Living Sacrifice (Romans 12:1-8)

Romans chapter 12, verses 1 through 8.

Romans 12:1–8

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

This is your true worship.

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

For by the grace given to me I tell every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think.

Instead think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

Now, as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function.

In the same way, we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, according to the grace given to us.

We have different gifts.

If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one's faith.

If service, use it in service.

If teaching in teaching, if exhorting in exhortation, giving with generosity, leading with diligence, showing mercy with cheerfulness.

Will you please pray with me?

Lord, we thank you so much for this chapter that we get to jump into in Romans.

Lord, we thank you for the richness of this book and all that we've gone through.

Lord, I pray today that as it says right here in these verses, Lord, that we would approach you humbly.

Just realizing that we are nothing without you and we can do nothing of worth without you.

Lord, declaring that our dependence is fully upon you.

So Lord, would you mold us and would you shape us?

Lord, would you help us to be moldable and shapable and able to chip away the things that you want to, Lord, as we become more and more like you on a daily basis?

Lord, that's our heart, that's our desire to be more and more like you.

So would you continue this process of sanctification in our life?

We pray.

Would you give us eyes to see and ears to hear, Lord, the things that you have for us here this morning?

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So as you notice, chapter 12 starts off with therefore.

Which means we need to know what came before so that we can better understand what is going to come after that word.

So what immediately came before, what we covered last week in chapter 11, we talked a lot about the mystery of salvation for the Jew and for the Gentile, and how God has gone about that throughout history.

And we talked about God's mercy.

We talked about his desire to show it, that mercy to all that will receive him in faith.

But I think this, therefore, is a lot bigger than the end of chapter 11.

This is really a pivotal point in the book of Romans.

And I think it actually refers to everything that came before.

Everything that came in the last 11 chapters that we've gone through.

You know, the last 11 chapters have been filled with the mercies of God.

And that therefore has to do with all of those mercies.

We've talked so much about the exploit the explanation of faith being through grace here in the book of Romans.

We've talked so much about righteousness being through faith and not being through our works.

We've talked about how Jesus has brought us to a place of peace with God.

We've talked about the gift of the Holy Spirit to each believer and how God has given that to each one of us.

We've had all these reminders that God is for us and He's not against us.

That nothing can separate us from the love of God.

That Jesus has made a way for the Jews and for the Gentiles to come to peace with God.

And this is all because of God's mercy on each one of us.

So when we see, therefore, what we are about to read is in light of all of those things and so much more that we can't go back and cover all this morning.

You know, Paul, over the last 11 chapters, has been building this case.

And now Paul will get into some very practical topics on Christian living.

So it's really a pivotal point in the book of Romans.

First, about how to live this Christian life individually, and then he's going to talk about how to live this Christian life as a body of believers.

And then he's going to look at how to live for the kingdom of God while we're living in this place that we really can't call our home.

And what I think you will see in each of these topics that Paul's about to address is that God is asking us to put ourselves less.

So we can prefer God.

And so that we can prefer others, so that we can love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and so that we can love others as ourselves.

You know, the greatest commandment Jesus called that.

So first we're going to jump into how to love God with our whole being.

So look at verse 1 with me.

He says, Therefore, so regarding everything in the last 11 chapters, therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

This is your true worship.

And I want you to notice that Paul's talking about the, or he's talking to, I should say, the whole church in Rome.

He's not singling out the Gentiles, he's not singling out the Jews.

He's talking about all the brothers and sisters in Christ.

And I think that involves us here today as well.

Brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.

So we need to listen up as if this is being written directly to us.

And Paul's not only asking them to do this, he's urging them.

He's beseeching them, he's exhorting them to present their bodies, our bodies, as a living sacrifice.

Because when you think about it, it's really a choice that we have whether we're going to live as a sacrifice or not.

You know, if it was a one-time thing that happened only at salvation when we became that living sacrifice and it was all done with, I don't think Paul would be urging them to do this.

You know, and I think sacrifice is something that for us in this culture that we struggle wrapping our heads around.

But sacrifice is something that the culture he's writing to, this Roman church, would be very, very familiar with.

Both the Jews and the pagan cultures in this time had their own versions of sacrifice, of physically giving something up that hurts, really, where it's not easy, where you're actually sacrificing something.

And at this time it was usually an animal of some sort or some sort of food or something like gold or silver that was being sacrificed to pagan gods and for the Jews also to the god.

