Listen link: http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw
Reading: Romans 12:1-8
This message is actually a very good next step after the heartfelt worship
message from Oct. 25. Sacrificial and generous living and giving can be called
embodied worship. What we do with our time and talents and finances is really
the best expression of worship because if worship is only what we say and sing
on Sundays then all we are doing is paying lip service to God and that can’t be
called worship if it is not backed up with our sincere behavior. God doesn’t
like lip service. I quote Isaiah 29:13, The Lord says: “These people come near
to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far
from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been
taught.”
I know that none of us want to be insincere in our worship. All of us want to
be faithful in stewardship. The problem comes in what we typically think is
good enough compared to what God may actually ask of us if we could only hear
him. So what we need here is some encouragement and motivation as well as
reassurance that breaks through our concerns and possibly doubts.
To begin with then, I want to share with you this story that comes from the
persecuted church. This happened in Czechoslovakia. Brother Zavarsky had had
enough. The frustration was too much. He complained, “All my time is spent in
slave labor! Ten hours a day in this prison I weave baskets, which the
Communists sell for good money. Why did I study so much to be a pastor? Those
miserable ones in the service of the Communists have high positions now. They
preach, they advise, the feed the flock. And I suffer.”
“Why do you complain?” said another Christian at the prison. “God doesn’t need
your sermons or your good theology. The puppets of Communism do this work. But
they cannot share the sufferings of the Savior: This is the main promise that
one should give at ordination. Did you never preach about enduring sorrows for
Christ? Thank God he has given you the opportunity to fulfill what is the most
valuable part of any sermon.”
Chastened, Zavarsky no longer complained about being in prison or the long days
of labor. After leaving prison, Zavarsky could not continue his work as a
pastor because his imprisonment had left him very ill. But visitors to his
bedside did not find a beaten and ruined man. They saw a man whose face shone
for the Savior. He confessed his life had not been stolen from him. He gave it
up willingly to help Jesus carry his cross. This is similar to Paul’s attitude
when he said, “What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the
surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost
all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”
What could cause people to willingly take a loss on a business deal so that
they can give generously? What will cause people to leave their Christian
homeland for ministry in a pagan foreign nation? What will cause someone to die
rather than give in to temptation? It is extreme commitment to the person of
Jesus Christ. They see an opportunity for spiritual gain in every personal
loss. They are willing to take a hit to their wallet, schedule, plans, comforts
and conveniences in order to advance the Kingdom of God. How do you express
your extreme devotion? Do others think you’re crazy for the level of your
commitment? “Losing it” for Jesus means Heaven’s gain.1
I know that is rather extreme in the details. But not in the principles.
Our commitment to God is not likely to be tested in a prison anytime soon. But
in actuality, our commitment is tested in every decision we make. In almost
every decision we make the choice can come down to, am I doing this for me, or
for someone else out of love for them, or for God because I really owe him
everything anyway.
Here’s a small example, randomly plucked off the top of my head. The next time
you buy a pillowcase, or really anything else that you can find on the shelf of
your favorite store, will you be shopping because you need one, you have been thinking about it for a while and now is
the time to go and get it? Or is it more likely that you were just walking by,
saw one you liked and thought to yourself, “I want that”? Which one of those
ways of shopping is more likely to be classified as good stewardship, or even
as worship? Now, God doesn’t want us to sweat the small stuff. I know a lady who
was so careful about this that she was constantly changing her mind. She told
me about something she bought, a small little thing. Then she felt guilty because
maybe it was not the Lord’s will and so she returned it. And she was frequently
going back and forth in things like that. But God doesn’t want us to sweat the
small stuff. However, I am sure he wants us to be thoughtful. This is all the
more important to remember when we are making more important decisions like
what do you want to spend the rest of your life on?
So I have another story for you. I heard about a military officer, serving his
country who was offered a promotion that would have netted him another
$40,000/year in income. But he turned it down to keep doing what he was already
doing. His reasoning included this stewardship principle, “Never make a career
move just for the money, because if it’s just for the money you are worshipping
an idol.” And even if you are retired and I cannot be talking about career choices,
you still have a “rest-of-your-life” to spend on something. What would God want
you to do with that?
So, this last one. On my way home from Minneapolis I waited at the airport with
a pastor and his wife. I asked Mrs. Pastor about her faith
journey. She told me that she was raised in a good Christian home. Her dad was
a pastor and she was a good girl, never really rebelled and grew up involved in
church and ministry. But along about high school she began to realize the
nature of her need for grace.
It was hard at first to even think of herself as a sinner in need of grace
because she didn’t commit any of the sins you usually think of as part of a
sinful life style. She had to ask God about it and as she listened for his
answer this is what grew in her heart. God was saying, “Sin for you is in being
happy doing what you want and doing what you think is good, without ever asking
me to tell you what I want you to do. The sin you are involved in is that of
not doing what I would call you to do.”
