Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Paul turns the corner in Romans 12. For the first eleven chapters, he has summarized man's messed up condition and God's mercy and grace. Now he is making an appeal to his brothers that have received God's mercy and grace. His appeal: that they would present their bodies as a living sacrifice.
Want to freak someone out? Introduce yourself as a living sacrifice. Hi, I'm a living sacrifice. That's the proper, God-glorifying response to His love, sacrifice, mercy and grace. A life lived as a living sacrifice is our spiritual worship. It's not a one time thing - it's a lifetime. And even this is not done through our own mustering of strength and inclination. (John 14:15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.)
Luke Crawford Gullette was born two days ago. I love this email response from a mature (70 year old), godly man at our church: Bryant and Christine, Thanking God with you for the gift of baby Luke and praying he will come to know Christ at an early age and serve Him all the days of his life. Congratulations!!!
It's interesting to me how I can see more clearly for my own son what life is really all about than I can for my own self sometimes. That's my single hope for my children - that they respond to God's mercy and become living sacrifices - whatever that looks like for each of them. Everything else (school, sports, life itself) is secondary. As my clan grows, more clearly do I see my God-given responsibility to lead my children to and through the "Therefore". They will know and understand God's grace and mercy through me and Christine. Like Paul, I will appeal to them that they become living sacrifices. And maybe more important than my verbal appeal, they will see me and Christine as living sacrifices.
What does this look like for me? Romans 12 doesn't leave us in the dark regarding what a living sacrifice looks like:
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Mark 12 give guidance as well. And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
As does Mark 14: 3 And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4 There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9 And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
