Quinceanera - Caterpillar To Butterfly

(I was honored to preach the sermon at the Quinceanera - pronounced “kin-sin-yarra” - of one of our Hispanic members. I wanted to do this right, so I studied a lot about this event means. I discovered that a Quinceanera is a celebration of the 15th birthday (Quinceanera literally means “15th year). In this celebration, this young lady transformed from a child into being a woman. I found that there are various traditions that are part of this festivity. Amongst these traditions is “the changing of the shoes” – changing from from flat shoes to high heels; the giving of the “last doll” as her last toy of her childhood; and (in this ceremony) her parents giving a ring to their daughter to symbolize her pledge to serve God.

These are all public declarations that this young girl had decided to be an adult. By taking part in this ceremony she was publicly declaring that she intended to become a mature young lady. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says (I modified it a bit) “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a woman, I gave up childish ways.”

Unlike an ordinary party to celebrate her 15th birthday this Quinceanera is MORE than just an event… it’s a declaration of intent. (PAUSE) You see, you can’t stop your physical body from growing older. This young lady was going to be 15 whether or not she wanted to or not. But by taking part in this ceremony she is saying I HAVE DECIDED I want to be an adult; I want to grow up; I want to do something important with my life. I don’t want to be child forever.

Over the years, I’ve known people who have NEVER made that decision. They have never decided to grow up. They party… they drink… they play games all the time. They EXIST, but they don’t really do anything with their lives. In England there’s a cemetery where there’s a gravestone. On that stone you can read the name of the man buried there, when he was born and when he died. Beneath those remarks is this statement: “Not worth remembering.” His life didn’t amount to anything! He just existed!

This young lady doesn’t want to just exist. She wants to live a life filled with God.

Now she has already started out with an advantage in life. She’s a Christian. And because she’s a Christian, she is worth remembering. How do I know that? Because God says she is worth remembering. Ephesians 2:10 “SHE “is God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works that God prepared ahead of time for her to do.”

What that means is this: God has a purpose for her life. She has a reason to exist. And God thinks she is valuable! God believes she is worth remembering. And God so strongly believes that she has value that He has designed good works just for her to do. She is part of God’s plan for this world.

But she has to DECIDE that that’s what she wants to do with her life. We can’t coast along in life when it comes to God. We have to WANT to be used by God, in order to be used by God.

Part of what this young lady wanted me to talk about today is transformation. Romans 12 says: “I appeal to you brothers (sisters), by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be CONFORMED to this world, but be TRANSFORMED by the renewal of your mind, that you might test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Notice it said: DON’T BE CONFORMED TO THIS WORLD. Don’t be like the world around you!

ILLUS: Back when I was a teenager nobody seemed to invite me their parties. I didn’t think about it much at the time. I just figured they didn’t like me! But a few years ago, one of them confessed that the main reason I wasn’t invited was because they knew I went to Church. They figured I wouldn’t get drunk with them and I wouldn’t do other things that they did. Because they knew I was a Christian. They rightly assumed I wouldn’t conform to the things they did. I wouldn’t FIT IN to the party scene, because I’d been transformed by Jesus.

Don’t be CONFORMED to this world but be TRANSFORMED by the renewal of your mind. To be transformed means you CHANGE YOURSELF. You’ve decided to live HIS way… not the way of this world. You were once one thing, now you’re something else. You have changed/transformed into a servant of God.