Romans 12:1-2 1 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. 2 Do not conform any longer 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.
Romans 12:1-2 are unpacked further in the rest of the chapter and in chapter 13. In fact, everything you need to know in order to faithfully follow Christ and grow in your Christian walk can be discovered in these two chapters.
If we are going to do Romans 12:1-2 we first need to undergo an HONEST EVALUATION. Look at verse 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 measure of faith God has given you.
Who are you? In this moment, who are you? What have you been about? In what ways have you grown spiritually this year? If I were to ask you to write down on a piece of paper how you have grown spiritually in 2019, what would you write? Could you write anything down? If I were to ask you to write down the ways you have served the Lord, what would you write? If I were to ask you to write down the names of the people you had shared the Gospel with, how many people would make your list? Many of us might say we are mature Christians because we have gone to church for years, but how does that translate into the way we live? Does church once or twice a week automatically translate into living as Living Sacrifices?
Let’s be honest. Gut level honest. What is it costing us to follow Jesus? How “all-in” are we? So Paul tells the Romans in 12:3 to do some honest evaluation. What are some questions we might ask ourselves? Are we living as stumbling blocks to others? Are we holding grudges against each other? Are we pretending more than we are actually practicing our Christianity? Are we open to correction or do we believe we have the full revelation of truth? Are we being honest with God when He speaks to us? Are we acting on what He tells us to do? Are the habits of Bible reading and prayer truly habits or do we see them as duties or do we just ignore them all together? Can we just take some spiritual inventory this morning?
In addition to honest evaluation, I see that Paul is encouraging FAITHFUL COOPERATION.
Romans 12:4-8 4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Healthy organizations, whether businesses, individual families or churches will be healthy only as each person is contributing as a faithful team member. God has put us together because we are better together. Each of us has been given gifts and talents to use to serve one another and to build up the Body of Christ. That is what Living Sacrifices do. We look out for each other instead of just looking out for ourselves.
Maybe part of honest evaluation is taking a look at your own level of cooperation, your own contribution, your own volunteer efforts. Are you serving with the gifts God has given to you? Faithful cooperation is just as important as the preaching or teaching of the Word.
Honest evaluation. Faithful cooperation. The third thing Paul highlights is LOVING PARTICIPATION.
Participating is one thing, but doing so lovingly, with the spirit of love, with the attitude of love, is critical. Love is what makes the difference between carrying out a task and having a positive or eternal impact. What Paul wants us to understand is that it is possible to use spiritual gifts in an unspiritual way, and it is possible to use our gifts in an unloving way. The same point was made by Paul in I Corinthians 13.
One commentator called love the “circulatory system” of the spiritual body. Love keeps everything circulating and percolating as it should. Love is what keeps us from living offended. Love is what gives people room and time to grow without judgment and unnecessary criticism.
Look at verses 9 and 10: 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Love must be sincere. (vs. 9) I read this a few weeks ago and was truly impacted by it. The Holy Spirit keeps whispering it to me. Love is more than words, and it is even more than actions. I’m praying God will give me a generous and sincere love for all people. Hypocritical love is a total turnoff to the world. Maybe part of honest evaluation is looking at how much we really love people from our hearts.
After Paul says that our love has to be sincere, he goes on to say in verse 10 that it has to be a devoted kind of love.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
We need the kind of commitment that says “even if you hurt my feelings, I’m going to love you.” “Even if you try to disconnect from the body and stop coming to church for long periods of time, I’m going to love you.” “Even if you get preoccupied with the things of the world and start doing things you shouldn’t, I’m going to love you.” “Even if you try to distance yourself from me because you are trying to hide what you are doing, I’m going to love you.” A devoted love. A “no matter what you do” love. This is how we are called to love. It’s deep. It is devoted. And look at the end of verse 10 as a third aspect of love is highlighted. It says, “Honor one another above yourselves.”
What would it look like if we honored one another above ourselves? What does it mean to show honor?
Could we have each other’s backs?
Could we assume the best rather than the worst about each other’s intentions?
Could we love each other enough to resolve conflict in a loving way, privately, one-on-one, rather than process our hurt with friends or on social media?
Could we encourage and praise one another when we see something to celebrate?
Could we refuse to belittle each other or to make fun of people in a way that cuts them down?
Could we refuse to gossip about people?
Could we speak words of blessing over people?
Could we tell people how we see God is using them?
I guess honor is all about lifting people up.
Maybe this is another opportunity for honest evaluation. How sincere is our love? How devoted is our love? How much are we showing honor to our family members, our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to the rest of the world?
Honest Evaluation. Faithful Cooperation. Loving Participation. What is God saying to you about each one of those just now?
