In this message we focus on Romans 12.
I will think about how and when is a suitable time to share about the sabbatical…
Prayer.
Lord Jesus. Here we are. We come to you. We want to learn from you. We settle our hearts, we take rest, and listen for your Word to instruct each of us this morning. Amen.
A question to begin.
What is Christian faith about for you? What does it mean?
This morning’s message more like a devotional or meditation maybe.
I am going to focus just on two verses. Romans 12: 1-2.
This doesn’t mean we are skipping Romans 9-11 as over the summer you had covered Romans 1-8.
These verses were on my mind, much of the sabbatical, on what passage to preach on when I’d come back. Therefore I chose them for today.
We will continue to preach through Romans in the autumn – I will be thinking on the best way to do that in the coming week or two…
Romans 12.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2.
Probably to many of us a well known verse.
Lives offered.
- Paul writes to a church that does not know him. He has shared the gospel over the previous chapters.
Now he tells them – offer your lives as a living sacrifice – put yourself there, on the table so to speak, invite God to do what he wants with you.
The Romans – Gentiles knew all about sacrifices – the Roman Empire had many gods they sacrificed to; the Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah – knew about the sacrifices they had been commanded to hold.
The animal is brought, and everything that was done was done…
Offer your lives to God Paul says, that is worship.
As if Paul is saying – what you do here is worship, but worship is also what you offer to God every day.
For Paul this is not about songs, this is about lives.
Lay your life down before the Lord – have your way Lord – becomes the prayer within our quiet time each day… I surrender… giving you my heart – Jesus all for us, all I am and have and ever hope to be.
- Why do we do it?
There can be many reasons why we offer our lives to God.
Why do we seek to live a Jesus shaped life?
Therefore in view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies.
He tells us. In response to the Gospel, you offer your lives.
This is really important. The gospel is what saves us.
We hear that eg in Romans 6:23 – for the wages of sin is death – ie what sin earns, leads to spiritual death, separation from God;
but the gift of God Paul says – gift – reminds us of mercy and grace –
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.
God’s gift – eternal life through the life, death, resurrection of Jesus…
We are saved by the gospel. Saved by God’s gift of Jesus.
Our response to the gospel, is belief, trust, praise, thanks and following. It is about living Jesus shaped lives. It about being a disciple of Christ. It is about becoming an apprentice of him and coming to him, learning from him, as we are invited in Matthew 11.
The gospel gives us a model of how we are to offer our lives.
Philippians 2 puts it this way –
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death —
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11
Christ, who was God, out of his riches, he became poor, he became human, He became obedient to death even on a cross – which to a Roman was the worst possible way to die – he served others.
Paul had just said – 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2:3-4.
Then a few verses later, as we heard, he points to Jesus – the example of how to relate to others… How can you can selflessly, look at Jesus.
In Romans 12, Paul similarly says – a gospel shaped life, a life responding to the gospel, is putting others first and not yourself: He talks about spiritual gifts – each member belongs to the others – use your gifts to serve others.
Love – to be sincere, real and means being devoted to one another. Honor one another about yourselves. Share with God’s people in need. Put others first…
Bless those who persecute you. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Mourn with those who mourn. …
And so on.
In view of God’s mercy – offer your bodies. As we bear in mind the gospel – which is about Jesus life, and death and resurrection – we see a shape how to live, what it means to offer…
- offer your bodies… Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…
Christianity is a transforming faith Paul says. Our mind is changed, our beliefs, attitudes and this will be reflected in how we live.
But it is also a life, where we do not conform.
We probably like the transforming bit – as we are all aware of stuff in us which we wish wasn’t there.
But the do not conform part, can be hard.
At times that means no longer following the patterns and attitudes of our society which if we no longer follow it, no one will notice.
Maybe at a football game – this never happens in Dutch games I am sure! – but in English games, you have all sorts of songs being sung… maybe you do not sing those songs anymore… no one notices…
But there are other patterns which we reject and people will notice and they maybe will react. A theologian once said – Christianity is often about swimming upstream against the flow – so not surprisingly you will get opposition or reaction. To put your body on the table, to be a living sacrifice, to not conform, can lead to opposition, mockery, disbelief, maybe even some form of persecution.
We are well aware in this church of parts of our world where it costs a lot to be that living sacrifice – I had the privilege to visit two countries in my sabbatical – where you may lose family relationships, where you are turned down in job opportunities, where there may be hatred or even violence against you…
We enjoy the transforming, but the no longer conforming can be hard for us and I simply want to remind us, it can lead to reactions or even strong from others… Paul expected that. He was telling Roman Christians, that by putting Christ central, there would be many activities or cultural events they would no longer attend or be involved in, because of becoming Christian…
- In view of God’s mercy
Why do we do it? Now, this sounds repetitive. Maybe. But why do we offer our lives to Christ? Really?
On my retreat at the start of the sabbatical, the person leading it, reminded me of the phrase Tim Keller uses ‘the work behind the works’. What Keller means, is that when we offer our service, when we do ministry or make sacrifices for the Lord, are we doing it for mixed reasons.
Perhaps we do it because we something feel insecure towards the Lord; or it helps us feel significant; or feel like we matter … we offer to do something because we are concerned what people will think if we say no.
We can all be tempted by this ‘work behind the works’ the question to ask – why am I doing this? Really why am I doing this?
In view of God’s mercy.
Hold this before you. I feel I should do something. But what will I really lose if I don’t?
Okay – I may be less accepted by those Christians – the voice in our head says.
But what does it matter – I am already accepted by Christ;
Maybe I will feel less significant if I do not do it – but to the Lord you are significant, you may say you are always the wrong guy as Wolverine says – but you are not – you are salt of the earth, Jesus said; you are to be fruitful – in John 15, you are a child of the KING OF KINGS…
Maybe God will feel less good about me, I won’t feel secure… I need to do this,
Yet Romans 8 says we remember – If God is for us, who can be against us, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him give us all things.
In Philippians, Paul is speaking to a young church, they have opposition from outside, false teachers as well as persecution and some issues among key church members. Through his letter he keeps, in various ways pointing them back to the gospel to hold before them in how they are to live and act.
We need to soak in this gospel, we want to have full view of this gospel, a gospel about Jesus who is gentle humble king, who offers rest from any work behind the works.
A gospel that shouts over us, you are loved, accepted, valued, secure, significant… so you do not need to seek any of that when you offer your day, your life, your time to the Lord…
you have it all already you don’t need anything more…
To finish.
You could say this is very simple.
That is fine. We are simple folk, from Northern Ireland!
Put the relationship first.
Hold the gospel in your heart and mind. Soak in it.
And out of that – we offer ourselves daily;
Out of that gospel we let it be a model how to live;
Because of that gospel, we will not only be transformed but willing to be non-conformists….
Because of that gospel we do not do works behind the works,
but from a place of rest – we are loved, valued, accepted, secure, significant…
from that place of strength we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is our true and proper worship. Romans 12:1
We are going to be silent.
Ask God to speak. He is here.
Whether a child, a teenager or adult, invite the Lord to speak to you, to shine a light on something he wants you to work on, think on, to stick a thought in your mind that won’t go away this week, something to respond to in the coming week…
Amen.