Excerpts from “Offerings to God” Well, the summer is nearly over and you can smell it in the air. The nights are getting cooler, and the leaves are fading now from their deep summer greens to duller hues of brown and red. The children are getting ready to go back to school this week and we all know that another season of life is changing. Even as the seasons change, In all of Paul’s letter to Romans, there is this spiritual dance—we do the two step. His letters are structured the same. That is, first, ideas and then ideals. Other comparisons can be used, but it is always based on cause and affect. First doctrines and then deeds; first beliefs and then behaviors; causes and consequences; reason and results; priorities and practices; Christ and character;grace and goodness; faith and faithfulness. Beginning with this chapter twelve through fifteen, Paul has favorite words which express his convictions. It seems to me that righteousness is his favorite word; we are to be in right relationships with ourselves, other people, and God as a consequence of God’s Spirit living inside of us. Another favorite word of his is holy; that is, we are a people set apart, special, sacred, living out the best life we can live as a consequence of having faith inside our heads and hearts. Another favorite word is love; that is, the whole law is summarized by loving your neighbor as you love yourself. In Romans 12:1 the Apostle Paul writes; “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” When you think of offerings, what do you think of, what images come to your mind? This past week I have been thinking about the word, offering, and many images come into my imagination. The first image I have of offerings is of old DanBuser. Now I am not sure if many of you knew old DanBuser, but when I came to be pastor of this church way back when, Dan was the interim pastor. Over lunch one Sunday, Dan went over the finer points of pastoring with me. He made sure I knew the first point as he waved his finger back and forth. Dan said in his gravely voice, “You never can have a worship service without having an offering, Wiegand.” He was very adamant. Well, when we have worship here at on Good Friday, I have never had an offering, and I always felt guilty about not having an offering on Good Friday. It seems I hear old Dan over in the shadows of the church, with his gravely voice, “Get those plates out there, Wiegand.” When I think of offerings, I think of the ushers here at church. In some ways, I think that once you are an usher, you always are an usher. Your job as an usher can last a long time. When I think of offerings, I think of writing out a check, weekly, monthly, annually. This check is an important gift to the work of Christ in the world. The habit and consistency of giving offerings to support the work of Christ is so important. When I think of offerings I think of our financial shortage this past year. We were short and we discussed that at our annual meeting with you. Now, we are projected to be short again, and the board is taking steps to remedy that. I ask you this morning to seriously consider what you are giving to the church, and how you may participate in upcoming fundraisers. When I think of offerings I think of the Christmas plays past and the traditional hymn, “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” I think of these three kings dressed elegantly and opulently, marching down the center aisle, bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the Christ child, born to be king. When I think of offerings, I think of the old 70’s television special, called ROOTS. The hero of that epic was a man by the name of KunteKinte. When his first child was born, he took that child and he lifted that child with his large hands into the moonbeam and he dedicated his child in thanksgiving to God. The history of the human race has always been giving offerings to God. That is the way it has always been and that is the way it will always be. It is the very nature of human beings to bring offerings to God. In every country, culture, tongue, tribe and nation, since the beginning of time, throughout the history of the human race, human beings have always been giving offerings to God. That is the way it has always been. That is the way it will always be. So, I ask the question, what kind of offerings does God want? What kinds of offerings does God desire? What kind of offerings does the true God, who created the heavens and the earth, the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the true God who raised Jesus from the dead, what kind of offerings does this true God want from you and me? Micah asks the rhetorical question, “Which animal should I bring for an offering, a pigeon, a bull or sheep—or maybe my first born?” That is what today’s Scripture is all about. The Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Today, I would like to briefly walk through this verse with you, and study it a word or a phrase at a time. ‘Therefore’ is the first word, the transitional word from the previous eleven chapters. Based on all the ideas and doctrines that Paul laid out—therefore… and now Paul begins with the moral consequences of his ideas and doctrines. We continue. “I urge you brothers (and sisters).” And the word urge means, “I exhort you, I plead with you, I beg you, I persuade you. Would you please listen.” And so the mood of the word is that of exhortation. Moses was in a similar mood when he wrote in the book of Deuteronomy, “O, that you would have this heart among you, that you would love the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments, that it would go well for you and your children. O, I pray that you would do this.” The spirit of the words are similar to the Apostle Paul when he said, “I beg you. I plead with you. I implore you. I urge you” The next phrase, “in view of God’s mercy.” I am begging you on the basis of the mercies of Almighty God. Have you experienced God’s mercy in your life? Look at the way that God has blessed you this day. Think of God. Look to Jesus. Look at eternal life. Look that you are alive in this moment. Look at the clothes that cover you, the food for your mouths, hands and eyes that work. Look at the significant other sitting next to you. Look at your children. Look at your friends and acquaintances who support you, love you, in good and bad. Tell me, is there anyone here today who does not feel that you have been immeasurably blessed by God? No, I think that we are all keenly aware that God has been immensely