ALL OF LIFE, A SACRIFICE
Romans 12:1-2, 7/2/2017
Introduction: In the
mid-seventeenth century, an Englishman was captured by Algerian pirates and
made a slave. While a slave, he founded a church. When his brother arranged his
release, he refused freedom, having vowed to remain a slave until he died in
order to continue serving the church he had founded. Today a plaque in an
Algerian church bears his name. David Livingstone, the renowned and noble
missionary to Africa, wrote in his journal, “People talk of the sacrifice I
have made in spending so much of my life in Africa.
Can
that be called sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of the great
debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which
brings its own reward of healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good,
peace of mind, and bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? … Away with
such a word, such a view, and such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice.
Say rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering or danger now and
then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life,
may make us pause and cause the spirit to waver and sink; but let this only be
for a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall
hereafter be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought
not talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His
Father’s throne on high to give Himself for us.”[1]
Here
was a man who understood what it is to offer his life as a living
sacrifice. He considered, serving and
living for God a privilege and an honor. He thought the least he could do is to
dedicate all of his life to the one who died for him. Where are the David
Livingstons’ of Today? Our message title today is: “ALL OF LIFE, A SACRIFICE” Romans 12:1
What do we know about the book of Romans? The
author of Romans is none other than the apostle Paul. The book was probably
written in the early spring of AD 57. The original recipients of the letter were
Christians living in Rome. Chapter 16 suggests that there were at least five
house churches in the city. The believers in Rome were predominantly Gentile.
Jews, however, must have constituted a substantial minority of the
congregation.
Paul’s
primary theme in Romans is the basic gospel, God’s plan of salvation and
righteousness for all humankind, Jew and Gentile alike. When Paul wrote this
letter, he was probably at Corinth on his third missionary journey. His work in
the eastern Mediterranean was almost finished and he greatly desired to visit
the Roman church. At this time, however, he could not go to Rome because he
felt he must personally deliver the collection taken among the Gentile churches
for the poverty-stricken Christians of Jerusalem.
Paul
begins by surveying the spiritual condition of all people. He finds Jews and
Gentiles alike to be sinners and in need of salvation. That salvation has been
provided by God through Jesus Christ and his redemptive work on the cross. It
is a provision, however, that must be received by faith. The letter concludes
with an appeal to the readers to work out their Christian faith in practical
ways, both in the church and in the world.
There
is so much rich theology in this book, literally we can spend a whole year
simply studying the book of Romans. We will spend a few weeks on Romans 12th
chapter. For today we will look into one verse. Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge
you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a
living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper
worship.” Whenever we see this adverb,
“therefore” we need to know it is there for a reason. In this epistle it appears, nineteen times.
We must pay attention to the previous verse where a “therefore” appears in
order to understand the reason why?
For
example, inorder to understand Chapter 12, Vs1-2, we need to look at Chapter
11:36, “For from him, and through him and for him are all things. To him be the
glory forever Amen.” The reason why we must offer our bodies as a living
sacrifice is that, all that we are, all what we have or will have comes from
Him and we do not exist for ourselves but for His glory.
I.
ALL OF LIFE, A SACRIFICE
Listen to the strong appealing voice of Paul
in this request, “Therefore I urge you
brothers and sisters.” The Greek word for urge is, used for every kind of
calling to a person, which is meant to produce a particular effect, or to beseech
with a stronger force. Paul’s appeal was anything but lethargic, it was a
passionate call that demanded an action from the reader.
The
words “brothers & sisters” denote a family. All those who have accepted
Christ as their Lord and savior now belong to a new family, the family of God.
The same family dynamics at home will also apply to God’s family. At Hope
Church, we must consider every one as a brother or sister in the Lord. As
brothers and sisters in the Lord we work out our differences and at the end of
the day we love one another, and are committed to each other.
What
does it mean to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God? What are its
implications on us in the 21st Century? The word sacrifice means: An act of slaughtering an animal or person
or surrendering a possession as an offering to God. It is an act of giving up
something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or
worthy.
