Romans 11:33-end Romans 12.
Opening Prayer.
D.H. Lawrence said this: `If only we could have two lives—the first one in which to make our mistakes, and the second one in which to profit from those mistakes.’ There are no dress rehearsals for life—we’re on stage straight away.
How can I make the most of the rest of my life? Romans 12
‘’Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer 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.’’
Saving Private Ryan. Film with Tom Hanks. Rescue of a private James Patrick Ryan. 3 of his brother have already been killed. The American command decide the fourth brother needs to be found and sent home. His brother is a paratrooper and it is a few days after D Day airborne landings in Normandy. Tom Hanks and his squad of Rangers are sent behind enemy lines. Various members of the squad are killed along the way. They find Ryan in a key French village; after the final climatic battle, most of the remaining squad are killed. Miller – Tom Hanks character is dying on the bridge – he asks Ryan to come closer.
James, earn this, earn it…
The camera image then merges into an older Ryan many years later – he is standing by the grave – he is emotional and he asks his wife, tell me I have led a good life.
His heart’s question was – how he lived in a way that reflected the way that great sacrifice was made for him.
In view of God’s mercy.
At the end of Romans 11, Paul after describing God’s tremendous mercy, he responds in praise and worship. Praise and Worship is one part of our response to God’s mercy. That is the one of the reasons we sing in church – we praise and worship for what God has done…
Yet Romans 12 reminds us that it is not our only response to the great sacrifice made for us.
What should we do?
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.” JB Philiips translated that sentence: `Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its mould.’ Now, that’s not easy, because there’s always pressure to conform
A young police officer was taking his final exam at the Police College in London.
He got to question four:
`You’re on patrol in London when an explosion occurs in a gas main in a nearby street. On investigation, you find that a large hole has been blown in the footpath and that there is an overturned van lying nearby.
Inside the van there’s a strong smell of alcohol.
Both occupants, a man and a woman, are injured. You recognise the woman as the wife of your Divisional Inspector, who is at present away in the United States.
A passing motorist stops to offer you assistance, but you realise that he is a man who’s wanted for armed robbery.
Suddenly another man runs out of a nearby house shouting that his wife is expecting a baby and the shock of the explosion has made the birth imminent.
Another man is crying for help, having been blown into an adjacent canal by the explosion, and he cannot swim.
Bearing in mind the provisions of the Mental Health Act, describe in a few words what actions you would take.’
The police officer thought for a moment, picked up his pen and wrote:
`I would take off my uniform and mingle with the crowd.’
(story from the Alpha Course)
That’s always the temptation—to take off our Christian uniform and mingle with the crowd, to be like everybody else. But what we’re called to be is distinctive—to retain our Christian identity wherever we are, whatever the circumstance. ‘do Not conform to the pattern of this world’.
It’s the difference, you could say, between a chrysalis and a chameleon.
A chrysalis is a pupa that turns into a beautiful butterfly.
A chameleon is a long-tailed lizard that changes colour according to the background it’s on.
That’s the temptation that we face: to be one thing, to be Christian if the environment is Christian; but if the environment is different, just to fit in with the background.
We’re one thing in one situation and we’re another thing in another situation.
But we’re not called to fit in with the background but to be different. We are instead called to be a chrysalis, to be changed into something beautiful.
Being different does not mean being odd. We’re not called to speak in some kind of weird religious language or to wear weird clothes; we’re called actually to be fully human – to live a full human life. That’s what a relationship with God brings.
Paul says: Don’t conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed.
We’re called to change the world rather than to be squeezed into the world. This is very kind of counter-cultural. The standards of the world around us are very, very different.
And it takes a great deal of courage to take a stand and live out Christian standards, because the pressure to conform is huge for all of us, but particularly, I think, with our young people.
A team of doctors conducted an experiment to see the ways in which group pressure influence young people.
What they did was they got three cards, each with a different length of line on it: one was an obviously long line, one was a medium-sized line, and one was an obviously short line.
What they did was they got ten young people together. Nine of those young people had been secretly instructed to vote for the second-longest line, the medium-sized line.
And there was one student who didn’t have a clue what was going on.
And that was the person they were conducting the experiment on.
So what happened was the people conducting the experiment held up… They said, `We want you to vote for the longest line.’ They held up the medium-sized line, and the nine students who’d been instructed all raised their hands and voted for that as being the longest line.
The tenth student looked round in just total disbelief! And he admitted this is what he thought: `I can’t have been listening to the instructions. I must have missed the point. I’d better do what all the rest are doing, or they will laugh at me.’ So he carefully raised his hand together with the other nine.
So the directions were explained again. They said, `We want you to vote for the longest line.’ And again they held up the medium-sized line—nine hands went up. This time the guy just looked around, completely—just couldn’t believe what was happening! And yet again he put up his hand.
Over and over again he voted with the group. 75 percent of young people tested behaved in the same way. They sat there time after time, saying that a medium-sized line was longer than a long line.
Only 25 percent had the courage to stand against the group.
We need to pray for our young people as they face so many challenges and pressures within their schools and colleges among their friendship circles – online or in person… It takes courage not to conform to the world around us.
Second – be transformed.
Paul gives a glmpse of a transformed life in v9-21.
