Romans 12:1-2; A Living Sacrifice

If you have a copy of God's word, turn with me this morning.

Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Romans 12.

If you need a pew Bible this morning, you can see that in front of you, page 964 in the Pew Bible.

We've been in a study through the book of Romans, and we're in a turning point this morning in our study.

We enter a new section for 11 chapters.

The Apostle Paul has shown us who God is, and he's been showing us what God has done for sinners like us.

And now Paul begins to answer another question.

And it's essentially, so what?

In light of what God has done, so what?

What does that look like for us to live in light of a God who has shown mercy to sinners like us?

What does that do for how we live our lives in this world?

That's what Paul begins to answer, starting in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

With that in mind, follow along with me.

This is God's word.

Romans 12, 1 and 2.

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.

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.

This is the word of the Lord.

Let me pray and ask for God to be with us through his spirit and the preaching of the word this morning.

Please bow with me.

Father, do come.

We can't understand your word without your spirit.

And so would you come and attend to the hearing of the word and to the preaching of the word.

Lord, it's no accident that we're here.

You've brought us here this morning for this passage.

And so speak, O Lord, speak.

We are listening.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

A few years ago I saw a post online, and the title of the post was How to Be a Mom in Today's World.

And it said, Well, make sure your children's academic, emotional, psychological, spiritual, physical, nutritional, and social needs are all met completely.

While being careful not to overstimulate, understimulate, or helicopter them.

Screen free, GMO-free, plastic-free, and in a pesticide-free two-story home with a backyard and 1.5 siblings spaced at exactly two years apart.

And then went on and said some other things.

And then at the bottom it said, How to be a mom in every generation before ours.

Feed them sometimes.

I suspect that that was a few years ago.

That list has only gotten longer.

And we laugh, but we feel that, don't we?

A list, I mean, think about that.

A list that nobody wrote, that nobody can finish, and that everyone is measured by.

A list that we can just say and think right now, probably off the top of our head, how to be a good Christian today.

And we might say things like, well, read the Bible through every year, pray every morning, serve, give, be in a small group, share your faith, never lose your temper, always be joyful, even when you're not.

And we could go on and on and on with our list.

And we feel about that list probably a lot like the moms feel about theirs.

Tired and behind.

And some of us are worn out trying to keep it.

Some of us have quietly given up on that list years ago.

And maybe we've even traded it for the world's list.

The world's list maybe has moved right on in.

Worn out and worn down.

He offers a better way.

He doesn't start with a list.

He's going to give us some things, but he doesn't start with a list for Christians.

He starts somewhere else entirely.

Not with what you must do, but he starts with what has been done for you.

What has been done for us?

He calls it the mercies of God.

What does mercy do to a person?

That's the question.

What does mercy do to a person?

Three things we see in this passage mercy moves you, mercy claims you, mercy remakes you.

Mercy moves you, claims you, and remakes you.

That's where we're headed this morning.

Let's look at our first point.

Mercy moves you.

Look at verse one.

You see that first few words there, therefore?

Being a good English student, and it's true when we read and study our Bibles, when you see that word, you need to stop and ask a question.

What's it there for?

And it's there for what's come, uh what's gone ahead behind it.

So it points you backwards.

And it's there for all of Romans 1 through 11.

And we can't get into all the details in 1 through 11, but think about it, it covers a lot of ground.

It says we're guilty.

It also says that Christ died in our place.

Talks about justification a lot.

What is justification?

Being declared righteous by faith.

It's a gift that God gives us.

Romans 8, there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Then we get into Romans 9, 10, and 11.

You are chosen by God.

Those, that's the mercies of God.

And notice all of those things.

And notice, and you see it there, the word is plural, mercies.

And so this is not talking about a general feeling that God is kind and nice.

This is a list of things that God has done, actually done for you.

And I think it's important to start here this morning, particularly as we have the weeks to come, because there's going to be a lot of commands, but please know we do not start Romans chapter 12 from zero.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

And we can't miss this.

You come to this verse and to the verses that follow: already forgiven, already loved, already accepted, and already held.

Before Paul asks you to give your whole life, he reminds you that God has already given his for you.

And I point that out a lot.

I just did it in the new members' class again.

We say this a lot because I think it's one of the most important things to get about the Bible.

Who you are always comes before what you do.

And you see it in the Old Testament.

