SET APART TO BE LIVING SACRIFICES

Reading: Romans 12:1-2

“I urge you…to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship (Romans 12:1).”  Years ago, I remember a sermon in which the preacher pointed out, “The only problem with a ‘Living’ Sacrifice is, it can climb down off the altar!” 

I picture a story written centuries earlier than the time of the Romans.  God was testing Abraham by directing him to take his only son, Isaac, to Mt Moriah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering [see Genesis 22: 1-14]. In obedience, Abraham began the journey, taking with him Isaac, a few other young men, and all the supplies necessary for a sacrifice. Once on the mountain, he built an altar and placed his son upon it.

Now, from Isaac’s perspective, I really wouldn’t want to remain in that position! I’d most likely be yelling my head off, trying to free myself from the rope that held me to the wood. No such action by Isaac is recorded.  Why didn’t he react? It’s a curious thing I have pondered more than once. Today, I sense some insight. I think Isaac trusted his father to do the right thing, just as Abraham trusted his heavenly Father.

Is it not so with us, figuratively speaking? Could Paul also been thinking of Isaac as a living sacrifice when he wrote these words to Christians in Rome? We have been set apart by God to live sacrificial lives. As living sacrifices, we chose to stay on the altar, just as Isaac did, trusting our Father to use us up for His good purposes. This means we are called to live differently from others. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person, with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you (Romans 12:2, TLB).”

Father, I admit that far too many times I want to (and actually do) crawl off the altar and do my own thing. I forget whose I am and that You have set me apart for so much more than I am willing to settle for. Help me to rest on Your altar, willing to be used by You in the lives of others, which very often requires true sacrifice. Amen.

The Sea is Wide - God's Mercy is Wider

Romans 12:1-2


1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.


Last week we focused on this part of Romans 12:

Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within.

Remember the cookie cutter analogy?  We talked about NOT becoming a cookie-cutter sinner, but focusing on how God wants us to walk with him towards the goal of true maturity.

Let's look at the opening phrase, "With eyes wide open to the mercies of God."  It's easy to overlook this, isn't it?  I rush to see the rest of the sentence.  But let's slow down, and let's look with eyes wide open.  What are God's mercies?  Don't we say every Sunday "have mercy on me, a sinner?"  How dare we claim his mercy?  Have we earned it?  Can we ever, possibly, be 'good enough?'  Of course not.  As Pastor Steve said last Sunday, Jesus doesn't say "try harder."  He says, "come closer."

This phrase draws me to an old hymn, written more than 150+ years ago by an Englishman, Frederick Faber, who converted to Catholicism after spending some time as an Episcopal priest.  I wonder if he had this verse in mind when he wrote these words:

There's a wideness in God's mercy, like the wideness of the sea.
There's a kindness in His justice, which is more than liberty.

Here's a youtube video of the tune that I remember being connected to this hymn (If you go on Youtube, you'll find lots of variations, and many of them are really beautiful.  This is the one I resonate with.)

Let the words sink in - God's mercies are as wide as the sea.  That, my friends, is wide indeed.  Let's make it our goal this week to open our eyes wide to God's mercies.  They are all around us:  in nature, in our friends, even strangers.  Allow his mercies to enfold you - soak them up as they rain down on you.  He is good; he is just; and he is merciful.

Cookie Cutter Christianity? No Way!

Romans 12:1-2 (J. B. Phillips translation)

1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

Have you ever made Christmas cookies?  First you have to find the cookie cutters, right - the stars, the trees, the bells....now where did I put those?  It's been a year since I've used them.....

So you sift the flour, cream the butter, add the eggs -put it all in the frig to chill, and then, when it's time, you roll out the dough and go to work with the cookie cutters.  Soon your kitchen is filled with a delicious aroma, and red and green stars and Santas and maybe even some glittery trees if a child or two is helping.  The cookie cutters help keep everything uniform - the bells all look like bells, the stars like stars, etc.

OK, enough about Christmas cookies (I wish I had one to share with you right now, but it is August, after all.)  Take a look at the bolded sentence from Romans 12, and think about how Molds are like cookie cutters.  Molds have their place, just like cookie cutters do, but Paul, the author of Romans, is urging us to stop and take a look around.  The world says, come over here, it's easy, you can do whatever you like - come join our cookie cutter ways of doing whatever feels right.

No!  Don't let the world do that to you, Christian!  God has a far better plan for you than to become a cookie cutter sinner!  Instead of being molded by the world, take the better path:  let God re-mold your mind from within!

We're going to be looking at this passage next week, so stay tuned for more on how we flee the cookie cutter life and turn to a life that God