Morning Message Text: Romans 12: 1-8
A Living Sacrifice
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.
2 Do not conform 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.
Humble Service in the Body of Christ
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 faith God has distributed to each of you.
4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;
7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;
8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Morning Message:
This text from Romans has always been one of my favorites. It is so basic to living a triumphant Christian life, but at the same time it is the most challenging part of our faith. What does it look like to be a living sacrifice for Jesus? Charles Spurgeon once asked, “I wonder how many Christian people could have their biographies condensed into this line: They lived to make Christ known?” Think about that statement for a moment. What will people remember about us? What lasting impression will we make in this world? What would it look like to live to make Christ known every day?
To be a living sacrifice seems counter intuitive. Most times when we think of something being sacrificed, we think of the life of an animal being taken. To sacrifice is to give up something, but how do we sacrifice ourselves? It is not something that takes place in us all at once, but as we grow in Christ, we should naturally sacrifice more of ourselves. It was Oswalt Chambers who said, “To be certain of God is to be uncertain in all our ways, you never know what a day may bring. This is generally said with a sign of sadness; it should rather be an expression of breathless expectation.” When we release our grip and surrender on the altar, the fun stuff begins, and the adventure is amazing. There is an old poem called “The Road of Life.”
At first, I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like a president. I recognized his picture when I saw it, but I really didn’t know him. But later on when I met Christ, it seemed as though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal. I don’t know just when it was that he suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points. But when he took the lead, he knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds, it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, he said, “Pedal.”
I worried and was anxious and asked, “Where are you taking me?” He laughed and didn’t answer, and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I’d say, “I’m scared,” he’d lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy. They gave me gifts to take on my journey, my Lord’s and mine. And we were off again. He said, “Give the gifts away; they’re extra baggage, too much weight.” So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving, I received, and still our burden was light.
I did not trust him at first, in control of my life. I thought he’d wreck it; but he knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear rocks, knows how to fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I’m beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ. And when I’m sure I just can’t do anymore, He just smiles and says … Pedal.
How can we be a living sacrifice? By sacrificing our will for God’s will. This is a process, but we have to make progress. We must get past the first and second steps of our faith. If you are gathered here today, if you are watching me online, I am going to give you credit for coming to Jesus and accepting him as Lord and Savior, step 1. And, step 2, getting on that bike of salvation with Jesus and taking him along for the ride. But that is where it stops for most of us. We are onboard with Jesus but we are still mostly going where we want to go. That is not sacrifice. That is having Jesus along for the ride and allowing him to be a part of our lives whenever it is convenient and when we absolutely need him.
We need to get to the point where we are on the back of the bike, allowing Jesus to take us where he wants us to go. To be a living sacrifice is to live fully for Jesus. It’s when you no longer view your life as your own. The truth is that it’s not yours anyhow. God gave you life, he gives you life every day, breath by breath. Your life is his. The living sacrifice takes place when you let go of the control that you think you have of your life, and freely give the control to Jesus. How will you know when that has happened in your life? When you stop conforming to the pattern of this world and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Can’t you see what is happening to us church? Every time we try to give Jesus the wheel and surrender control, we find ourselves conforming to the ways of the world. We hang on to control because the world convinces us that we need to. You know, I hear this question a lot, and I even find myself asking it; why is God’s will for my life not clearer? Why can’t I perceive what God’s plan for me is? What does this scripture say? If we stop being conformed to the world and allow our minds to be transformed, “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” How can I be a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God? Let me ask you this, who’s driving your bike?
In Christ’s Love and Peace,
Pastor Bob
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