- Sincere love—verse 9.
The literal Greek word means `without hypocrisy’. That was the word that was used in a Greek play: when the actor wore a mask—that was a upokritos, from which we get the word `hypocrite’.
`Mask’, means ‘’ we are presenting an image, we are not being true.’’ You could call it ‘fake’’.
Paul calls for ‘’sincere and not fake love’’ towards each other and towards God.
One of the wonderful things is when we experience God’s love for us, his love being poured into our hearts, and we know that God accepts us, that sets us free to say,
`Well, if God accepts us, then I can be myself. I can take down the masks.’
So we show who we really are and we love God and others in a true unselfish sense, not in a fake manner or for selfish reasons.
- Enthusiasm for the Lord—verse 11: Never be lacking in zeal.
Often adults, will look back and say ‘when I was in my 20s, or in the year after that conference, I was more enthusiastic for the Lord’ Paul is saying that we are not to accept but to resist that wearing off – he says keep your spiritual fervour. Do you need to make decisions now to restore or maintain that spiritual zeal…
There’s also spiritual warfare. The moment you give your life to Christ, the moment you begin to experience the Holy Spirit in your life, and move in that direction, you’re bound to feel pulls in the opposite direction. The enemy has great interest in that verse becoming ‘’Never be lacking in lukewarmness, but lose your spiritual fervour, thinking that was something you did when you were young.’’
- Beautiful relationships.
Many of the words we hear in verses 9–21: love, joy, patience, faithfulness, generosity, hospitality, blessing, rejoicing, mourning, harmony, humility, peace, evil is overcome by good – point to the quality and beauty of relationships the Lord seeks to grow, the harvest he wants to bring among us…
How do we do it?
Therefore … offer your bodies as living sacrifices.
This is an act of the will—to offer all of ourselves to God, all of our lives.
Now, we need to at this moment – again – remember that before Romans 12, there was Romans 8. Romans 8 is about the Life in the Spirit. It is easy to read Romans 12 as – more things of what I must do.
Instead we read Romans 12 in the light of Romans 8 – the Spirit dwells within you. The Helper. The power and help to live this life God calls us to.
So we can say ‘I cannot’ BUT HE CAN – so the how begins in humility and prayer – coming in weakness and reliance.
Our choice, yet relying and seeking the Lord’s help by his Spirit.
‘’Lord I want to offer my life, but I am weak, give me the power of the Spirit.’’
Offer your bodies – we give to the Lord
When we say to the Lord, `Lord, you can have everything’’ our priorities change.
And what do we give…
We give to the Lord our money.
We can have private property, make money, save it or enjoy it, but what is wrong is the selfish accumulation for ourselves, an unhealthy obsession with money, putting our trust in riches. That can lead to insecurity and leads us away from God.
The way to break that kind of thing is genuine giving, generous giving—which is the appropriate response to God’s generosity to us and is the way to break materialism in our lives.
Giving God our time.
Our time is our most valuable possession. Giving him all of our time doesn’t mean we spend all of our time reading the Bible and praying—our jobs are also our vocation. It’s a very important part of our Christian calling—our work, and everything else that we’re involved in.
We give to God our ears—
To listen to those around us – to open our ears – so we truly can rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn…
Give God Our eyes—do we look with jealousy, lust or hatred, or do we look at people through God’s eyes: `How can I bring God’s blessing to that person?’
Our mouths.
James, chapter 3 talks about the mouth being such a powerful instrument. He says: `with your tongue you can destroy someone.’ How many people can look back to something that was said to them, or perhaps sent to them by text, snapchat, or whatever, maybe at school or by a parent or by somebody, that cut them and maybe has had a negative influence on their whole life. On the other hand, think what encouraging words do.
Give God Our hands
Do we use them to take or to serve? ‘’Share with God’s people in need’’… ‘’ we have different gifts – if it serving, let him serve’..’’
Paul says offer your bodies:
God’s Will
Verse 2: Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
People may see God as a spoilsport someone who wants to control us. But God loves us—far more than we even love our own children! God’s will for our lives is good.
And it is pleasing—it will please us long term. That doesn’t mean to say it’s going to be problem-free. William Barclay wrote: `Jesus came not to make life easy but to make people great.’ If you want an easy life, if you want a life of ease, please don’t become a Christian. Because it’s not easy being a Christian. But if you want a great life, a fulfilling life, life at all its best, life at its best, then follow Jesus.
Christians go through suffering and difficulties as much as anybody else, and in addition we may well have to share in the sufferings of Christ—as he was rejected, misunderstood, so we may be.
So it’s not that it’s problem or suffering free. But long term, at the end of our life, we’ll say, `I’m pleased that I did this.’
Its good pleasing and it’s perfect—we can’t improve on God’s will for us.
Conclusion.
In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship…
We do it because of what God has done for us.
His amazing love, his gifts to us—the only adequate response… Paul says: I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy… all that God has done for us.
And the smaller sacrifices that we may have to make for him are nothing compared to the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, that God made for us in Christ on the Cross.
And if God was willing to do that for us, we can trust him with all the other things in our lives as we offer ourselves to him so we can make the most of the rest of our lives.
Shall we pray.
Thanks to the Alpha Course for the ideas within this message.