And I think for us, it's so hard to wrap our head around this idea in our culture.

Because I think food, for the most part, is so plentiful for most.

But back in the time of the Roman Church and in Israel at this time, that's not what it was like.

They were raising their own animals, they were growing their own food, and they were literally sacrificing their livelihood.

You know, I think in our minds it's like, yeah, we could, you know, give away some stuff that's in our fridge.

Yeah, that's that's really not a big deal.

But I want us this morning to think about this from their perspective.

To put ourselves in the seats of the people in the Roman church that are receiving this letter.

You know, I did a little research this week.

A full-size sheep, if you butcher it and keep it for yourself, you can get about 50 pounds of usable meat out of it.

And if you figure about a third of a pound is a serving size, that's 150 servings of meat that they would be sacrificing if they sacrificed a sheep.

That's not a small offering.

Think of 150 servings of meat that you're actually giving up off of your table.

You know, it's a huge exercise of faith to sacrifice these kinds of things.

Because really, you're what you're doing is you're sacrificing your kids' next meal.

You're sacrificing the future of your flock, you're sacrificing your livelihood.

This is a huge step of faith that these people would take in order to sacrifice.

Because basically what they're saying is, okay, God, this is yours.

Now I trust you to provide for what I need.

Not only in this week ahead, but in the years ahead and with the future of my flocks.

And I think in our context today, that's really what it means to give of our first fruits to the Lord.

Giving him the first of whatever we get, not what's left at the end of the month.

You know, if you read Malachi, you learn very quickly that God does not like leftovers.

He really wants the first fruit because of the faith aspect that comes from that.

God wants our giving, he wants our sacrifice, and he wants it to be an exercise of faith.

Trusting that he's gonna take care of us, that he's gonna provide for our future when we give him the first of our increase.

I think that's the element of faith that comes in that the Roman Church would fully understand in this time.

And I tell you all this because it's no different than what Paul's asking us to do as giving a living sacrifice.

You know, Paul is saying here to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

And I have to think that this must be a new concept to the Roman church.

Because up until this point, for the Romans and for the Jews in this church, if you brought something to sacrifice, whether it was to God or to a pagan God, it meant that that living thing was going to be dead pretty soon as they sacrificed that thing to their God.

You know, if Paul didn't add the word living here, I think their minds might have gone to a human sacrificial system, which was common with the Canaanites.

If you're reading through our yearly Bible program, you just read about the Canaanite cultures sacrificing their children to these gods.

So Paul is making sure he puts that living in there, that living sacrifice, bringing something to lay on the altar that will not die.

But it's going to live in that position of being laid on the altar.

That's what Paul's presenting here.

You know, and I think in a weird way, I think this may have brought some comfort to the practicing Jews to hear about this living sacrifice.

Because if you've ever thought about it, you know, put yourself in their position if you're a practicing Jew.

How Christianity probably seemed way too easy to the Jewish culture because now the Old Testament sacrificial system is no longer needed.

You know, if you put yourself in their position, they probably felt a little bit guilty the first time they barbecued their spotless lamb instead of sacrificing it at the temple.

I think there had to be at least a twinge of guilt there, or maybe even a hesitancy of like, wait, are we sure this is right?

You know, what if we're doing this wrong?

Or what if we have bad information and we're still supposed to be giving this thing, but here we are barbecuing this lamb and enjoying it as a family.

I think their conscience was probably having all kinds of issues, you know, getting pulled back and forth in this way.

And I kind of have an experience that I want to share to you where this happened to me.

Where for a while there was something I couldn't do with my conscience.

And then all of a sudden, it was okay.

When my wife and I got married, we moved into this little duplex down in Ventura.

There's this elderly Italian couple that was super sweet and gave us basically our first home as a married couple.

And so they were showing us the place, and at the end of the tour, they basically offered it to us for a screaming deal, and we're like, yes, we will take it.

And they gave us one stipulation.

They said, Whatever you do, just don't touch the citrus trees in the backyard.

There was an orange tree and a lemon tree.

We're like, deal for the for the rent you're giving us, like, no problem, deal.

So we moved into this place, and there for a couple years, these trees were prolific.

I mean, just oranges and lemons, like you wouldn't believe.

And we just kept watching this fruit develop and then fall to the ground, and then the gardeners would come and throw it in the yard waste, and it was gone.