Under
the Old Covenant, there were certain regulations for worship. God accepted the sacrifices
of dead animals. But under the new covenant because of Christ’s ultimate
sacrifice, the OT animal sacrifices are no longer of any effect (Heb. 9:11,
12). In the new covenant God wants us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and
pleasing to God.
In
NASB, it says, “Holy and acceptable (well-pleasing).” What is Holy and well
pleasing to God? The essence of holiness is to be set apart, sanctified,
consecrated, chaste and pure. In the OT, certain people, places and things were
set aside for God’s purposes and were considered holy. God was pleased whenever
the first fruits or the animals without any defect were offered. Remember God
was pleased and accepted Abel’s offer while he rejected Cain’s offer.
The
prophet Malachi, warned the priests that God took up an issue with their
offering. Mal 1:7-9, “By offering defiled food on my altar. “But you ask, ‘How
have we defiled you?’ “By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8 When
you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice
lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your
governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord
Almighty. “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your
hands, will he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.”
God
was using a human logic here, we know what type of gifts to take inorder to
curry favor from our authorities. If that’s how it works in our day to day
dealings, how much more we should show honor and reverence to the Lord of Lords
and the King of the universe? God requires nothing less than the best from us. He
wants us to honor him with the talents and skills he has blessed us with. He
wants us to spend quality time with him. He wants us to be generous with our
giving which is an act of worship. He wants all of our life to be a sacrifice.
How
are our bodies a living sacrifice? For those of us who are born again, now the
only acceptable worship is to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice completely
to the Lord. As Eugene Peterson translates it in The Message, “Take your every
day, ordinary life, your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around
life – and place it before God as an offering.”
Which
means, bringing all our life’s resources, work, relationships, including our
own self and placing them before God as an offering. Offering, all of our life
to God doesn’t come easy, we may lose certain friendships, we may have to give
up sinful habit patterns and cultivate new patterns. For example, when we
consider offering our physical bodies as a living sacrifice, we become aware that
our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, therefore taking good care of
them by eating, healthy, exercising daily, and maintaining sexual purity makes
sense.
Once
I’ve seen an ad which sums it up, “Take care of your body. It is the only place
you have to live” By taking care of our bodies in a way we are honoring God
with them, that is holy and pleasing to God. You may say, well Pastor, that is
a tall order, God is asking too much from me but if we actually ponder on the
reality that God has made us holy and pleasing in his side through Christ. It then takes out the strain and striving and
the sacrifice then becomes a grateful, wholehearted response. We lean into Who
He is and what He has done for us.
Do
you think this concept of us totally belonging to God, leaning on him to
receive strength for our day to day life is accepted by modern men and women?
Of Course not! Modern people vehemently reject the Lord’s complete ownership of
their lives. We all rather do our own thing and give no account to anyone,
including God. Roman Christians struggled with it, they had hard time seeing
where everything in life came from, and who they truly belonged to.
Dear
friends offering our bodies as a living sacrifice doesn’t mean endless
martyrdom. We can find fulfillment and satisfaction and become all that God
created us to be. We can also find joy in the obedient service to God no matter
what the cost. We fill find a higher purpose and meaning to live for. I want us
to pause and consider the following: God so loved the world he gave his son
Jesus to the world. Jesus loved you so much that he sacrificed his whole life
on the cross so that we can live a life of abundance and contentment.
On
this communion Sunday, in the light of the ultimate sacrifice of our Lord
Jesus, let us examine our lives. Who are we living for today? Are we offering
our bodies as a living sacrifice? What are we willing to give up or let go so
that we may serve the purposes of God? The only way we can adequately answer
these questions, when we believe this biblical truth, that, “For from Him, and
through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.” Amen!
[1] .
(Livingstone’s Private Journal: 1851–53, ed. I. Schapera [London: Chatto &
Windus, 1960], pp. 108, 132)”
