Service is the Price You Pay for the Space You Occupy
Romans 12:1-2
Dr. William S. Epps, Senior Pastor
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Recruiter's League 74th Anniversary
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1-2 KJV
Introduction
Romans was written by Paul to prepare the way for his visit to a church he had never seen, but whose help he needed as he began to preach the gospel in the western Mediterranean world. Romans is one of the fullest statements of Paul’s understanding of the Christian Faith. He shows how Christianity is rooted in Judaism but is a faith for all humanity. Romans is a book full of the power and grace of God and has been a source of inspiration and renewal in the church from earliest times to the present.
The passage read in your hearing reminds us that service is the price we pay for the space we occupy. You pay in service for the privilege of having a place in time and space.
Paul shares these priceless words:
“brethren, by the mercies of God, ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
This living self-sacrifice, Paul declares, is “holy, acceptable (well-pleasing) to God” (v. 1). Animal sacrifices were holy, because they required taking something precious (a life) and offering it to God. In the world where we live we buy meat buy from a refrigerated case, which makes it a stretch for us to consider how sacrificing an animal on an alter is an act of worship.
The slaughter of the animal reminded the person that, apart from the grace of God, it would be his/her life required on the altar. Now Paul tells Roman Christians that it is indeed their lives that are required, but not on the temple altar. Instead, they are to offer themselves as living sacrifices. Such sacrifices are holy and pleasing to God, even as animal sacrifices, offered in the right spirit, were holy and pleasing to God. Living sacrifices are holy in that they represent lives lived in accordance with the will of God.
Consider what it means to be a living sacrifice for the Lord.
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The Christians in Rome to whom Paul is writing this epistle, are for the most part Gentiles, and feel no obligation to offer animal sacrifices. Paul says, however, that they have a sacrificial obligation that, in fact, surpasses that of the animal sacrifices required by Torah law. Christians are not allowed to substitute an animal’s life for their own, but are instead required to sacrifice their own lives. The requirement, however, is no longer ritual slaughter, but is instead the presentation of the living person to God—a living sacrifice—a life dedicated to the service of God—a life committed to doing God’s will—a life lived in faith and lived out in faithfulness. They are to present their bodies for God’s purposes. Imagine living a godly life.
The Book of Romans can be divided into four sections: righteousness needed, 1:18–3:20; righteousness provided, 3:21–8:39; righteousness vindicated, 9:1–11:36; righteousness practiced, 12:1–15:13.
The main theme of this letter is obvious of course—righteousness. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Paul first reminds us of our sinfulness. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God in Jesus is life beyond our what destroys our existence.” (Romans 6:23). Remember Jesus said “I have come to give life and life abundantly.
(John 10:10).
Righteousness is a way of living, a way of imitating Jesus based on the divine, moral law given in the Bible. That, at its core, means we do what God says we should do and live how God wants us to live. Righteousness is the quality of being morally right and justifiably correct, acting in accord with divine or moral law. Being right in the eyes of God in character (nature) and conscience (attitude) is what it means to be righteous. The Lord desires a broken heart and a contrite spirit the Lord will not despise. (Psalm 51:17). The Lord despises pomp and pageantry without principled activity.
Righteous is conforming to a high standard of morality or virtue. A righteous person can be trusted to act honorably, justly, ethically, honestly, virtuously, and morally -regardless of the circumstances. Look at the mess we create with our unrighteousness when we are driven by our aspirations of avarice (greed and covetousness), driven by our quest for power and control, driven by our fear of being displaced and diminished.
Consider what it means to be righteous.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2022 |
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The Book of Romans tells us about God, who God is and what God has done. It tells us of Jesus Christ and what His death accomplished. It tells us about ourselves, what we were like without Christ and who we are after trusting in Christ. Paul points out that God did not demand people have their lives straightened out before coming to Christ. While we were still sinners Christ died on a cross for our sins.
The Book of Romans makes it clear that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Every “good” deed we have ever done is as a filthy rag before God. So dead in our trespasses and sins are we that only the grace and mercy of God can save us. God expressed that grace and mercy by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place.
“For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.”
(New Living Translation)
When we turn our lives over to Christ, we are no longer controlled by our sin nature, but we are controlled by the Spirit of Jesus Christ and we follow His example of living a life that is pleasing to God.
Consider what it means to let the Spirit of Christ be
your guide in responding to what you are facing.
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Wednesday, October 26, 2022 |
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Firstly, Paul begins reminding us of God’s mercies which should lead us to fulfill our reasonable service.
“by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Make a list of the mercies of the Lord that have kept you in the land of the living. Think of the times that you have been spared from what could have destroyed your life; when you were saved from dangers seen and unseen. Think of the times when your choice could have brought dire consequences but you were spared. The Lord’s mercies withhold what we deserve and give us - through grace - what we don’t deserve.
