Energy Transformation: God’s Aikido

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Luke 4:1-14

(This sermon was a joint effort by Kate Nicol at Clark Memorial UMC, and David Nicol at Buxton and Elm Street UMCs)

I first heard about Aikido, which is a Japanese martial art, when I was a freshman in High School. This peculiar form of fighting seemed oddly “non-violent” and intrigued me. The practitioner of Aikido never aggressively punches, kicks, or attacks, but rather re-directs an assailant’s energy. In this way, a master of Aikido can both find safety from harm and use the violent energy against an assailant. Today, we return to our series on Natural Church Development, tackling the issue of Energy Transformation. Energy Transformation, as a growth force, is God’s Aikido…

Now you might find yourself needing a refresher on what was already covered, because it has been a few weeks since we talked about NCD, symbiosis, and interdependence. Natural Church Development is a system developed to assess the overall health of a congregation. When the six growth forces of NCD are applied a Church becomes healthier, and “all by itself” growth occurs. We have already covered two growth forces, symbiosis and interdependence. Simply put, symbiosis is a mutually beneficial relationship between two different organisms. And Interdependence looks at the big picture—asking how do different things affect one another. Today we will tackle a third growth force: Energy Transformation—turning hostile energy into holy energy, by consistently asking the question “How can we best use this situation to advance God’s Kingdom?” “How can we best use this situation to advance God’s Kingdom?” is a remarkably simple question. If we are living holy transformed lives, we should be asking this question of everything we do. Too often, we allow the energy in our surrounding environment to impact us in such a way that we are unaware how what we say and do impacts the advance of God’s Kingdom. In some sense, it is the furthest thing from our mind! The truth is, this concept of Energy Transformation can be applied throughout our lives, not just in the Church. Imagine how different things could be if we all applied the principle of Energy Transformation to the everyday experience of waiting in line. By transforming hostile or negative energy into opportunities to build the Kingdom of God, no moment is wasted, we are no longer infuriated by the experience, and instead of wasted time we find an opportunity to share our joy, peace, patience, and the good news of the Gospel with those around us in line!

As we enter the season of Lent, we read in Luke’s Gospel how the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for forty days where he was temped by the devil. What greater example of negative or opposing energy in his environment could we imagine than the work of the Great Adversary tempting and testing Jesus?

Jesus shows us how this Growth Force should work in his responses to the Devil. Instead of opposing the Devil directly, Jesus redirected his questions, taking attacks and turning them into opportunities to show us how to live Holy lives. When tempted to turn stones to bread, Jesus responds that bread alone isn’t enough to sustain life. When tempted with power, authority and splendor, in exchange for putting something other than God first, Jesus responds that only God is deserving of worship and service. When tempted with the opportunity to prove God’s power and love for him, by leaping from the pinnacle of the Temple, Jesus responds, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test!” Hostile energy was transformed into Holy energy…the devil left him…and “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside!”

If we are to unleash the power of all by itself growth, and utilize the principle of energy transformation, we must stop fighting the opposing forces for the advance of God’s Kingdom. It is a waste of energy! In the church, we can be weighed down so easily by conflicts over how to use money, how to worship God best, or what kind of leadership we need in different parts of church life. When we do this we are allowing the adversary to take hold of the Church, so that we cannot be the Body of Christ—God’s hand and feet of love—at work in the world! Instead, we need to turn the negative energy into Holy energy. We need to turn the fighting among us into a conversation—bringing all of our passions to bear to solve the problems underneath our disagreements! We need to turn the problems that bog us down in the world around us, into opportunities for ministry! When we can get beyond the problems in the Church we truly become the Body of Christ at work in the world.

The needs of non-Christians should drive what we do and can drive what we do in ministry to the world. Even if those needs are not spiritually based, the energy behind those needs should be used to propel us into action! Meeting people at their needs is the most powerful form of evangelism. It offers God’s love in a tangible and practical way, and when we focus on others needs and not on Church growth we unleash “All-by-itself Growth!” If we faithfully act as God has called us to act, not fighting negative energy, but transforming it into holy energy, God’s overwhelming love will use that, and growth will occur ALL BY ITSELF!

Jesus modeled energy transformation in the wilderness…and Luke tells us that “…when the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Jesus until an opportune time.” God’s greatest act of energy transformation was yet to come but continues to empower us to this day. When the devil tempted broken humanity to cast all its anger and wrath against Jesus, God turned negative energy into Holy energy! God’s abundant grace took the sin of the world, inflicted on God-come-in-the-flesh, and instead of returning wrath, turned it into the greatest gift of love imaginable! By the power of Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection, God took the power of sin and death and transformed them into the promise of new and everlasting life in Christ! We have great Good News to share, thanks to God’s Aikido at Calvary…

“Two Mountains”: Sermon 2/18/2007

Pastor David Nicol

Exodus 34:29-35 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-36

There are actually three mountains in our stories today, but two in the Gospel. Did you catch them? If not, that’s fine, Peter missed the second one too. We will come back to that, but the third mountain—Sinai—helps us understand the rest of the story. You see, if Peter had understood the story of Moses and Mount Sinai better, he might not have said what he did, because Jesus could no more stay on the mountain of the Transfiguration than Moses could stay on Mount Sinai.