And we're just like, oh, like, are they poisonous?

Like, what's the deal?

How come we can't, you know?

And so a couple years in, we're chatting with them one day, and they're like, How come you guys aren't eating any of the fruit?

And we're just like, Well, you told us not to touch the trees.

And he was like, I meant, don't prune them.

Like, take all the fruits you want.

Oh man, like you wouldn't believe the pounds of oranges and lemons that we saw going away for years.

There was one time before they told us that where we were preparing a dinner, and all we needed was one lemon for this one.

Just one lemon is all we needed.

And they had a tree full of them in the backyard.

And I remember going out there.

I don't see anybody, you know.

Like, I've never had so much compassion for Adam and Eve in my life.

The forbidden fruit, you know.

I didn't take one, but I was so tempted that day to take one because we didn't want to have to run to the store.

But I didn't, but I didn't.

But then after they gave us permission, even, we would still go out there and it was still kind of like, we sure?

Like, this is okay?

Like, this isn't a trick, you know, that they're giving us.

But my conscience had to had to kind of catch up to the new rules, you know, and I really think that's kind of how the Israelites are feeling in this time.

Something that was not okay for so long.

All of a sudden, it's okay.

Their conscience had to adjust to that.

So Paul lets them know what sacrifice now looks like for followers of Jesus Christ.

And it's actually harder, the Jews are going to find out, than the old sacrificial system.

Keeping our lives on the altar of God at all times.

You know, I think for some of us, if you've been walking with the Lord for any amount of time, phrases like this, like we're covering right now, living sacrifice, I think sometimes the meaning starts to soften.

Or maybe it's our hearts that start to become calloused to these ideas of, oh yeah, living sacrifice.

Yeah, I gave my life to God years ago.

Yeah, I'm good.

But today I want you to put yourself in the seats of the Roman Church with their understanding of what sacrifice meant in that day.

And imagine hearing this for the first time ever.

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

You know, that means that you give up your life, not physically to the point of death yet, but in every other way living for God.

Before they were sacrificing part of their livelihood.

Now they're sacrificing all of their livelihood.

Their life as a whole, including everything that they had.

Remember how we talked about putting ourselves last here in the beginning this morning?

You know, right here, this is really about giving up our rights.

At least what we perceive to be our rights.

This is really about giving up our right to spend money however we want.

Giving up our right to do whatever we want with the time that we have, giving up our right to spend that time however we want doing whatever it might be.

Giving up the right to identify in anything that is not God.

This is about surrendering everything, including our right to God.

You know, as a follower of Christ, our identity is supposed to be found in Christ and in Christ alone.

My primary identity is not a pastor.

It's not a husband, it's not a father, it's not being heterosexual, it's not being male.

My primary identity is in Christ.

I am a follower of Christ.

I'm not supposed to find my identity in any of those other things.

Because our identity needs to be found in Christ.

And that should be how people identify us.

That should be how people identify me.

Oh, that's the guy that follows Jesus.

Not, oh, that's the guy that fills in the blank.

And Galatians 2.20 addresses this.

Where Paul writes, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

That is the attitude.

Galatians 2.20 is the attitude of a true living sacrifice.

Where somebody asks, like, oh, my life?

Like, oh no, I no longer live.

It's Christ living in me.

And that's the only way that we can be the next part of this verse where it says, holy and pleasing.

A life surrender to Christ, a living sacrifice for Him.

Christ living through us.

It's only because of God's mercy and Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection that we can even be a sacrifice that's acceptable to God.

You see, it's when we get out of the way that we become holy and pleasing to God.

And I know at this point you might be thinking, you know, but Chris, you know, then won't we lose who we are?

Won't we lose our identity if we deny ourselves and allow Christ to rule in us and allow him to do whatever he wants?

No, you see, it's only then that we come into the fullness of all that God has created us to be.

When we sacrifice all of those things and give him control and a complete surrender of all of those things for him to be in control of.

And I know firsthand that it can be scary at first to surrender everything to God.

Yo, surrendering your job, your income, surrendering your kids, surrendering your school, surrendering all of your money, surrendering all of your possessions to God.

It's really a stretch of faith.

But I guarantee you, once you have surrendered all of those things, it's hard to imagine trying to manage and control all of those things on your own again.

But I promise you, it's gonna be better than however you see yourself right now.

