Therefore… Do Not Conform but Be Transformed
Therefore… Do Not Conform but Be Transformed
Romans 12:1-8
September 6, 2026
Rev. Cynthia Cochran-Carney, First Presbyterian Church of San Rafael, CA
PDF OF SERMON BELOW
1 Therefore, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as an offering, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: preach, in proportion to your faith; 7 service, in serving; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, devote yourself to encouraging; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Listen to all the active verbs there. Commanding, directive. All the things we are supposed to be and know and do! Present yourselves to God, do not be conformed to this world, be transformed,discern God’s guidance and will. Paul loves run on sentences.
The next section – more active verbs, Use your gifts! (don’t waste them!) Helpers, help! Teachers, teach! Givers, give! Leaders, do a good job leading, and if you’re taking care of others, keep a smile on your face! (be cheerful)
We might think of this as a list of things to do or work on, but it’s not what Paul is going for.
All throughout the letter to the Romans, Paul is talking about life, the Reign of God reality, life as God created life to be. Paul is making it clear – experiencing the love and presence of Christ means we can reject old ideas. Do not conform yourselves into believing - that belonging is earned, that we’re defined by the world’s labels and our own striving, that we are trapped under the world’s ranking, comparing and condemnation.
Paul is inviting people to understand more deeply that a life where all people are upheld in the belongness of grace, and our identity is secure in God, and God is the primary actor and we are participants in a life made for joy. This is the life we are given by Christ, in Christ. Dying to old life, ego and offered new life belonging, connection and wholeness, so we should be living what is true about us and about God. To live this. To notice an inner transformation.
In the Greek there are two verbs that are actually middle passive voice. This is a verb form we don’t have in English. The middle passive means we participate in something we don’t initiate. So, when we offer ourselves to God – here I am God, just me, just like I am, that’s all I have to give so I give it all- the verbs in the phrases ‘being not conformed’ to this world and the ‘being transformed’ are in this other form - things God does to us and in us, that we join in. We are not the ones making it happen; we partner, we sense a oneness, a belonging to God who initiates the work in us, and we participate in that work that God will bring to completion. Being & doing flows from this.
And here is more info in the Greek grammar: everything from here on out is passive voice. So even though we are driven, active, moderns who go, go, go, do, do, do, that is not in the text.
In the Greek, Paul starts listing gifts – Service? He does not say, then serve! Teachers? Teach! Do the things! No, he says, in effect, if the gift is service, then you are an instrument of service, if the gift is teaching, the teaching comes through you, if the gift is encouraging, then you are a conduit of encouragement, if the gift is giving, then generosity fills you and spills over.
Each action happens not by determined striving, setting your mind to it, trying to be a decent person or good Christian, but because who you are is made already to participate with God’s action moving through you in particular ways, and it will come out in ministering to others.
I recently discovered a quote by James Finley. This awareness of being open, noticing, attentive to being not doing. Finley says,
“Lovers cannot make their moments of oceanic oneness happen, they can only assume the inner stance that offers the least resistance to being overtaken by love. The poet cannot make the poem come, the poet can only assume the inner stance that offers the least resistance to the poem arriving. The healer cannot bring the healing, the healer can only assume the inner stance of least resistance to healing coming through them.”
Maybe that is the invitation. To be open. Create space. To notice our gifts, our essence, so our gifts flow through us into the world, an offering.
Too often we might get the message that spiritual formation and transformation are things we need to do and work on and try harder. And yet maybe Paul is inviting those in Rome and us to see how their being in the world and living in response to Jesus’ life of love and welcoming all to the table is at the heart of being transformed. That starts little changes in the world.
Amy Frykholm took a deep dive into the words. but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.In Greek lexicon, word for minds – nous (root word) - involves our powers of perception. - emotional intelligence, intuition, and various other kinds of intelligence. Nous is not just our heads.
She took her deep dive and offered a different translation.
“So then, I ask you, my dear family, in light of all the mercy, compassion, and kindness that God has shown us, place your whole selves in God’s hands — mind, heart, strength — this whole embodied being that is you. Make that offering full of life and vitality, as living as living water. The depth of your spiritual understanding and your willingness will fill the heart of God with joy.