So she asked God’s forgiveness for her failure to hear and obey God’s call to
sacrificial Christian service, just like Jonah, but with gratitude that it
didn’t require that she end up in the belly of a whale before she caught on to
what God was up to. She received God’s grace and mercy in a new and fresh way
that revived her spirit and changed her outlook on life.
This new outlook on life is born out of the realization of all that Christ has
done for us on the cross, and a deepening awareness of our need of his grace. Full
of gratitude and overwhelmed by the enormous, lavish love of God we are moved
to want to serve. We are called to discipleship and or responsibility is to
learn as much as we can as fast as we can and put it into practice as
completely as we can. Faith in Jesus is not just about deciding to believe in
him. It is about responding to his love.
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. 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.
When you make an offering, the offering on the altar does not receive
the blessing. It IS the blessing. The offering is not for itself. It is for
another. Just as Christ offered himself for our sakes to save us, so we are
asked to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, but not for ourselves, rather
our offering blesses those who have not yet been saved by the message of grace.
So when the passage speaks of “true and proper worship,” I think we need to
realize that the phrase doesn’t really refer much to what happens on Sunday
mornings in our church services. Surely we do want to worship the Lord in our
church services, and there are proper offerings we bring on Sunday morning. And
there is much to celebrate as God reveals his plan and we see him at work among
us. But we must also realize that when we offer ourselves as living sacrifices
in the way that blesses others, then it is all about what we do in
relationships with other people around us, especially those who are not yet
saved. And since what we do for the least of these is done unto the Lord, then
surely such offerings are a worthy act of worship.
Next we take up the phrase, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world.” I
now believe it may surprise us to realize that it is not about particular
behaviors of sins that we can point at and say, “Don’t do that.” Specific sins
are not the pattern. They are manifestations of the pattern. The pattern of
this world, into which all sins fit, is simply to be self-centered. So here is
what might shock you. Even people who commit none of the obvious sins they see
in other sinners, ARE sinners too. Like the pastor's wife that I mentioned earlier many
people think that they are being Christian because they don’t commit great
sins. But as long as they are still self-centered and not listening to obey
God’s call they conform to the overall pattern and are blind to the fact that
they are not really transformed or renewed.
It is like the Pharisees. They were the most religious people. They were
closest of all to the revealed word of God. They studied the Bible. But perhaps
you will agree with Jesus that Pharisees had a sin problem. Jesus called it
hypocrisy. But what motivates a hypocrite? Self-protection. Self-protection is
self-centered. So perhaps you can also agree with me that their basic problem
can be identified as the self-centered pattern of this world.
The opposite view, that would be the
result of the renewing of our minds, would be to become other centered. To amplify that point, I like to use the phrase
“otherish love.” That’s a word I made up. Otherish is the true opposite of
selfish because selfless still has self in it, just a little less. Otherish
love cares about the people around us and therefore offers itself as a living
sacrifice, to bless them. Otherish love is a godly love. It comes from God and
enters us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit at work in our hearts. As we
welcome that and become more otherish in our attitudes and actions, we will be
more aware of and more clear about what the will of God really is. As it says,
“Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will.” And we know at that at the heart of God’s will is
this, not just that we behave well, but this: “That the whole world be saved.”
So your evangelistic efforts are crucial. Your true and proper worship is
evangelistic.
Finally, what does it mean that we serve a risen Lord? He is risen from the
dead! That means he has conquered death and that means we can conquer death
through him. With no fear of death we can live a risky life! That means we
don’t have to stay safe in our comfort zones. We can reach out with a
sacrificial, otherish love for others. We can offer ourselves as living
sacrifices without fear of getting “burned.”
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. Every believer
is called to be a worker! Therefore everyone is important to the work. Each one
should work according to his own ability with thanksgiving for the gifts God
has given. No one should compare himself to others and think less of himself or
more of himself just because his work is different from the work of others. The
important thing is to do the work you can do.
For 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, though many, form one body, and
each member belongs to all the others. 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; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching,
then teach; 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.
So, I say to each of us, if you are already serving the Lord, having heard from
him and answered to his call, we praise God for you with great thanksgiving. We
want to celebrate that by hearing your testimony. You story will encourage
others to live out their stories. If you are not doing much or don’t know what
God would ask you to do as the ministry part of your life, we want to encourage
you! We who know you will also know what you would be good at, and we can help
you hear God’s call. I say to all of us, let’s grow in this! Let’s bless the
world in which we live through our expressions of sacrificial and generous
living and giving.
1Extreme Devotion, The Voice of the Martyrs, p. 344; 2001.
Exodus 12:1-30 Key Verse: "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord a lasting ordinance." Exodus 12:14 "Celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come." (Exodus 12:17) "And when your children ask you, "What does this ceremony mean to you?" then tell them, "It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when He struck down the Egyptians." (Exodus 12:27) The original act was an act of worship as the first true act of freedom for the people of Israel. They had been brought to Egypt by Joseph during a time of famine so that through Joseph God could preserve their lives. ( Genesis 37 , & 39-50 ) After Joseph died, however, instead of heading back to C...
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