Gracious God, may your love bring us renewal this day in the ways we need it most. May your grace fall fresh upon us and remind us that we are each your beloved, called to follow in the path of Jesus where transformative healing and hope for ourselves and for our world may be found. Amen.
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Today, we continue our Epiphany sermon series in which we are taking some time to remember and clarify who and whose we are as God’s children and who we’re called to be as people of faith and followers of Jesus.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been reminded that God’s love is abundant and everlasting, even when we feel like we’re running on empty. We’ve been reminded that each of us is God’s beloved from the beginning and that we are called to courageous discipleship that aligns with Jesus’ mission to bring good news to the poor and freedom to the oppressed. And we’ve been reminded to utilize the diverse and beautiful gifts and abilities we each have to offer for the common good.
And, by the way, if any of those messages are the good news that you need to hear most right now, then I hope you hear that good news again, deep in your soul, today.
Today, we’re embracing the possibility of transformation along this journey of faith and discipleship in both our personal and collective lives.
We know from experience that human beings sometimes find ourselves stuck in old patterns of thinking and behavior that don’t serve us or others well. This happens in our personal lives and relationships. It happens in our collective, communal lives and society too.
And it can be hard to break those old habits and patterns sometimes, even when we want to break them. That’s why there are recovery communities and twelve step groups, for example.
Transformation takes support, and work, and it may not always be easy. But it does seem to me that openness to the possibility of transformation is a good first step. If we can’t even imagine an alternative or aren’t willing to take the first steps towards that alternative, then we cut ourselves short from the beginning.
And I would make the case that for all of us, transformation is an ongoing process. Some moments in our lives call for bigger change. And other times, less. But an openness to growth is generally a good attitude to have in life.
So, perhaps we ought to ask ourselves what transformation might look like for us today. What do we long for deep in our spirits? What do we hope for most sincerely? And what might transformation mean for us, as individuals, as well as for those around us in our families and communities and for the broader world?
There is both an ethical and theological dimension to this process of reflection that is vitally important. Who benefits from the transformation we seek? Many or just a few? Only us and people just like us? Or broader humanity and all creation? As Christians, we ought to ask how the transformation we seek aligns with the vision and priorities of the Kin-dom of God, as taught to us by Jesus.
And, as we become clearer on the goal, then we can consider what first steps can be taken and what opportunities lie before us each day to move towards that vision.
Transformation is a process. The Apostle Paul knew this well. Long before he wrote his letter to the church in Rome, he had been on his own journey of redemption and transformation. He had been a persecutor of early Jesus followers before he had his own conversion experience and changed his ways. He not only became a follower of Jesus, but also a leader in the movement, one of the primary PR guys for the Jesus Way, and a founder of church communities all over the Mediterranean region. He turned away from his harmful actions and found a new life and vocation centered in service and community-building.
The Apostle Paul may not be perfect and some of us may have some Pauline baggage. But we can definitely learn something from his story.
And you know who else we can learn from? Phil Connors. :)
Who’s seen Groundhog Day, the movie starring Bill Murray? It’s a classic. And who saw our own Jay Dysart play Phil in Groundhog Day the musical a few months ago? He was fabulous (as was the rest of the cast)!
Phil Connors’ story is definitely one of redemption and transformation too. He starts off as a cynical, self-centered, career-obsessed, too-cool-for-school TV weatherman from Pittsburgh who is grumpy and gripey about having to go to small town Punxsutawney to cover the annual Groundhog Day festival.
But, as fate (or perhaps divine intervention) would have it, Phil gets stuck in Punxsutawney (where he least wants to be) – first by a blizzard (that he was sure wasn’t going to hit the area) and then by a supernatural time-loop that forces him (and only him) to live February 2nd over and over and over again.
When it dawns on him that this is more than just déjà vu, Phil panics and seeks medical and psychological help, but to no avail.
And when it becomes clear to him that this is really happening and that there is no escape, Phil leans hard into self-centered hedonism. With no obvious consequences to his actions and a fresh reboot every morning, Phil binge eats and drinks, seduces women, manipulates and mistreats people, robs an armored truck, and generally lives each day carelessly and recklessly.
