Sermon September 5, 1999 In View of Mercy based on Romans 12:1-8
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Especially: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship."
Dan Gibson made quite a sacrifice recently in his run for the office of Governor in Mississippi. He sold his $200,000 home, two Cadillacs and antique furniture. He did not win the primary and now he, his wife, and son are living in a one bedroom apartment. It is not often that you hear of such sacrifices these days. Dan felt that God wanted him to make this sacrifice.
We know that God does call us to make sacrifices. We are urged to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God in our text. This request is for a dramatic action. This calls for total dedication. It is not part-way, part-time work here. Rather it is a full-time and complete offering of ourselves to God.
In doing this, we must see ourselves as part of a community. We are part of the community that Scripture calls the body of Christ. All who are called by the Holy Spirit to faith in Jesus Christ are part of that group. So, within this group, we offer ourselves to serve God and each other. We give back with whatever gifts and talents God has blessed us. The gifts that are listed are: prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leading, and showing mercy. The first, prophesying, is speaking God's Word. We are urged or begged by this epistle to the Romans, to offer our different gifts to serve God and fellow Christians.
Is this the way of the world around us? Is this what those who reject Christ do? Certainly not. The way of the world is to focus on self. It pursues what feels good and makes oneself happy. Self-comfort and self-happiness are the bywords. The world follows the ways of greed and building up our own stockpiles of possessions. The world works, not in sacrifice, but in self-indulgence. There is one more byword, self-esteem. This is certainly the way of the world today, to think of yourself highly, so that you can be successful and happy.
The text teaches us how we are to respond to this way of the world. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through Paul's writing and says we are to not conform any longer to the pattern of the world. Don't bend and give in to the way that the world wants to mold you. We are to stop following these ways of the world. Instead, we are to break away from it because we are transformed. Our minds are renewed.
So, this passage of Scripture gives us a statement of God's Law. It places demands upon us to live a certain way. Our initial reaction might be to want to just sort of forget about this part of the Word. We could hope we don't think about it again. We might want to just toss it aside with a thought that we are doing pretty good. Rather than shy away from the Law, however, we must look straight in the mirror. We must use God's Law as an opportunity to check-up on ourselves.
As you consider the requirements laid before you here, you will find that you probably fall short. Your life may not be lived as sacrifice to the Lord for that requires an extreme effort. You may not give Him your all. Your dedication might fall short. Your probably fall short of keeping your life from being conformed to the pattern of this world too. Do you think of yourself more highly than you ought? You may not fully offer your gifts and talents for the work of God's Church. You may find yourself living for yourself instead of living as a member of the body of Christ.
Scripture teaches us that we all have gifts to offer. 1 Corinthians 7:7 says, "But each man has his own gift from God." We are taught that we should put these gifts to work also, by 1 Peter 4:10 "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others." So, what are you doing with your gifts? Often our gifts go unused or are used to serve ourselves rather than God.
As we let God's law work on us, we see our shortcomings. We see how we disappoint our Lord.
The question for us should then become: what can be done about this? How can we avoid God's anger over our sins? In the Old Testament times, sacrifices were offered for sins. Often an animal was sacrificed, a young bull, goat or lamb, or a dove or pigeon. The sacrifices required the shedding of blood. Something had to die and so these were dead sacrifices.
Now, our text tells us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. Can this sort of sacrifice make up for our sins? No, it is not enough. Instead, to pay for our sins we would need to suffer the pains of eternal death and punishment in hell.
We can be thankful that God has offered us another way out. This way out of our sins still required a sacrifice of a life. This sacrifice was not a living sacrifice in that it required a death. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that was offered for us. Ephesians 5:2 "...just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
He took our places as He suffered and died for us. Yes, Jesus went to the cross just for you and just for me. He went there because of our sins. He went there as our sacrifice - something given up for the benefit of someone else. He sacrificed Himself - gave up His life, endured suffering, pain and torture. He did this for our benefit.
The New Testament describes this sacrifice of Christ as being like a lamb who was sacrificed. The idea is picked up from the Old Testament Passover, where a lamb was slaughtered, originally, to avoid the angel of death coming to kill the firstborn sons of all families in Egypt. So, the lamb was killed and the blood placed upon the doorframes. That sacrifice spared the life of the firstborn son of the household. In the same way, Christ was the lamb who was sacrificed so we might live.
John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus called Him the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." So He was. The Lamb whose sacrifice spared us from the punishment for our sins. He took the sins away - forgave them. This wasn't just for me and you, but for all people. Some don't want the gift even though the Lamb was sacrificed for them too.
Only through the sacrifice of the Lamb can we avoid punishment for our failures. Revelation 7 teaches us that the sacrifice of the Lamb, the death and shed blood of that Lamb will bring us through the Judgment Day. "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Then Revelation goes on to say in Chapter 12 that Satan is defeated through the blood of the Lamb. "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony..."
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our benefit brings us wonderful blessings. He is the Lamb who takes away all our sins. He is the one and only sacrifice needed for sins. The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were only effective because they were looking forward to Christ's sacrifice. Hebrews 9:9-14 makes this clear:
This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings-- external regulations applying until the time of the new order. When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
Once Christ's sacrifice came, there was no need to look ahead to it any longer, because the one sacrifice for all time had already been made. The animal sacrifices are no longer needed. Heb 10: 17-18 says: "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin." There is no more sacrifices that are needed. We have it all in Christ. Christ did it all. Hebrews 9:26 "...now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Rather than looking ahead, we simply remember how our Lord has blessed us in the past with Christ's sacrifice.
Now, fully away of Christ's sacrifice for us, how is it we shall respond? We respond in the way that our text directs us, by offering our bodies as living sacrifices. We give of ourselves to our Lord, because He gave to us. We love Him because He first loved us.
This can be the only true motivation to these good works that are laid before you. It isn't the threat of punishment or fear of God that will push us to do truly good works. In other words, the Law cannot motivate us. Instead we can only truly serve our Lord, truly offer ourselves as a sacrifice, when we know just how much He has done for us.
Along the same lines, we never understand our sacrifice as earning us something. No, it is purely a response to the gifts we have already received. So good works are never done with a view to obtaining grace, but always as mere thank offerings for the grace and salvation already obtained by faith. Martin Luther once said: "My dear man, you must have heaven and already be in possession of salvation before you can do good works."
Therefore, our living sacrifice is not a sacrifice for sin. That was already done fully and completely by Christ. Our sacrifice is strictly out of thanks and praise to God. We are moved and motivated by the Gospel, then. We serve God knowing that He has served us by Christ's sacrifice to forgive all our sins. Then we are moved to offer ourselves as living sacrifices. Then we are led to no longer conform to the patterns of the world, but instead serve God and fellow believers. We see ourselves as members of the body of Christ, serving other parts of the body with whatever gifts we have to share. We serve by preaching, helping, teaching, encouraging, contributing, leading, and showing mercy.
We do this cheerfully, not out of compulsion. We don't do it as if trying to earn God's favor, but simply to give back to God a token of our appreciation. We do it all remembering God's mercy. This is what our text says: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do this all in view of God's mercy. God has already saved you through Christ's complete sacrifice for sin. Now, knowing that, in view of that fact, respond by offering to God your whole self.
When we do this, in view of God's mercy, then we will instantly turn to that mercy if we fall short. The goal is to offer ourselves completely, but we still struggle against our sinful natures, which lead us to fall short of that goal. Then we remember the mercy God showed as Christ was sacrificed for all our sins. Through the knowledge of this mercy, we are comforted and encouraged. As we move forward, we always keep in view the mercy given through our redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.