You’re Showing Up… So Why Aren’t You Changing?

Here in Central Virginia, we’ve had some crazy weather lately: ice, snow, bitter cold, and then rain on top of it all. While that may not be unusual in general, it’s unusual for us.

Having to break through snow and ice just to get out of our driveways isn’t something we’re accustomed to in this part of Virginia.

All of it got me thinking about a scene from the movie Frozen where Olaf the snowman talks about how much he wants to experience summer. Of course, the joke is that he doesn’t realize he would melt in the summertime.

One of the staples of summer is being out in the sun — at the beach, by the pool, in the park. We love being in the sun. But here’s something interesting: it’s very obvious when someone has been in the sun too long. They come back with a sunburn. Their skin turns red. There’s visible evidence they were exposed.

Yet two people can go to the same beach, sit in the same sun, have the same conversations and one comes home burned while the other looks unaffected.

How can two people occupy the same space and be so differently impacted? The only clear evidence one was really there is the sunburn.

The same thing happens in the church.

How can two people walk into the same worship service, hear the same sermon, sing the same songs, engage in the same conversations and yet leave with profoundly different experiences? How can one be changed and the other unchanged?

How can one be affected by the Son, while the other remains unaffected?

When I go to the beach, I tend to cover up. I sit under an canopy tent. I layer on sunscreen. I make sure I don’t get burned. My wife, on the other hand, is in full exposure mode. She shifts her chair as the sun moves. She wants every ray she can get.

When it comes to Jesus, God the Son, which approach do we take?

Do we want all of Him we can get? 

Or do we cover ourselves?

Hide?

Distance ourselves just enough to say we were there?

The prophet Malachi writes:

“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays…” (Malachi 4:2)

What powerful imagery.

Malachi was writing to a spiritually cynical and disillusioned community. After returning from exile in Babylon, they were facing hardship and questioning God’s love and justice. Apathy had crept in. Worship had grown cold. Faithfulness was compromised.

Sound familiar?

We struggle with many of the same things today. We grow lazy in our faith. We drift into spiritual apathy. We become consumers of worship rather than offering worship to the only One worthy of it. We mingle our hearts with modern idolatries — greed, pride, ego, lust.

And yet, what God wants from us… is us.

He wants us to come to Him and bask in His presence. He wants us fully exposed to His grace, His truth, and His transforming power. His presence is not meant to warm us slightly. It is meant to change us.

So here some questions for us:

Are we adjusting our lives to get full exposure to Him?

Or are we adjusting to avoid it?

Are we shifting with Him?

Or hiding from Him?

Let’s not settle for being present without being changed. Let’s step fully into the light. Let’s absorb every ray of the “sun of righteousness.” Let’s walk away so transformed that it’s obvious we’ve been with Him.

This week, don’t just attend. Don’t just listen. Don’t just show up.

Lean in. Open up. Expose your heart fully to the Son.

And walk out changed! “Son-burned” in the very best way.

Anyway, I was just thinking...