The Romans Roadmap
05/08/11 Sermon:    “ What do ‘Living Sacrifices’ Look Like? ”
( Text:  Romans 12:3-21 )

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     Last Sunday’s sermon text was Romans 12:1-2 where we heard these words of the Apostle Paul:  “…I urge you, brothers, 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.”

     From time to time I’ve told people that I’d like to put two signs up at this congregation.  I’d put one on the outside of the front entrance and it would read:  “Enter for Service.”  You see, what we’re experiencing now is a Service.  We come here to be served by God and be nurtured by His gifts.  

     With that said, the other sign I’d put up would be inside the front entrance where the exit sign now is, and this new sign would read:  “Exit for Worship.”  You see, once we are served by God in this place we get to exit into the world and worship God with our lives.

     Now, what is our motivation for worshiping God with our lives?  Paul writes:  “…in view of God’s mercy,…”  Did you hear that?  We Christians don’t worship God because we’re afraid of His wrath.  We Christians don’t worship God because we’re trying to bribe Him with our good works.  No!  We worship God in response to His gracious mercy to us in Christ.  Our lives of worship are a response to the forgiveness, love and life we have received from Jesus.  We are God’s redeemed children, and so we worship God with our lives.

     This is what Paul means when he says that we should offer our bodies to God as “living sacrifices.”  As you know, God’s Son sacrificed Himself for us sinners by dying on the cross in our place of damnation, and as a result of His sacrifice for us we now get to sacrifice ourselves by LIVING according to God’s loving plan for our lives.  In other words, we show our love for God and our thanks for the salvation He has given us by trusting His will for us and living accordingly.

     But what do our lives of “living sacrifices” look like?  How does God want us to live?  What is God’s will for us?  At the end of last Sunday’s reading we heard these words of Paul:  “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.”

     Simply put, God does not want our lives to be conformed to this sinful world.  Instead, God wants our lives to be transformed – and that happens when our minds are transformed. How we THINK affects how we LIVE.  
     Now, the only way our minds can be transformed is by God’s Word.  We need to be instructed by God’s Word on a regular basis so that we can test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect.

     Do you know why we Christians sometimes live lives similar to non-Christians in this world?  The reason is that many Christians are eating a steady diet of spiritual junk food.  

     Many Christians get exposure to God’s Word only 1 hour per week – and some Christians don’t even get that.  In contrast, these same Christians are exposed to hours upon hours of sinful examples, wicked ideas and evil temptations coming at them from any number of directions and sources in this world.

     Examine your own lives.  How much time do you spend at Services, Bible Classes, family devotions, reading the Bible and prayer VERSUS the time you spend watching T.V., surfing the internet, listening to music, playing with your iPhone, working or engaging in any number of countless hobbies or activities – some of them even sinful?  

     The fact is that all of us – including your pastor! – could spend a whole lot more time being nurtured by God’s Word so that our minds might be renewed and our lives transformed.  This is what God wants for us – His dearly loved children.

     The Good News is that we are forgiven because of Jesus.  We’re all guilty of being conformed to this evil world, and that’s why God sent His Son to die for us.  You can come to God with all your sins – the evil things you’ve done; the good things you’ve left undone – and you can know that you are completely forgiven and holy in God’s sight because of Jesus and all He has done for you.

     But wait!  There’s more!  God’s forgiveness sets you free to live a new life!  Or, as Paul says, “In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.”  Once again, what do these “living sacrifices” look like?  Today’s reading, Romans 12:3-21, gives us some examples.

     Look at Romans 12:3-8.  Paul begins this section with these words:  “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment…”  Paul then goes on to explain that God has given every single one of us unique talents and abilities.  The question is:  “How are we to use those unique talents and abilities?”

     Our sinful natures move us to use our talents for selfish reasons – as we strive to benefit ourselves while ignoring the needs of others.  We are often guilty of boasting about our abilities and we may think that we’re better than others who don’t have the same gifts we have – all the time forgetting that God is the one who gave them to us.     
     But Jesus’ forgiveness has set us free from that evil way of thinking and living.  Therefore, in view of God’s mercy, we offer our bodies as living sacrifices by humbly using our talents and abilities to the glory of God and in loving service to others.  Just as Jesus used His almighty power to honor His Father and  serve us in love, we get to use the talents and gifts God has given us to honor God and serve others in love.

     The next section of today’s reading I’d like to examine is Romans 12:9-16.  Here Paul gives us a list of some examples of the sins we should avoid and the good things we should strive to do.  

     Of course, as sinners, we often do the do the opposite.  We often do the sinful things God condemns.  We often fail to do the good things God wants us to do.  But that’s why we need Jesus.  We can come to God with our sins of commission and omission and know that we are forgiven and holy in His sight because Jesus wiped out our sins by His sacrificial death has clothed us with His own perfect life of loving obedience.

