Introduction
I start this week with a brief reminder of the theme of these last few chapters of Romans – putting our faith into practice, applying God’s will in our lives. To do this properly requires us NOT to let the world squeeze us into its shape, but to have our minds shaped by God Himself.
In the section we are looking at tonight, vs 3- 8 of chapter 12, Paul basically talks about how a renewed and transformed person thinks about themselves – their character and their abilities.
Verse 3:
The renewed mind thinks “soberly” about itself, neither overestimating our own importance, nor placing too low a view of our situation as redeemed people.
“sober” – it’s the opposite of “intoxicated”, or “stoned”. Anyone who has seen some blokes after they have had too much to drink, how they behave as if they are capable of performing great feats of macho prowess, when they really are acting like turkeys, has seen a great example of how “unsober” minds overestimate themselves.
- I’ve also seen people who are intoxicated by things other than alcohol or other substances. Just having a sense of power over other people can do it. For example in the workplace, when someone is given a promotion and they start behaving like they suddenly are the most irreplaceable person in the office and lording it over everyone else.
- I guess a lot of us have seen people with the opposite problem too, that of thinking too little of themselves. Intoxicated minds have hangovers and withdrawals that can lead us into really negative thinking, talking ourselves down and into a depression.
Paul says that we Christians are not to think of ourselves like that. We are not to be “intoxicated” with all the exaggerations or the negativity that comes with that, but to be “sober”.
The only way to be sure that we are thinking clearly, accurately, soberly about ourselves is to use what Paul calls here “the measure of faith”.
Does NOT refer to an amount of faith, as if the more faith we have the more highly we can think of ourselves.
DOES refer to “the faith”, or “the gospel” as the measuring rod that we should use. Illustration: building some piece of furniture from IKEA – they sometimes give you a measuring rod to use to space screws apart, or to measure the width of some part that you have to fit into the whole item. What if you decided that you were a better builder than the average customer and thus tried to make up your own measurements? It wouldn’t work, would it? No, the furniture will come together and work only if you use the measurements they have provided.
That’s what Paul is saying here – the measurements we have been given for how to think about ourselves are those contained in “the faith”. We can stand tall as people for whom Christ died – we should never be ashamed of Him or of being numbered as one of His people; God put enough value on you and me that He sacrificed His precious and only Son for us.
But, we should also kneel humbly, as sinners saved by grace and mercy; and as people who are one of many members of His body, a “team” if you like that works together under His direction, rather than as individuals going it alone and capable of doing great things without God in our lives.
Jesus took this attitude when he was confronted by Satan in the wilderness. He was tempted to focus on the power and the glory, to be intoxicated by the vision of all the kingdoms of the earth that he was shown. But he thought soberly, he judged himself and the life he had to lead, according to the gospel. He knew that those kingdoms Satan was showing him weren’t real, and so in order to live in accordance with the gospel, Jesus chose a life of service, that would lead him to the cross.
Paul said something similar to the Philippians in 2:5ff.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant …… He humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross.”
So, next time you find yourself being full of yourself, remember the gospel – remember that Jesus humbled Himself and that you are saved to be a servant.
Likewise, next time you are really down on yourself, remember that the Son of God values you so much that He gave everything for you, and let him lift your head high.
“The body”
Another element of using the measuring rod of faith is the fact that we are all members of the church, which is described in many ways in the Bible – as a building, as a plant, as a bride. But here it is described as “the body” of Christ. And we Christians play different roles in the body, fulfilling different functions, exercising different gifts. As Christians we share a lot in common, but there is also a great deal of room in the church for people to be different, to do things in different ways, to have different areas of expertise and ways of approaching some things about our common life as Christ’s people.
In the passage Paul lists seven “gifts” that God gives His people. This isn’t meant to be a complete list and some of the gifts are actually quite general in their meaning and actually cover a wide range of specific talents and abilities and contributions that individuals make. There is a possibility that he listed seven gifts, because the number 7 is often used in the Bible to indicate perfection or completeness. The point being that God has given to His people all the gifts that are needed for Christ’s body to function properly and for God’s purposes to work out in the world.
Take a look at the following situation.
“A member of the church, a man with a young family, loses his job because of poor performance at work.”
From the following list, what do you think are the two most important things that people should do for or say to him?