God’s mercies as expressed in Christ warrant our allegiance, commitment and loyalty, which are our reasonable service.
Consider what it means to let the mercies you have experienced
advance and cultivate your allegiance, commitment
and loyalty as your reasonable service.
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Thursday, October 27, 2022 |
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Secondly, Paul reminds us that we are not to be conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Now there can be no doubt that the command of our text—do not conform—is difficult advice for any modern person. The pressure of the herd is ever strong upon us.
6Even our intellectual disciplines attempt to convince us on the necessity of conforming. Some of our philosophical sociologists have gone so far as to tell us that morality is merely group consensus. In sociological lingo, this means that there is little difference between mores and morals. In plain language, it means that you tell the difference between right and wrong by a sort of Gallop poll method of finding what the majority thinks. The answer of certain psychologists to all maladjusted people is, simply, to learn to conform to this world. If we only dress and act and think like other people, then we shall be happy and mentally healthy.7
Yet the command of our texts still stand before us with glaring urgency: “Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” As Christians we are a colony of heaven thrown out, as pioneers, in the midst of an unchristian world to represent the ideals and way of living of a nobler realm until the earth should be the Lord's and the fullness thereof.
I'm sure that many of you have had the experience of dealing with thermometers and thermostats. The thermometer merely records the temperature. If it is seventy or eighty degrees, it registers that and that is all. On the other hand, the thermostat changes the temperature. If it is too cool in the house, you simply push the thermostat up a little and it makes it warmer. And so the Christian is called upon not to be like a thermometer conforming to the temperature of his society, but be like a thermostat serving to transform the temperature of his society.
8It is to stop conforming to the image of the world. Instead, we are exhorted to allow ourselves to be continually transformed by the renewing of our minds through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Then we will be able to understand God’s Will by what is good, spiritually mature and pleasing to God.
"Birds of a feather flock together,” is an old cliché that gets at that. People have a way of finding each other who are of a like mind. That’s how groups of all sorts are formed. Whether it is a Masonic order, sorority, fraternity, protest groups or awareness groups, people are drawn together by their common aspirations, concerns and desires. People come together who have the same aspirations, desires, and hopes.
The 1932 book, Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics
(by Reinhold Niebuhr, an American Protestant theologian at Union Theological Seminary in New York City) reminds us of the danger of herd mentality. The thesis of the book is that people are more likely to sin as members of groups than as individuals. Sometimes you have to stand alone like Jesus as the moral person who acts as a thermostat, transforming the temperature of society.
Consider what it means to be a transformed non-conformist
as a thermostat who sets the temperature rather than
a thermometer who merely records the temperature.
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Thirdly, Paul reminds us that our goal is to prove that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In other words, you will not just say: “the good” is God’s will. Rather you must say: the good is defined by God’s will. That is, the good is what is acceptable
to God. That’s what Paul says. Then comes the final word which defines the will of God in Romans 12:2, namely, the word, “perfect” (teleion). Could it be anything else?
5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11
Jesus said no to what he had a right to say yes to and yes to what he had a right to say no to. Oft times you hear someone say, "that’s not fair." Life at times seems to be so unfair.
Consider what it means for you to be like minded with Christ Jesus,
allowing your life to be transformed and renewed.
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Saturday, October 29, 2022 |
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When life seems cruel / And so unfair
With each new day it seems a greater problem's waiting there
For each step forward I take / Seems I get pushed two steps behind
Don't think I'm going to make it sometimes
Don't think my nerves can take it this time
As I'm about to call it quits a solution comes to mind
Why not trust God again?
I know that He can do it / If I pray again, believe again
My God will work it for my good again
I know that He will see me through it all
If I trust in God again
Is there a mountain standing in your way
Is there a loved one you're worried about today
Is there a blessing you desire that seems intangible
Instead of giving up the fight / Cling to faith with all your might
The One who's seen you through before is still able (He's still able)
'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus / Just to take Him at his word
Why not trust God again / I know that he can do it
If I pray again, believe again
My God will work it for my good again
I know that He will see me through it all
If I trust in God again / I will, I will, I will trust in God again (Kurt Carr)
Let us pray,
Dear heavenly Father, attend to the hearts of your children today. Bring us, on your wings of love, close to you. Nestle our hearts unto your precious word, that they never be separated from one another. Show us your ways, teach us your paths,
lead us in your truth and teach us; for Thou art the God of our salvation.
On Thee do we wait all the day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen
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Why Not Trust God Again
~Kurt Carr
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2412 Griffith Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90011
Phone: (213) 748-0318
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