It's gonna be better than whatever control you think you might have over those things right now.

And Paul says, this is your true worship.

This is your reasonable worship, some translations say.

Some say, this is your logical worship.

Being a living sacrifice.

When we see Jesus as not just our Savior, but we see Jesus truly as Lord, sitting on the throne of our life.

You know, being a living sacrifice, what Paul's bringing in here, should be our natural worshipful response to God's love.

Now, because of our English vernacular, I think we oftentimes over-associate the word worship with music.

That's not what Paul's talking about here.

It's a sliver of what he's talking about.

But it's not all that Paul's talking about when he's talking about our reasonable worship to the Lord.

Warren Wearsby has a quote in his book, Real Worship, that says, Worship is everything we do.

It's just a matter of who or what we are worshiping in each moment.

You see, when God created us, he created us to worship.

But the problem is the object of our worship has been diverted from God and has become polluted by sin.

Even atheists worship, they'll tell you they don't, but even atheists worship, they just worship themselves.

They don't believe there's anything out there better or higher than themselves.

So they become their own idol.

But everybody is worshiping all the time.

But whether we intend to or not, we're worshiping.

And if you aren't worshiping God in any given moment, then the question becomes what are we worshiping in those moments?

And here's a great exercise that somebody taught me a long time ago.

He used to say if you aren't sure what your idols are in your life, look at your bank statement and look at your calendar.

And then honestly ask yourself what is taking more time?

And attention and resources in my life right now than God is.

And then ask yourself: what is taking up more of my thought life right now than God?

And if you've been walking with the Lord for a long time, don't dismiss yourself from this exercise just because you're already a Christian.

You know, I think the whole process of sanctification, of becoming more and more like Jesus daily, is God knocking down our idols one at a time until the day we die.

And those idols will look different for each and every one of us that are sitting here today.

You know, I think actually in our culture, idolatry is harder to identify than it was back in biblical times.

You know, in biblical times, it's like, hey, look, that person is physically bowing down to that statue.

That person is physically giving this sacrifice on this altar right before that statue.

But for us, our idols are things that we bow down to internally.

And we might not even realize that we're worshiping an idol when we are.

You know, years ago, God had to point out an idol in my life.

And I didn't even know that I was bowing down to that idol internally.

I grew up loving football.

I'd watch any chance I got.

I would watch any level, whether high school, college, NFL, in-person, on TV.

I just loved watching football.

And I loved playing it in junior high and in high school.

But in my 20s, the Lord had to have a little talk with me about it.

Because if my favorite college or pro team lost, the rest of my day was shot.

I was just angry.

And all of a sudden, I felt really convicted about how invested I was into a team filled with players I didn't know, playing a game that had no effect on my life whatsoever.

Yet I allowed those players in that game to affect my life and to take way more time and attention and influence in my life that God wanted to possess for himself.

And God showed me that this was an idol that needed to be knocked down in my life.

And he didn't say stop watching football.

I still enjoy it, I still find it very entertaining.

But God wanted the time, attention, and influence that I was giving to that sport to be given to him.

And now I can watch and root for a team that I like and be like, bummer, they lost.

Or, you know what, I wasn't able to see the game today.

I had other things going on, and it's just not a big deal anymore.

But my point in telling you this is it can be something that simple that takes God's place, and we don't even realize it in the moment.

Because I didn't realize it because I never actually bowed down and knelt before my TV to watch these games.

But it was something internally that God had to work on in my life.

Alright, verse 2.

At this point we should be out by dark.

It'll pick up, I promise.

Verse 2.

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

So that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Now that word we see there, conformed, means to be shaped, it means to be molded specifically in this context by the world.

You know, it's trying to fit into a mold that we're told that we need to fit into.

And the world, and I'm sure you've noticed this, is working so hard to conform us to be more like it.

And telling us that we need to accept certain things and tolerate certain things.

And when we listen to music and movies and the news and advertisements, they're all just bombarding us with what we should be like.

They're trying to tell us what love really is.

They're telling us to follow our heart, telling us you do you, and all of those things that are completely the opposite of what God says.

But God tells us that the way in which we see all of those things that the world's trying to conform us into needs to be through the lens of Scripture.

Because Scripture addresses all of those things.

And it's through Scripture and the Holy Spirit as our teacher that we need to evaluate everything that the world is throwing at us.

