Deacon Dave Etters
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In this homily for the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we reflect on what it means to develop the mind of Christ. Peter struggled to understand the purpose of Jesus’ suffering, but God’s plan revealed a greater good: the salvation of the world.
Through St. Paul’s call to become a “living sacrifice,” we are invited to reject the world’s way of thinking and allow God to renew our minds. With humility, generosity, service, and God’s grace, we can be transformed into the image of Christ and bring the light of the Gospel to the world.
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Here you are thinking, not as God does, but as human beings do. Is it possible for us to think like God? What God was thinking was the suffering and the cross are intended to bring about a greater good, the salvation of the world. Peter couldn’t see that.
Therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, a living sacrifice. Present yourselves as a living sacrifice to God.
In other words, given to God just as though you were a sacrifice to death, but are still living. We are alive, but yet we give God everything of ourselves as if we actually had died. The second thing he tells us is do not be conformed.
Don’t go with the flow of this world. The message of Christ is counter-cultural. And then be transformed inwardly.
Understood in this way, discipleship is not simply about changing our behavior. It requires a complete cognitive makeover. In a sense, a renewed mind is the mind of Christ.
It’s contrary to the world’s way of thinking. We have the mind of Christ. Now what does that look like? What does the mind of Christ look like? It is humility.
The mind of Christ is a servant. And the mind of Christ is redemptive suffering and death. We as living sacrifices must be willing to suffer misunderstanding, ridicule, and persecution and all other hardships for Christ.
And the mind of Christ is graciousness and generosity beyond justice. And so for us, the challenge today is to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. And then we, in being renewed, are going to be transformed into the image of Christ Jesus, which is a cooperative work of our free choice and His grace.
And today as we pray for the renewal of our minds in Christ that He would give us His mind that we can bring the light of the gospel to our hungry and dark world. Let’s go with the grace of God with our free choice in our hearts today. Amen.
Amen.
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