God frees Israel from Egypt, and before he gave them a single commandment, he told them who they were, that they were his people.

Paul, he does it in lots of places, but we see it very clearly here in Romans.

Mercies first, then the call to obey.

And I tell you that because if you flip the order, you get religion.

If you flip the order, you lose the gospel.

Let me give you an illustration.

Joe Novenson is a retired pastor in our denomination.

He was at Lookout Mountain Prez for many years, and he tells this story about when his boys were younger, he would get down and he would look at them and he would say, Boys, do I love you?

And they would roll their eyes.

Yes, Dad, you love us.

Will I ever stop loving you?

No, Dad, you won't stop loving us.

Is there anything you could do to make me stop loving you?

No, Dad.

And then he asked, if you robbed a bank and killed someone, would I stop loving you?

And his boys paused and they said, Yeah, I think if we did that, and if I did that, that you would stop loving me.

And Joe grabbed them by the chin with tears in his eyes, and he said, Even if you robbed a bank, and even if you killed someone, I would not stop loving you.

And I would come to prison every single day, and I would bring you jelly sandwiches because I know that you like them.

We hear that and we think, well, it's a terrible way to raise a kid, right?

Won't they run wild?

Won't they go off the deep end?

I don't think so.

Does that mean that being a bank robber means that you don't go to prison and there's not consequences?

Absolutely not.

The consequences are real, but think about those boys.

Are they more afraid of disappointing their dad or less?

Joe didn't say, be good, so I'll love you.

He said, I love you.

Now go be my sons.

And that is verse one.

And so what does that mean for us this morning?

If you have been serving God out of guilt and fear, ask yourself this why do you do what you do for him?

And if in that answer is so that he won't be mad at me or get me, then you are working for a verdict.

And that kind of obedience will make you miserable.

That kind of obedience will kill your joy and will fail you in the end.

It wears you out.

I mean, fear and guilt, they might work for a little while, but eventually you go numb because it doesn't lead anywhere.

It doesn't lead to lasting change and transformation.

It breaks down for you when you sin.

I mean, think about it.

If your standing depends on your performance, you can't afford to blow it.

And you can't afford to admit that you blew it.

And so what do you do if it's standing on your performance and that's where your anchor is?

Well, you hide and you cover up and you fake it till you make it and you explain it away, or you start pointing the finger at everyone else and start blaming everyone else.

But if you are working from mercy, you can say, I did blow it.

I failed.

But I've got the mercy of Jesus, and so I can experience repentance and I can run to him because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And it breaks down for you when you suffer.

Because if you're living the Christian life working and obeying for a verdict so that God won't be mad at you, then it'll either lead to one despair, because when you suffer, you'll say instantly, what did I do?

God is paying me back for something.

Or it'll turn you bitter.

Because you'll say, God, look at what I've done for you.

Look at how I've served you.

This isn't fair.

The person who's working for mercy, they might not know why God's doing what he's doing, but they know the Father's hand because they know the Father's heart.

Because they've seen the Father's heart at the cross.

That's what working and obeying from mercy looks like.

Not perfection and not always cheerful, but you're working from this position that you know you're a child, a child of God, not a servant on probation.

And so you can run towards him when you fail and blow it, and you can trust him when you hurt and when you suffer.

That's how you live from mercy.

You keep going back to it over and over and over.

You don't wait till you feel it.

You just keep going back to it and count his specific mercies.

And so maybe here's an exercise this week: something really practical.

Start in Romans chapter 1 and read through those first 11 chapters.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

It might take you several weeks and just start writing down the mercies of God towards you.

Count them one by one and remember what God has done.

Secondly, mercy claims you.

Look at the rest of verse one.

To present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Notice the word sacrifice there.

I think it's interesting.

Paul doesn't say serve, he doesn't say obey, he says sacrifice.

And in the temple, you would bring an animal and put it on the altar, and you gave all of it to God.

That was your sacrifice.

And so we have a picture here.

That's the picture of what Christ has done for us.

He gave himself for us as a sacrifice.

And now Paul asks you to give yourself to him.

Not your leftovers, not just Sunday morning.

He asked us here to give all of ourselves.

Why?

Why all of you?

Well, there's lots of things we could say, but because we're not our own.

He is creator, and we are creature.

He made us and he bought us back.