And if scripture and what the world are telling us don't match up, we need to not question the world.

We need, I mean, we need to question the world.

Not question God.

Because our culture constantly changes, but God never changes.

Because what did Paul just say a few verses ago, last week?

For who has known the mind of God and who has been his counselor?

And I promise his counselor has not been our culture.

So Paul says, don't be conformed to this world.

Instead, what does he say?

Be transformed.

Be changed into another form.

You know, this is the same Greek word that we get the word, our English word for metamorphosis from.

Like a tadpole to a frog, or think of like a caterpillar to a butterfly.

Completely changed in form from the inside out.

That's what God wants to do with us.

To transform us from the people that we were, you know, slaves to our flesh, slaves to this world.

He wants to transform us to be born again into the family of God, in which that's where we start that process of sanctification that we've been talking about.

To go from slaves to our flesh and being molded to this world to being living sacrifices that are crucified with Christ.

And how does Paul say this transformation takes place, this metamorphosis?

By the renewing of your mind.

And I think there are two keys of renewing our mind that I want to share with you this morning.

I think the first key is being with God, listening to him and believing every word that he tells us.

A renewed mind comes from knowing God.

And the best way to do that is to be in his word.

To be in prayer, to not just talk to him, but to listen to him as well.

Knowing that what he's told us in his word is the truth.

And allowing that truth to penetrate our hearts and then to seep into everything that we do.

You know, people so often ask, you've probably had people ask you this.

I've had a lot of people ask me this, but you know, how do I hear the voice of the Lord?

How do I know what God's will is for my life or for this specific decision?

God gave us 66 books in the Bible in which he's given us his voice, in which he will speak to us anytime that we open it.

You see, it's when we get to know him.

Not get to know about him.

It's when we get to know him that the renewing of our mind starts to take place.

So that's first, the renewing of our mind.

Now, the second way that we need to renew our mind is to take every thought captive to obey Christ, as we see in 2 Corinthians 10, 5.

Part of us being a living sacrifice is sacrificing our thought life to obedience to Christ.

And this can sometimes, I think, be the hardest part of being a living sacrifice.

Knowing when our thoughts are not pleasing to God, knowing when our thoughts are detrimental to ourselves, or knowing when our thoughts are actually lies from the enemy.

And the world has fed us so many lies that I think we still believe a lot of those lies, even as Christians, about how we're supposed to look, or about how we're supposed to behave.

Lies about us being worthless or unlovable or not measuring up in some way to the world.

But God's word tells us that we're beautifully and wonderfully made.

God's word tells us that he loves us beyond measure.

God's word tells us that we have so much value to him that he gave his only son Jesus Christ so that we might be saved.

Think about it this way.

When you take anything into captivity, including our thoughts, it means that whatever's taken into captivity is now in control of whatever took it captive.

Because whatever is captive at one point had to be conquered.

You know, if a thought crosses our mind and it doesn't match up with God's word, it has to go.

It can't stay.

Now, if a thought crosses our mind and it agrees with God's word, it can stay.

It can build a home, it can leave a toothbrush in the bathroom.

It can hang out as long as it wants.

You know, the renewing of our mind means conquering lies.

And the best way to do that is to replace those thoughts with the truth of God's word.

And then to believe it.

You know, it's fixing our minds upon what Philippians 4.8 tells us.

Fixing our minds on whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any moral excellence, and if there is anything praiseworthy, dwell on these things.

And all of those things are found in God's word.

And what we're talking about here is really a discipline.

And discipline takes work and effort and repetition on our part.

Because our flesh wants us to focus on what's negative, focus on what's outrageous in the news that day, focus on the bad, focus on what's wrong, focus on what's impure.

Our flesh wants our feelings to tell us what truth is.

Our flesh wants us to focus on the things that the world values, like status and wealth, the corporate ladder or appearance.

And all the while, God's telling us to not let those things conform us, but allow God to transform us through the power of his word.

To change to another form from the inside out through the renewing of our minds daily.

And all of this is so that we may discern the perfect will of God.

Not somebody else, not Google, not a commentary, so our renewed mind may discern the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

You want to know God's will?

Keep your nose in the word.

Verse 3.

For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think.

You know, isn't this at the core of all sin?

Thinking too highly of ourselves.

You know, all sin comes down to pride.

We think that we know better.

We think that we have a better way.

