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  A man named Ivan de la Chaumette wrote the following to Reader's Digest...

The 7 Habits of Effective Christians: Empowerment - Romans 12: 1-2; Exodus 23: 1-9 January 10, 2010 -Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett 1. Bassett

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            A man named Ivan de la Chaumette wrote the following to Reader's Digest. "Our kitchen sink was blocked again but my wife and I had repaired it so many times we knew just what to do. I slackened the nuts of the S-bend; then with perfect coordination my wife slid a bucket under the pipe as I removed the blocked fitting. Half a sinkful of water deluged downward (into the bucket) and not a drop was spilled. "That's fixed it," I said smugly, carefully laying the (plugged) S-bend on the floor. Then, without thinking and before my wife could say anything, I picked up the bucket and poured the (dirty) contents into the sink."

            I want to talk today about habits - things we do without thinking, like pouring water into the sink. We do a lot of things by habit, and churches are famous for it. There is the case of the church that was receiving a visit from the archbishop; it was a big occasion for them, so everyone wanted to make sure they stood and sat and gave the right responses at the right time. So when the archbishop stood up and said, "There's something wrong with this microphone," the people responded, "And also with you,"

            That's the power of habit. I think we're all aware that habits can get us into trouble.

            But there are good habits too, In fact, we need habits to live. One of the strongest arguments for that was the best-selling book published in 1989 by Stephen Covey, entitled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey argues that habits are one of the tools we can use to be successful in life. In fact, he would argue against some of the popular wisdom in sayings like We are what we eat, or We are what we wear, or We are what we feel, or We are what we believe, and so on. Covey says that We are what we repeatedly do. And he believes that we need to cultivate habits in life that will reflect positive principles - things like honesty, fairness, integrity, human dignity, and service. It's like the sign near the old dirt road back in the early days of the automobile that said, "Choose your ruts carefully - you will be in them for the next 90 miles." Be careful what habits you cultivate - they will go a long way toward defining who you are.

            I find Covey's seven habits to be very faith-based; and, given the personal statement he makes at the end of the book, I don't think he would argue with that. So 1'd like to spend my next seven sermons talking about '"the seven habits of highly effective Christians," using Covey's ideas. I think they have enormous potential for us.

            The first of the habits is a foundation for the others: it is "Be Proactive." Saying that we are going to cultivate faith-based, or principle-based, habits is a very proactive thing to do. It's a matter of taking responsibility for the direction of our lives. And that is swimming against the tide in today's society. In fact, we are programmed not to be proactive so much as to be reactive or passive. There is a strong current of determinism in our society today. Determinism says that everything in life is already fixed. We are candles in the wind, at the mercy of whatever draft comes along. We are kidding ourselves if we think we can have any actual control over our lives.

            Covey talks about three different sources of determinism. The first blames our grandparents - we are who we are because of genetic make-up. Everything is programmed on our chromosomes, and we can't change it. There are scientists arguing exactly that. The second source blames our parents - we are who we are because of the way we are raised; our psychological make-up is all set before we're even out of the toddler stage - potty training and all that. The third source blames just about everybody else - it's environmental determinism. We are who we are because of our schooling, or society, or because of this economy, or oppressive structures, or social realities beyond our control. All of these things, say the voices of our times, add up to personal helplessness. All we can do is to make the most of it, be reactive, or passive recipients.

            Covey disagrees; and I think Christian scriptures back him up. Take, for example, a dynamic verse from this morning's lesson from Paul's letter to the Romans: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds ... " I think that's a strong description of two different ways of approaching life. One is to be conformed - to be determined - by the world you live in. There is a character in Don DeLillo's novel Great Jones Street who laments, "People are getting to all be one thing." That's conformity; that says that there is no individual voice, no proactive potential.

            But there is another way, says Paul, and that is to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind ... " There are a lot of ways you could interpret those words, but clearly for Paul it is the opposite of conformity. It has to do with seizing your power, your freedom to make up your own mind - choosing how you will live, and who you will be. Not to be reactively or passively conformed to whatever life and society and the loudest voice sends your way; but to be empowered and proactive about what your life will stand for.

            One of the great Christian teachers, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote, "It is the characteristic excellence of the strong person that s/he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves." The idea is that we have the power to make choices with transformed and renewed minds.

