Title: Don’t Quit Your God-Job
Text: Romans 12:1-8
Thesis: One way the Spirit of God shows itself in the Church is through people putting their skills to work in the life and ministry of the Church by serving.
Introduction
Apparently nurses are fairly immune from unemployment. I recently read about a nurse who was unhappy at her current workplace but knowing her skills are highly marketable, resigned and e-mailed cover letters to dozens of potential employers and attached her resume to each one.
Two weeks later she was absolutely dismayed… not even one potential employer had offered her an interview. Then she received a response from one who sent her a letter stating, “Your resume was not attached as stated. I do however thank you for the vegetable lasagna recipe.”
Given the fact that 408,000 people applied for unemployment benefits last week, you would think anyone who had a job would be focused on keeping that job. But I read that the majority of Americans want to leave one job and find a new one. In fact, 84% of North Americans surveyed stated they intended to look for a new job in 2011. (Homiletic Magazine, July/August 2011, Volume 23, Number 4, P. 58)
Some time ago I heard that the typical American young person will, in his or her working career, change professions between 5 and 7 times. We are talking professions, not jobs. Meanwhile, I am a bit surprised that so many people are thinking of job shopping given the fact that:
• The unemployment rate will likely to remain over 9 % throughout this year… this is not a good time to be ungrateful for gainful employment, however unpleasant a job may be.
But that is precisely why so many people are job shopping.
• They do not like what they are doing or what they are doing is just a total mismatch for them.
I wonder how many of the volunteers who serve in the life and ministry of the church are happy with their jobs? How many who serve Christ, his Church and others are all that happy in their respective roles?
I would like to suggest that just as I would advise a person to be very prayerful and careful about quitting their day job, I would also caution and advise a person to very carefully and prayerfully work through their desires to quit their God-jobs as well.
However the reason for caution is not the likelihood of being unable to find another opportunity to volunteer your services to God, neither is it the fact that no one gets rich volunteering. There will always be an abundance of opportunities to serve… If people who are being paid want to quit their jobs, imagine how many volunteers want to quit their God-jobs. When we invite people to step up and assume a role in the life and ministry of the Church we do not offer generous compensations packages that are heavily weighted with benefits and incentives. The best we can do is offer a fantastic retirement plan and remind each other why it is that we are privileged to serve the living and loving God.
The first consideration for serving God in the life and ministry of Christ’s Church is a compelling response to God’s mercy.
I. God’s mercy motivates us to serve.
“Therefore, I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices…” Romans 12:1
Romans 12:1-2 is one of Scriptures most compelling texts. It is a text that demands the attention of every follower of Christ who wishes to make an intelligent decision to live as a Christian in the world and in the church.
The power of compulsion is intended to be irresistible:
A. Compelling Challenge in “I urge you…”
When we explore Romans 12:1-2 we are usually in a big hurry to get to the business of offering one’s body as a living sacrifice to God. However when we do that we miss the compelling language that precedes that offering of one’s body.
The text begins with “Therefore, I urge you…” The word urge is a carefully chosen and crafted word. It is a word that brings two other words together. God could have said, “I command you to…” Or God could have said, “I’m begging you to…” But instead God’s Word says, “I urge you...” The word urge is both commanding and imploring. It is a deeply passionate word that is intended to be both powerful and a plea.
It is something like a parent who loves a child so very much and is so concerned for the well-being of the child that he is torn between sitting the child down and saying:
• “I am your Father and I demand that, for your own good, you do what I say you should do.”
• Or “I am your Father and I am begging you to do what I think is best for you.”
• It is more like, “As your Father, I really have your best interests at heart and desire only what is best for you, so I urge you to really think about what I am saying and make a thoughtful decision.”
However, we are not urged to blindly offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God. There is a compelling reason for doing so.
B. Compelling Catalyst in “I urge you, in view of God’s mercy…”
In chemistry a catalyst is a substance that enables a chemical reaction. It is more widely defined as anything that speeds up or provokes or causes a change or action.