Eventually, however, Phil gets bored of this shallow existence and becomes deeply depressed. And so, he attempts to end his own life multiple times. But he can’t die and he can’t escape. He just keeps waking up to find that it’s February 2nd all over again.
Eventually, with a little encouragement from his producer Rita, Phil abandons his nihilistic thinking and begins to see each day as a possibility to embrace instead of a predicament to escape.
Phil has started to fall for Rita and already tried (and failed) to manipulate her too. But now he slowly becomes more authentic and genuine around her.
Phil’s transformation is really centered in a shift of perspective, I think. He starts to look to the needs and experiences of others. He starts to realize that he can use this time he’s been given to grow as a person. He starts to look for opportunities to help others – saving people from accidents and injuries, changing someone’s tire. He learns to play the piano and to speak French. Part of this self-improvement is to impress Rita. But it becomes more than that and it’s clear that he is changing for the better and growing as a person. And, as Phil begins to seek more genuine relationships with others, he opens himself up to the lessons they have to teach him.
Phil does have to learn his own limits along the way. Even though he feels like he has gained God-like power, he also can’t save everyone. Despite trying everything he can think of, for days on end, he learns that he can’t save the life of an elderly homeless man who dies that day. It’s a hard, heart-breaking lesson. But it is a lesson that has also taught him compassion.
Phil eventually finds a true sense of belonging in Punxsutawney as the decent guy and member of the community that he has become, as well as finding satisfaction with his life as it is and his new sense of self. And that, I think, is what finally brings about his freedom and release from this cycle.
We don’t have to be caught in a time-loop to understand something of Phil’s experience and the journey of transformation he must take to find liberation. We probably know from our own experiences what it’s like to feel stuck and how we have found our way out.
But Phil’s story (and the Apostle Paul’s story) can remind us that part of getting unstuck sometimes involves looking beyond ourselves, looking to the needs and experiences of others, engaging in genuine and deeper relationship with others, seeking to be of service, seeking to learn and grow both for ourselves and for those around us, and seeking to build real community together. That’s what church community is all about.
“Do not be conformed to this world,” said Paul, “but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God.”
Paul urged the fledgling church in Rome to reject the pressures and priorities of the imperial Roman world around them and to instead find new life in Christ. Over and over in his letters, Paul invites people to “put on the mind of Christ” and to live “in Christ” or “in the Spirit.” He’s calling for a shift in perspective, a different mindset, that results in a different way of living.
The old, tired, conventional patterns of this world – of individualistic goals and aspirations of money, power, status; of temporary distraction from existential angst; of lack of accountability and responsibility to others and to community only result in a small, self-centered sense of reality. Paul and Phil both learned that.
And that is not the Kin-dom of God.
Instead, Jesus and Paul both invite us into the work of creating new patterns for our communal life together in this world – of community-centered goals and aspirations that benefit all; of mutual accountability and responsibility to one another that results in a bigger sense of reality where we, together, are part of a bigger whole – where all belong and where there is room for awe and reverence of the mystery and beauty of God’s presence among us.
As chapter 12 of Romans continues, Paul gives the church community some concrete ways to put these new patterns into practice.
He urges them to “let love be genuine… hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor… Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you… Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
He goes on to denounce vengeance. And says instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
These aren’t always easy things to do. And certainly, Paul knew that there would be missteps along the way for church in Rome, just as there were for him.
Change is not easy. Transformation is not easy.
And the reality is that we can really only start with ourselves.
We may wish for others to find a path for transformation. The people persecuted by the old Paul surely did. And, having experienced his own transformation, Paul surely wished for others to experience the same. But we can really only encourage others (like Paul did and like Rita did).
And we can lead by example by opening our own minds and hearts to the possibilities of transformation that lay before us and the opportunities each day holds to grow deeper in faith and work towards the kind of loving, just, and peaceful kin-dom Jesus and Paul envisioned.
Hey, if it could happen in Punxsutawney, it could happen in our neck of the woods too! Amen.