And the one who's asking for all of you, in other words, another way to say it, is not a landlord.

He's the one who's given him self and given all of himself for us.

So this is a thank offering, a thank offering.

It's a response for what he has done for us.

And so what does all of you look like?

Well, Paul tells us here.

It means offering your bodies.

Isn't that interesting?

Your body is your life.

It's where life happens.

And so think about your mouth and how you talk and how you use your words, your eyes, and what you look at on your screens or on your phone, your hands, what you do and how you work, and how you interact with the people around you who irritate you, or your feet.

Who do you move towards?

And what do you do with your time?

All of it, Paul says, everything goes on the altar as a spiritual act of worship.

And so I think that is so helpful because it redefines us what worship is.

It is not only what is happening in this room on Sunday mornings, it is the 166 hours that are happening outside of this room the rest of the week.

And he says, living sacrifice.

You see the gospel again.

We were dead, and we were brought to life.

And the gospel again comes first.

And the animals on the altar were dead, and they stayed put because they were dead.

We're alive, which means that we can crawl off the altar.

So you see what that means, don't you?

It's it's a daily offering.

We offer ourselves daily as a living sacrifice.

Jesus says it this way in the Gospels take up your cross daily and follow me.

In January of 2007, this might be a story you have heard or it might be familiar after I mentioned it.

A construction worker by the name of Wesley Altre was waiting in the New York subway.

He was with two of his girls when a young man that was near him had a stroke or a seizure and fell into the tracks.

There was a train coming very quickly, and so Altre jumps into the tracks, presses the man down between the rails, and lays on top of him, and five cars roll over them inches from his head.

If you read the article, it says there was actually grease on his cap.

Now, can you imagine that the young man gets up and he brushes himself off and he says, Well, thanks, I owe you one, and walks away.

You see, saying thanks wouldn't be enough, but neither would paying him back because he couldn't pay him back.

The man was helpless on those tracks.

All he could do was take the life that hadn't been given back to him and go live.

And that man was a victim.

Who are we?

Who does the Bible say we are?

We're rebels.

And God gave us our life back.

And God gave his life for us.

Do you see the logic?

You see the logic here?

How can you receive someone who gave himself utterly for you and only give yourself partially to them?

That's what Paul is saying here.

And so, where do you still say in your life?

And I've got lots of places in mind, Lord, not that.

Lord, you can have that, but you can't have this.

Maybe it's your money, maybe it's your screens, maybe it's your words, maybe it's your time, maybe it's your sexuality.

And we can hear this and we can think, and I get it, because I'm here, I can't, I hold things back every single day.

And so, but don't miss what Paul says here.

He doesn't only say sacrifice, he says holy and acceptable.

And offering was acceptable to God because it was without blemish, never because of its size.

And you are not without blemish.

I am not without blemish.

Who is?

Christ is.

And here's the gospel you are holy and acceptable because of his offering that he has given in your place.

And don't miss this because you're not a tenant trying to pay enough rent to stay.

You're a child of God, and you can bring your offering without fear because the Father has already said yes to you in Christ Jesus.

And so here's what it means for this morning.

Whatever you are gripping and white knuckling, please hear this.

The one who is asking for everything has given you everything, and he is not asking you to earn your place.

You have a place.

And so that means that we can repent, that we can turn, and we can get up tomorrow morning, and we can sit at the edge of our bed, and we can hold our arms and our hands out, and we can say, Lord, please help me.

I love you.

I am yours.

And I am offering myself to you today as a living sacrifice.

And some of you this morning are dealing with things that you didn't choose.

The diagnosis or the empty chair or the table or at the table or the job that just went away very, very suddenly.

And you can hold those things with clenched fists and you can white knuckle them.

Or you can open up your hands and you can say, Lord, I didn't choose this.

And I need your help to deal with this, but I'm going to give this to you.

I know your heart and I trust your heart because I've seen your heart in Jesus hanging on a cross.

And so I'm going to give this to you.

Lastly, mercy remakes you.

Look at verse 2.

Two commands here.

Stop being pressed and let God remake you.

Do not be conformed to this world.

By world, here it means the spirit of this age.

It's a way of life that runs against God and lives in this world as if God does not matter.

And this way of life has its own gospel.

And you know the gospel because we hear it every single day, don't we?

You do you.

Be true to yourself.

