Pastor’s Paragraphs Dr. Lawrence Powers

Pastor’s Paragraphs

Transformation

Ican almost smell it now: the crisp smoky smell of fall. Multi-colored leaves crunching with each step, a cool breeze biting through a light jacket, pumpkins and haybells decorating porches.

I love this season of the year. It’s not too hot, not too cold either. There’s a beauty that even spring does not touch as things begin their transformation from the green of summer to the bleak chill of winter.

Transformation happens right in front of us in the fall season. It’s slow and intentional.

In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul challenges them to not “conform to the patterns 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—God’s good, pleasing and perfect will.”

At the core of much of Paul’s writings, and Jesus’ teachings, is this idea of transformation. For Jesus, following his teaching toward changing the world would

Rev. Dr. Lawrence Powers

Senior Pastor lawrence@bensonbaptist.org EXT. 22 require more than just praying a prayer and sitting in a pew. To follow Jesus is to give up patterns of the world: violence, hatred, division, oppression, marginalization … the list could fill multiple columns.

For Jesus, and those that would come to follow him, constant change is always required. Much like the leaves that slowly turn from one color to another, the followers of Christ are called to not look the same as they follow Jesus. To meet the teacher who stepped across the religious, ideological, theological, and political divisions of his day is to constantly transform our lives in order to love deeply, extend grace freely, welcome all to the table, fight for justice, and serve always.

Those of us who follow that teacher should never be the same and, more than even that, those we encounter should not be the same. We are called to daily renew how we see the world and how we interact with those around us. To be transformed by the renewing of our minds is to see the light of God in each and every person. It is to constantly leave our comfort zone to serve all.

Transformation is not just something we do one time –– it is a life-long journey. May we be transformed.