THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT
March 28, 2004
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. M. Anthony Seel , Jr.
Romans 12:1-8
“Shaped for Serving God”
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we bow in your presence. May your Word be our rule, Your Spirit our teacher, and your greater glory our supreme concern, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
John Share, writer for The Business Journal of Minneapolis/St. Paul asks, “It’s 10 p.m. – do you know where your tax return is?” Shore reports
It might be farther away than you think, because tax preparers
increasingly are outsourcing work to India and other countries,
This is according to Mark Sellner of the Minneapolis-based accounting firm LarsonAllen. Shore continues
The practice enables Minnesota accountants to catch some
overnight shuteye while offshore vendors process individual
tax returns during their regular workday.
"It’s a workflow issue," said Sellner, noting that offshore
outsourcing appeals to tax preparers who need temporary help
during their busy season, which starts in mid-February. Many
accounting firms "are sitting here three weeks from April 15th
with probably five weeks of work to do," he said. [MSNBC]
Outsourcing has become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail these days, and the issue shows no signs of cooling down any time soon. A Reuters news service survey released on Friday says that 86% of American companies plan to increase their use of offshore employment. Surprising to me at least is that IBM is one of the largest outsourcing providers for the U.S., according to the same Reuters story.
Outsourcing is today’s term for a business practice that has a long history. The business community has been outsourcing jobs for a long time as a way to keep the payroll for permanent employees lean. It’s just that the jobs went to subcontractors and the like who kept the work closer to home.
Even closer to home, outsourcing has become a mark of lifestyle levels in America. We have someone to pre-wash our salad, someone to do our nails, someone to make sure that we burn off all those excess calories that we eat. We can hire someone to take the kids to school and to pick them up afterwards. There’s someone who will walk the dog. Someone to iron, to dust or clean, to mow the lawn, trim the hedges, and weed the garden.
We can even outsource the care of our souls, did you know that? Sure. You can hire a spiritual director who will listen to you talk about your experiences of the Divine. Business is booming for spiritual directors worldwide. Spiritual Directors International has seen its membership more than triple since 1995. In 156 regions of the world, there are over 4300 registered and presumably trained spiritual directors. There are 117 training centers scattered around the globe, with dozens more on the way.
Some spiritual directors do an enormous amount of good. However, as the apostle Paul argues, the notion of an isolated, outsourced spirituality is alien to the Christian way. As good as some spiritual directors are, we need the full body of Christ for the kind of spirituality that truly honors God. Christianity is group work, and it has been so for 2,000 years.
Paul begins our second lesson this morning, saying
v. 1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is your spiritual worship.
Many of the religions of the ancient world practiced animal sacrifices, and so the first century world was well acquainted with the idea of sacrifice. Instead of animal sacrifices, Paul encourages a lifestyle based on the premise that Christians will offer themselves to God through sacrificial love.
Paul had first hand knowledge of what it meant to be a living sacrifice. In his ministry, Paul endured all kinds of hardships. Paul’s understanding of what it means to be a living sacrifice can be seen in a statement he makes about his aim in life. In his parting words to a group of friends, Paul explains his sense of calling from God in this way,
“I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus… Acts 20:24
Paul was willing to say for his own life, “come what may,” I will do the will of God. He says to us, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is your spiritual worship.” Furthermore, Paul says
v. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
In what Paul is teaching, there is no body/mind duality as was common in the ancient world. We are to offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices and we are to offer our minds as well. You may recall the story from 1993 of a 68 year old man who was buried in a cell by three kidnappers. For 12 days, Harvey Weinstein, known as “The Tuxedo King,” survived underground, living on water, bananas and plums. He was freed by two dedicated detectives of the New York City Police Department. A reporter guessed that the reason that the elderly Weinstein was able to survive his ordeal was because of his regular tennis game, but that isn’t what Weinstein believed. Weinstein said, quote, “the key was my mind, not my body.”
The word in the original Greek of the verse 2 for transformation is the basis for our word “metamorphosis.” It reminds us of the caterpillar in the cocoon which grows into a butterfly, and that’s the idea here. The transformation that Paul is talking about happens from the inside out. By the power of God in our lives, we are being transformed into the people that God always intended us to be.
Paul explains that this transformation begins with the renewal of our minds. The result is that we are enabled by God to discern what is “good, acceptable and perfect.” When we can discern what is “good, acceptable and perfect,” we know the will of God and by the power of God in our lives we can walk in the ways of God. As Rick Warren says in The Purpose Driven Life, “The battle for sin is won or lost in your mind” (p. 210).
In verse three, Paul shifts his focus a bit. He writes
v. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Having given a summary of the basis for Christian living, Paul now looks at our relationships to one another in the church. All Christians are gifted by God for service to others, but some people think more highly of themselves and their gifts than they ought. Paul goes right to the heart of problem in churches and all social organizations. Pride divides. Thoughts of superiority separate.
Jesus says to His followers, “But among you, those who are the greatest should take the lesser rank, and the leader should be like a servant” (Luke 22:26, NLT). Our natural inclination is to assert ourselves above others. It is through reliance on God, not on our own high estimations of ourselves, that we can offer ourselves as living sacrifices in service to others. It is by the “measure of faith that God has assigned” to each of us that we can conduct ourselves with proper modesty and humility. This is necessary for the proper functioning of the body of Christ, as Paul explains next.
vv. 4-5 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another..
Did you know that sign language was developed through the practice of monks who would sign to each other to communicate so that they would not break their vow of silence? While the deaf have always gestured to each other to communicate, it was in a monastery in Paris that the first public school for the deaf was established. It was at that school founded by Abbe Charles Michel de l’Epee that the first system of sign language was taught.
Even in a monastery, there is a need to connect with others. Those who live in protracted periods of silence need a way to express themselves to others. The vast majority of human beings can’t handle the sense of being alone. We all need to know that there are others who are walking alongside us in this life. We all need others who will support and encourage us.
This is one of the reasons that it is essential for Christians to have a faith community. Faith is a group effort, and while spiritual directors can give us excellent guidance along the way, it is with the entire church that we establish strong bonds that God desires for us. We belong to each other. We belong to each other for mutual support and we are put together by God for mutual ministry. Mutual ministry is the subject of the final three verses of our lesson.
vv. 6-8 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Tomorrow, we begin the readings for Purpose #4 of the 40 Days of Purpose: Shaped for Serving God. For Day 29 in The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says
Growing up, you may have thought that being “called”
by God was something only missionaries, pastors, nuns,
and other “full-time” church workers experienced, but
the Bible says every Christian is called to service….
Regardless of your job or career, you are called to full-
time Christian service. A “non-serving Christian” is a
contradiction in terms. [p. 229]
All Christians have been gifted for service in the church. As verses 6 through 8 indicate, there are a variety of ways of service. Some function in a prophetic role, others in exhortation, others in teaching, others in making generous material contributions, others in leadership, and others in ministries of compassion. Christianity takes team work, and every person has an indispensable role.
Warren concludes Day 29 with these words:
If you’re not involved in any service or ministry, what
excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob
was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused,
Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was
codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair
and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal,
Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi
was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the
least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha
worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed
marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts,
Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid.
Warren summarizes
This is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them
in his service. He will use you, too, if you stop making
excuses. [p. 233]
Warren has an acronym that will be introduced this week in our readings. The acronym is SHAPE, and I mentioned it in a sermon last year, and we did an adult course on Discovering Your SHAPE last spring. SHAPE stands for spiritual gifts heart, abilities, personality and experience. As Warren says on Day 32, service is about using what God has given you.
The goal of this parish is Every Member Ministry. God has gifted each of us for service to others in the church. If you’re not sure what your ministry is, let’s look at that. No excuses. It’s time for everyone to step up and do what God has gifted you to do. There can be no outsourcing in the church. God has called all of us to do our part. Guided and empowered by the Spirit of God that lives within each Christian, let’s get busy.
Let us pray.
Almighty God our heavenly Father, you declare your glory and show forth your handiwork in the heavens and on earth: Deliver us in our various occupations from the service of self alone, that we may do the work you have given us to do in truth and beauty and for the common good; for the sake of him who came among us as one who serves, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose Name we pray. Amen.
