Romans 12:1-8 A Living Sacrifice!

Romans 12:1-8  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.  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.  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, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.  For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

We who are IN CHRIST are members of one body.  We are known on Earth as the church of the living God.  We are closely knitted together, providing for the perfect functioning of the holy body of Christ.  We are not to honor one member above the others, for all members of the body are needed.  Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.  (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)  If we are chosen by the Spirit to be in one body, we then should offer up our bodies as living sacrifices for the service of the Lord.  We have been bought with a high price to be in this body: the blood of Jesus Christ.  We are not to be our own any longer, but we are to be the servants of the Most High God.  Any other orientation or understanding of the purpose of our lives results in serving other spirits, other gods.  We are not our own, but we are temples of the Holy Spirit.  We function individually as a personal temple where God dwells and collectively as a temple where God dwells.  The great mystery is God within us and we within God.  Our proper service as temples is to be a place of worship, where God can meet us.  Numerous times when Jesus spoke to his disciples or groups of people, He said, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.”  (Matthew 11:15)  Those without temple ears will never hear God clearly or understand his will.  Their lives, their directions in life, are for themselves.  They are not living to worship God, but seeking to get the most out of their lives for themselves.  They hear the din of world readily, but the voice of God is distant to their ears.  Only in a time of great trouble might they turn to God to ask for help.  This is not what God wants for his servants.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  His still voice, this God within the inner person of our lives, should be heeded, always known.  If not we cannot claim to be his loving and loyal servants.  Those who hear his voice are his servants.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, was Jesus’ description of his people.  (John 10:27)  Our relationship to God should be that close.  If our minds, our lives, our energy are fixed on God, we will know what God’s will is for our lives: Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As one body, we have many functions, some very different from the others.  Sometimes we might have difficulty recognizing how a member with a special gift or skill fits in within the body of Christ on Earth.  Some of you have a distinctive natural ability, a gift from God.  Some of you dance well, others have exceptional singing voices, others excel with mechanical things, some show talent with abstractions such as math, many people are athletic, a few are always gracious and merciful, some are convivial while others are more serious, and  so on, but all believers are members of the body of Christ with the purpose of revealing God on Earth.  Individually and collectively we are ambassadors of God to the world.  In everything, we should portray the nature of God to a world in need.  We should be loving, caring, helpful, and creative.  He has planned for us to possess his likeness in our born-again nature: the Holy Spirit and his attributes.  Paul warns us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to for we are but members of the body of Christ.  We are integral parts in that body; we are to function as God desires not as we want.  We are to fulfill his will on Earth and not our will. We should not resent our place in the body of Christ, envying others and their talents, for regardless where we are in the body, we are essential members.  We need to function wholeheartedly where we have been placed.  Whether we have little perceived talent or an abundance of God-given gifts, we should work energetically in God’s perfect will for us.  Every member is needed for the church to operate effectively, revealing God to the world.  The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!”  And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.  And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.  But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.   If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  (1 Corinthians 12:21-25)  If one of our inner organs failed in our physical body, the whole body, would suffer, maybe even die.  Consequently, we are concerned how our organs function; we want them healthy.  In the church, if we are only concerned about the most visible parts of the church: the pastors, teachers, board members, singers, musicians, and the like, the body might get very sick, even die.  Each member of the church must be functioning well for a church to be healthy.  When most parishioners are merely observers, not carrying the message of Christ to the world, the impact of Christ on a community is lessened.  Healthy members of the body of Christ will strengthen the church and influence the world around them.

Within the church, we are all accountable to each other.  For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.  If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.  When we gather together, we should bring with us a commitment to others in the church.  If we have a special word from the Lord, we should have sufficient faith to share it with the community of believers.  If we have a testimony of what God has done for us in the last few days, we should share it.  If God has inspired us through our personal reading of the Bible, we should inspire others with it.  The church is a spiritual gathering, not just a club or fraternal organization.  We come together to worship God and to inspire each other to live for God in this secular, alien world.  We are to be strengthened in the Lord by each other’s words and lives.  If we are too tentative, too unwilling to function with what God has given us, we will weaken the body.  Of course, everything we do within a gathering of born-again believers should be done orderly, under the authority of the leadership, but every member of the body of Christ needs to come with a willingness to help the whole body to be strong and vibrant.  Last week in our home church, some people shared their needs and a man shared a healing in his body.  This willingness to be vulnerable encouraged and built up the entire church.   Probably today, we have too many observers in the church and not enough active participants.  Church becomes a performance and not the interactive body of Christ when people merely watch and do not enter into a service.  In the early church, interaction of the different members in the congregation was anticipated.  What then shall we say, brothers and sisters?  When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.  Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.  (1 Corinthians 14:26)  Now of course, Paul was attempting to bring order in the Corinthian church but he was not saying that people should not participate in the spiritual dimensions of the church.  Every member’s contribution is important in a healthy, spiritual church.  However, if the members are living their everyday lives as secular people, they will have nothing to bring to a congregation that is spiritual in origin.  They will just cause dissension if they participate.  For sweet water cannot come from a bitter spring; flesh will never produce a life of the spirit.  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.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Let us be transformed as we walk in the Spirt.  Paul tells the Ephesians that Christ is the head of the body and from him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  (Ephesians 4:16)  Praise the name of the Lord.  Amen!