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nowhere-herenow · 4 years

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CASA contribution for today...

Morning reflection, January 26, 2020:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

Before I ever became a believer, I always thought that Christians were supposed to be different from everyone else. The fact that they didn’t seem to be all that different was actually a stumbling block for me.

In the verse above from Paul's letter to the Romans, we read that we are in fact supposed to be different from everyone else; we're not supposed to conform but rather be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We talk about our baptism being symbolic of dying and being resurrected. We talk about being born again. And what did Jesus say to Nicodemus? "No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." This implies a change doesn't it?

In the Gospels, Jesus is clearly teaching us that we are all called to something bigger, better, deeper, and just plain different from what’s considered normal in this temporal world. But what does that really mean? What does it mean to be transformed by the renewing of the mind? To be born again? To not conform to the pattern of the world? I ask myself these questions all the time.

Over the years, I’ve heard people say things like: Christians shouldn’t watch R-rated movies, Christians shouldn’t listen to certain music, they shouldn’t wear certain clothes, or go to certain festivals and support certain ideas or programs, etc. But is all that really what not being conformed to the world is all about? Or is that way of thinking just turning a deep-rooted spiritual message into a list of things that are and are not culturally acceptable for us at this time?

If we look back at Jesus’ teachings, in Matthew 5 we see that Jesus’ way was in direct contradiction to the way and common wisdom of the world: “Blessed are the weak… the poor in spirit… those that mourn… those that are persecuted.” He continues, “When someone hits you, turn the other cheek… when someone steals your stuff, offer them more… love your neighbor, (here’s the big one!) love your enemy too!”

The common wisdom of the day is, “Nah Jesus didn’t really mean for us to live that way. That’s impossible. Those are just some high and lofty ideals, that's all.”

This past Monday we remembered an individual that did live that way. Not perfectly so, but in a way nonetheless so large that it helped transform an entire nation. Martin Luther King Jr. never wanted to be the leader of a major national movement to end segregation. He just wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and be a Baptist preacher, but God had different plans. And when the position of leader of the civil rights movement was thrust on him at the age of 26 he didn’t take the job lightly.

King decided that he would not result to violence of any form, but rather he would follow those impossible teachings that Jesus laid out during the sermon on the mount. When someone struck him or one of his followers on the cheek, they would turn and offer the other one.

And King meant it. At one time, while giving a speech in Birmingham, AL, a white man rushed the stage and began beating King with his fists. As those around King began to try and defend him, King shouted out, “Don’t touch him! We have to pray for him.” Could you imagine being a black man in the south during this time and seeing all the awful things that white people were doing to people of your race and still having the God given grace to say, “Don’t touch him, we have to pray for him.”

We look at the sermon on the mount and we think, ‘it’s too difficult, it’s overwhelming, I can’t do it.’ But we have been empowered to at least live it out in part if not fully. Now, we may look at the lives of people like King or other larger than life figures in history and think, sure they did it, but I’m just an ordinary person, I’m not that strong.

I want to share one more story with you today. This is a true story from 2008:

A 31 years old social worker, Julio Diaz, was headed to his favorite diner to eat after work one day. As he got off the train in the Bronx a teen approached him wielding a knife. The young man demanded Julio’s wallet. Julio complied. After the teen turned to walk off Julio called out to him, “Wait. If you’re going to be robbing people all night you might as well take my coat also, to keep you warm.”

The teen was a bit bewildered and he asked, “Why are you doing this?”

Julio replied, “If you’re willing to risk your life for a few dollars then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I really wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me… hey, you’re more than welcome.”

The teen goes with him, and as they sit at the diner all the employees there, the manager, the wait staff and even the cooks come and say hi to Julio. The kid was like, “You know everybody here. Do you own this place?”

"No, I just eat here a lot," he told the teen.

“But you're even nice to the dishwasher."

Julio replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."

The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."

The wisdom and the way of this world in our day would say that Julio should’ve been armed and he should’ve shot this teen in self-defense. Had he done so he likely would’ve been held as a hero in the eyes of many. But he didn’t. He chose instead to ignore the ‘wisdom’ of the world and do as Jesus taught. The kid asked for his wallet and he offered him his coat also. Then he took him to dinner, and listened to him. He looked at the young man not as a threat or an enemy, but as another one of God’s children lost along the way, a friend, a human being.

That is how we become a people transformed by his love, a people that reflect his grace and mercy. It’s not about the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, the movies you watch; it’s about risking everything to bring even one lost child back home to our Creator.

“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternity.” (John 12:25)

We are called to something bigger, better, and deeper than this temporal world.

Be light. Be love. Be hope.

Blessings!

#love #mlk #Martin Luther King Jr.#service #christ #christian mysticism #gospel #transformation

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