A BETTER WAY TO WORSHIP (Romans 12:1-8)
Introduction: We have been discussing, as we work our way through Romans, how in the past the people of God had consisted of only one nation: the nation of Israel. Now, because Jesus’ life-saving work of redemption applies to all people, God’s promised forgiveness, life, and salvation are a free gift to everyone who believes. The new people of God includes believers from all over the world!
Next, we heard Paul’s own wonderful expression of praise: “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever.” This beautiful doxology was inspired by the wonderful revelations he was receiving from God as he wrote the book of Romans, particularly about the mercy of God in sending His Son to be the Savior of the world.
In Romans 12, the thought expands to our worship life. Because of Jesus, worship now includes our entire life, which is lived as a grateful response to God’s tender compassion in Jesus our Lord!
I. The contrast between the worship of the Old Israel and the New Israel.
A. The worship life of the Old Israel:
1. It was law-centered. There were certain requirements that had to be met: what, where, when, and how sacrifices were to be offered.
2. It was an imposed form of worship. Obedience to the requirements of the law was based on threat of possible consequences, or even punishment.
3. It was an external, symbolic kind of worship. It involved the performance of certain rituals according to prescribed rules and regulations.
4. It was an incomplete kind of worship; nevertheless, the rituals were beneficial in the sense that they pointed to, or foreshadowed certain aspects of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. Just think—what would it take for all of the daily animal sacrifices that the people of Israel offered generation after generation to be replaced by one supreme, perfect, all-encompassing sacrifice? Only God could do such a thing. But through Jesus, that’s exactly what He did!
B. The worship life of the New Israel:
1. It is founded on the mercy of God—his tender compassion. One person described compassion this way: “your pain in my heart.” Jesus came to take our pain—the pain of our sin, guilt, and death, upon himself. This understanding of God is truly unique to the Christian faith. Illustration: According to an old legend, a man became lost in his travels and wandered into a bed of quicksand. Confucious saw the man’s predicament and said, “It is evident that men should stay out of places such as this.” Next, Buddha observed the situation and said, “Let that man’s plight be a lesson to the rest of the world.” Then Mohammed came by and said to the sinking man, “Alas, it is the will of God.” Finally, Jesus appeared. “Take my hand,” He said, “and I will save you.”
2. It is an inspired form of worship. Since Jesus has already kept and fulfilled the law perfectly on our behalf, we don’t worship God to as an attempt to impress him. Instead, our worship is an expression of thanks and praise to God for what he has done and still does for us through Jesus, His Son. Actually, God is the one who has made an impression on us—like an old-fashioned wax seal, all those made new in Christ now carry His image. We show our gratitude to God by reflecting that image—not just with our lips, but with our whole lives. The transformation God has produced on the inside—in our mind, our attititude, our thoughts—gradually works its way through to the outside and is seen in our actions.
3. Now, there is still some degree of ritual and tradition in the worship of New Testament Christians today. This can be a good thing, as long as it is accompanied with a living, fruitful, productive faith. Tradition is the faith of Christians who, though they are now (physically) dead, is still alive in us today; traditionalism, however, is the dead faith of Christians who are still (physically) alive!
4. It is a complete form of worship. In Word and Sacrament, we receive through faith the full benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection: the forgiveness, life and salvation that he won for us! No further death is needed. In a sense, we do die to our old, sinful nature, but this is something that God himself works in us by His Spirit through our Baptism. The point is that God no longer requires a death to make up for our sins. Instead, he has much more use for Christians with a living faith, who are very much alive to thank, praise, serve and obey him. That is why Paul writes, “Offer your bodies as living sacrifces.” When we do this, we often find—by God’s merciful grace—that He has much more in store for us than we could ever offer him.
