Transformation

Proper 18, Yr C, rcl
Sept. 9, 2007

As much as I love summer break and getting to do different things that what I normally do during the year, I am truly glad to have you back and to be back. Probably like many of you, summer consisted of travel for work and for play and for seeing family (which is a mixture of work and play). At the beginning of the summer, I got to attend the National Chaplain’s Conference out in Seattle, Washington. I signed up and went because I wanted to meet other chaplains and get to know some of the people who were doing the same thing that I am and see what they are doing in their ministries. However, I got a whole lot more out of the conference than just meeting people. Sitting in a room with hundreds of other people who all do work similar to mine, I realized that I was not the only one in the room that both loved what I do and at times struggled with what I do. I remembered that I am not a minister, that I do not follow Jesus and that I do not feel called to work with youth and young adults because it is easy. I do this work, I live this life because it is what I am called to do. I’m not talking about being a priest, because that’s only a part of it, I’m talking about being a Christian. I’m talking about following God’s will and trying to remain faithful each and every day no matter where I am or what I’m doing.

In our Psalm today, we hear the words, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.” It continues on, describing how the Lord knows us, even if we try to hide, the Lord is there. At times in my life, I have read this and felt rather suffocated or tied down knowing that there is not any moment in my life when I am not alone. God knows me, knows my thoughts, knows me so completely that I cannot hide. Then, I remember that yes, God knows everything about me AND God still loves me, God still seeks me out, God still wants me around, imperfections and all. No matter how screwed up we can get in our lives, God still wants us to be faithful followers and disciples.

We hear Jesus go on a rant today in the Gospel, which at first seems so counterintuitive to all the other things that we hear Jesus say – Love your neighbor, Love yourself, be kind, etc. But Jesus, at this point in his ministry is surrounded by people who are following him and are not thinking about what it means to truly follow him and what it means to live the new kind of life that he is asking them to live. Jesus is getting down to business and telling those around him, that unless they are ready to detach themselves completely from anything and everything that holds them back, either physically or emotionally, then they cannot be his disciple. Jesus tells them that they must give up their family, that they must hate their family, in order to be his disciple. Rather harsh words, and Jesus knew what he was saying. In that society, family was your identity. Family defined who you were or weren’t, it defined who you could marry, it defined how rich or poor you were. Family had great power in that society. Jesus is trying to let them know that in no uncertain terms, they have to give up some of the things in our life that get in the way of truly following God.

This is not just a test to see if you’ll do it – it’s not a hazing ritual to see how far you’ll go – this is about transformation. To transform is to undergo an extreme change, to shift into a new way of being. Transformation, the true kind of change that Jesus is calling for in today’s Gospel is a process of opening yourself to the new and putting the old away. It is about giving up so that you can receive. It is about leaving things behind, both good and bad things that get in the way, in order to find your direction, in order to journey without being held back.

When you come to college, when you leave your family at home and travel off to go to college, you are going through a transformation, whether you know it or not. The moment that you leave your home and go to your first class, attend your first activity, drink your first cup of coffee in your own room or apartment, your transformation begins. You have left family behind, you have left friends behind, and you have left countless numbers of other things behind as well. You left those things behind so that you can do something new, so that you can find a new direction in your life, so that you can pursue dreams and find your own journey.

At first this transformation can be exciting and exhilarating - the newness, the freedom, the differentness of it all. Then, the road can get a bit bumpy because you don’t have your family to fall back on, or because your old friends aren’t there to go talk to if you need them. Transformation is not easy, there will be bumps along the way, there will be joys along the way. But the outcome – what you get on the other side of the hard times and see the rewards along the way, it all makes your transformation worth while.

The good news also is that we don’t need to do our transformation alone. We don’t need to feel like we are the only ones in the world having these ups and downs, that we are the only ones who have ever wished that we could go back, or go forward in order to get through it and done. In times of transformation, like the ones that you are experiencing and like the ones that the disciples experienced when they left everything behind, you will find new teachers and mentors, new friends and new communities, you will find others who will walk with you and be with you no matter what. The disciples had each other. The first followers of Jesus had each other. My hope is that here at St. Francis House, that we can be a community for each other to grow, transform, journey, and experience our ups and downs together. My hope is that we can be a community in which we know that we are loved, held in prayer, joined together by God’s love and walk together as we undergo these important transformations ahead of us.

As you begin and continue your studies, you are on a path of learning and discovery that will lead you to find yourself and your path in life. You may be good at math, writing, sharing, teaching. Whatever it is that you find that you are good at and enjoy doing – that is your calling. A calling is when your God given skills and joys meet the needs of the world around you. Each of you are called to do something, teach, design, create, write – whatever it might be, you have a calling – something that is yours that you are to give the world. This summer, as I sat in that room with the hundreds of other chaplains, I realized once again that I do what I do because it is what God calls me to each day. God calls each of us to be faithful, God calls each of us to journey through our transformations, and God calls each of us to serve one another and in turn to serve God no matter where we are or what we are doing.

In a few moments, we will pray and ask God’s blessing on our studies, on our time together and on our service to the world around us. My hope is that you will take this prayer, this blessing with you and know that you are loved by God, that you have a community to journey with on your transformation and that God is here to guide you as you discover and live into your calling each and every day.