June 1 sermon

Dedicated to God
Romans 12.1 – 8

The book of Romans is divided by most scholars into the theological section – chapters 1 -11 – and the practical section – chapters 12 – 16. Paul does this in most of his books – he sets forth the theology first and then applies it to life. That is what he does here.
In Chapter 1 he wrote that the righteous will life by faith.
In chapter 2 he says those who sin apart from the law will be judged and those who sin while under the law will be judged.
In Chapter 3 Paul writes that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
In Chapter 5 Paul wrote that because of his love for us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In Chapter 6 we learn that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.
In Chapter 8 Paul writes that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Because of all of that, Paul writes that we are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. Read Romans 12.1 – 2. The logical thing to do after all the things God has done for us is to give our bodies, our whole selves, to God as a living sacrifice. God wants all of me and all of you in his service. We used to talk about winning souls for the Lord. God want not just souls, but all of us. As Chrs we do not divide ourselves into parts, but we are whole beings and God wants all of us.
He does not demand that we give ourselves to God, but he urges us to give ourselves as living sacrifices to God. In the OT God told the Jews he wanted them to sacrifice animals to him and thousands of goats and sheep were sacrificed to him. These animals were killed and their blood was given as the sacrifice. God instead of that wants living sacrifices – we are to give ourselves to him to live for him every day. This is a pleasing sacrifice to God.
Have you committed yourself to God? There is a difference between becoming a Chr and committing ourselves to God. There should not be, but there is in practice. God wants all of me to serve him, all of us to serve him. He wants our talents, our love, our time, our money and all of us. Make a commitment to God right now – give him all of you.
Paul then goes on to tell us what this means. He says we are to be changed morally, mentally, and even our motivation. He says, do not be any longer conformed to the pattern of this world. The Chr is too much like the rest of the world. One of my Professors used to say that is alright to have the ship in the ocean, but not to have the ocean in the ship. The church is indeed in the world, but we can not have the world in the church, especially in morally. We need to be careful not to be conformed to the attitudes and actions of the world. Our world says that there is no such thing as sin. We should never judge the actions of any one. What is good for you is fine, but do not tell me what to do. What is good for me is what I follow. I can do any thing I want as long as I do not get caught or break the law. There are no absolutes in our world just choices I make about what makes me happy. At least that is what the world thinks.
I was listening to a radio program by Charles Colson this week. He was talking about two young men who have written a book entitled, Do Hard Things: Rebellion Against Low Expectations. The world expects kids to accomplish very little morally and educationally, but this book calls on kids to do the hard things even if the culture does not expect you to. This is where Chr kids go on mission trips to build a church or school instead of going to the beach and getting involved in sex and drugs. Do not be conformed to the pattern of the world.
The next phrase is “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Our thinking needs to be changed. Again we as Chrs too often have the same patterns of thinking as the world. We honor the rich and look down on the poor. We like the pretty people and avoid the not so pretty people. We watch the same movies and TV shows as the rest of the people around us. We have time and money for every thing that is a pleasure for us, but not the time or money for serving the Lord.
Our minds need to be renewed for the glory of God. I said yesterday in the wedding I had, there needs to be a transition when we get married from thinking about me to thinking about we, and from I to us. Before we are married a man or woman can think of what is best for me, but when he or she marries, the thinking needs to change to what is best for us. Some people never make that transition. When we become Chrs we need to stop thinking what do I want and start thinking about what God wants me to do and be. Chrs think differently from non-Chrs.
In one of the books I was reading this week, the writer told about his change from an unforgiving spirit and wanting revenge to being forgiving. He and his family had been hit in a car accident by a drunk driver. His wife, his daughter and his mother were all killed, and one other child was injured. He was naturally angry at the driver of the other car. But he said after time he recognized that this anger had changed to wanting revenge – real revenge. He saw that that was based on the unforgiveness he had in his heart. As Chrs we think like Jesus Christ so we can not want revenge. He talked about getting rid of the unforgiveness and revenge. That is having our minds renewed in Jesus Christ our Lord.
When we stop being conformed to the world and have our minds transformed to the mind of Christ, we will as the last part of this section says, “Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” For all of us as Chrs this is what we want more than anything in our lives – to know what the will of God is in our lives every minute. God knows what is best for us and that is to do his will. When we get outside his will we know it and the Spirit of God helps us to know it. When we are living according to the will of God we know that too. God never forces us into his will, but he leads us into that will, and then blesses us as we do his will. I felt very definitely that I was in the will of God on the mission trip to Zimbabwe, but you do not have to go to Africa to be in the will of God. Every day we can be in his good, pleasing, and perfect will. This is what the rest of the book of Romans is about – being in God’s will.
God had given us salvation and righteousness in Jesus Christ. Because of that, we dedicate our lives as a living sacrifice to God. Then we stop being conformed to the pattern of the world and have our minds transformed by the power of God. Then we will be in the perfect will of God again for his glory.