Deo Gloria
Sermon for November 19, 2023
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Romans 12:1-8
Theme: Offer Your Body as a Living Sacrifice to God!
- With gratitude for God’s mercy
- With a renewed mind
- With proper humility
- With gracious gifts
I imagine a few of you might do some shopping later this week. Last year people here in the U.S. spent over $9 billion on Black Friday, buying gifts for their family and friends, and maybe a few for themselves too. Do you know already what you’re getting your spouse for Christmas? How about your kids? Do you know what you’re getting them? How about your brother or sister? How about your mom and dad? And how about God? Do you know what you’re getting him this year? Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about that? Don’t tell me you’ve thought about what you’re getting everyone else and you haven’t thought about what you’re going to get God? Well let me help you. God does actually have something on his Christmas list this year, something he would like you to get for him, something he would like you to give him not just for Christmas but every day throughout the year. He would like you to give him yourself, your body, your life. That’s the main point Paul is making in these verses from Romans ch. 12, what he is urging the Christians in Rome to do, what he is urging you and me to do. “Offer God your body,” he says. Offer your body as a living sacrifice to God!
When we hear the word “sacrifice,” we might think of the sacrifices God’s Old Testament people offered at the temple: a lamb or a bull or a goat. That was part of how they worshipped God, how they confessed their sins, how they thanked God for his blessings, how they enjoyed fellowship with God. All of those sacrifices found their fulfillment, however, in Jesus, who offered his life on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for all our sins. So God isn’t looking for you and me to bring him a bull or a goat or a ram. Instead the kind of sacrifice God is looking for is ourselves, our bodies, our entire lives. As Paul says in v. 1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” That’s a lot to ask, though, isn’t it, that God would want us to give him our bodies, that he would want us to give him our very selves? That seems like an awful lot to ask…or is it?
Is it too much to ask in light of what he has done for you? Is it too much to ask in view of his mercy? In his grace and mercy God has given you all that you are and all that you have. Your life, your body and mind, your fingers and toes, your talents and abilities, the car you drive and the house you live in and the food on your table and a nice, warm bed to sleep in at night—it’s all a gift from him, a gift of his mercy and grace. But that’s not all.
In his grace and mercy, God has also given himself for you, his life for yours, his perfection for your imperfection, his glory for your shame, his holiness for your sinfulness, his body on the cross as a perfect payment for all of your sins so that you might receive mercy, so that you might be rescued from sin and death and might enjoy the gifts of forgiveness and peace and life. And that’s not all either.
In his grace and mercy, God has brought you to faith in Jesus as your Savior and adopted you into his family as his very own child, which makes you an heir of his kingdom, so that you might have the assurance of his love now and the sure hope of eternal life with him in heaven.
So is it really too much for God to ask, that you should give yourself to him? Not at all! He has had mercy on us. He has poured out his love and grace and mercy on us in abundance. He has given his all for us. In light of that, in view of God’s mercy, with gratitude and thanks for the grace and mercy God has shown you, give him yourself. Offer him your body. Offer your life to him day by day as a living sacrifice—a life, a person, a being who gives honor and glory and thanks to God in all you do and all you say.
And notice how else the apostle Paul describes this sacrifice on your part, this offering of your body to God. He says this “is your spiritual worship.” What we do here in church on Thursday night or Sunday morning is, of course, worship. No question. But our worship of God goes far beyond what we do here in church for one hour each week. It continues all week long. It’s what we do on Monday morning at the office and Tuesday afternoon at basketball practice and Wednesday night at choir practice and Thursday morning at the coffee shop and Friday afternoon at the grocery store and Saturday afternoon at our cousin’s birthday party. It’s what we do all week long as we reflect our love for God and our love for others in our words and our actions. This is our spiritual worship. It’s bringing glory and honor and thanks to God 7 days a week, in all we say and do. In view of God’s mercy, with gratitude and thanks for the mercy God has shown you, offer your body as a living sacrifice to God.