Years ago Bonnie and I remodeled our home in western Kansas. We lived in the country in a county of only 5,000 people and I think there were around 30 people in our township. Our closest neighbor was 2 miles away. There were not a lot of zoning laws in place about how you disposed of some things. So burning was very common. We had a large pile of scrap that needed to be burned so I set about burning it.
I had fuel… scrap wood, etc. I had air… plenty of that in western Kansas. I did not have fire yet so I thought it might be helpful to douse the scrap pile with a bit of gasoline. Then I tossed in a lit match. Then I had fire! Unfortunately I had forgotten to forewarn the kittens who liked to hide in the pile of scraps. But when the gasoline whooshed, that was the catalyst that sent the cats streaking away from the bonfire. (Of course they were a bit wild so when they saw me they went racing back into the fire and then back out which was the catalyst that set our kids to rescuing the frightened cats.
The Apostle Paul did not use gasoline or a match to provoke us to action. He said, “I urge you, in view of God’s mercy…” God’s mercy is the catalyst that causes us or motivates us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God.
Mercy is that thing about God that moves God to act to save us from our sin. In Romans 5:8 we read, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
This is what makes God’s mercy such a compelling catalyst.
1. Scenario # 1 – We sacrifice so God will act. We may be prone to think that we need to offer sacrifices to God in order to gain God’s mercy. The whole idea of a sacrifice is to offer something to God in order to win God’s approval or favor, or if you will, mercy.
2. Scenario # 2 – God acts so we sacrifice. Because God, in his mercy has acted first, we then respond in gratitude by making a sacrifice. This is the argument Paul uses, “Because God has acted in mercy toward us, we then respond in heartfelt gratitude by offering our lives to God.”
Having been urged, based on the mercy of God, we are asked to respond.
C. Compelling Commitment in “I urge you, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices… to God.”
The reality of God’s mercy is such a compelling catalyst that moves us to take action and make a really huge change in the way we live… by dying to ourselves in order to be alive to God.
The imagery of sacrifice in our minds is that of a sacrificial animal that is killed and placed atop a burning altar as an offering to God. The Old Testament theology was that when people made such a sacrifice and shed the blood of the critter, God would then forgive the people for their sins.
However in our text God acts mercifully and graciously in our behalf through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ. And our response is then to receive the gift of salvation through Christ and from hearts overflowing with gratitude, offer our lives back to God in sacrificial service.
The Word of God teaches us that a living sacrifice is a lot more helpful than a dead one.
Over the years I have had occasion to hire help for construction crews and farm help. On one occasion a friend asked me if he could send his son over to work for me. (I learned early on that if you have one boy working for you, you have a whole boy. But if you have two boys working for you, you have only half a boy. And if you have three boys working for you, you have no boy at all. If there is a pretty girl around it doesn’t matter how many boys you have…”
Anyway my friend offered to send his son over to help me I made sure it was just the one lad. And I also assumed the son would be living.
God wants our living breathing lives to serve him.
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body, you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am – I have come to do your will.’” Hebrews 10:5-7 (Psalm 40:6-7)
And that is the compelling commitment we are urged to make… we are urged to offer our lives as living sacrifices to God.
Being alive is important. God desires that we be living persons through whom He can accomplish his business. When Jesus came to earth in the incarnation he took upon himself human form. The body was not only a place for the spirit of live but also a power through which to work. And God is still in the business of using people to do his will.
But before we rush out onto the diving board to do a gigantic cannon ball for God in the deep end of the pool… we need to do our personal business with God.
II. Before you go “public,” go “personal.” (Public service begins with personal sacrifice.)
Therefore, I urge you, 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. Romans 12:1
As an act of worship, every follower of Christ is asked to offer his or her life to God as a living sacrifice. So, going public and acting on that decision is a big deal.
I noticed that there are currently around 15 individuals who have declared their candidacy for the office of President of the United States. Nearly every candidate announced the intention to appoint an exploration committee to “test the waters” so to speak before they decided to announce what they have already decided they will do. Candidates are using social media more than ever after the Obama campaign used it so successfully in 2008 to reach young voters.
