Inquiring Minds - Romans 12:1-2 5-4-13

Sermon 5-4-13 inquiring minds – questions about life death and everything in between

Romans 12:1-2     A Living Sacrifice

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² 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’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

How I heard this as a youth

How the bishop explains it…..that our minds would be opened, renewed, paradigm shift

Don’t have to check your brain at the door.

Invitation to live in the now, many questions about eternity, live in the now.

should I feel guilty about having so much in a world where so many have so little.

Not guilty, but responsible

Rich man and lazarus luke 16

Parable of the talents mt 25 -  5,2,1 talent or bag of gold

Why do bad things

If God is perfect, why/how did He create a world with so many imperfections? Shouldn't a perfect being be able to create perfect things?

Why do bad things happen to good people?  Someone described a colleague as an evangelical atheist, who uses bad things happening to good people as why God does not exist.  

Why did Job have to suffer so much.

Harold Kushner’s book when bad things happen to good people

·         job 13:15 ¹⁵ Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely^[a] defend my ways to his face.

·        Demello story

·         mt 5:45 ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[i] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

·        It’s the best of all worlds….we love and our choice matters

Praying for the dead

Give thanks for the dead

Pray for the living

Time in the old testament

I'm often puzzled with the measurement of "time" in the Bible and current "time"---Did Sarah really get pregnant when she was 90?? Is that our years? People in Genesis before Noah "lived for hundreds of years", Adam was 900+, Noah was 900+, Abraham 175?? How do I explain the concepts of time and age

Death dying heaven eternal life

I am dealing with frail, elderly parents right now, say something about dying, death and eternal life.

will  I continue to be tempted in heaven – and if so, does that entail a perpetual state of being forgiven?  it’s very difficult for me envision ever becoming “perfect.”  It’s just hard for me to imagine all these less-than-Christian thoughts being completely erased from my hard drive…so I ask….will I know longer be tempted in heaven?

To cross over is a great mystery.

From which on one ever comes back to discuss with us.

Spiritual existence.  We will be like the angels

Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord- MT 25

6. What will Heaven be like?
(Will we have physical bodies? what will we do?) will there be golden streets

we will live in the real spirit, in the presence of God. The thought of this and the understanding of this is beyond our comprehension.

1Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has ever seen, nor ear heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him".

Revelation 21:4 ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’^[a] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Does the Bible say anything about ages in heaven?  If a child dies on earth, do they stay a child in heaven?  Always wondered about this and if the Bible addresses it at all. 

5. Do dogs go to Heaven?
Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling^[a] together; and a little child will lead them.

Why does the Bible, specifically the New Testament, seem to suggest that when we die, physically as a believer, we will not get to be in heaven with Jesus until he makes His second coming?  1 Cor. 15:1-58 and 1 Thess. 4:15-17.  My understanding is that when a Christian passes away, their spirit instantly enters heaven and their shell of a body stays behind. 

To be absent from the body is to be present with the lord 2 cor 5:8

4. What would be the point of this life if what we learned here had not value in the spiritual after life?

I do think that we grow and change in this life. When we arrive in heaven, it should feel like home. [the renewing of the mind]

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Maybe there are different levels….different  things that happen to us depending on how we lived this life....

2 Corninthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body O do not know - God knows.

Of course there is purpose to our learning, growing and living here.

Jews in heaven?

I know some awesome Jews.  They do not believe Jesus was the Messiah.  It’s not that they need to be educated.  They have been informed and choose to believe differently.  Yet these are good people who believe in God and do good things for their fellow man. I have a hard time believing that a loving and graceful God would turn His back on them.

Mat 8:11 ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
Luk 13:28

Why did Jesus say on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Bearing our sin

Quoting psalm 22

Mystery of God

My historic sense of self says there was a man named Jesus who claimed to be the son of God, performed miracles, was crucified and rose from the dead.  It's documented and I believe it; however, my scientific sense asks about God.  We are but small insignificant specks on a very small planet in a huge universe. 

At any given time thousands of people pray to God and He hears -- How? 

Through the years various Bible studies have expressed that when we pray the Holy Spirit groans for us and God hears.  If that's so, how does He make sense of all the groaning?  I think part of my problem is that I envision God as a giant of a man (way out in space somewhere.

Sometimes I feel very "in tune" while other times I feel very adrift.  Just because I think I'm following God's will for me, doesn't always mean I am.  I've misread so many signs and nudges throughout my lifetime, and it makes me sad. 

How can some people have such strong convictions about God all the time?

   I wish I could quit questioning and just go with it, but I can't. 

Should I have myself committed? :-)

Welcome to the human race

Some folks want a church where every question is answered. 

I tend to believe if you are around someone that knows it all, run as fast as you can

In my faith we have some answers and some handles

And we get to lean on the mystery of God

…..let us all lean into the mystery of God

9. Are we all smeared (sinners by nature) or does God love all of us unconditionally?
Both.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24

Sin is about selfishness. This just means that we are all selfish by nature. Babies come out totally self-consumed. It is the human way.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. John 3:16-17

6. What does it mean to live a holy life in this world?
but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. Romans6:22

To have in your heart a passion, a desire to serve God and his people
It is a gift from God, you do not earn it. By the sacrifice of Jesus, our hearts are changed.

Not perfect, but growing in our desire for God.

Less of me, more of him

8. What do you do when your dreams for your life and your job don't come true?
Are our expectations too high?

5Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. 6in all you ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. Proverbs3:5-7

conclusion

. I have been hurt by others in Bible studies who do not respect my opinion. When reading and interpreting the Bible, do I accept what the majority believe or do I trust my own opinion?

There is a blessing in the wisdom of others...

tradition holds the opinion of Wesley and Luther. Consider their thoughts.

the problem is that others hurt you.

Open your heart and mind to new perspectives………

May our minds be constantly renewed