     Therefore, in view of God’s mercy, we offer our bodies as living sacrifices by saying “No” to the sinful thoughts, words and deeds that God condemns and by saying “Yes” to the godly thoughts, words and deeds that we get to do as God’s forgiven and dearly loved children.

     Paul gives us a brief list of the sins we get to avoid and the good things we get to do.  Here these words again:  “Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.  Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.”

     Sometime I’d like to do a sermon series on that list so we can examine each of Paul’s examples in greater detail.  For now, I lovingly suggest you take some time this week to meditate on that list and ask God to help you to offer your body as a living sacrifice by conforming your life to this list.

     Finally, I want us to focus on the last part of today’s reading – Romans 12:17-21.  Here Paul gives us a practical commentary on Jesus’ famous words from His Sermon on the Mount.  Listen to the words of our Lord and Savior:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you:  Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

     Back in February we invited Pastor Hicham Chehab to give his testimony here at Concordia.  We packed the place – and many people from our community showed up to hear what Pastor Hicham had to say.

     As most of you know, Pastor Hicham was raised as a Muslim and he was involved in terrorist activities during his young adult life.  However, as he spoke to us that night in February, he told us of the day he read these words of Jesus:  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  

     These words of our Lord hit Hicham like a freight train.  This was totally new to him.  He had been taught to hate and even kill his enemies.  How could this man Jesus be teaching the opposite?  As I spoke with Pastor Hicham he told me how he came to faith in Jesus when he learned from God’s Word who Jesus really was and is.  

     You see, the Koran teaches that Jesus was a mighty prophet.  But, according to the Koran, Jesus was only a man and He did NOT die for our sins.  In contrast, Scripture teaches that Jesus was and is the eternal Son of God – God in human flesh.  The Scriptures also teach that Jesus died for His enemies so that they could become His dearly loved children.

     That’s right.  The Bible teaches that we enemies are by nature enemies of God.  We rebel against Him in thought, word and deed.  The Holy and Righteous God has every reason to hate us and despise us.  God has every right to damn us to hell for all eternity.

     But God loved us so might that He sacrificed His One and Only Son in the place of His enemies so that His enemies could be forgiven and become His dearly loved children.  When the amazing love of our God captures our hearts, He then sets us free to be like Him.

     As a Muslim, Hicham was a self-righteous person who thought he was saved because of his good works – and some of those supposedly good works included hating and killing his enemies.  But when the Holy Spirit used God’s Word to show Hicham that he was an enemy of God who deserved eternity in hell; when the Holy Spirit used God’s Word to bring Hicham to faith in Jesus as His Lord and Savior who died and conquered death for him – at that moment Hicham’s life was changed forever.  

     Hicham is now an ordained pastor in our own Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.  Even though many of his own relatives want to kill him for becoming a Christian, Hicham prays for them daily and shares his love for them.

     At the end of today’s reading Paul teaches us that offering our bodies as living sacrifices includes loving others – even our enemies – because Jesus loved and served us while we were nothing but His enemies.
     Now please understand.  This does not mean that we can’t defend ourselves from harm or protect others from those who would hurt them.  Instead, Paul says that we should not seek revenge and bear hatred in our hearts against our enemies.  Instead, we should pray for them and show them acts of kindness if we have the opportunity.

     Let me give you an example.  A college friend of mine named Becky decided to go into Bible translation.  She married a man who had the same dream.  After receiving training, they ended up in an African nation – I can’t remember which one.

     Anyway, one night they had just gone to bed.  Becky had just given birth to their first child, whose was sleeping with them in their room.  Several hours later they heard noises downstairs.  Becky’s husband went down to check it out.

     To make a long story short, two thieves had broken into their home.  Becky’s husband yelled at them and told them to leave.  But as they ran one of the thieves shot Becky’s husband – once in each leg.  He was many miles from a hospital and was in danger of bleeding to death, but by God’s grace he lived.

     After this horrible event they came back to the U.S. to recover.  After a couple months they decided to return to Africa to resume their Bible translation work.  Becky’s husband was then informed that the authorities had captured those two thieves and they were now in prison.  

     When they arrived in Africa, Becky’s husband asked the authorities if he could visit those two thieves in prison.  The prison warden asked him why.  Becky’s husband said:  “First, I want to tell those two men that I forgive them.  Second, I want to tell those two men about Jesus and how He died for their sins, too.  I want them to know that I’m a sinner just like them, but that there is forgiveness and a new life through faith in Jesus.”

     At the end of today’s reading Paul says:  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  This is what it means to offer your body as a living sacrifice.  You get to be like Jesus, your Lord and Savior.

     Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t do this living sacrifice thing perfectly.  I continue to struggle with sin every day.  But the good thing about being a Christian is that you can come to God every day with all your sins and know that you are forgiven and holy in God’s sight because of Jesus.  

     Then, the mercy of God will move you to do your best to turn from sin and offer your body as a living sacrifice – holy and pleasing to God.  This is how we worship God – the God who sacrificed Himself for us.  Amen!