Transformative Habits: Aligning with God's Purpose
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"Somehow, we're learning about habits and how life transformation is really habit formation, and starting out each day reflecting on those words, making that a habit, and then looking at the habits in our lives and how does God want to change them. Now it's very tempting for people to think that my habits are about me and that they're this powerful tool so that I can get my body into shape and diet and exercise and finance and job and time and then I can be a sleeper a sleeker uh thinner more successful version of myself and have a better life. No, no, no, no, no, no, our habits are not about ourselves, our lives are not about ourselves." [00:37:86]
"We are part of a greater whole. We want to be people who are able to be of service to God and of service to other people, a service to Justice and compassion, and in fact, in the Bible, this is what we see. The Bible is very largely a book about habits, all kinds of habits in them, but they're constantly pointing people to God and toward love of others. In our day, lots of work's done around three little words that you might know, Dei, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The little acronym in the Old Testament was aliens, widows, and orphans. Those were the marginalized, those were the people that were most at risk." [00:89:04]
"So a good deal of habit formation in the Old Testament was aimed at producing people that would bring Justice and compassion to folks on the margins, not just about me. So listen to these habits of the Old Testament: don't deprive the alien fatherless of Justice or the or take the cloak of the Widow as a pledge when you're involved in Financial transactions. You give somebody a loan, often you would get something back from them as they promise that they would pay you back, not with the Widow, you don't take your cloak so that you would be left defenseless or cold. You don't do that, that was a habit." [00:125:04]
"Remember you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there, that's why I command you to do this. We'll talk in the future about the connection between identity and habits. Deuteronomy goes on when you're harvesting in your field and you overlook a Sheaf do not go back to get it, leave it for the alien, the fatherless, and the Widow so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. This was to be a habit at Harvest Time." [00:159:12]
"So the habit formation among God's people was not simply to be for the sake of the Habit formers, although it is for us too, it was to create a community of love and justice, and now it's worth thinking about that on this weekend. This is quite extraordinary to me, this book by Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit, has one entire chapter on Martin Luther King and the role of habits in the formation of community." [00:203:15]
"When Rosa Parks was arrested, it triggered a series of social habits, the habits of friendship that ignited an initial protest. Parks' membership in dozens of social networks across Montgomery allowed her friends to muster a response before the community's normal apathy could take hold. Montgomery's Civil Life at the time was dominated by hundreds of small groups that created the city's social fabric. Networks were always that way. Every adult, it seemed, particularly every black adult, belonged to some kind of Club, Church, social group, Community Center, neighborhood organization, and often more than one." [00:258:41]
"Rosa Parks' friends, in contrast, spanned Montgomery's social and economic hierarchies. She had what sociologists call strong ties, first-hand relationships with dozens of groups throughout Montgomery that usually did not come into contact with each other. Rosa Parks transcended the social stratifications of the black community in Montgomery as a whole. She was friends with field hands and college professors, and in this, she was really a reflection of that early church that tore down the dividing wall of hostility and created Oneness." [00:358:56]
"Take the opportunity, look for the opportunity to lean into somebody who's different than you. If you come, maybe it'll be somebody who, when you're driving, they need money, um, somebody on the sidewalk, somebody worth it from a different background. Just be curious, just lean in, ask God to help you to form the habit of connecting with people who you would, in the Flesh, otherwise not connect with." [00:418:25]
"King began to speak to them about responding in love. Now that's not a natural instinct when somebody bombs your house, and when people hate your race. It came out of habits that had been cultivated by him. King, this is what Duhigg writes, cast the boycott in a new and different light. This was not just about equality on bus, as King said, it was part of God's plan, the same destiny that had ended British colonialism and into India in slavery in the United States and had caused Christ to die on the cross so that he could take away our sins." [00:500:09]
"People could show their allegiance by adopting the new habits King was evangelizing about. We must meet love with hate, and so churches began to hold Mass meetings every week, sometimes every night. Duhigg writes, much like Alcoholics Anonymous, which draws power from group meetings where addicts learn new habits and start to believe by watching others demonstrate their faith, so Montgomery's citizens gained a new life and a new set of habits from meeting together and from the teachings in particular of Martin Luther King based on the teachings of Jesus." [00:548:94]
"These were habits that King practiced each day, and that he invited other people to reflect on news, so you might listen to this and think what's one of these habits that you would like to cultivate. This is Martin Luther King Jr: meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus. Now what a good thing that is to do. Remember always that the non-violent movement seeks Justice and Reconciliation, not victory, and to live with that, to be after not victory over other people but Justice and Reconciliation." [00:596:52]
