It has 60 trillion cells most of which are dying. It has an on-board computer which functions at only 6%. It smells peculiar; it reproduces in a very strange way; it ingests dead animals and excretes fertilizer. It takes in oxygen and exhales a poisonous gas. It is subject to all manners of illnesses. It is so strange looking that most people cover theirs with expensive garments. Most of us are really not all that happy with ours. Many of us would like someone else's.
And yet God asks us to present this thing to him as a living sacrifice, as an act of worship. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, because of the mercy of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
God wants my body. This is amazing!
There are three very important words in this text: (We miss them at our peril) Therefore, Living and sacrifice. When I was in High School, I remember a teacher who taught English saying to us: when you see the word therefore you need to ask What is the therefore, there for? The word therefore always points back. It is a connecting word.
If we don’t understand the significance of this word therefore in Romans 12:1 we might think that we are able to earn God’s favour by giving him our body; that salvation is gained by keeping our body healthy, not having sex outside of marriage, not taking illicit drugs or eating too many fatty foods. If we think that way, we make a huge mistake. That would be to ignore the first 11 chapters of Romans.
And yet millions of people in our world have skipped right over this word ‘therefore’. Recently, a researcher surveyed seven thousand Protestant young people from many different denominations, asking whether they agreed with the following statements:
• The way to be accepted by God is to try sincerely to live a good life. More than 60 percent agreed.
• God is satisfied if a person lives the best life he can. Almost 70 percent agreed.
• The main emphasis of the gospel is on God’s rules for right living. More than half agreed!
You would have thought the Apostle Paul had never written Romans. The first 11 chapters of Romans are about the mercy of God, about God’s grace, about how there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, about how we are not saved by works but by grace. Now in chapter 12 we come to the turning point in the book of Romans. We come to the same place every sermon ought to come to – So What? God saves us by grace alone. So What?
Preaching, Bible teaching has really not taken off until it has answered the question ‘So What?’ And Paul being a good preacher deals with the question: So what? In this text he is basically saying, it is time to leave the great doctrines of Romans and apply them to our lives. What does the grace of God, the mercy of God have to do with my marriage, my plans of university, my money, my job, my friends my retirement.
Beginning in chapter 12 the rubber meets the road. From now on Paul answers the question ‘So What?’ Because of the mercy of God, we are to present two things to God. Two things everybody has. A body and a mind.
Because of God’s mercy we are to present to him our bodies and our minds. We don’t earn God’s favour by presenting him with our bodies we present our body because we have received his grace.
So, the first important word in this text is ‘therefore’. The second important word is ‘living’. We are not talking about martyrdom. We are talking about a living body given to God. This was a very strange idea when Paul wrote Romans.
The peoples of the ancient world were accustomed to dead sacrifices. Not living sacrifices. When Paul penned these words the great Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was still functioning with daily sacrifices of animals. It would be 10 to 20 years before Herod’s Temple would be destroyed by Titus. The pagans around the Empire knew all about animals being killed to atone for sin. And in the very remote parts of the first century world child sacrifice was still practiced. These people knew about dead sacrifices.
But the word the Holy Spirit uses is ‘living’. In the rough and tumble of everyday life we are to present our body to God. While we are still living, breathing we are to offer up to God our bodies. What did your week look like? How was your day?
You get up. You run to the washroom. You mumble that you have nothing to wear. You go have your usual breakfast – steel cut oats. You rush off to work or if you’re retired you might shop or walk, or you look after grandchildren. You might squeeze a bit of Bible reading in someplace but before you know it, it’s time to get dinner and then a bit of TV or a good book and it’s time to go to bed. That is living for most of us. And we are to do our living as an act of worship. We present our living body to God.
I should have thought Paul might have given us some rules on how to present our bodies to God. And of course, that is the trap every legalist religion falls into. We are given all these dos and don’ts and if we don’t toe the line God is going to reject us. Friends, that is not New Testament religion.
New Testament worship is ‘whatever you do’ in your everyday living, ‘do all to the glory of God.’
And this brings me to the third important word in our text – ‘sacrifice’. Presenting our bodies to God is not as easy as getting up in the morning and brushing your teeth. There is sacrifice involved. It does hurt at times to use our body and mind as an act of worship to Almighty God. It is not easy to present our bodies to God. Our bodies are stubborn. I think it was Saint Francis of Assisi who called his body ‘Brother Donkey’. Only he used a slightly different word!
The final verses of this chapter beginning with verse 9 give us the marks of a true Christian. It lists a number of things we ought to do with our bodies and minds as Christians. We don’t earn salvation by doing them but once we have grasped the mercy of God, we will sacrifice to do these things.
Let me highlight five from the list so that we have a practical take away from this sermon. You want to know how to present your body and mind to God as you live out your ordinary days. Here they are:
1. Verse 9: run for dear life from evil. That always involves your body and/or your mind. For some of us that may involve switching off the TV or getting a blocker for our internet. That’s not easy. It will be a sacrifice.
2. Verse 10: Be willing to play second fiddle. Many of the problems in the church and workplace are caused because nobody wants to play second fiddle. Our selfish nature loves to be number 1. We present our body and mind to God when we don’t care who gets the credit for our good works. To back off and let someone else get the glory involves sacrifice.
3. Verse 12: Don’t quit in hard times. Pray all the harder. It is much easier to give up, to blame others, to sleep in when times are tough. The last sermon I heard Dr. J. I. Packer preach was ‘Keep on Keeping on’. Keep on living for God in good weather, bad weather, good health, ill health, present your body to God when nobody else is. Keep on keeping on. Don’t quit in hard times. Sacrifice.
4. Verse 13: Help the needy, be hospitable. One of the most important ministries in the Church is hospitality. The willingness to let your car, your house, your body and your mind get messed up a bit to help and encourage other people. That is a wonderful way to present our bodies to God. And finally,
5. Verse 14. Bless those who have hurt you. I’m not sure what shape that blessing will take but certainly it will involve your mind. And it may involve your body. And it will involve sacrifice of one sort or another. There will be the need to forgive. There may be the pain of rejection. There could be some practical act of love. I don’t know the details for you.
Paul makes some suggestions. He says, don’t damn the one who has hurt you under your breath. Don’t think you are better than the person who has hurt you. Don’t seek revenge. In fact, if you see your enemy has a need, do your best to meet that need. If he is hungry feed him. Your generosity will shock them, the Bible says.
Many years ago, I had a falling out with a man in my Church in Calgary. He was a leading person in the Church, a member of the council. He tried to turn the rest of the church against me. When this didn't work we parted ways with much hurt on both sides. I had virtually nothing to do with him and his family over all these years.
Then last month he texted me that he and his family were coming to Kelowna for a couple of days. Could he see me? So, Muriel and I wrote back that we would love to see them. We got together this picnic dinner on a very hot day in July and headed for City Park.
There we sat down and broke bread together for the first time in almost 20 years and as we strolled through City park we reconciled. And God smiled. Did it earn us salvation? No. Did it please God? Yes. Did it take our stubborn bodies and minds to pull it off? Most certainly. Was it an act of worship? Most certainly yes.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, because of the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