Or we think that certain things don't apply to us because we have certain circumstances that kind of give us a free pass in some way that nobody else really understands.

You know, one of the main ingredients in defeating sin is humility.

Realizing that we can do nothing of worth on our own.

Recognizing that it's only the power of God living inside of us that can defeat sin.

Recognizing that God knows better, and then allowing Him to do His will.

All of that is tied up in not thinking more highly than we should of ourselves.

You know, if you think at any point that you're better than anyone else, you know, even those outside the church, then I think we're failing if we ever have those thoughts.

Any elevation of thought, at least, you know, things thinking things like, at least I'm not as low as that person.

At least I'm better than that person.

If we ever have those thoughts, we're in trouble.

Even if they're horrid sinners, even if they have horrid theology, it doesn't make us better than them in any way.

You know, as soon as we elevate ourselves in that way, we're doing exactly what the Jews in Rome were doing.

Well, at least I'm not a Gentile.

You know, the Gentiles, whoa, you know, we're about here, God's up here, but those Gentiles, you know, they're way down there.

No, we're all down on the lowest playing field in comparison to God.

And as soon as we put ourselves above other people, as soon as we put ourselves above other churches, we're thinking of ourselves as higher than we should.

You know, Paul, our author here, said that he considered himself as the chief of sinners.

That's in 1 Timothy 1 15.

He never elevated himself above anyone because he realized that he wasn't any better than anyone else.

He truly saw himself as the chief sinner.

Look at the second half of verse 3.

He says, instead of that, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.

You know, sensibly means humbly, having a good understanding of who you really are in comparison to God and not in comparison to others.

And it is no coincidence that Paul mentions this right before he talks about spiritual gifting.

So Paul focuses here in verse 4.

It's going to go from individual action to how the church should function as a whole.

So look at verse 4.

Now, as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function.

In the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.

God has gifted each one of us.

I want to say that again just to make sure that everybody is listening, because I'm talking to each person in this room.

God has gifted each one of us.

If you're already discounting yourself and you don't think that you're gifted, stop it.

God has gifted you in a unique way so that you can bless the people.

Get this, so that you can bless the people that are sitting next to you right now.

And He's gifted you to a capacity that only you can fill and only you can function in within this body of believers here at Ab.

You know, we so often get this false humility, I think, and we think thoughts, or we even say, Well, you know, I really have nothing that I could offer to the church body.

And I want to, if that is how you feel, I want to talk to you right now.

So you're telling me that the Holy Spirit gave you a gift that isn't functional.

That's really what you're saying, if that is your attitude.

We are to function as a body with hands and feet and head and eyes and a nose and a mouth and all of those working parts.

And I need every part of my body to function if I want to function in a healthy way.

And that is how God designed the church body.

Right here at Abide to function.

With all of the parts functioning in unity together.

And if right now you're thinking, yeah, but I can't volunteer on Sundays.

Well, I want you to look at verses six through eight with me.

And then tell me if any of these are something that you need to sign up for.

Okay?

Starting with verse six.

According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts.

If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one's faith.

You have to have faith if you have the gift of prophecy.

If you're going to declare a message from the Lord and trust that that message is right and then speak it out.

So if you have that gift, Paul is saying, use it in proportion to the faith that you have.

Verse 7, if service, use it in service.

Basically, get to it.

What are you waiting for?

Don't hold back from the body of Christ if you have that gift of service.

If teaching, in teaching.

So if you have the ability to explain God's word in a way that brings understanding, that's clear, and that helps people understand God's word, do it.

You don't need to have a podium on Sundays.

Just tell somebody that you're sitting next to, hey, I read this this week and this is what God showed me.

You can use that gift of teaching in that simple way, just like that.

Verse 8.

Exhorting and exhortation.

So if you have a word for someone to spur them on, or encourage them, or admonish them, he's saying, just do it.

Don't hold back.

Just do it.

Giving with generosity.

So if you have the gift of giving, and this just isn't talking about tithes and offerings and stuff like this.

This is talking about anything.

Maybe you've known somebody like that before that has the gift of giving.

That God just tends to funnel his resources through because they're just so faithful to redistribute those things.

You know, I've known people like that, and it's just incredible.

They're so faithful with the giving that he just keeps giving them more to funnel it through.

And if that's you, Paul's saying, do it generously.

Don't hold back.

God's going to keep supplying those resources for you to funnel through.

