Rom 12:1-8 – Living Sacrifices
Saving Private Ryan
• Family lost 3 of four brothers
• Army decides not fair for a family to lose the one remaining son
• So Captain Colin Miller (Tom Hanks) sets out with 7 others to save the last remaining son
• Difficult ethical choice – how many are you willing to sacrifice to save one man’s life
• As the story unfolds we see various scenes where the soldiers argue amongst themselves as to the morality of risking so many for one man
• at one stage one of the soldiers says, "he better be a Brain surgeon or something."
• Finally, after the death of many of the men there is a scene where Tom Hanks (who plays Captain Colin Miller) lays dying on a bridge.
• His last action is to grab Private Ryan and pull him in close….. With his dying breath he says "EARN IT"
• The movie then cuts to the present and the closing scene of the movie is of an old man with family in tow weeping at the graves of the men who died for him and with desperation he pleads, "tell me I’m a good man…."
• His concern was to have lived a life worthy of the sacrifice made for Him
In a way this the situation we followers of Jesus Christ find ourselves
• What should be our response to the sacrifice Jesus Christ has made for us?
• Paul is about to tell us in Romans 12 which talks about our response to the sacrifice Jesus Christ has made for us
• In chapters 1-11 Paul has outlined what God has done for us
• Now in chapter 12 he outlines what a Christians response should be to what God has done for us
• Romans 12:1-8 Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy
• “Therefore” – as a result of all that has gone before
• “I urge you brothers” - Notice Paul doesn’t command us, rather he urges us
• And what does he urge us to respond to? A harsh vindictive God who is ready to crush us if we dare to step out of line?
• No, rather to God’s mercy
• For Paul it is incomprehensible for someone who truly understands the true gospel message to need to be commanded to respond to God’s mercy
• God has every right to crush us for our sinfulness, but instead he extends mercy
• And again he uses the language of relationship – “brothers”
to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, Holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship
• What audience was Paul speaking to? Primarily Jews
• What would they automatically think of when the word “sacrifice” was used? The temple sacrifices
• What was the criteria that had to be met before that sacrifice was acceptable? Had to be perfect, without spot or blemish, and it had to be given with a willing heart
• When that lamb, or bullock was given to the temple priests to be prepared for the sacrifice, the owner relinquished all rights to the animal
• From that moment forth, it became the property of God.
• The owner could not take it back.
• How can we, as Christians, think that God will require anything less from us?
• We may not have to offer up lambs, goats, and bulls anymore but God still requires a sacrifice from us in loving response to the grace offered to us
• And what does it say we have to offer as our sacrifice - to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
• Look around the room and its just as well God doesn’t require us to be without spot or blemish otherwise we would be in trouble
• “Some of our bodies would make a sorry sort of sacrifice”
• We’ve live in a society where we are programmed to think that our bodies belong only to us
• we hear such slogans as: “It’s your body, & you have the right to choose,” & "If it feels good, go ahead & do it.”
• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
• Paul is asking us to change our attitude about our bodies and the use they are to be put to
• The Israelites spiritual act of worship was offering a sacrifice, ours is, “To what use do we put our bodies?”
• Remember I said last time about the environment the Roman church lived in – persecution, thrown to the lions
• “A living sacrifice” may have just meant that
• Martyr of Polycarp – Church leader in Smyrna, occurred about 152 AD, 86 years old
But the proconsul was insistent and said: “Take the oath, and I shall release you. Curse Christ.”
Polycarp said: “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”
But the proconsul said: “I have wild beasts. I shall throw you to them, if you do not change your mind.”
But he said: “Call them. For repentance from the better to the worse is not permitted us; but it is noble to change from what is evil to what is righteous.”
And again (he said) to him, “I shall have you consumed with fire, if you despise the wild beasts, unless you change your mind.”
But Polycarp said: “The fire you threaten burns but an hour and is quenched after a little; for you do not know the fire of the coming judgment and everlasting punishment that is laid up for the impious. But why do you delay? Come, do what you will.”
Straightway then, they set about him the material prepared for the pyre. And when they were about to nail him also, he said: “Leave me as I am. For he who grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the pyre unmoved, without the security you desire from the nails.”
So they did not nail him, but tied, like a noble ram out of a great flock ready for sacrifice, a burnt offering ready and acceptable to God, he looked up to heaven and said: (prayer)
And when he had concluded the Amen and finished his prayer, the men attending to the fire lighted it. And when the flame flashed forth, we saw a miracle, we to whom it was given to see. And we are preserved in order to relate to the rest what happened. For the fire made the shape of a vaulted chamber, like a ship’s sail filled by the wind, and made a wall around the body of the martyr. And he was in the midst, not as burning flesh, but as bread baking or as gold and silver refined in a furnace. And we perceived such a sweet aroma as the breath of incense or some other precious spice. – Early Christian Fathers – Edited by Cyril Richardson
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
• Now Paul switches his attention from the body to the mind
• To what use are we to use our mind?
• Christians need to he non-conformists
• Christians need to stand out in the crowd, not so much by what they wear and what their hair style is, but by the way we use our body, our minds, our mouths, our hands, and our feet
• One of the sad ironies of many of the gallop polls in the US show that there is very little distinction between the moral values of Christians and Non Christians
• As the saying goes, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”
• Instead of being conformists, God wants us to be transformers
• Toys the kids play with – changing into something totally different
• Remember Polycarps words to the Proconsul, But he said: “Call them. For repentance from the better to the worse is not permitted us; but it is noble to change from what is evil to what is righteous.”
