Sacrifices were important and instrumental to the worship life of believers in the Old Testament. We might be unfamiliar with them, so it can helpful to look at them in detail. When talking about sacrifices, I find it helpful to talk about three things: purpose, place, and presentation. Purpose. Sacrifices had a lot of purposes. At the time of the patriarchs, the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, people offered sacrifices to thank God for His blessings or to participate in a fellowship meal with God and His people. Sacrifices were also done that focused on atonement and were offered to cover up for the sins of the people. Animals would have to die, and their blood would need to be shed. Imagine having to kill and sacrifice an animal for something that you did against God’s Commandments. That would certainly make you look at things differently, and even your actions, and their consequences.
Place. Sacrifices were often done at the tabernacle and later were done in the temple. Picture the combination of a church, slaughterhouse, and open air kitchen all put together, and that is what these two places would have been like. Picture the sight and smell of animals in God’s house, the bleating of goats, the smell of bread and burnt meat, and the commotion of people coming in and going out, buying and selling. Picture the sight of blood, and lots of blood. At major festivals, it would not be uncommon for the priests to be up to their ankles in blood!
Presentation. The animal sacrifices that were given to God were supposed to be animals that were pure and without blemish. They had to be healthy and strong, not the runts of the liter or the ones that would die from complications. God wanted the best and deserved the best. Sacrifices were to be offered to Him alone, and the Israelites got into deep trouble when they offered them to other gods besides the Lord.
Why are we talking about sacrifice this morning while in the book of Romans, a book about God’s grace? We are talking about sacrifices because Paul does in our text. As Paul talks about sacrifices, he uses a weird descriptor. He uses an oxymoron. See if you can find it. He says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Find the strange saying? Isn’t it “living sacrifice”? Last I checked, sacrifices are dead! They are killed! Can a sacrifice really be living? That is like saying I have an open secret or I want the larger half. It is like telling a person to act natural or that you endured a deafening silence. These things don’t make sense. They are contradictory. They are oxymorons. Today, we’ll look at being living sacrifices. We’ll look at what that means, how and why that can be, and how to apply that to our lives.
How and why are we living sacrifices? Let’s hear again what Paul says. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice because of the mercies of God. Notice that the word mercies is plural, not singular. Some English translations have mercy, but the word is plural. God’s mercies cover a wide scope of things.
In the immediate context of Romans, chapters 9 through 11, Paul talked about the doctrine of election. The doctrine of election is the teaching that God has chosen believers in Christ before the foundation of the world. This means that our salvation is sure, guaranteed, and completed for us. We don’t have to do anything or worry about it through faith in Jesus. Paul has this in mind as he talks about the mercies of God. He also has in mind the other things that he has written about so far. Mercies like the righteousness, new life, hope, and grace that we have in Jesus.
God’s mercies cover a lot of things, and they are grounded in and stem in Christ’s sacrifice for us. Let’s revisit the three “p”s of sacrifice for this. Purpose. Jesus died to cover and atone for our sin. He shed and gave every last drop of His precious blood to do so. The apostle said earlier in Romans 5:9, “Since therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.” Our Lord’s sacrificial death on the cross makes us right with God and saves us.
Place. Jesus was taken outside of the city of Jerusalem and crucified on a cross. The author of Hebrews illuminates this point when he writes: “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify, that is set apart, make holy, the people through His own blood.” He died outside the city on the cross to save us with His blood.
Presentation. Jesus offered His holy and perfect life to God on our behalf. He was sinless, and without fault. John the Baptist called Him, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He was offered to God for us.
It is because of the mercies of God, which stem from Jesus’ once and for all sacrifice for us, that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices. This is not done for God’s mercy but rather in response to His mercy. When hearing about the love He has for us, the great deed He had done for us, and all that He does do for us, why would we not want to live in our calling? Why we would not want to be a living sacrifice for Him?
As living sacrifices, let’s revisit the “p”s of sacrifice one last time for us. Presentation. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are seen as righteous, pleasing, holy, and acceptable before God. We present our lives to Him.
Purpose. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we can be a living sacrifice for Him. We live a life of service for God, and we do that through serving others. Our acts of service are done in thanks and praise to the One Who gave Himself for us. This life of service is lived in response to the mercies given to us through Jesus. Again, it is not done for mercy.
Place. Our lives of service to God and one another don’t just take place here, in the temple, God’s house, but also outside these walls. They take place in Roseville and St. Paul. They take place at our jobs and two bedroom homes. They take place in nursing homes, hospitals, and grocery stores. We live this life of service out in the world around us, and to the people around us.
Now, just as parents equip their children for going back to school with things like 5-star notebooks, BIC mechanical pencils, Staples’ brand folders, and Swiss Gear backpacks, our God equips us for service as living sacrifices. Our Lord equips us through baptism, where not just our minds, but also our hearts are renewed to help us see what the will of God is and to live for Him. In our baptism, we are joined to Christ, the Living Sacrifice, and given His mercy.
But our God not only freely forgives all our sins, He also freely bestows all gifts so that we have a purpose and place in His work. Our God gives us gifts to serve Him. Paul mentions them at the end of our text. He mentions prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, contribution, leadership, and mercy. This list is not exhaustive, but rather just a starting point. We use these gifts, and others like them, to serve Him and others.
Paul has a warning though for this. He says, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” Paul warns the Roman Christians to not think too highly of themselves because of these gifts. He doesn’t want them to take pride in their status and gifts for service. Today, I think we have the opposite problem. We often don’t see or think that God works through us and our lives.
When I did soccer, I was a bench player. I rode the pine as some would say. I saw myself as not good enough, talented, or skilled to start. We can see ourselves the same way. We can be reluctant to serve or use our gifts. We might see ourselves as insignificant, or unable to do a specific task. We might not think that God works through us and our lives, and that God does it through others instead. But that is not true. He works in our lives with the gifts He has given us for others in this world. He works through the small conversations that we have about Him. He works through the acts of service that we do, even the mundane and small ones, like changing a diaper or cooking dinner. God works through these things and is served by them. He has equipped us for service.
As we finish up, let’s revisit one last thought. Is a living sacrifice an oxymoron? No, it is a wonderful reality. As God’s living sacrifices, we are presented to Him through faith as righteous and holy in Jesus. We have a purpose in this life to serve Him through serving others in response to the mercy He has given us. And we have a place to do it, which is right here and right now. IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.