            But there is an important qualifier to this way of thinking. Simply being proactive doesn't mean that we'll be right. Evil is very proactive. We can be proactive for all the wrong things. The apostle Paul, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Stephen Covey would all advocate for a particular direction to our proactivity, and that is in the direction of faith, and the principles that follow from it. Ours is a Christian context for a proactive life. So when the apostle Paul talks about a transformed mind, he puts it in the context of one that is free to truly live for God, or, in his own words, to 'discern what is the will of God ­what is good and acceptable and perfect. '

            Our Old Testament lesson from Exodus is one of those places that the Bible guides us in what is 'good and acceptable and perfect.' It talks about not spreading false reports; not joining hands with the wicked; not following the majority in wrongdoing; how you treat your neighbor's donkey; do not kill the innocent; do not take bribes; do not oppress the resident alien. This is the kind of principled living Stephen Covey writes about; but we have to cultivate it by repeating it until it becomes habit - it becomes who we are. To do that we have to start with a conscious choice about what our lives will stand for.

            The Bible is filled with the stories of those who made that choice: Joseph refused to conform to sexual temptation; Ruth refused to conform to despair and poverty; Daniel refused to conform to compromised loyalty. And of course, Jesus refused to conform to either the religious leaders who wanted him to be quiet, or the disciples and followers who wanted him to seize power by earthly means. Jesus, instead, chose the way of the cross - it was a proactive decision to surrender his life for the sake of an ultimate goal ­God's goal. As people of faith, we choose between being 'of this world' (as Jesus said), or living by the voice of God speaking inside us.

            But let's step back for a moment. Covey gives us a great pep talk about taking a proactive stance to life, but how attainable is it really? Is it valid for everybody? I've been reminded that as a white middle-class male in America, I have a unique, privileged vantage point from which to espouse some rosy picture of personal or social empowerment. And it's true - the perspective of a white American male, which has been a privileged perspective in this world, is the only one I have experienced. But when I listen to the testimony of other perspectives, including people who have endured the depths of human degradation, it seems like in many of those situations, there comes a moment when empowerment, or renewal, or transformation, becomes possible -- when a person stakes a claim, and says, "By the grace of God, I take responsibility right now."

            The example Covey gives of that of Victor Frankl. Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist, a follower of Freud, and a determinist. He believed that whatever happens to you as a child determines and shapes your whole inner life. Then he was imprisoned by the Nazis and sent to a concentration camp. His entire family except for one sister was killed. Frankl himself was tortured and degraded in every way imaginable. He never knew from day to day whether he would be one of those burned in the ovens, or one of those kept alive to shovel the ashes. But he survived. And later in life he wrote about one moment in particular, when he was naked and alone in his cell, and it occurred to him that despite everything, he had one last human freedom - the freedom of his mind. The fuller statement he wrote was this: "We who lived in the concentration camps can remember the (ones) who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last pieces of bread. They may have been few in numbers, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a person but one thing: the last of the human

freedoms -- to choose one's own attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." That's a power God would give every one of us - to say, "1 can't

control that, I can't control him or her or them - but by the grace and with the help of God, I determine this." Many centuries ago, another writer put it like this: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds ... "

            There are more modem examples. The current movie Precious, a difficult movie to watch, but a compelling story of a young woman of the ghetto who takes the reins of her life away from her abusers. Or read the recent book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn-with story after story of women around the world staking a claim above victimhood, above oppression, and making a better life for themselves and their families. -

            Or look around this place this morning. Across this church family there are countless examples of people whose minds have been renewed - transformed by the love of God as it took unique form in Jesus Christ. We see it in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Institute - people taking the reins over their finances; we see it in the other Sunday night studies like those that start next week - people stepping up to understand the Bible better, or to consider living a life of Christian discipline; we see it every time new people join the membership of our church, standing here and declaring publicly their faith; we see it every time someone steps forward in faith to do something new; to take charge of their schedule instead of letting their calendar rule them; to stand for human dignity instead of joining the dog-eat-dog race; to speak up for higher principles instead of just going along; it's over and over again. It's a habit all of us are invited to celebrate.

            I am always challenged by a billboard that appears now and then. Maybe you've seen it. There is a picture of the silhouette of three crosses on a hill. And then these words to those who drive by: "It's your move." Isn't that the way it's always been? God's heart has overflowed with grace and love, from creation to liberation to covenant to salvation ­God has loved us, even to the tears that were shed on the cross. And since the days of Adam and Eve, it has always been up to us how we respond to that love. And I can only imagine how God's heart must break when people choose the road away from God's love. But just as heartbreaking is the fact that so many people never choose - they simply conform to the easy road of the world.

            God has something far more wonderful in mind for us - the road described in Romans 12: 2 - to do what is 'good and acceptable and perfect.' That is the road of faith; it is the road of power for all the journey of life and beyond. Jesus said it was a narrow road ­few would choose it. But for those who did, it would be a journey filled with hope, filled with purpose, filled with life.

            Choose your ruts carefully.