1. To pray with him and to promise to keep praying for him
2. Offer to look after his children while he goes for job interviews
3. Talk to him about the process of seeking God’s guidance for the future
4. Offer to pay for child care so that he can be free to look for a new job
5. Reassure him that God is in control of all things and that there is a good purpose or reason behind what has happened to him
6. Arrange a meeting of church members to discuss how the man and his family can best be helped
7. Put your arm around him and ask him how is he feeling and if he wants to talk about things.
(In the sermon I then tallied people’s contributions on a white board – and as expected I obtained a reasonable coverage of all 7 options.)
The point is that ALL of these things are important, at least at some point along the way. Perhaps in the first instance the person most needs someone to put their arm around them and show them some mercy and offer them some encouragement. Then they might need the practical services provided by people who offer to look after the kids and maybe the generous giving of financial assistance. At some point they will the help of those who can teach them what the Bible has to say about their situation …… and so on.
Now I don’t intend by that little exercise to have given a clear and full description of each of the 7 gifts that Paul has listed here – I don’t really have time to go into that much detail tonight.
The important point to draw from this exercise and from the passage is that, if our minds are truly renewed and not being squeezed into the world’s way of thinking, then we will do two things:
1) we will use the gifts that we have – and each of us do have an ability of some sort or another, something worthwhile to contribute – in the service of the whole body and to the best of our abilities. We won’t use our gifts as a means of puffing up ourselves, or showing off or in order to get some reward or recognition. We will use our gifts to the extent that is necessary to serve the body. Just to pick one from the list to ram this home – the gift of mercy. This gift takes in a wide range of things that are involved in helping people who are in distress or trouble or difficulty of some sort. Paul says that those who exercise this gift should do so “cheerfully” – not begrudgingly or patronisingly, but with a true and genuine desire to help.
2) we will honour and respect the gifts of others, rather than being arrogant about the way we do things or ridiculing what others do. It means that we will be glad about the variety of gifts, the differences that exist in the church, and that none of us will belittle the gifts of others or the contribution they make to the spiritual life and growth of other Christians.
I especially have in mind here the distinction between the “speaking” gifts of prophecy and teaching, compared with the “doing” gifts of serving, giving, leading or the “being” gifts of encouraging and mercy. All too often in our churches, and Sydney Anglicans are especially guilty of it, we elevate the speaking gifts above all others. The only people regarded as being important are those who preach and teach, and these tasks are allocated to a narrow, privileged few. Those who have other gifts are rarely given the praise, the recognition and the encouragement that the upfront people get.
This passage says loud and clear that such an attitude is worldly and inappropriate in a Christian setting. In the church ALL GIFTS are of value and all members of the body are to be valued and cherished and their gifts to be appreciated.
If we don’t do that then we are in effect putting limits on the operation of parts of the body of Christ. The only limits we should ever set are those that are set by the gospel – back to the idea of the measure of faith. All too often we are guilty of setting limits according to personal comfort zones, or cultural criteria or the teachings of one particular individual or group of individuals. When we do that we are at risk of placing limits on God – and of thinking that the way WE do things is the only right way, ie of thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to do.
Another way of looking at differences is that some people are more intellectual or analytical while others are more intuitive or artistic.
- To intellectual “left-brained” people, I say that you should not value intelligence and analytical skills too highly. People who are intuitive, artistic, “right-brained” people have a lot to offer the body of Christ and should be encouraged in the use of their gifts. Often they are the ones who hold us all together in the face of trauma and distress; they are the encouragers, the counsellors, the ones who love people into the kingdom even without a word being spoken.
- To the intuitive and the artistic, I say that you should not think that your talents and gifts are of greater value than others. The place of intelligent, well-articulated analysis of the Bible and important Christian teachings is vital for ensuring that we all continue to walk faithfully where God wants us to walk, sticking to the straight and narrow path that Jesus spoke about as being the way of eternal life.
Rather, what Paul says here is that we all belong to each other because we all belong to Christ. We should therefore love one another, care for one another and accept one another. In particular we should all exercise our gifts and allow others to exercise their gifts for the good of the whole body.
Conclusion
By the grace given to me I say to every one of you, do not think of yourselves more highly (or more lowly) than you should, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgment, using the measuring rod of the faith, the gospel, that God has given you.
