SANCTITY AND SERVICE
Text: Romans 12:1-2
"When the Titanic went down, a worthy woman took into the lifeboat, not her diamonds, but a bag of oranges. It will be very important, where we are going that we value the right things. Worship often makes us examine our luggage." (Leslie D. Weatherhead. Time For God. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1967, p. 50). Our luggage does not get examined without our efforts to be honest with God, others and ourselves.
Christians cannot be transformed by default. That is an interesting term, "default". When we hear the term default, we usually tend to think about how a "failure" or a "lapse" of some kind has occurred. Default is the result of "neglect" or "delinquency". Many (if not all) of the answering machines that they make today have default message on them so that if the owner does not wish to record an "outgoing message" the machine will do one for you. It is called a default message. When it comes to worship, we have to put forth an effort because sincere worship does not happen by default.
The word "worship" comes from the words "worth + ship". Worship means adoration for our Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer---the Holy Trinity whom we seek to glorify and exalt. Worship therefore involves the body, the mind and the will.
THE BODY
We are called to offer our bodies as living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God. We do this by not conforming to the world’s ways but by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2 paraphrased). "For it is God who works in you [us] to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philipians 2:13 NIV). It is funny how no matter how technology advances, people by their human nature are still the same today as they have always been.
Remember how children always had to have the latest fad to fit in when you growing up? I can remember those days. When I was a teenager in Georgetown,(SC) style was to wear, Levi’s, Lee or Wrangler in the blue jean department. Later, other jeans manufacturers like Calvin Klein, Gas, Mudd, Arizona would become the style The in style shoes were Nike, Adidas, Converse, Asahi and etc. I remember when I was fifteen, I had a pair of jeans from a "not-so-cool" brand. I remember how some of my peers even made fun of those jeans when I wore them to school.
The world teaches us that how we look on the outside is what is important. The truth of the matter is that the clothes do not make the man. Clothes might make a male or a female look "in style," but they will not get you into heaven. Fads and styles come in and go out and come back in and go back out. Remember how wide men’s ties were and how the style changed in the width from time to time? And who can forget The suits that had more than two buttons? Right now, those men’s suits are somewhere in the middle between "in style and out of style". You can still buy them. But, you also see those suits with three or maybe even four buttons.
Isaiah 64:6 reminds us of how we stand before God in the garments of our own making: All of us have become like one who is unclean, all of our righteous acts are like filthy rages (NIV). Zechariah (Zechariah 3: 3-5) saw this vision of Joshua the priest, whose filthy garments made him unfit for service to God. Joshua’s filth was symbolic not only of his own inability to remain sinless but also that of the people to whom he ministered. But, the reason of Joshua’s hearing are not disclosed (Charles M. Laymon. Ed. The Interpreter’s One Volume Commentary. Roger N. Carstensen. "The Book Of Zechariah". Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971, p. 505). John Wesley once said that "Cleanliness was next to godliness". Wesley’s comment was Biblically on the money as it relates to holiness. Therefore, there was nothing holy or righteous about Joshua which was a given that he was not qualified for the duties of being a priest. He was not qualified until he had the right clothes---the clothes of celebration that made him worthy.
God gave us a robe of grace. When we received God’s salvation into our souls, at that moment we were clothed and are still clothed with God’s grace through Jesus Christ. We were clothed with Christ in our baptism (Galatians 3:27). It is this grace that makes us fit for service in the kingdom of God.
THE MIND
The mind of those who do not have a relationship with the Savior is hostile toward God (Romans 8:7, Colossians 1:21). The late comedian and actor Chris Farley thought that once he had his acting and comedian career going that he would have it made. He thought that show business and all that goes with it, fame and money in the bank, would help him reach that place where as he said, "the laws of the universe would not apply". He also noted that philosophy was false because he "still had to work on relationships and battle his weight and other demons as well". It was unfortunate that he died at the age of 33 with a drug habit. (Craig Brian Larson. Choice Contemporary Stories & Illustrations For Preachers, Teachers, & Writers. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1998, p. 251). The only real way that anyone can have peace with himself or herself is through a relationship with God.
Allowing God to work with us, through us and in us for the renewing of our minds is a daily process. I am reminded of the story that I read about a four-year-old boy. "We don’t like to think that sins lying beneath the surface need to be cleansed. We’re like the four-year-old who didn’t like soap and water especially when his mother used it to get to those hard-to-get-at places on his face. One day she tried to reason with him and said, "but you want to be clean don’t you?" "Yes," he whimpered, "but can’t you just dust me off?" (Our Daily Bread. Grand Rapids: December, January and February, 1989-1990, p. 6). Both this young man and Chris Farley seemed to work on the "default principle". God’s grace is designed to help us keep the right relationship with God. The right relationship cannot be maintained by just dusting us off. Maintaining the right relationship by fanning the flame (NIV), rekindling the gift of God (RSV), stirring up the gift of God (KJV), (Second Timothy 1:6). That metaphor means that there is effort on our part. That is where the "will" comes in.
THE WILL
The part of our personality that has to do with making decisions is what we call the will. St. Augustine once said that "there are two wills and that each of them possesses what the other lacks". We have to fan the flame of the gift of salvation that God has given us and that is a matter of the will.
“If we are not careful we may find ourselves in a situation like that in the story of some “bush missionaries.” They camped for several days near a monkey colony. When they returned to the camp one day, they saw the monkeys scurrying about, appearing to imitate the missionaries. In the center of the camp the monkeys had gathered firewood into a pile and were sitting around it as though warming themselves. Their only problem? They lacked fire! The church can be like that: we can have firewood but no fire!” (T. T. Crabtree. Ed. The Zondervan 2001 Pastor’s Annual. W. T. Holland. “The Spirit For Renewal”. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000, p. 248). People can also be like that.
We must not just yield our bodies as living sacrifices, but we must also yield our wills to the will of God. Far too often, we are concerned about how we look on the outside. I read of a story where a young Jew entered one of the most famous cathedral in Europe. The organist of the cathedral took pride in playing the organ in that cathedral. He also had the responsibility of being the keeper of the keys for that same organ. The young Jew asked about the organ, expressing a desire to play it. The organist explained that the organ was the finest in the fatherland, but would not let the young Jew play it. The Jew persisted until at last the organist surrendered the keys. The young man began to play giving the music expression. At first, he made the organ sound like it was in anguish as he replaced the sound with unparalleled joy. “The music began softly, like a gentle blowing breeze, then rose to a high level which sounded like pearls of thunder. Then the storm subsided as the thunder was silenced, and the music receded in volume until it was like the breathing of a baby in her mother’s arms. The young stranger finished, lowered the lid, locked the organ, and returned the key to the keeper of the keys. Still entranced by the music, the old man asked, “What is your name, young man?” The answer came, “My name is Felix Mendelssohn, sir.” With tear-filled eyes the old man said, “To think the master was here, and I almost refused him the key.” ” (Paraphrased and quoted from Brian L. Harbour. From Cover to Cover. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1982, pp. 177).
Until we allow God to will and to work in us and through us for His good purposes (Philipians 2:13) in our worship, we will be restless. That is why St. Augustine said so profoundly, that our souls are restless until they find rest in God. God is our master and our maker and we should not refuse him our key which is our will.
