“Let us give thanks to God” (Romans 12:1, 4-5)
1. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
As we gathered together to give thanks to God in this Thanksgiving service, I am sure you and I have a lot to be thankful for. But then I would like to talk about what we should be really thankful for and how to express our thanks for this that we should be really thankful for.
As I talk about what we should be really thankful for, I would like to begin by sharing a story about David Platt, a pastor and also director of the International Mission Board of our denomination SBC. Years ago he was visiting a Buddhist temple in Indonesia. Meanwhile, he was engaged in a conversation with a Buddhist leader and a Muslim leader in this particular community. They were discussing how all religions are fundamentally the same and only superficially different. "We may have different views about small issues," one of them said, "but when it comes down to essential issues, each of our religions is the same."
He listened for a while, and then they asked him what he thought. He answered, (I quote) "It sounds as though you both pictured God (or whatever you call God) at the top of a mountain. It seems as if you believe that we are all at the of the mountain, and I may take one route up the mountain, you may take another, and in the end we will all end up in the same place."
They smiled as he spoke. Happily they replied, "Exactly! You understand!"
Then David Platt leaned in and said, (I quote) "Now let me ask you a question. What would you think if I told you that the God at the top of the mountain actually came down to where we are? What would you think if I told you that God doesn't wait for people to find their way to him, but instead he comes to us" They thought for a moment and then responded, "That would be great." So he introduced Jesus to them. http://lifetoday.org/connect/words-of-life/radical-salvation/
Why did Jesus have to come down to us? Because God knows no matter how hard you try to reach God, this is what happens, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.” (Rom 3:23 NLT)
No matter how hard you try, no one can meet the righteous standard of God and no one can ever be made right with God by his own efforts, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.” But, then this is what happens as in the following verse said, “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.” (Romans 3:24-25)
Let me repeat Rom 3:25, “Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood” This is what God has done. When no one could reach God, God came to us in Christ.
We do have today baptism and the Lord’s supper. Baptism symbolizes Jesus’s death and resurrection. And We do the Lord’s supper to remember His death and His sacrifice for us. Out of so many things to be thankful for, one thing that stands out forever for Christians is what Jesus has done on the cross, His sacrifice, His death by which we were saved..
2. Given the fact that we must give thanks to God for the sacrifice our Lord Jesus made as of first importance, how would we express our thanksgiving? I would like to talk about two things.
First, I read again the verse Romans 12:1 "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. "
The apostle Paul is asking the Christians in Rome to offer their bodies as holy and living sacrifices that would please God. And the reason for such petition is because what God has done for us in Christ. Paul’s appeal begins with a conjunction word "therefore" because in previous chapters, Romans 1-11, Paul explains what God has done for us in Christ and then in chapter 12 he urges the readers a reasonable response, which is to live as true worshipper offering themselves as a living and holy sacrifice.
Then What does it mean to offer our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice that pleases God? Eugene Peterson translates this portion of the verse as following: “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” (Message )
Here we learn some important facts about worship.
Worship is our thanksgiving, our natural and proper response to what God has done in Christ.
Worship is to please God
Worship is to live our lives as an offering. Thus we learned worship is not just what we do every Sunday for 1 hour or so in the church building. Worship is what we do in the workplace, in society, school life, family life, church, etc. in thanksgiving for what God has done in Christ and in trying to please Him.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” (Col 3:23) That’s living and holy sacrifice that pleases God, that is, worship
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Co 10:31) That is our thanksgiving for what God has done for us. And That is worship that pleases God.
How would we express our thanksgiving for the sacrifice the Lord Jesus made? I already mentioned about offering our lives as living sacrifice that pleases God, I would add that we need to commit in our relationship as church.
I am reading Romans 12:4-5 “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” Here Paul is talking about the believers in Rome as body of Christ. Paul earlier called them as those who belong to Christ. (Rom 1:6) But, then here, Paul says they are members of the body belonging to each other. They belong to Jesus and also belong to each other.
Then how does one becomes a member of the body? “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” By being baptized, you become a part of the body of Christ, church.
The same is true in the Lord’s supper. “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” (1 Co 10:16-17) As we participate in the Lord’s supper each of us does as part of the body.
We may think that offering our lives as living and holy sacrifice as of primary importance while our relationship as church as secondary or even not that important. But, we have to remember that Paul didn’t appeal to anybody but to those who belong to Christ and to each other as member of the body of Christ, church. Paul urged only to those who were baptized and regularly participate in the Lord's Supper.
|Therefore, if want to live as worshipper that pleases God by offering ourselves as a living and holy sacrifice, then you have to belong to Christ and to one another as member of the body of Christ, church. Living a life of worship presupposes you are member of the body of Christ who belong to Christ and to one another. .
Soon Isaac will be baptized to identify himself with Jesus. I hope and pray that Isaac as member of 21st Century Baptist church, he may live to please the Lord by offering himself as holy and living sacrifice. And also I pray that as we take the Lord’s supper our devotion to the Lord and our commitment to each other may deepen so that we all may offer ourselves as holy and living sacrifice, pleasing our God. Let’s pray,
Father we pray your love may rule over our hearts and minds as we always remember the sacrifice your Son Jesus Christ had to offer to save us. May your love compel us live forever thrilled, excited, thankful life no matter what circumstances we are in. Help us remember we are yours. And also help us remember we belong to one another that we may cherish, love and encourage and help each one another offering our lives as holly and living sacrifice acceptable to you. Now, as we participate in the baptism and the Lord's Supper, let us once again remember and give thanks for the sacrifice our Lord Jesus offered for us. In Jesus name, we pray.