And do not let the ways of this world — its greed, ambition, empty fulfillments — mold and shape you, make you like itself. Instead, be transformed through the renewal of your perceptions. Seek every opportunity to see with new eyes, hear with new ears, try out new paths, feel things for the first time and let them sink into your heart. From your heart, your mind, your senses, and your intuition, let yourself be continuously renewed. In this way, you will know how to act, how to be, how to choose the good, the true, the beautiful, the holy, and the whole.”
Yes, we want to be centered and grounded. We want to embrace Paul’s words “you are being transformed. See with new eyes. Seek deeper truths and perceptions about living into a vision of the Beloved Community.
We are being transformed in these very challenging times, as midterm elections approach, as we face the threats of Christian Nationalism, as we pray and work for peace and end of the war in Iran, cruel and inhumane tactics of ICE agents. We face health challenges and concerns about people we love neighbors. We seek to be shaped by and grounded in God’s love and grace. We want to embrace our belovedness and the divine belovedness of others and creation. To be continuously renewed in our hearts and minds.
Like the invitation on my recent contemplative writing retreat. Focus on poetry. I did not think this was part of who I am but that has changed. One prompt on the retreat was - “Write your job description.” What are you here to be? How am I changing my perceptions, seeing more clearly, deeper? We are transformed because we are noticing more about ourselves, others, beauty in the world. I am here to….
Maybe that is our invitation. Listen more carefully to who people are and how the Spirit is calling them to be in the world. Encourage those gifts. And not simply what they do. Close with a piece Robert Fulghum.
When I ask people what they do, they often hand me their business card that summarizes their identity – Name, company, title, address, lots of numbers – phone, email, fax.
I don’t have a business card. Can’t seem to get me down on that little piece of paper. What I do is kind of complicated and takes such a long time to explain that I often avoid the question and just pick something simple that’s true but not the whole truth.
On an early morning flight to San Francisco, I told me seatmate that I was a janitor, thinking she might not want to pursue that and would leave me to read my book and magazines. (When I think of how I have spent my life and how much of it involves cleaning and straightening and hauling trash I don’t get paid for it, but that’s what I do a lot.) Anyhow, she was fascinated. Turned out she wrote a housewives’ column for a small newspaper and was glad to spend the rest of the flight sharing her tips for tidy housekeeping with me.
Turned out too that she was a member of the church where I was to speak on Sunday. I didn’t know that until I stood up in the pulpit and saw her there in the third row grinning. And it further turned out that she knew who I was all along, but was creative enough to think that if I wanted to go around on airplanes being a janitor, I probably had a reason.
What do you do? Suppose that instead of answering that question with what we do or did to make money, we replied with what gives us joy or makes us feel useful or fulfilled.
(I took Fulghum’s template and added my own responses)
If I could make up a new business card, I think I finally figured out what I should put on it. One word, Cynthia. That’s what I do. That’s my occupation. And if I would give my card away, I think it would lead to many interesting conversations. What I do is be the most Cynthia I can be which means being a seeker, friend, sister, mother, wife, singer, eater, breather, sleeper, janitor, dishwasher, imperfect & beloved human, walker, hiker, preacher, citizen, neighbor, dreamer, peacemaker, pilgrim who seeks to follow the ways of Jesus.
You and I – we are infinite, rich, contradictory, living, breathing miracles, human beings, made in the image of God. We are beloved by God. That’s what we do. That’s who we are.
Who are we as a church? Who do we want to be? How are we being transformed? How are our gifts flowing through us in our congregation and out into the world as we seek to follow the ways of Jesus? Let’s explore those questions together. Amen.
Resources
Rev. Kara Root, “Therefore…” July 19, 2026 Here and Now blog https://kara-root.blogspot.com/2026/07/therefore.html
Amy Frykholm, “Be Transformed,” August 23, 2026 Journey with Jesus blog https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/4249-be-transformed
James Finley, “Overtaken by Oceanic Oneness,” Feb. 3, 2017 Center for Action & Contemplation https://cac.org/daily-meditations/overtaken-oceanic-oneness-2017-02-03/
Robert Fulghum, It Was on Fire When I Laid Down on It. (Ivy Books - Random House, 1988), pp. 64-68 (excerpts)