Scripture:
Romans 12:2-21

One day, Nancy Keesee told me: "Honey, we're going to paint the name of the church on the side of the vans." Frankly, the idea terrified me. Not that I was aware of any full moons on any of the youth trips, or any wild drivers amongst the counselors, but talk about sticking out like a sore thumb! But you know what? I love it. What I thought would be a horrible idea has literally become a joy. I thought the kids at Berkshire or Derby or East Hills or other schools would be so embarrassed to climb in a blatantly painted church van that they would make me park down the block from the school. But you know what? They are the ones who named it "The Jesus Van." Knowing our name is on the van makes me go out of my way to share that "we've got something going on here, and everybody is welcome!" What a great way to get our church, or rather Christ's church, literally out in the community! It honestly affects my attitude.

Church attitudes are contagious. My mother, Joan Hook, was traveling by train from Detroit to Chicago. Just west of Kalamazoo, the train broke down. The passengers began to get heated at the delay, and when they found out that it would be several hours before another train could be there to pick them up and deliver them the rest of the way, tempers flared. It was getting very ugly. Then, my mom, who was traveling by herself, began to sing, "I've been working on the railroad..." Within moments everyone joined in, and in her train car the attitude immediately shifted, transforming the people along with it.

Church, attitudes are contagious - is ours worth catching? Is the way we do business catchy? Is the way we worship God contagious? How about our mood, our actions? Are they winsome? Our individual witnesses - are they worth catching? Are we, as God's people, contagious? Does the personal way we reflect God make others curious about us or him? Is the way we interact with one another catchy? Is the way we love and care for the world unique? Does it reflect Jesus Christ? I believe it ought to be and do all those things.

With 1999 here, I have been reflecting on my life; especially with it being the beginning of the year and the end of the century (let alone the millennium!). Am I where I want to be? As I reassess my life, I am forced to look at my vocation. As a spiritual leader of this body of Christians, have I been doing my part to equip us as an organization to meet the challenges of a new millennium? My sermon comes out of some of my reflections, as they interact with our scripture from Romans 12.

I know that sometimes we are reluctant to stand out for fear of losing touch with "real life." S. Rickly Christian writes: "My first concern was seldom God - it was myself. My self-worth was often defined by how well I was accepted by others. I wanted to fit in. Sure, I was a Christian, I just didn't want to be too Christian." (Completely Alive p.199). I can relate. We don't like to stick out. In college I partied. I knew it wasn't exactly right, but I justified it by reasoning that `I could maintain the relationship with the majority of the guys in my fraternity so that I could share my faith with them later.' I didn't want to be labeled among the "God Squad" in the house. It sounds ridiculous now, but it made sense then. My attitude was so much about myself that God just seemed distant. Because I was afraid to stand out, I was the one who missed out.

Maybe today you are afraid to stand out for fear of losing touch with "real life." We United Methodists, denominationally, are among the worst Christians when it comes to inviting people to church. In a major Gallup poll, only 4% of all the people invited to a church were invited by United Methodists. The only denomination lower was the Episcopalian Church at 2%; but if you count that the number of Episcopalians are less than half the number of United Methodists, we are the big time losers. If our attitudes are contagious, we sure don't believe we have much worth catching!

Listen to the words of John Wesley, founder of Methodism, in his "Thoughts upon Methodism": "I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and discipline with which they first set out."

Our congregation has the benefits of a wonderful heritage. We have roots. We've been given wings. Yet unless we view ourselves as a church of the 21^st Century for the 21^st Century, unless our attitude is worth catching, we will miss the boat and doom ourselves to what John Wesley himself called a "dead sect." What do we do to insure our serving God faithfully for years and years to come, beyond 2001? In order to take on the future with the right attitude, we need to take a look backward. Paul's inspired letter to the Roman church is a good place for us as a congregation to begin this year.

Paul tells the church to "not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Paul describes the transformation of attitudes and actions that believers need to take in order to appropriately express Christ to each other and to the world. He calls the church then, and he calls us to:

A transforming attitude of righteousness,

A transforming attitude of humility,

And a transforming attitude of love.

First, we the church are called to a transforming attitude of righteousness. I don't know why we picture righteous people as dull. But we do. And we picture them as rather grim. As standing to one side, with a disapproving look on their faces while others have a great time. Somehow the righteous person shows up dressed drab and plain, while everyone else wears bright and colorful clothes. On TV, the people who couldn't care less are the warm, engaging people who quickly make friends.

How terrible it is when we let the world force our thinking into Satan's mold. Righteousness isn't like that at all. Paul, in Romans chapters 1-11, describes God's gift of righteousness to humanity, and how it provides two things. He shows us that God's righteousness provides us freedom from the penalty of sin and condemnation. God's righteousness also is the inner power which leads us to transformation from within. It's not self-righteousness. It's not being better than anybody else; it's being better than you once were, because of Christ's Spirit in your life.