II. The contrast between worldliness and the Christian mindset. The difference between the worship life of the old and the new Israel, as drastic as it is, is simply one of being fulfilled in Christ. However, when come comes to the difference between Christian thinking and the way the world thinks, nothing less than a total transformation is in order! So Paul continues by saying, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
A. The deadly attitude of the world can be summed up in two words: sinful pride. The worldly way of thinking resists the notion of sacrifice altogether! Instead, it asks, “What’s in it for me?” It seeks the broadest, easiest possible road. It turns aside from pain, hardship, inconvenience, or commitment. It delights in what is grand, impressive, and easily seen.
1. At the root of this attititude is idolatry. It exalts ourselves above God. In Romans 1 it describes the way of the world: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever Praised. Amen.” (21,25) As someone else has put it, “If there is anything in your life that you absolutely cannot do without, you no longer own it—it now owns you and has become your god.” In Philippians 3:18-19, Paul also writes, “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”
2. This attitude is dangerous enough in the world. The real danger comes when it infects the people of God. We heard about this in our Gospel Lesson from Matthew 16. Peter rejects the very idea that Jesus should have to suffer, die, and rise again. Jesus said to him, ““Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” If Jesus seems like he’s being too hard on Peter, remember what’s at stake—our salvation! If Jesus had listened to Peter, we would literally be lost and condemned to hell forever.
B. The good news is that there is another way to go. When we read the Bible, God’s Word, we are reading the very thoughts of God, expressed in human language! Now, we can’t do this without the Spirit’s help—but the more time we spend in God’s Word, the more he works a transformation in our thinking. We begin to let go of earthly, human thoughts, with all of their pride and selfishness. Confessing our worldly, human thoughts to God as sin, we ask him to forgive us and make us new for Jesus’ sake. Even as we rejoice in this forgiveness, the Holy Spirit himself begins to take over and shape our mind! It says in Romans 8:6, “The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”
1. One way we are transformed is in our thinking about God. God’s will for our lives no longer seems harsh, unreasonable, oppressive, or difficult. Instead, we submit ourselves to his will and we begin to see it as good, pleasing, and perfect.
2. Another way we are transformed is in out thinking about each other. We learn that anything that we can ever do for God is really a gift that he has first given to us. The best we can do is try to use that gift faithfully, with the help that God himself provides. We also learn to respect and appreciate the gifts he has given to other people, even if their differ from ours, and we work together with them to the glory of God. We learn to see ourselves as small parts of something much bigger—the body of Christ himself.
a. Those with the gift of prophesying might be the ears—they make sure the body is receptive and open to the Word of God, even if we don’t really want to hear it!
b. Those with the gift of serving might be the hands—they reach out to touch others with God’s love so that it can be experienced in its completeness, in a tangible way.
c. Those with the gift of teaching might be the mouth—they present the Word of God in clarity and completeness. They remind us of the old truths they have already learned, and draw us into an ever-deeper study of God’s Word.
d. Those with the gift of encouraging might be the arms. They are waving arms to urge God’s people to action, hugging arms to offer comfort, or even a shoulder to cry on!
e. Those with the gift of giving (and yes, giving is a gift) might be the legs. They keep the body of Christ up and running!
f. Those with the gift of leadership might be the eyes. They are able to see situations for what they really are, and strive to keep God’s vision for His people before us.
g. Those with the gift of showing mercy might be the heart, which keeps the lifeblood of Christ’s compassion flowing through the entire body, so every gift is used in love.
Conclusion: Where does this new mind come from? It can only come from Christ Jesus himself: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likenesss. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.” God exalted him by raising him from the dead, seating him in power and glory. We exalt him by living our life—a new life in Christ—to God’s glory forevermore. What a wonderful way to live! If you’ve been caught in the trap of thinking of worship as nothing more a spectator sport, or lost in the emptiness of worshiping created things, there’s a wonderful breakthrough in store for you. God can change your life from within! And that break through is as close as God’s Word, as close as the holy Spirit in your heart, as close as the love of a Savior who died for you and lives forevermore. Amen!