"Pray daily, and this is a daily habit now, to be used by God in order that all might be free, and you might think about your name when might I pray that prayer. Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy, seek to perform regular service for others and the world, and again that just becomes a habit. Refrain from violence of fist, tongue, or heart, and then finally strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health." [00:638:70]
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"We are part of a greater whole. We want to be people who are able to be of service to God and of service to other people, a service to Justice and compassion, and in fact, in the Bible, this is what we see. The Bible is very largely a book about habits, all kinds of habits in them, but they're constantly pointing people to God and toward love of others. In our day, lots of work's done around three little words that you might know, Dei, diversity, equity, and inclusion. The little acronym in the Old Testament was aliens, widows, and orphans. Those were the marginalized, those were the people that were most at risk." [00:89:04]
"So a good deal of habit formation in the Old Testament was aimed at producing people that would bring Justice and compassion to folks on the margins, not just about me. So listen to these habits of the Old Testament: don't deprive the alien fatherless of Justice or the or take the cloak of the Widow as a pledge when you're involved in Financial transactions. You give somebody a loan, often you would get something back from them as they promise that they would pay you back, not with the Widow, you don't take your cloak so that you would be left defenseless or cold. You don't do that, that was a habit." [00:125:04]
"Remember you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there, that's why I command you to do this. We'll talk in the future about the connection between identity and habits. Deuteronomy goes on when you're harvesting in your field and you overlook a Sheaf do not go back to get it, leave it for the alien, the fatherless, and the Widow so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. This was to be a habit at Harvest Time." [00:159:12]
"So the habit formation among God's people was not simply to be for the sake of the Habit formers, although it is for us too, it was to create a community of love and justice, and now it's worth thinking about that on this weekend. This is quite extraordinary to me, this book by Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit, has one entire chapter on Martin Luther King and the role of habits in the formation of community." [00:203:15]
"When Rosa Parks was arrested, it triggered a series of social habits, the habits of friendship that ignited an initial protest. Parks' membership in dozens of social networks across Montgomery allowed her friends to muster a response before the community's normal apathy could take hold. Montgomery's Civil Life at the time was dominated by hundreds of small groups that created the city's social fabric. Networks were always that way. Every adult, it seemed, particularly every black adult, belonged to some kind of Club, Church, social group, Community Center, neighborhood organization, and often more than one." [00:258:41]
"Rosa Parks' friends, in contrast, spanned Montgomery's social and economic hierarchies. She had what sociologists call strong ties, first-hand relationships with dozens of groups throughout Montgomery that usually did not come into contact with each other. Rosa Parks transcended the social stratifications of the black community in Montgomery as a whole. She was friends with field hands and college professors, and in this, she was really a reflection of that early church that tore down the dividing wall of hostility and created Oneness." [00:358:56]
"Take the opportunity, look for the opportunity to lean into somebody who's different than you. If you come, maybe it'll be somebody who, when you're driving, they need money, um, somebody on the sidewalk, somebody worth it from a different background. Just be curious, just lean in, ask God to help you to form the habit of connecting with people who you would, in the Flesh, otherwise not connect with." [00:418:25]
"King began to speak to them about responding in love. Now that's not a natural instinct when somebody bombs your house, and when people hate your race. It came out of habits that had been cultivated by him. King, this is what Duhigg writes, cast the boycott in a new and different light. This was not just about equality on bus, as King said, it was part of God's plan, the same destiny that had ended British colonialism and into India in slavery in the United States and had caused Christ to die on the cross so that he could take away our sins." [00:500:09]
"People could show their allegiance by adopting the new habits King was evangelizing about. We must meet love with hate, and so churches began to hold Mass meetings every week, sometimes every night. Duhigg writes, much like Alcoholics Anonymous, which draws power from group meetings where addicts learn new habits and start to believe by watching others demonstrate their faith, so Montgomery's citizens gained a new life and a new set of habits from meeting together and from the teachings in particular of Martin Luther King based on the teachings of Jesus." [00:548:94]
"These were habits that King practiced each day, and that he invited other people to reflect on news, so you might listen to this and think what's one of these habits that you would like to cultivate. This is Martin Luther King Jr: meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus. Now what a good thing that is to do. Remember always that the non-violent movement seeks Justice and Reconciliation, not victory, and to live with that, to be after not victory over other people but Justice and Reconciliation." [00:596:52]
"Pray daily, and this is a daily habit now, to be used by God in order that all might be free, and you might think about your name when might I pray that prayer. Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy, seek to perform regular service for others and the world, and again that just becomes a habit. Refrain from violence of fist, tongue, or heart, and then finally strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health." [00:638:70]
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