We began our worship with a reading from the very end of the Bible, in which God declares, "Behold, I make all things new." If God has a hold of our lives, then we are on a life long journey to be made new -- to be transformed into the likeness and image of God. We are on a journey from being fearful, and hostile, and guilt stricken, and despairing to being loving, and gentle, and reconciling, and joyful.

But something within us resist being made new... something within us prefers to remain just the way we always have been. And there is something out there in the world as well that prefers the status quo and discourages us from undergoing transformation.

So real transformation can be elusive. Now we know that if we are going to carry this identity of "Christian", we ought to be different somehow, show the marks of transformation. Often, however, we settle for pseudo-transformation - for fake transformation. We do this by focusing on the boundary markers that indicate who’s inside and who’s outside the people of God. If we can place ourselves inside the boundary markers, then we must be on this journey of transformation, but it’s not necessarily true.

In our passage from the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the first generation of Christians are struggling with the question, "what does it mean to call yourself a Christian?" When the holy spirit ceases to move in ways that are readily apparent, the temptation is to answer this question by resorting to boundary markers. The first Christians were Jews, and as such the familiar boundary marker to turn to is observance of the Mosaic law: circumcision, dietary laws, Sabbath laws.

Boundary markers tend to change over time. Fifty years ago, a good Methodist Christian was one that didn’t drink, dance or play cards. If you have seen me at weddings, you know that if the one about dancing was still in effect, I would have been thrown out of the church a long time ago. I like to dance.

But still the question confronts us: "What distinguishes the Christian life?" We could try to answer by pointing to certain particular behaviors, saying: a Christian is someone who goes to church on Sunday, who prays, who reads his or her Bible. It is possible to go to church every Sunday, read your Bible and go through the motions of prayer every day, and still have a cold, bitter heart. And it is also possible for people to never go to church, never read the Bible or consciously pray, swear like sailors, and yet have their hearts full of the love that was in Jesus. Going to church, reading the Bible, and praying are means to an end, the end being real, inward transformation of the heart. They should never be confused with the end themselves.

When the "real deal" evades us, it is tempting to settle instead for self-righteousness. There is an episode from The Simpsons in which Homer’s neighbors, the Flanders family come home from a trip. "Where have you been?" asks Homer. Flanders answers, "Oh, we’ve been to Christian camp. We’ve been learning how to be more judgmental." If you can’t have the real thing, then reveling on being on the inside passing judgment on those on the outside can seem better than nothing.

In the Acts passage, Peter undergoes a remarkable experience through which he discovers boundary markers are not the thing at all. He witnesses the power of the holy spirit descend upon some Gentiles -- people who live way outside the cultural boundary markers. He see them undergoing the real deal transformation of the heart that is at the core of Christianity -- the same experience he and the other Jewish Christians experienced on the day of Pentecost. They become vibrant with love and joy, and Peter "gets it" that God is not worried about "boundary markers"; God is concerned with the heart.

In the Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus is with his disciples the night before he dies, preparing them for life after his departure. In just a few words, he summarizes what Christianity is all about. "This is how people will tell that you are my followers," he says. He doesn’t say by church attendance, or Bible reading, or prayer. "They will know you are my followers because of the love you have for one another." That’s the heart of the matter. In Jesus’ ministry, there were lots of people who lived inside the boundary markers who didn’t welcome him. And there were a lot of people who "got it", whose lives were lived beyond the boundary markers, who welcomed his ministry and experienced a softening of their hearts through relationship with him.

Now to comment briefly upon the institution of the United Methodist Church and the state of the Church in this day and age: As you may or may not be aware of, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church is taking place in Pittsburgh. It happens every four years. The institution of the United Methodist Church is having a hard time of it these days. For a long time now, it has been losing members from churches all across the country; it is having a hard time making its budgets.

One possible response to these problems, is to re-establish the boundary markers. When the movement of the holy spirit isn’t evident, when all else fails, go back and focus on who’s in and who’s out. That’s basically what’s been going on at General Conference. Straight people are in and gay people are out. People with orthodox views are in, people with questions are out. It’s all about worrying about the borders, instead of addressing the heart of the matter. T

Why do churches grow? It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure this one out. Churches grow because the real deal is present. An undeniable, tangible, life transforming love is experienced in the midst of the congregation that is inherently attractive to people with spiritual longings.

Love can be found in all kinds of places throughout the world. There’s love in fire departments and soccer clubs and business offices. The question is this: when people look at the church, do they find there a love of greater depth and quality than they find elsewhere? Is there compassion and forgiveness and reconciliation and courage present? Do people grow in love more by hanging out in churches than in other places? Is real transformation taking place there, or not? Churches are dying where the answer is no. If the answer is no, then who needs them? It’s that simple.

Are we getting the heart of the matter or not? Are we allowing the power of God to change our lives from the inside out? Are our hearts being blessed in such a way, that we have a quality of love that is remarkable. Do we walk the walk? Do people look at us and catch a glimpse of Jesus?

Now this journey of transformation is a life-long journey. There are inevitable setbacks, detours, etc. You may have a fight with a dear friend that leads you feeling like you’re going backwards on this journey, not forwards. But if the holy spirit is in the process, then the setbacks can be times of self-discovery and conversion, in which you are led to a place of greater humility, understanding, and compassion.

Here are some questions to reflect about regarding the journey. "Am I becoming more or less approachable?" One of the misconceptions people have is that becoming more holy, means becoming more aloof. It wasn’t the case with Jesus. He was the ultimate approachable person. Do people experience us as gracious?

"Am I becoming more humble, or am I becoming more self-righteous, judgmental and proud?"

"Am I becoming more joyful?" Again, this is a life-long process, and it involves times of facing our demons and darkness, but the inevitable outcome should be one of reaching greater joy.

"Am I becoming more grateful, or more resentful?"

"Am I becoming a peacemaker, or am I causing dissension?"

The journey of transformation begins not at the edges but at the center of life. That’s where Christ meets us.

In the kindness of Jesus,

Pastor Jeff