Gift of leading, he says, do it with diligence.

If you're in a leadership position in any capacity, don't do it half-hearted.

Do it earnestly.

Do it with intention.

Take it seriously.

And be diligent to do it well.

Even when things get really hard, don't give up.

Be faithful in it.

Showing mercy, he says, do it with cheerfulness.

If you have the gift of mercy, don't give it begrudgingly.

Well, you really don't deserve this, but I have the gift of mercy, so I'm just gonna have to give you it right now.

No, do it with cheerfulness.

Glad that you have the gift.

And glad to administer that gift, even if the person doesn't deserve it.

Because if you're given mercy, it means the person doesn't deserve it.

So a question for you.

Do you need to sign up to exhort somebody?

Or to teach them what you learned in Scripture that week?

Or to give somebody your time or your treasure in any capacity, or to serve them in some way.

It would be really bad if it's like, sorry, I can't encourage you today.

I'm not signed up this Sunday for that.

It's like, no, that's not how the body of Christ functions.

But note what all of these gifts have in common in this passage.

Using the gift.

And as I'll point out every time we talk about spiritual gifts, all of these mentioned in our passage today have to do with blessing others.

Our gifts are not for us.

And all the different lists that you see throughout scripture of spiritual gifts, the only one that can also be used for self-edification edification is the gift of tongues.

Everything else is for the edification, for the building up of the body of Christ.

The body of Christ is supposed to serve in that same function as our bodies do daily.

Each member serving in a different way, serving each other for the benefit of all, of which you will be one of the benefactors.

And you might not even know what that function is at this moment, what that gifting that God has given you is.

You might not be aware of how God has gifted you yet.

And if that is you, don't stress about it.

Just pray and be available and willing to serve, and you'll find yourself doing it.

And you'll know when you found that gift because you're going to find joy in it.

You're going to have that attitude of, I can't believe I get to serve God in this way that I love to serve God.

You know, most of the time it's not going to feel like work.

Sometimes it will, but it's not going to feel like work when you're truly working in your gifting.

But you're going to find that it'll be a joy when you're working in that area that God has specifically gifted you for the body of Christ.

So will you please turn to Colossians chapter 3 with me?

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

So that's six books to the right in your Bible if you don't know where that is.

Romans, 12 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.

You'll find it right there.

You know, this is usually in the point in the sermon where I want to give us something to walk out the door with.

You know, what is our takeaway?

What is our application of this scripture?

But today, I'm going to let Paul do that for us.

Because he's going to do a lot better than I can.

And we're going to end with this.

So Colossians chapter 3, we're going to start reading in verse 1.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

And really just take this in.

Because this is just a great summary of everything that we've talked about today.

Colossians chapter 3, starting verse 1.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is.

Seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on those things above, not on earthly things.

For you died, and your life is hidden with you.

With Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Therefore, put to death what belongs to your earthly nature.

Sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.

Because of these, God's wrath is coming upon the disobedient.

And you once walked in these things when you were living in them.

But now put away all the following anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self.

You're being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.

In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free, but Christ is all and in all.

Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

If anyone has a grievance against another, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive.

Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity, and let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts, and be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God, the Father, through him.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you so much for the richness of your word.

Lord, I thank you that you have gifted each one of us uniquely for your purposes.

To bless the people that are around us, to bless you in that way for your kingdom.

Lord, I pray that you would continue to develop those giftings, that you would continue to show us how you've gifted us specifically so that we can work within that calling that you've given us.

Lord, help us to function in a healthy way.

And in order for us to function, Lord, there has to be unity among this body.

So I pray specifically for that unity, that we can work together for one common cause, for the body of Christ, glorifying and honoring and worshiping you, God, in every way.

Would you stir those things up?

Lord, help us to stir those things up in each other as well.

All for your glory, all for your honor.

Lord, help us.

We need your help in this way.

Lord, for anybody that's here today that doesn't even know what their gifting is, or maybe already had those thoughts of, oh, God hasn't really gifted me.

Lord, help us to know that you have gifted each one of us.

And help us to have that desire within, to work within that gifting that you've given us.

Lord, we love you so much.

We thank you for how you set everything in motion and how you've brought this body of believers together.

We just desire to be a healthy, functioning body of Christ right here in Atascadero, right here on this bottom floor of this Lutheran church, Lord.

Do that work we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.