generous to all of us. I beg you. I plead with you. Please. Knowing that God has been so generous to you, that his mercies are new every morning, I beg you to offer… Next, we focus on that word, offer. When I think of the word, offer I think of the word present. When I think of the word, present, I think of the three kings. We three kings of Orient Are. The three kings come with their gold, frankincense and myth and kneel before the Christ child, and they present their gifts as if to a king. It is not to throw your gift to the Christ or casually toss it over. Rather with great dignity, the gifts are presented. The Bible says, I urge you. I plead with you. I implore you. Please. Based on the abundant mercies of Almighty God, to offer, to present with purpose… what’s next? The next phrase is, ‘your bodies’. What does Paul mean when he refers to presenting our bodies? By body, Paul means everything about you. Your eyes, your ears, your mouth, your tongue, your affections, feelings, your mind, your will. The totality of your person. Everything you have and everything you are. You present your total self to God. Again, Moses says the same thing in the Old Testament when he says, “O, that you would love the Lord your God, with ALL your heart, and ALL mind, and ALL your soul.” Paul is saying that you and I are to love God with our whole selves. With everything you are. You give your whole self to God. You give your mind to God, and everything you think. Your eyes and all that you see. Your ears and all that you hear. Your mouth and all that you say. Your face and all the love you express through the expressions on your face. Your heart and all that you feel. Your hands and all that you touch. Your feet and every place you go. You give your total self to God. During the children’s sermon, I put the body of a little boy into the offering plate and hoisted him and the plate onto the offering table. The whole little boy was sitting in the plate and that is what God wants from us. That is the best offering we can give to God: when we give our total selves to God. I plead with you, I beg you, please. Knowing that God has been so generous and merciful with you, that you offer…your whole life to God, as a… living sacrifice. As a living sacrifice. Normally when you think of a sacrifice, you think of something that is dead. When you think of a sacrifice, you think of the Old Testament. You take a pigeon, lamb or bull, kill it, and offer it as a sacrifice. The very nature of a sacrifice in the Old Testament is to offer God something which is dead. But here, in the Apostle Paul, you get the feeling of giving a living, breathing, walking, moving, functioning human being. I present my life as a living offering to God. A living sacrifice. All the strong Christians that I have met in my life, and I have met many, have this characteristic in common: they give their lives as a thank offering to God. They give themselves away to their spouse, their children, their God, their friends, and their mission in life. Now, mission doesn’t mean your job or vocation. Your mission in life is a holy must. It is what Paul talks about in the passage we read this morning. We have been given different gifts according to the grace given to us. We minister to one another as a holy sacrifice. Somewhere…sometime…in your life as a Christian, you have heard the call and you have come before Jesus Christ, and you have said, “Jesus, I present you my life. My life is yours.” So I ask you the question: what is the finest gift that you can give to another person? Let’s say that you are married and that you are husband and wife. What is it that a wife wants more than anything else in the world? Diamonds, rubies, cars, homes, furniture, new appliances? What is the finest gift you can ever give to your spouse? Every husband and wife knows. She wants … you. She wants your heart; she wants who you are. For that is the nature of love: to give yourself to another human being. That is what happens in all good marriages. The same is true in friendship. Recently, I was able to be with one who I consider a mentor and a good friend. And you know what? He has never given me a dime. I haven’t given him one either. He is a good friend but he has never given me a birthday present. He has never sent me a birthday card. Nor have I sent him a present or card. How can he be my good friend when he has given me none of these things? You know the answer. He has given me himself. His time, his affections, his mind, his wisdom, his thoughts, his friendship. He has presented his life to me. That is why we are friends. … The best gift you always give to another is when you give yourself. That is always the best gift. I know a father of a child who was ten years old. He asked his daughter, “What would you like better than anything else in the whole wide world?” The little girl said, “A farm.” The father said, “Why would you want a farm?” She said, “I love horses and I would have lots of horses on my farm.” The father asked another question, “If you had a choice between a farm and me, what would you choose?” And Heather said, “That’s silly. I would want you. You are more important than a farm.” That’s what my daughter said to me some fifteen years ago. Now we are back to bartering over a dog. Yes, more valuable than a farm. That is the way healthy families work: giving themselves more than things. How does a living sacrifice live? Holy and pleasing to God. This is what holiness is: to give yourself as an offering to God, to your spouse, your family, your missions in life. This is true holiness. This is also spiritual worship. True spiritual worship is not attending church each week (although I might add it’s important—we need to take an offering). Spiritual worship is not reading and studying your Bible daily. Spiritual worship is not giving a few bucks in the offering plate. What God wants is you…for you to offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God. So the Apostle Paul said, “I beg you. I plead with you. I implore you. On the mercies and generosities of God, that you would offer, that you would present …your life…as a living offering to God. This is spiritual worship. The human race. We always give offerings. What kind of offering does the true God want? What does God want from you and me? I appeal to you, I beg you, I implore you. Please. Knowing that God has been enormously generous with you, that you would present…your life… as a living sacrifice to God. This is holiness. This is spiritual worship. Amen. |