The righteousness that God gives us is somewhat terrifying and awe-inspiring and beyond our comprehension, yet it is also a warm personal kind of thing. Rather than isolating us from others, for the first time we find it is possible to draw truly near to others. We find that the first fruits of the Spirit in our lives are love and joy. (Gal. 5:22-23). Love warms and deepens our relationships with others who have become our brothers and sisters, one with us in the family of God. Joy, the second fruit, makes the fellowship we share bright and colorful. Let's exchange our old attitudes of "holier than thou" righteousness for the reality. The righteousness of God finds its fullest expression in Christ's new, loving, and joyful community - the church. That's us. In 1999, where anything goes, we need a transforming attitude of righteousness. How contagious the results of love and joy can be!

Second, we the church are called to a transforming attitude of humility. "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." The world's way is all too often to measure people against each other. How well we compete, and how much better we are than others, are ways we are measured. This competition shows up throughout society. School grades measure people against each other. Sports are designed to select winners, and separate them from losers. Our economy and businesses are again expressions of a competitive approach to life. The way we view others and our opinion of them are all directly related to how they compare, in terms of skills, education, looks, talents, and more.

But when we come to the church, this perspective changes. God view us as members of his body. In the body relationship, we do not compete; we cooperate. Each contributes, and each person is necessary!

It is impossible to overestimate the impact this perspective has on ourselves and on interpersonal relationships. When I develop Christ's viewpoint:

I am released from jealousy.

I can find fulfillment in being who I am, rather than wanting to be like someone else.

My friendships are not distorted by status - I am awed by none, and look down on none.

I appreciate others for themselves, without feeling they must be different or be like me.

What a gift, to be able to see ourselves and others as God does, as valuable contributing persons in the family of faith!

One more thought before we leave the transforming attitude of humility: the other side of "Thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think." In the Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis writes a series of imaginary letters from a senior devil to a junior devil, instructing him in the art of temptation. Wormwood, the junior devil, has a client who has just become a Christian. Screwtape tells Wormwood how to warp his client's view with an inferiority complex.

I see one thing to do at the moment. Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is especially true of humility ...

You must conceal from the patient the true end of humility. Let him think of it, not as self-forgetfulness but as a certain kind of opinion (namely a low opinion) of his own talents and character ... Fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable that he believes them to be ... By this method thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe that they are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools ... The Enemy (that's God) wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another. The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents. (pp. 12, 62-64).

The world will never understand or accept that a person could develop this attitude of humility, but if we can be God's grace grow in it, it would be worth catching.

Third, we need a transforming attitude of love. For Paul, love was to be top priority in the Christian community. Jesus himself told his disciples: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this (attitude) everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-45. The kind of love that Paul is describing is not a passive thing. Instead it involves taking the initiative to reach out to care for others. A climate of love is absolutely basic to the church of Jesus Christ. Without such caring, and reaching out to touch one another's lives, the church will fall tragically short of God's intention: that we might know what is God's "good and acceptable and perfect will."

This is the difference between just being polite and being deeply caring. Do you invite others to your home? Do you invite others in our church to your living room, or do they make it into your kitchen? What of yourself do you give them in love? The true Christian attitude of love is Philippians 2:5: "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant." Paul says, "Share with those in need," "practice hospitality," "be willing to associate with people of low position in society." All these are practical expressions of love. Share of yourself and your gifts. The transformed Christian attitude toward material goods is not, "How much of my money shall I give to God" but rather, "How much of God's money shall I keep for myself?" Love is measured by its gift. "For God so loved the world that he gave..." (John 3:16); "Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her..." (Ephesians 5:25); "God loved me and gave himself up for me..." (Gal. 2:20). Sharing God's gifts that God specifically gives you is a way of transforming our church's attitude. Just because you may not have the gift of speaking or singing in the choir doesn't mean that you aren't gifted within this community. We need prophets, care-ministers, teachers, advisors, gift-givers, leaders, and mercy-givers. Giving of yourself in love blesses you the giver as much as the fellowship for which you give. I saw on Good Morning America an author who published his research on the positive personal effects of helping others. Community service is in, these days. Major research money and books are surfacing on this subject. If it moves people to act, I'm all for it. But I also think it's absurd, and it's old news. Let's allow our love-attitude here to reach out and catch those with whom we have contact.

Righteousness, humility, and love. When God's grace transforms us, these attitudes grow in us, and in Christian community these attitudes are cultivated to grow in each person. They are contagious. They are worth catching. The world is watching. The world is hungry. 1999 is here. So let's get started!