Change for many of us is a scary word; especially if we are comfortable. Just the prospect of change can make us uncomfortable if it challenges our understanding of ourselves, of our world, and especially of God. Yet, change guided by God is exactly what Jesus preached from the beginning of his ministry until his ascension (Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47). Jesus wants to change our understanding of ourselves, the world, and God. So, why as Christians, are we so often times afraid of change?
Repentance is key to understanding the change Jesus wants for all of us and for the world. The Greek noun μετάνοια is the word that appears in our New Testament Scriptures that is often times translated as “repent” (BDAG p. 640). It is closely related to the Greek verb μετανοέω which can be translated “to repent,” and for many of us makes us think of having feelings of remorse and confession when we perceive that we have sinned in some way. This is a perfectly normal and valid way to understand μετανοέω/to repent, but it is not the only way. The other way to comprehend/define μετανοέω/to repent is to “change one’s mind” (BDAG p. 640). True repentance is not just feeling remorse and confession. True repentance is changing ones mind (and heart) so that our will is aligned with God’s.
Until the kingdom of God is realized on earth as it is in heaven, our lives are called to be all about repentance/change. Jesus understands that the kingdom of God cannot be fully realized until complete obedience to God has been achieved. In order for us to be completely obedient to God, we have to be willing to change as Jesus instructs.
The first thing we need to change is our understanding of ourselves. None of us are saints. None of us are sinners. We are all both. We all fall short of the mark God sets for us. None of us are capable of redeeming ourselves. We are all in need of God’s grace and, God’s grace was, is, and will be extended to each and every one of us. None of us are completely lost.
Through Jesus, a path to justification has been established for all who hear and respond to the call of God’s grace in our lives. Until we achieve Christian Perfection (until we love as unconditionally as God loves us), we are all a combination of sinner and saint; moreover, until we have been perfected in Christ, change should be a constant part of our lives.
As we recognize the change God is working in us through God’s grace, then we come to understand that God is also changing our understanding of the world. No longer should our mindset be “Me First” or “My Interests First.” Instead, Jesus taught and demonstrated over and over again that the change God seeks in all of us is demonstrated in our complete love of God and in our love of neighbor. God desires shalom, wholeness, for all of God’s good creation. If one of us is hungry, if one of us is homeless, if one of us is discriminated against, if one of us is oppressed, or if one of us is excluded, can any of us be whole? When Jesus healed the bent over woman, he healed the entire community by restoring her to full participation in it (Luke 13:10-17). As individuals and as a community called together by the Holy Spirit, what brokenness do we need to address? Who in our midst needs to be restored to wholeness? Who is missing from our community that is preventing us from experiencing wholeness for ourselves?
Jesus also wants to change our understanding of God. Belief in God is not a guarantor of worldly success (in fact, the opposite might just happen!) God is not a magic genie waiting around for us to figure out the right combination of prayer and worship in order to fulfill our wishes and desires. God is our Creator. God is our heavenly parent. God is beyond our full comprehension, yet, we are all made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Try to let the significance of that sink in a moment. The creator of the universe whose bounds we do not even know, created us; on this speck of dust circling a star in the Milky Way galaxy, in God’s own image. Still, even if we are identical twins, no two of us are alike. God looks like what we see in the mirror, AND God looks like every single other human being we encounter. What do we need to ask God to change in ourselves that we might recognize God in everyone we meet?
The United Methodist Church is in a season of change as we discern how to better understand ourselves, our world, and God. While the change we are currently experiencing is stress inducing (to say the least) and can cause us to be fearful, we can rest in the fact that change when rendered by the work of God through the Holy Spirit in our individual and communal lives is truly a Godsend. Regardless of the changes we are experiencing within our denomination, there are many things that are and will remain unchanged as they are foundational to our understanding of ourselves as United Methodists, of our world, and of God. Among those are our Doctrinal Standards that testify that we believe Jesus Christ to be “the Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man’s nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided; whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man” (BOD ¶104.3.II). They also testify that we believe “The Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation,” and “as we open our minds and hearts to the Word of God through the words of human beings inspired by the Holy Spirit, faith is born and nourished, our understanding is deepened, and the possibilities for transforming the worldbecome apparent to us.”(BOD ¶104.3.V; ¶105.4)
By our being willing to listen to God and how God is calling us to change, we have been blessed by the joining of our youth group with Saint Andrews Parish UMC and this past Sunday’s joint worship with New Francis Brown UMC. One of our Bible studies has moved off campus in order for us to be able to witness to our faith in public and invite those who might be curious to join us. This is just a small sample of what God is up to with us. In this season of change, be on the lookout for what ways God is calling us to change as individuals and as a community that we might be more Christlike. Change brought about by God is at the very core of who we are as United Methodists. John Wesley sought to reinvigorate Christianity in England by changing the church goer’s understanding of their faith and by sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the unchurched. Methodism spread like wildfire in the United States as Methodist circuit riders sought to share Jesus’ good news of individual and communal wholeness. As United Methodists, we continue to change from within and without to address issues of discrimination and injustice found in the world. Change is at the very heart of our United Methodist mission statement that testifies that “the mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by proclaiming the good news of God’s grace and by exemplifying Jesus’ command to love God and neighbor, thus seeking the fulfillment of God’s reign and realm in the world.” (BOD ¶121) May change no longer cause us fear, and may we all be the agents of change God is calling us to be.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Bryan