead of going straight to the Promised Land? Normal thinking.

They sent men out to check out Canaan - kind of secret agents to see if things were as good as God had promised. The scouts came back and said that the land was great but that the people were too tough. So instead of trusting in the God that parted the Red Sea, they whined and moaned. And whining and moaning don't usually signify the heart of the Lord. Just as whining and complaining are a pretty sure sign that we are not carrying the mind of Christ with us.

So off they went to the wasteland for 40 years. But the Lord didn't abandon them. Canaan was still promised to their nation. God just had to wait 40 years for a generation to begin to think like new creations instead of like slaves. Meanwhile, He fed them.

As soon as they crossed the Jordan River they started eating the food produced by the Promised Land, and immediately the manna stopped. When you leave the old life behind and enter a new place in your relationship with God, when you come into the Promised Land, your life, and even your food, is changed.

Think about what it did to their normal ways of thinking. They had been wanderers. Now, in God's promise, they were farmers. Before they had trudged through the desert, now they had homes in a luscious land. Now they ate the fresh produce that came from the land that God had set-aside for them, just as He promised. One of the lessons of being a new creation and developing the mind of Christ is: You have to leave the old creation to get to the new creation. But it's worth it.
The Bible teaches that when we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ, we are changed from the inside out. As we grow in Jesus there begins to be an outward evidence of a changed life.

Our youth who went to HIM want to live like they have been changed, even with their nonbelieving friends. Long before they talk to them about Jesus they want to BE the only Jesus their friends may ever see. They are going to commit to living changed lives. They need your prayers and your support.

That's becoming a new creation in Jesus Christ. A gossip quits talking trash and is lovingly held accountable by brothers and sisters in Christ. A thief loses the desire to steal. Those who use "expletives deleted" as adjectives will find better ways to express themselves. A person who has been living in sin desires to really give up sinful ways. As we opened with 2 Corinthians 5, "everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!"

Not long ago some of you went to the Molokai Community Health Center open house under the banyan tree at the former Pau Hana Inn. A few years ago when you mentioned Pau Hana Inn to Moloka'i residents many things came to mind. Dancing, drinking, fooling around, fights, music that bothered the neighbors: that's our dear old Pau Hana… Few of those images center on holiness. Probably prayer, worship, and marriage didn't come to mind. But we all know Pau Hana was transformed and became the New Hope Oceanside Retreat Center that honored God. We hosted our candidates for bishop there. Our daughter Amanda was married there. Easter sunrise services were held there. Music and dancing fill the center as they host proms for our high school. And now, following their fire, St. Damien Catholic Parish worships there Saturday nights and Sundays. The atmosphere is very different from the old creation days. And it will continue as a center for healing.

Now if God can change Pau Hana Inn, what can He do with you?
The NLT translation says it this way, "All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to himself through what Christ did."
Developing the mind of Christ takes patience and practice. God can and does use instantaneous healings. Sometimes though, He uses a more gradual process. Recently we've experienced strong winds and several sudden, hard downpours here on Moloka'i. Usually after torrential rains if you drive to the east end, you will see evidence of massive amounts of water that have forced some boulders to come crashing down the mountain onto the road. Those rocks are usually huge and they have sharp edges. But if you look in the streambeds, where there's usually a slow, steady flow of water, you will find rocks that are rounded and smooth - great for iliili. They have been changed, but in a different way. Over time, the gentle flow of the river smoothes out the rock's rough edges and the river rocks become smooth and round. When we are surrounded by storms, we often just hang on for dear life. But as we hang on to the Lord we submit our minds to the Holy Spirit. And after those tough times pass, we often find that God has been at work in us, rounding off our sharp edges.

To submit to the Holy Spirit, we have to be willing to give up our old minds to get the new mind of Christ. It's not easy, but it's worth it. Remember that the only way to feast on the fruit of the Promised Land is to cooperate in being moved from old style thinking and learning to have the mind of Christ.

Jesus tells a story in our gospel this morning about a kid who didn't care about being a new creation. He only wanted to cash in his inheritance before his dad died so he could see the world. He went to the city and partied hard until he was broke. Then things didn't seem like a party. His friends left him as soon as he ran out of money. And he got hungry. In fact he was so desperate that he found himself feeding pigs and thinking that their slop was looking good.

