Sunday, August 27, 2017

Being a Living Sacrifice / Based on Romans 12:1-8 / Delivered on August 27, 2017 at CCH

Being a Living Sacrifice
Based on Romans 12:1-8
Delivered on August 27, 2017 at CCH
Hymns: Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart, Open My Eyes That I My See, Take My Life and Let It Be

Romans 12:1-8
12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.
12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
12:4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,
12:5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.
12:6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;
12:7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;
12:8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Good morning, I am Darci Strutt McQuiston, one of the Lay Servants of the United Methodist Church up on the hill. It is my privilege to be here this morning.

I’m going to take the reading from Romans in reverse order.  The lessons I’ve pulled out of this reading are to:


Accept who you are
Listen for God’s will
Respond with your whole self

Accept who you are
Humans are competitive animals.  We want to know our place in our tribe.  We give out ribbons for first, second, and third to cross the finish line or be judged as superior.  Our pay scales reflect how we value the talents of others. 

God doesn’t see it that way.  Each of us has a unique gift or talent that helps us fulfill our unique purpose, and that is combined with the gifts and talents of others to create the whole.  We aren’t meant to be solo stars.  We are meant to be in community.

12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
12:4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,
12:5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

Paul reminds us not to be prideful, but I believe it’s also important not to think you are of no value.  You are not ‘better than’ or ‘less than’ – you are who God created you to be.  God does not have pay scales. 

1 Corinthians 12:14-19 details what Paul means when he says we are one body in Christ.
“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.  Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?”

As I was thinking about that it made me smile at how we put the number zero at a high level of importance when we celebrate birthdays.  A birthday with a zero behind it is a big deal.  Should the number three feel bad, or less important?  The thought made me laugh.  Of course not!  We need them all.

12:6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;
12:7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;
12:8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

We have gifts and talents given to us by the grace of God.  We have a reason for being here.  We are best ready to serve God when we accept who we are.


Listen for God’s will
The world would love to control how you use your talents.  Money makes the world go around.  The marketplace isn’t concerned about you making money but it is quite focused on getting you to spend it.  The world will always have one more thing for you to buy or do that isn’t in line necessarily with God’s will.

1 Timothy 6:10-11 gives us a warning
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

That is the message Paul is giving in verse 2.

12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.

The will of God for us equates to our reason for being here.  He graced us with talents to further his kingdom.  We need to get our job description from God, not the world.  Mark Twain said, "The two most important days in your life are the day you were born, and the day you find out why."

We find that “why” for God when we stop listening to the pull of the world and focus instead on the guidance from scripture and the Holy Spirit within us.  To follow Christ means your thoughts are transformed.  The world focus is temporary and more often driven by fear.  God’s will takes an eternal view and is based on love.


Respond with your whole self
Now we get back to where the Apostle Paul started in today’s reading; to live out our purpose for God.  Paul advises us to give our all.  So much so, that it is like a sacrifice that is burnt upon the alter, yet one that keeps that level of devotion while continuing to live.. 

12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Paul’s appeal isn’t that we give part of our time and ability as we feel like it.  It is much more than being involved in church work.  It is a call for full commitment.  My favorite quote that explains the difference is from the tennis player Martina Navratilova, “The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed.”  A burnt offering is committed.


Here’s what I hope you take away from this scripture.   

Accept and embrace who you are.  You are loved and valued by God, and have been graced with talents that will make a difference to the work of his church.  You are not better than anyone else or less than anyone else.  We are each God’s favorite.  We need each other but you have a part to play.  We are one body with many members.

Take time to listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit so you can use those talents wisely.  There is a reason we are together here on the planet together.  Find your own “why”.  Consider that the work God has is for us as a community of believers.  If you feel a nudging that you know you can’t do by yourself, know you are not called to do it by yourself.  Listen to that inner voice that speaks for God.

Lastly, we are who we are by the grace of God.  Our act of worship is to be faithful with the gifts we have been given.  D.L. Moody said, “The problem with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar.”  That’s where God’s grace comes in yet again.  We will metaphorically “crawl off the altar” over and over.  When we notice we have turned away, we can seek forgiveness, and return to faithful service. 

Thank you for being here today.  I needed this message, and just maybe you did too.  May God be with us as we continue this journey of faith together.


Amen.

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