• We have been given a new nature and if we are willing to work with the Holy Spirit, our minds will be renewed according to the new nature which now governs our lives
• Notice the progression, when we stop conforming to the pattern of this world, the more we are transformed, the more we are renewed, and the better we are able to discern God’s will
• The reason so many Christians in these polls don’t have any different values to those in the world is because they are not serious about transformation
• If our values are the same as the worlds, then we are really just “conformers”
Not only does God want us to be transformed but He also wants us to be Transformers
• What is a transformer on power lines used for? - to relay and increase the power
• John 14:12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
• Transformed people can be used by God to magnify his works
• We need to let our lights shine, speak when we have the opportunity, love and serve when it is unexpected, to dare to live a different way
• We can be a dynamo for the kingdom
• 3.For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
• Its one thing to change how we think about our body and how we think about our mind, but unless that information makes that difficult transition from the head to the heart, (12 inches) its all a waste of time
• Out of that changed mind and that changed heart are going to come expressions of love
• That is why there is no way pride and service can go together
• If you want an example of how a transformed person thinks check it out in Phil 2:5-9
• If we want to serve like Jesus Christ, we have to start with a humble attitude
Not all of us are called to be martyrs like Polycarp where we are required to pay the supreme sacrifice
• So now he explains how the Body of Christ is designed and expected to work together
• Out of that changed heart, love is going to be manifested through the gifts God has given us
• Notice again the feeling of community that pervades this section
• Remember a couple of weeks back we talked about how we need to view the law in the context of covenant community
• This is strange language for us who live in a world that values independence
• We need to try harder to develop this kind of an atmosphere
4. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
• Do you know I own you, and you own me
6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[2] faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Why has God given us Spiritual gifts?
• Look at the functioned mentioned and we should get a good idea
• Building up the church
• Not for selfish reasons
• Each of us has been given a special gift to be used in building up the church
How are we using those gifts
• Ok, let’s set up a scenario, you’re at a dinner party
• You’ve all had a wonderful dinner and you’re just settling back for dessert.
• Your hostess is bringing out the tray with all your desserts when she drops it, breaking dishes and scattering dessert all over the floor
• What would be your first reaction to the calamity? Besides laughter that is!
The person with the gift of serving would jump up and say, "Let me help you clean that up"
• They give practical assistance to fulfill a need.
• These are great people to have around because they are always ready to serve
The one with the gift of teaching might say "Now the reason that fell was because it was too heavy on one side and it was off balance"
• Their gift allows them to bring life lessons in such a way as to bring clarity to difficult situations
The guy with the gift of prophecy doesn’t say anything because he had already said "Don’t bring them all out at once, the tray will be too heavy"
• Often when we think of someone with the gift of prophecy we think of someone who can tell the future, when in reality it is usually someone who can tell us the consequences of our actions especially in our spiritual life
The person with the gift of encouragement would say "Hey that’s ok, we didn’t need dessert anyway."
• Don’t you love having someone around who always says the right thing at the right time to lift our spirit
• the person with the gift of encouragement is there to see past the present to better times
The person with the gift of giving has already taken off to the cheesecake shop to buy a cake
• These people don’t ask "how much should I give" but "How little do I need to get by on."
The one with the gift of leadership is organizing the servers with the clean up effort, sending one off to get a mop, another for the vacuum cleaner, making sure all the glass is picked up
• His gift is to cast the vision and get people moving together toward a common goal.
And the person with the gift of mercy would have their arm around the hostess saying "Don’t feel bad it could happen to anyone."
• The gift of mercy is not the gift of pity, it is the gift of empathy, it is sensitivity to the feelings of others.
The response of each person is determined by their spiritual gift
• No one is better than the others, they are all needed
And what gift do you think the hostess has? It’s not mentioned here but most likely she has the gift of hospitality
Couple of Cautions with Gifts
1. Don’t use your gift blend to excuse you from carrying out your Christian responsibilities
• “I haven’t got the gift of hospitality so I never invite people over”
• But a little further on in this chapter, Romans 12:13 tells us we are to take care of God’s needy people and welcome strangers into your home.
• Others say I don’t have the gift of giving so I don’t give
• God doesn’t give us gifts to excuse us from doing other things
• He will always stretch us, and we should want to be more effective in his hands by expanding on our range of gifts
2. The other danger is the danger of transference, of expecting others to be just as good as you are in your area of giftedness
• Ever been in a situation where people are standing around when there is (at least to you) an obvious need for someone to help out and nobody doing it
• You see the need and get cranky because no one is helping
The important thing in God’s eyes is He expects us to use the gifts he has given us in response to what he has done for us
• There is the warning in the story of the talents of the one who failed to use his gifts
• God isn’t going to hold us accountable for what he hasn’t given us, but he will hold us accountable for what he has given us
• If you would like to take the spiritual gifts inventory again, come and see me
So what should be our response to the mercy extended to us by Jesus Christ
• Willing to offer our bodies, our minds and our hearts in sacrifical service to him
• That service is to lived out in tangible ways through the spiritual gifts God has given to each of us
