We see Paul at the ending of his letter to the Romans speaking about people he knows who should be praised and lifted up in this world. These are individuals who should be recognized for the good things they have done for Paul and others. Some have risked their lives for Paul and the church. Some have been faithful ministers and servants to the body of Christ. All of them served others for the purposes of Christ’s mission on Earth. They were concerned about others, so their lives were disciplined to help others, to strengthen the faith of the others, to forward the message of the Good News. They helped Paul deliver this message of the victorious Messiah and his resurrection to the whole world. Some of them were Jews, who helped the despised Gentiles know Christ. Others were Gentiles, supporting Paul, who began his life as a Pharisee of Pharisees, one who never would have associated with the barbarians of the world. They now loved Paul, the Jew, just as Paul loved them. In Paul’s commendations at the end of Romans, we see the answer to the world’s self-centeredness, cliques, and divisions. We see Paul going out of his way to express his love for those who have helped him in his ministry, Jew, Gentile, women, and men. All were treated in the same way in his expression of goodwill towards them: the same love, affection, and dedication. None were considered less than the other persons in his concern and wishes for them. Even when he comes to the end of his salutation, when linking several names together, along with all the Lord’s people who are with them, he does not imply that these people are less in importance than the ones he mentioned at the beginning of his greeting. All people are equal in deserving Paul’s recognition and love: all are significant to Paul as all are important in the body of Christ. 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) For the sake of the church, the people he mentions have placed themselves in servitude of Jesus Christ. He is first in their lives, even to the point of giving their biological lives up for the purposes of the church, for the expansion of the gospel. 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. (Romans 1:1-2)
When we read Paul’s list, we might ask ourselves, how many of us in today’s church would give up our physical bodies for the sake of the cross? How many of us would be commended by Paul if he saw our lives? These are good questions to explore. Would Paul see the same fervent dedication in us as he saw in the body of Christ two thousand years ago? Or have we been conformed to the pattern of this world so much that there is little difference in how we live our lives compared to the world’s lifestyle? Have we been co-opted by this world? Do we see anything in Christ for which to lose our lives? Undoubtedly, many of us would say that we would readily give our lives for Christ if He desired such an action. But we can test the truth of this by asking if we are already living lives given over completely to Christ. Is our commitment 100 percent or have we been immersed into the culture of this world to such a degree that we rationalize our worldly activities and thoughts as acceptable? Our son, Jeff, wrote a song that asked, What would you die for? What would you die for in your life? Of course, we who are serving this breakfast wrestle with the same questions we present to you, dear breakfast companions. Would Paul commend all of us for our service? Are we hospitable, generous, kind, thoughtful, loving, caring, forgiving, and the like? Or are we self-serving, demanding our own way, placing everyone’s needs behind ours? Daily, how many prayers do we send up to the Lord, how many songs about God’s love escape our lips, how many acts of kindness do we perform, how many smiles and gentle words do people receive from us? In other words, where are our lives centered: in Christ or in ourselves? Christians need to monitor their lives continuously. Are they more secular in orientation or more Christ-like? Why should we honestly keep track of our motives, thoughts, and actions? Are we not under the grace and the mercy of God? Yes, we are! But we also need to be good servants in the household of God. We are sitting with him in the high places of servanthood, places where we are to institute God’s will, not ours—that is our prayer. Our relationship with him should be so precious, so intimate, that we desire to do his will, for He is GOOD TO US. He is not an ogre, ready to destroy or hurt us. No, He is a tender, loving Father to his children. But because of God’s nature of goodness, we should seek to do good to the world. Is this day going to be lived for him or for ourselves? Will the people we meet today know that there is something different about us or will they see us as just another human being walking the trail of life? Will they know we are in Christ? They should know that we have said with Paul, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) Christians should live differently, act and express themselves differently. Our lives should be lived in a prosperous, joyful way for God has prospered us with his Holy Spirit. Consequently, we should activate the Spirit of God in our lives. When in the midst of the people of the land we should be as Paul wrote: Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. (Philippians 2:14-16)
How easy it is for any of us to point out what we should be like as Christians, but how hard it is for us to pick up the mantle of Christ. He gave his life; we also should be ready to give our lives for God. This idea of sacrificing our lives for God is easily understood, but hard to implement, for we are finite, caught in a biological existence. Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37-39) Today in some of our biggest churches, we hear the premise that we should be all that we can be in this world. We should win the world for ourselves and of course in doing so manifest Christ and his goodness to the world. Perhaps all of this can be good in the right context, but God called us to live not for this life but for the next life. Is our primary desire to be the slave of everyone or is our number one goal to be the CEO of a large company, dictating what is right for everyone? The latter sounds so good, and we tell ourselves, I will be a CEO who is a slave to everyone by being kind, generous, and understanding. Then as a reward for my good life, I will live in the biggest house or houses, I will have the most material goods, I will receive honors from others, I will live with wonderful security and healthcare, I will have the best car or cars, and so on. Sounds as if this kind of slavery is best for us. This idea of being the master-slave is so much better than being the slave-slave. The former has power, the latter has none. As humans, even in the body of Christ, we would probably vote for the master/slave route—the benefit package is great. Ministers have found it easy to gather a lot of people under the banner of being everything you want to be in this world, but it is hard to find a group of people who say, not my will, but yours be done: “I will lose my life for you.” All eternal life begins with repentance, repenting of your old ways of thinking and acting. Christ did not make you a new creature so that you can elevate yourself in this world. You are a new person, born again, so that you can have an intimate relationship with God and DO HIS WILL. Does this mean that none of us should be important or influential in this world? No, of course not. God, for his purposes will raise those He desires to places of imminency, but for most of the church, we will be much as when we were called. Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31) We will boast only in the Lord. Our mission is to do his will. Will the world know or will others even in the church know how important we are to God and to the body of Christ? Probably not. But God knows, and as Paul commended the many who blessed his life, God will commend us and honor us with his name, as his children forever. Amen!
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