At some point, hungry, tired and alone he got to thinking about home. Surrounded by those pigs he remembered how at his father's house even the servants ate pretty well. In fact, while he was sleeping with the sows his dad's servants had a roof over their heads. One day he changed his mind and had a brilliant idea. Instead of living like a swine, maybe he could work for his dad. Uh Oh. Dad wouldn't be too happy about him blowing all the money. But rather than being stuck by pride, he changed his mind and decided to go home to his father and tell him he was sorry for insulting him and the family. If his father relented, maybe he could be a servant and at least have 3 hots and a cot.

Meanwhile the dad seems to have shaken off whatever initial hurt and anger he'd felt when piggy boy had run off with the legacy. From the father's reaction, anger and disappointment had been replaced by worry and grief. Dad saw his son coming way before the boy reached the front gates. And the old man ran out to greet him. This is the only time in the Bible that talks about God running. But God isn't running for a gold medal. He's running to His lost child. He is running to you and to me. Before the son could finish his speech, the dad embraced him, and welcomed him home with his best robe, his biggest ring and a party.

The older brother, who stayed home and was good, was mad. He refused to go into the party. When the father heard of it, he went out to talk to him. The brother interrupted his father, saying, "I have been good. I have stayed here with you, worked in your fields, and you haven't once killed a calf for me and my friends." And isn't that "normal thinking?" Another mind that needed changing. Here's big brother going ballistic. The older brother said those words that we have all felt many times, "What about me?" If there are any words that signify an old creation, far from the mind of Christ, they are the complaining words, "What about me?"

And this is the real evidence of the heart of the father. The dad simply said, "I have always loved you, and everything that is mine is yours."

Here is the very best example of the difference between "normal thinking" and the Lord's. As a human parent, it's so much "easier" to forgive the child who blows it, sees their wrong, changes their ways and comes to you for forgiveness.

But what about that po'opa'a kid? How hard is it for us to forgive the one who just doesn't get it? The father responded with love to both boys. Just as he didn't reprimand the younger son, he also didn't scold the older one for his bad attitude. Dad reminded him that everything that belonged to the family belonged to him. I can imagine the father wrapping his arms around the elder son too as he told him, "We have to celebrate because we thought your brother was gone for good. Can you believe it? He changed his mind and came home. Instead of being dead, he is here with us and alive." The father gently asked the eldest son to change his mind from normal thinking into a new way of thinking. But He loved him into doing it.

Even when we have stinking thinking and we've never left, God wants to welcome us all home.

Are you still with me?

We all have a Father like that. He wants us to change our minds of anger and hatred to be more like Jesus and to be filled with love and mercy. Our Father in heaven wants us to welcome home the prodigals who have run away. He wants us to extend the same mercy He has shown us when each of us has wandered away from Him. That is impossible to do with our own strength and with our own minds. Anger and hurt, not mercy, are the emotions that are usually our first reactions.

God wants to transform your mind and your life to be more like Jesus. All you have to do is to ask for His help. We cannot do it on our own. But our Lord can and will change us, if we ask. But just as the Israelites had to quit thinking like slaves to receive God's promises so we have to be willing to give up our rights to things like payback and vengeance, and we need to be willing to learn to forgive. That kind of thinking will keep us lost in the desert for 40 years.

Whether we are the child who wandered far away or if we are the one who stayed close to home, if we want to experience God's peace, we have to pray for Him to change our minds. We have to ask Him to change our hearts. We have to ask Him to fill us with His love and change us from the inside out.

I wrote this sermon on Tuesday while Scotty got stuck on Oahu. Yesterday afternoon, before he had a chance to look at this, he shared with me his new, favorite song. It is called, believe it or not, "From the inside out." Here it is…

From The Inside Out (Hillsongs)
A thousand times I've failed, still Your mercy remains
Should I stumble again, still I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart, and my soul I give You control consume me from the inside out Lord. Let justice and praise become my embrace to love You from the inside out

Your will above all else my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing You praise
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord my soul cries out…

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