Embracing a Resilient and Transformative Faith

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I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. [00:01:07] (40 seconds)


Jesus answered, The first is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There's no other commandment greater than these. [00:03:14] (27 seconds)


And I want to suggest to you that a resilient faith has strong beliefs. Has strong beliefs and is willing and able to sort of present those and articulate those and stand for those beliefs. That that is very much an essential practice of discipleship. [00:06:17] (23 seconds)


Certainty can create an obstinance, an inability to see new insight. That's not what having strong beliefs means. Strong beliefs is having a sense of what you believe, and having nurtured that, but also a willingness to keep exploring, to keep wondering, keep asking questions, keep learning. Those are important things. [00:08:01] (26 seconds)


But it says this, do it with gentleness and reverence. Gentleness and reverence. Boy, we could use a lot of gentleness and reverence these days when it comes to expressing our opinions, I think, in our culture. Too much of beliefs mean I'm not ready to listen to anybody else. I've already got it all figured out. That's not what I'm talking about. [00:08:50] (27 seconds)


See, in this epistle to 1 Peter, the counsel is keep your conscience clear so that when you are maligned, when you are challenged, when you are put down, in our case as Christians, those who abuse you for your good. conduct in Christ may be put to shame. And remember we talked about heaping coals of fire on people. The notion of shame is to appeal to their better conscience. [00:09:17] (27 seconds)


Not always an easy thing to do. But you remember what Paul said in his letter to Romans, as I said, was widely circulated. Don't be conformed to this world. Be transformed by it, by renewing of your minds. [00:09:51] (17 seconds)


It's a process of renewal. We're always renewing. We're always exploring new points of view, other perspectives, be they scholars or academics or just other Christians. I learn as much from all of you as I learn from the great sage PhD academics. [00:10:31] (25 seconds)


And I think that's the defining feature of a resilient faith, that we believe something strongly, but it's because we've experienced it. We've felt it. We have a sense of what it means. [00:14:37] (17 seconds)


It's a combination of things. What has your life taught you? How have you experienced God? I don't think many of us experience God when we're reading a book. We might learn about perspectives, but it's in our life that we experience God. [00:14:49] (29 seconds)


Belief is informed by what your intellect tells you, but it grows out of your heart, out of your soul, out of you as a person. It is that intersection point where all those things come together beautifully. When you have that, that's a strong, strong faith. That's a resilient faith. [00:17:43] (25 seconds)


That's a faith that can overcome any obstacle in its path. That's the faith I hope that this Lent, you're taking another transformation, you're taking another step on that journey of renewal. That's a resilient faith I hope that you are growing. Amen. [00:18:23] (24 seconds)


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