Mitt Romney not only posted a pre-recorded video on his website announcing his candidacy, he also announced his candidacy with a Tweet. Former candidate Tim Pawlenty also posted a video but did so on his Face Book page.
Both Romney and Bachmann very successfully announced their intention to announce their candidacy a number of times before actually making the announcement. Michelle Bachmann used the New Hampshire primary debate to catch her opponents off-guard by announcing her candidacy during the debate and then offered what she called her “follow-up” announcement in Iowa. (Meghan Malloy, 2012 candidates have tended to announce candidacy twice, The Washington Independent, July 1, 2011)
While impulse of those pursuing public office is to go public as soon as possible and to gain and keep the spotlight as long as possible… the decision to seek public office hopefully takes place very quietly and in a private arena.
A. Get personal. “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God….” Romans 12:1
National Geographic published a news article on May 28, 2010 about the discovery of a 2,000-year-old altar used in pagan worship that was unearthed in an ancient Israeli cemetery while excavations were being made for a new hospital emergency room. The altar was 24-inches high, made of granite and adorned with carvings of three bulls, ribbons and laurel wreaths. It was believed to have been among many such altars that were prevalent in cemeteries, town squares and temples. The imagery is of a worshiper who wished to make a sacrifice, placing his or her sacrifice on top of the altar and burned as in burning incense.
So we may assume that to capture the image of our text we need to imagine such an altar and then symbolically climbing up on to the altar and offering oneself to God.
And then having offered your life to God you climb down off the altar and you begin your life of living service to God.
B. Go public.
Offer your bodies to God – “this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1
This is an interesting insight into the nature of worship. Jesus once said, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:24
On one hand we think of worship as being an act of spiritual sincerity in which we attribute worth to God. It is easy to associate worship with experience. I’ve heard people say, “Couldn’t you just feel the presence of God moving this morning.” Worship may be associated with the singing of music, the praying of prayers and the liturgy that meaningfully move us in our spirits, so to speak.
But worship is more than a spiritual experience… it is also activity. One translation puts it, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices to God – which is your reasonable service.” The term “service” has something of an advantage in our understanding of spiritual worship because giving our bodies to serve God entails the entire range of our lives and activities.
As living sacrifices our lives are dedicated to God… our thoughts, our words and our deeds are all placed on the altar and committed to God. There is nothing about our lives that is excluded from a decision to give oneself wholly to God.
I like the way William Barclay put it in his little commentary on Romans. (slightly modified…) “A person may say, ‘I am going to church to worship God,’ but he or she should also be able to say, ‘I am going to the plant, the shop, the office, the school, the garage, the mine, the shipyard, the field, the garden, the council meeting, the restaurant, the mall, the playing field… to worship God.’” (William Barclay, The Letter to the Romans, Westminster Press, P. 169)
Our worship or service to God ceases to be the personal and private and singular relationship between a person and God. Once having made that commitment to live all of life for God the arena is no longer the quiet place where you have your personal devotions or the sanctuary… the arena becomes the very public arena of the world in which we live.
Conclusion:
There is a marked difference between what we might think of as our day jobs and our God-jobs.
While it may be true that 84% of Americans working in the workforce intend to look for new jobs in the coming year either because of poor pay or poor working conditions or a lack of fulfillment – that is not the way we regard our God-jobs. Quitting our God-jobs is no small thing because every little job is essential to the working out of God’s will through his Church.
In closing, I am reminded of a devotional I read once a month from Hebridean Altars:
Seven times a day, as I work upon this hungry farm, I say to You, ‘Lord, why am I here? What is there here to stir my gifts to growth? What great thing can I do for others – I, who am captive to this dreary toil?’
And seven times a day You answer, ‘I cannot do without you. Once did My Son live your life, and by His faithfulness did show My mind, My kindness and My truth to men. But now He is come to My side, and now you must take His place.’
Taking His place is our God-Job!