So what could get in the way? What could possibly keep you from offering your body to God as a living sacrifice and bringing glory and honor to him in your daily life? Sin could get in the way. Satan could get in the way. Our sinful world could get in the way if we chose to follow the ways of the world instead of the ways of God. Paul addresses that in the very next verse. He writes, “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”(v. 2). “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world….” The world is filled with greed and envy and jealousy. You’re not that way, are you? The world is filled with anger and hatred and fighting and strife. You’re not that way, are you? The world is filled with selfishness and the me mentality—all that really matters is what I think and what I want. You’re not that way, are you? If we’re honest, we have to admit that we are. Sometimes we are filled with greed and envy and jealousy. Sometimes we are filled with anger and hatred and we get into stupid fights and arguments with our brothers and sisters or even our spouse. Sometimes we are filled with selfishness and all we can think about is what we want. Recognize what that is, friends. That’s the pattern of this world. That’s the ways of this world. And it does not bring glory and honor and thanks to God. Instead it brings him shame and disgrace and dishonor. Father, have mercy on us and forgive us for conforming to the pattern of this world. Forgive these sins of ours and all our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior.
Rather than conforming to the pattern of this world, Paul urges us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Just like a caterpillar is transformed in its cocoon into a beautiful butterfly, God wants us to be transformed, from dirty, ugly sins to beautiful, godly deeds, from worldly thinking to godly thinking, from worldly ways to godly ways. And that happens through the power of his Word. The more we spend time in God’s Word, the more we hear and read and study God’s Word, the more he changes our thoughts and our attitudes, the more he changes our way of thinking, the more he changes our way of living. The more we spend time in God’s Word, the more we appreciate and approve what’s God’s will is, the more we live our lives in harmony with God’s will, and the more we bring glory to God in our lives. Offer your body as a living sacrifice to God with a renewed mind.
And with proper humility. Another thing that can get in the way of our serving God and living our lives to his glory is our sinful, human pride. “Me, me, me—it’s all about me. What I want, what I think, what makes me happy—that’s what really matters. People should listen to me. I can’t help it that I’m always right and they’re always wrong. I’m up here and everybody else is down here.” What a horrible attitude! What a sinful and selfish attitude! And may God forgive us for the times we have displayed it!
Instead listen again to Paul’s words in v. 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.” So what should we think of ourselves as Christians? By faith we recognize that we are God’s dearly loved children, redeemed by the blood of Jesus and covered in the righteousness of Christ. And for that we are truly thankful. That does not mean, however, that we are better than anyone else. We sin every day and we need God’s grace and forgiveness every day. And even though you and I may be abundantly blessed, by faith we recognize that all we have and all we are is a gift from God. And rather than boast about it or think that we are somehow better than others, we give thanks to God and use it to bring glory and honor to him. Offer your body as a living sacrifice to God with proper humility.
And finally with gracious gifts. Paul talks about this in the last five verses of our text. He writes:
Just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 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. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 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.
God has given gifts to you and me. Beyond the gift of a Savior, beyond the gift of forgiveness, beyond the gift of eternal life, beyond the gifts of life and breath, beyond the gifts of a healthy body and mind, beyond the gifts of food and clothes and cars and homes and all that we need to live—beyond all of that God has given us gifts, gracious gifts, spiritual gifts, talents and abilities that we can use to serve him and others. Just like with the different parts of the body, our gifts are not the same. Some are good at prophesying, at proclaiming God’s Word to others. OK, so use that gift to God’s glory. Use it to proclaim God’s Word to others, to share the message of his love and peace and salvation. Others are good at serving. It doesn’t matter what it is, big or small, they just love serving others. And usually you don’t even have to ask. They just do it. OK, so use that gift to God’s glory, serving God and serving others every chance you get. Others are good at teaching. OK, so use that gift to God’s glory, teaching children in Sunday School, or teaching your children or your grandchildren at home, or teaching others about Jesus and his Word in one of our small group Bible studies. Others are good at encouraging. OK, so use that gift to God’s glory and encourage those who need encouragement. Others are good at giving. Still others are good at leadership, and on and on and on. It doesn’t matter what your gift is. Just recognize it for what it is: a gracious gift from God and then use it to his glory.
I don’t know what’s on your Christmas list this year, but I know what on God’s list. He isn’t looking for a bull or a goat or a ram. He isn’t looking for a new car or a new TV or a new iPhone 15. He’s looking for you. What he wants is for you to give yourself to him, just as he gave himself, his all, for you. In view of God’s mercy offer your body as a living sacrifice to God. Amen.