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Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God\u2019s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God\u2014this is your true and proper worship. 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\u2019s will is\u2014his good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).

This is the second meditation with the title \u2018Training for Transformation\u2019 which are both based on the phrase \u2018be transformed by the renewing of the mind\u2019. The phrase, \u2018be transformed\u2019, tells us that something happens to us. To put it differently, we have to make sure that something happens to us. I promised another analogy to help us explore this.

Before I moved to Hamilton, I spent 17 years living along the Trent River. I could always hear the water rushing by; much of the year, I could also see it. One day while listening to this sound, I was pondering 1 Peter 2:5 which says, \u201cyou also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.\u201d I noticed how similar it is to our verses from Romans 12. The question under consideration was, \u201cHow are we transformed?\u201d or in Peter\u2019s version, \u201cHow are we being built?\u201d

In both passages, something happens to us. Does that mean we just sit and let it happen? I realized that Peter gave the answer to this. In verse 4 he writes, \u201cAs you come to Him\u2026\u201d This is the primary Christian activity in the work of transformation, \u201cwe come to Jesus\u2026\u201d not just once or twice, but all the time, daily, hourly. Now back to the Trent River. If you were to throw a jagged rock into that river it would immediately sink to the bottom. If it was heavy enough, it wouldn\u2019t move; but it would change. Slowly, to be sure. But it would change. The water rushing over that rock would slowly wear off the ragged edges. If you could find that rock a few years later, it would be smooth.

This, it seems to me, is how Christian transformation takes place. We get ourselves into those places where God\u2019s grace to us in Christ can sometimes rush and sometimes gently flow over and around us. Rocks don\u2019t get smooth overnight. Neither do living stones. It takes time. We tend to want to get it done and over with. We want to be transformed. That\u2019s a good thing of course, but we can\u2019t get it done. Jesus, through His Spirit, transforms us. Our challenge is to be in those places where it happens. That\u2019s our task.

This is not new information for many of you, but it is so essential it bearing repeating. So, how do we come to Jesus? Mostly, through very ordinary means. Historically, they are called the spiritual disciplines. And of late, the term is making a come back, so you may have heard of it. There is quite a list, but let me shorten it for today: scripture and prayer are the two most essential. Its not about rushing through, or how long we take; its about the work of wrestling these into our brains and souls. Repetition of a passage or a prayer can go a long way in transformation. Its about engaging our minds and souls in the work.

Two other disciplines will be enough for today. One, participation in the body of Christ, the church. This may take a little more work than usual, during these days of physical distancing. Nevertheless, the biblical language of transformation is overwhelmingly plural. It doesn\u2019t happen well in isolation. Christians transform together. And two, acts of love. Love is the heart of the Christian law. And so somehow, in the process of transformation, the Holy Spirit will move us to love God and neighbour. As we progress through Romans 12, there will be much to say about love. So, this is fair warning. If you place yourself in the pathways of God\u2019s grace, you will end up learning to love better.

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