Sunday
08/23/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “A Living Sacrifice”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 124
New Testament Scripture: Romans 12:1-8
Gospel Lesson: Matthew 16:13-20
Welcome again my friends, brothers, and sisters, on this the Twelfth
Sunday after Pentecost.
With this said, how many of you have
ever been really committed to something in your life? This could be your wife,
your husband, your kids, your job, a cause, a Play Station, the Yankees, etc.
Within this commitment in your life, how far are or where you willing to go?
Would you give up everything? Would you even give up your life?
If you began a new hobby, like knitting
or coin collecting, my guess is that you would not give up everything you had,
including your own life for this hobby. Would anyone here give up your life for
a hobby? Would anyone her give up your life for your wife, your husband, your
kids, your grandkids? Would anyone here give up everything for a job, a cause,
etc.?
In our lives, we make commitments, yet
the level of these commitments can vary. This morning, I want to talk about the
deepest of all commitments. This commitment is bigger than our commitment to the
church, our community and friends, our family, our spouse, and anything else. This
commitment is our commitment to Jesus Christ. I have told many people going through
this Covid-19 Pandemic that the order of our commitments should always be God
first, then our wives or husbands and families, and then the church. Some
people have told me, “Pastor Paul, I am not ready to return to church yet”. I
have said that this is fine, because after God, Jesus, our next commitment is to
our spouses, our families, and our own health and wellbeing. If we are worried
about our health, then that comes before the church. It never comes before God,
but it comes before the church.
So, my friends, what is our commitment to God? Is
God more like a hobby to us? Is God like a commitment to a job? Is God like a commitment
to our spouses and families, or is our commitment to God even bigger than all of
that?
As you all know, my commitment to you and to this
church is massive. Most of you know that I put in long hours, because I believe
in you and this church. Yet, as much as I love and enjoy serving all of you, my
first and most important ministry is to my wife Melissa. If Melissa needed me,
she takes precedent over the church. The only one that takes precedent over
Melissa and my family, is Jesus.
When I was ordained as an Elder in the United
Methodist Church, a red stole was put around my neck, and on that day, I made
the official commitment to be yoked to Jesus Christ for eternity. I took vows, I
knelt, the bishop prayed over me, and said that Jesus is my sovereign Lord.
This morning, the Apostle Paul speaks to this in our
book of Romans reading. Before getting into our reading from the Book of Romans
however, we heard from our reading from Psalm 124 once again, about the sovereignty
of God. That without God, we would not be where we are today. Twice in this Psalm,
the Psalmist writes:
“If it had not been the Lord who was on
our side” (Ps. 124:1-2, NRSV).
The Psalmist then ends
this Psalm once again, saying:
“Our help is in the name
of the Lord, who made heaven
and earth” (Ps. 124:8, NRSV).
How significant is God in our lives?
How significant is the Lord Jesus Christ? What are willing to give up for God?
In getting into the meat of my message
for this morning, the Apostle Paul says in our reading from the Book of Romans,
once again, to be a “Living Sacrifice”. Well what does this mean exactly? Let
us look at our reading from the Book of Romans for this morning once again. It
says:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:1-2, NRSV).
A great explanation of this comes from
one of my favorite Bible Commentaries, “The Africa Bible Commentary” This is
what this commentary says:
“Because of what God has done for us, or what Paul calls God’s mercy (described in chapters 1-11), the best we can give to him is our selves, by presenting our bodies as living sacrifices (12:1). The offering of the loving bodies of believers as sacrifices contrasts with the OT offerings of dead animals. Here the word ‘body’ represents far more than just our belongings or our money. It means the totality of our life, plans and activities. The offering of ourselves is a spiritual act of worship that we can give to God” (Africa Bible Commentary, pg. 1394).
So, the Apostle Paul is saying that
God must be far more than a hobby, or a marginal commitment. In fact, marriage
vows say, “until death do you part”. The vows that we make to God, however, are
eternal. I do plan to be in eternity with Melissa, however.
The Apostle Paul then says, do not be
like this world. For this world is broken, fallen, and sinful. This world is
full of so many vices. We as humans can do great things, but this world is not
the answer. Jesus is the answer. Renew your minds, focus on Christ, and allow
him to lead us and the church. Do not let the world lead the church, rather let
Christ lead the church. Fully submit to him and live for him and be “A Living Sacrifice”.
The Apostle continues in our reading
from the Book Romans saying:
“For by the grace given
to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you
ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure
of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and
not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body
in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that
differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry,
in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the
giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in
cheerfulness
(Rom. 12:3-8, NRSV).
We are called to submit to Christ and
share the different spiritual gifts that we have been given, with each other,
the church, and the world.
In our gospel lesson for this morning,
Jesus asks his disciples, once again, who do people say I am. They gave various
answers, but:
“Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Mt. 16:16-18, NRSV).
When Peter said that Jesus was the Son of the living God,
the Messiah, the promised one, Jesus blessed Peter. He told Peter that on the rock
of our faith the Christian Church would be built, and that the gates of Hades
or hell cannot prevail against it.
So, if Jesus is our Lord, if he died for us, and if the
Christian Church is built upon him, do we love him like a hobby, like a friend,
like a marriage, or as the sovereign God?
I want to show you this
lengthy but good video on serving Jesus above all else. May we surrender to and
give all we have to Jesus. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment