Sermon Prep for 02.21.10 - The Vision Series: Transformed

This week I'll be preaching from Romans 12:1-2 and looking at the whole matter of "transformation."



There are three key words in Romans 12:2 that speak to this.  Let's dig into them a bit more than I will be able to on Sunday.  First, some general word study items.  I've set hyper links to some good online resources so you can click through to a next level for your own study.


Transformed - in the Greek: metamorphow - from Strong's concordance # 3339.  The Greek draws us immediately to think of "metamorphosis" - the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.  Check one out on YouTube.

There are three other verses in the New Testament that use this specific word in this form: Matthew 17:2 and Mark 9:2 each use the word to speak of Jesus being "transformed" on the Mount of Transfiguration.  In II Corinthians 3:18 Paul uses the word to refer to the "transformation" that we experience in becoming more like Christ.

It's easy to see that there is a powerful sense of change connected with this metamorphosis.

Renewing - in the Greek: anakainosis - from Strong's concordance # 342
This word is used only one other time in the New Testament, and that by Paul in Titus 3:5

Mind - in the Greek: nous - from Strong's # 3563.  This word is used 24 times in 22 verses, but here are some of the uses that caught my eye:
Luke 24:45
Romans 1:28
Romans 7:23-25
I Corinthians 14:14-15

The emphasis of the passage is on the verb "transformed" or "metamorphasized"  as the end of what happens from the "renewing of our mind."

With that in mind, I called my friend Dr. Herb Lenon - a retired biology professor from Central Michigan University who I knew while Herb was an elder with me at Mt. Pleasant Community Church - and we talked about the process of metamorphosis.  Several things struck me as I listened.

First, the process of metamorphosis leads to dramatic change in the external appearance, structure and behaviors of the creature.  This is the stuff we see.  What starts as a caterpillar becomes an amazing butterfly.  A crawler becomes a flyer, to name just one aspect of the change.  Picture that sort of change in our own life as the Gospel is at work over time!

Secondly, what is inside - the circulation, nervous system, etc. - continues to function, but with entirely different expression.  As I grow in the Gospel, I'm coming to see that many of the really painful experiences of my life - the things inside me - don't get lost, forgotten or removed.  Instead, they are expressed differently as I live my life in the freedom and joy of the Gospel.  The heartache of getting laid off from a church position is an experience that is still with me.  But the pain doesn't determine my life.  I can see how all things have worked out for my benefit (Romans 8:28).  I was hurt, have found real comfort in the Gospel and can now share that comfort with others, as Paul did in II Corinthians 1:3-7.

Finally, the entire process is started by something outside the caterpillar.  For these little creatures, the "switch" may vary - food, sunlight, temperature - but it takes some sort of external cue to get the process of metamorphosis started for the caterpillar.  I am reminded that the metamorphosis that Paul is speaking of here is not something that takes place in our life from our own resources.  It's not finding our "inner self" or being "true to who we are."  No caterpillar has within itself the resources to initiate the process of metamorphosis.  There is a touch from outside.

And there is grace at work.  A touch from the outside that sets in motion a process that takes the existing inner resources and makes them into an entirely different outer expression.