Moses went to the mountaintop to talk to God, and on the mountaintop he received the law, the Torah. In itself, Moses encounter with God was powerful and transformational—so powerful that it literally transfigured him—transformed his appearance from that of an ordinary person, to that of a radiant, glowing being. Now, I’ve heard folks say “you’re glowing,” when someone has a reason to express great joy. And yes, joy transfigures us, but nothing like Moses. The Exodus account tells us that Moses face shone with light, so much so that he put on a veil, so that as the glory of God lessened, the people would not see it and lose faith. As he continued to receive the Torah from God, he was continually transfigured, but Moses transfiguration was temporary—it faded with time—and it only served a purpose when it helped him communicate God’s message to God’s people. The people could not receive the law unless Moses left the mountaintop.

Just as Moses continually returned to the top of the mountain, Jesus visited mountaintops to pray over and over again, sometimes with a large group of people, sometimes with the twelve, and sometimes with his closest disciples. Today’s story falls in the last category. Jesus visited the mountaintop with Peter, John and James to pray, and on the mountaintop, Jesus met with Moses and Elijah—who represent the law and the prophets. Luke tells us that they talked about what Jesus would do in Jerusalem, and that in the context of Jesus meeting with the law and the prophets, the disciples saw his glory. Moses face shone when he met with God, but compared to Jesus, that was only limited splendor. On the mountain of the Transfiguration, Jesus shone – and not just his skin, but his clothing as well, which became a dazzling white. In the Transfiguration, Jesus glory was revealed—the glory of his divinity shone through his humanity.

Even so, Peter missed the point. In Luke’s Gospel (and in the others as well), this shouldn’t surprise us—Peter misses the point all time. Some have said that in Luke, Peter only takes his foot out of his mouth long enough to insert the other. Peter’s response to the Transfiguration fits that pattern perfectly. Barely awake, Peter almost gets it right, and shouts “It’s good we are here!” If only he’d had the sense to stop there…but he didn’t. In the next breath, Peter succeeds in missing the point. “It’s good we are here! We should build three tents here on the mountain! One for you Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah!”

As Luke tells us, Peter didn’t really know what he was saying, because while seeing Jesus with Moses and Elijah was good, they could not stay on the mountain. Jesus, Moses and Elijah knew they couldn’t stay; they were speaking of the other mountain already. But Peter needed help to understand. A cloud surrounded them, and a voice from the cloud said “This is my beloved Son, listen to him!”

Alone, the Transfiguration was good: good for Jesus, good for Peter, John and James to see, and even good for us to hear—but it only becomes truly good because Jesus came down from the mountain. Moses and Elijah knew that! We could easily miss the point, just like Peter, if we fail to see this story in light of two mountains. As Paul told the Corinthians, we are being transfigured so that the glory of God in Christ might shine through us. And unlike Moses, the light that shines from us should not be veiled. The light faded from Moses, but in us it increases as we are made Holy, and drawn closer to Jesus, day by day! That transfiguration, that transformation, is only possible because Jesus came down from the mountain.

On Wednesday we begin the Lenten discipline—preparing for the holiest three days of the Christian year. During these forty days, we strive to see each other as we really are, and to resume those disciplines of discipleship we have let lapse during the last year, because when Lent ends, we reach the story of the other mountain. Our transfiguration depends on the other mountain, not on the mountain of Transfiguration. Our transformation depends not on Jesus transfiguration, but on his crucifixion. Today, we remember that Jesus revealed his glory in the Old Creation. At the other end of Lent we will remember that the mountain of Calvary leads to Easter, the Resurrection of Our Lord and the New Creation!

There is no mistake that the Transfiguration leads us into Lent, just as it leads us away from Epiphany. We are not called to go to the mountaintop and see Jesus with Moses and Elijah. We are not called to be Transfiguration people. We are called to be Easter people! It is still good to encounter God on the tops of mountains, but in light of Calvary, we can see what Peter could not, that staying on top of the mountain—even if it’s good for today—is not nearly enough! Because of Calvary, we have been empowered to be the Body of Christ to the world. Because of Calvary, we are called to serve as instruments of peace, mercy, healing and transformation—just as Jesus’ example taught us to do.

So let’s take up our Lenten disciplines in light of both mountains—knowing that Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. That fulfillment came from Calvary, the second mountain, not from the first. Like Jesus, we glow, we are transfigured, because that fulfillment came not in a glowing face or radiant clothes, but in a broken body, stripped, bloody, and without outward dignity. For us, both resurrection and transfiguration leads through the cross. New life leads through the cross. As we fast, as we pray, as we commit to search scripture, offer faith to others, and love others in new ways this Lent, let’s remember whose body we are, and into whose image we are being formed. The Christian life is about following even to Calvary, not to the mountaintop high… Are you willing to follow today?