Do whatever it is that you want to do.

And we could think of a bunch of other phrases.

It's in the air that we breathe, and it comes through every single thing around us, from the music that we listen to, the shows that we watch, to the news channels, to the people around us, to the desires of our own hearts.

And Paul says, do not let the world press you into its mold.

And so here's a question to ask honestly, and it's a hard one.

Could people tell any difference?

Can they tell any difference between the way you live and the way the world lives?

How do you figure that out?

There's lots of ways to figure it out.

Look at your bank statement.

How do you spend your money?

Look at your calendar and how you spend your time.

Look at your pleasure.

When life is hard, what do you reach for?

To unwind and just to simply take a break and feel good.

You see, Paul, he doesn't stop at no.

He says, Do not be conformed, and then look what else, the other command, be transformed.

And by the word is really rich.

And it doesn't mean just a makeover, it means a complete change of life all the way down to the core of who you are, a new person, a new kind of self.

And so we're seeing here that mercy doesn't only forgive us, certainly does, but mercy also changes you and transforms you and remakes you.

And so then how does that happen?

Keep following Paul here.

Renewing of your mind.

That's not just information.

What it's getting at is the lens in which you see all of life through, what you assume, what you love, what you picture when you picture the good life.

It's a mind, a mind shaped by the world on a bad day, looks at the world and says, I'm on my own.

It looks at someone who's hurt you or who you're in conflict with and says, they owe me, I will make them pay.

A renewed mind starts to see things through the lens of the gospel and starts saying, No, God, you are with me.

You will never leave me nor forsake me.

They look at places of tension or conflict in relationships and says, I have been forgiven.

So I can forgive.

And every one of those thoughts rests on something that Christ has done.

You're viewing the world through the lens of the gospel and through the scriptures.

And notice what Paul doesn't say.

He doesn't say transform yourself.

It's a command, yes, but listen to how it's phrased: be transformed.

In other words, let it be done to you.

You can't renew your own mind by willpower.

God has to do it through his word and through spirit.

And it isn't, and this is interesting, and I think needs to be pointed out, it's not a one-time event.

The commands are present tense, and so keep refusing the world.

Keep on being transformed is the nature of the passage.

And so then why does Paul want us to renew our minds?

Keep reading so that by testing you may discern what is the will of God.

A renewed mind can take a real decision or a real idea that the world, and we get this every day, don't we?

That the world puts in front of you, and a renewed mind puts it up next to God and puts it up next to the scriptures and says, What does God say?

Is this a wise use of my money?

Is this a good use of my time?

Does this look like Jesus?

See, will here is not some secret plan to crack, it's the revealed will of God.

And so a renewed mind puts all of life up next to the revealed will of God and says, God, what do you say?

Think about it this way: a piano.

A piano doesn't go out of tune all at once.

It does it one string loosens just a hair at a time.

Humidity swells in the room and shrinks the wood, and no one really tends to notice until you get a tuner out.

And the tuner gets a tuning fork, and for the first time you hear the note the way it is supposed to sound.

Notice two things.

The piano cannot tune itself, and the tuner doesn't tune it based on all the other pianos in the town.

The tuner tunes it to the one true pitch.

And that's the renewing of your mind.

Left to ourselves, we drift.

And so what are we to do?

We're to put our lives next to the one true note.

And that note is Jesus.

How do we do that?

Right here, every single week.

Weekly worship where we sing about Jesus and we hear about Jesus.

We do it in community with people around us that point us to the true note and point us to Christ.

That's not you tuning yourself, that's you getting close enough for the tuner to do his work in you and to tune you into his image, so to speak.

Jesus, the one man who was offered every kingdom in the world, but refused to be pressed into its mold, he gave himself for you.

For me and you, people who conform all the time.

And Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 that we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

That's what God's working in you.

He's renewing you into the mind of Christ.

And so we are to stand in front of that note.

We are to stand in front of Jesus long enough until our life starts to come in tune with His.

That's what mercy does.

It moves you, it claims you, and it remakes you.

And you don't do the remaking, God does the remaking.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for your mercies.

Forgive us for how easily we let the world shape us.

And Holy Spirit, I pray that you would renew our minds, that you would keep us in front of Jesus, and that we would come every week and that you would sharpen us and tune us.

You help us in Jesus' name.

Amen.