November 19, 2023 – Romans 12:1–8

11/19/2023

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Hope Lutheran Church
Manhattan, Kansas
November 19, 2023
Romans 12:1–8
There’s a word we use all the time in church settings – “WORSHIP”
Do you know what that word “WORSHIP” means?

It means to assign worth something. To worship something is to prize something above everything else. It's to honor something as having the highest importance in your life and then act accordingly
And worship isn’t just something that happens when Christians get together on a Sunday morning in a church to sing songs
- Worship isn’t just this small little part of life. Worship, really, is all of life
  - And every single person – whether they’re Christian, some other religion, or even atheist – they all worship someone or something. And they all make sacrifices for whatever it is they worship

In Romans 12, Paul is going to show us a Life of Worship and Sacrifice
1) He forces us to consider WHAT WE WORSHIP and how those form and mold us
2) He’s going to show us WHY WE WORSHIP THE ONE TRUE GOD
3) And then he tells us HOW WE WORSHIP THE ONE TRUE GOD

1) WHAT WE WORSHIP
There are so many different ways that we worship in our lives

There are things we worship
- Things like money, status, power, reputation
And there are people we worship
- People like children, significant others, friends, politicians
And really, underneath all of it, we worship ourselves
We give and we give, we sacrifice and we sacrifice to all of these different things and people that we worship
- And we sacrifice our time, energy, focus, money to all of them
  - And the thing is, so many of them are good things. So many of them are blessings that God has given us and placed in our lives
There’s just one big, huge, gigantic problem with all of the things that we worship and sacrifice to – none of them can fill an empty heart
- No matter how much time, no matter how much money, no matter how much energy and focus we give them, they can’t fill up empty
  - Money is a blessing, but it can’t fill up empty
  - Friends are a blessing, but they can’t fill up empty
  - Husbands, wives, relationships are blessings, but they can’t fill up empty
  - My life is a blessing, but worshiping and serving myself can’t fill empty

And all of the things that we worship, they form and mold and change us

We think we’re the ones calling the shots. But the reality is that all those things we worship and sacrifice to, they’re forming us in different ways
- It’s so easy for us to, as Paul says, “conform to the pattern of this world”
  - We’re like this wet lump of clay. And every little thing we worship and sacrifice to shapes and forms us a little bit
  - And it’s not like it happens in super obvious ways. Often it’s more subtle. We’re formed a little bit by this idea over here, a little bit more by that philosophy over there. Until we’ve been shaped and molded into what the world around us tells us we should be and how we should live
We’re going to worship something. We’re going to sacrifice those things. And they’re all going to affect us. But all of them are the wrong thing to worship
And when we’re stuck in this way of thinking, we need a wake-up call from God, the one who can actually fill our emptiness
- And here’s what God says through Paul in Romans:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”

In those two verses, Paul shows us…

2) WHY WE WORSHIP THE ONE TRUE GOD
We said at the start the word “WORSHIP” means to assign worth to something. To prize it above everything else. And then act in line with that thing

And here’s the kind of funny thing I often miss about worship. I miss where it starts between us and God. Because where does worship start?
In “Our Worth to Him” by Dr. Mark Paustian, a professor and pastor at our national church body’s college in New Ulm, Minnesota, said this about worship: “Here's a radical thought. We find our most compelling reason for [worship and participation in] church in what God has to say to us, not in what we have to say to God. The heart of [what the Bible teaches] is that God accepts sinners solely on the basis of his Son. He promises that we are each bound up [to him through] the finished work of Christ. Everything that happens in our church services [and our worship] depends on this.”
- Worship starts with God. It starts with him assigning us worth. It starts with him prizing us above everything else and then acting accordingly
- It starts, as Paul said “in view of God’s mercy”

That’s why we worship our God – in view of his mercy. And we so desperately need that mercy. In the first 11 chapters of Romans, Paul explained why

Because we all come into this world as sinners. As much as we try to save ourselves, we can’t do it. There’s no way we can. We always fall short
Even when we try to live in a way that pleases God, when we try to do the good God demands, there is always evil and sin right there beside it
And that should have condemned me. That should have separated me from God eternally. But instead, God had mercy on me. On you
- And what did God do in his mercy? God, in his mercy, he cared about you. He prized you. He valued you. And then he acted accordingly
  - He sent his Son, Jesus, into this world to live and die and rise because to him, you were worth it. Jesus let himself be sacrificed because God wanted so badly to have you with him eternally
  - And even if it had only been you, even if you were the only person to live, die, and rise for, he still would have done it. Because to him, in his mercy, you were worth it
Why do we worship our God? We worship him because it all starts with him. It starts with his sacrifice. We worship God because he showed us mercy

And we worship God because he’s transformed us

Because on our own, we’re always going to be formed and molded by the world around us. On our own, we just take on different shapes based on whatever the world around us is telling us
- So instead what does God do? He completely changes us. He transforms us from what we were into something new and better
- It’s like a caterpillar
  - Maybe you disagree, but in my opinion, a caterpillar is kind of gross. They’re not usually very attractive. And they’re usually defenseless. It doesn’t take much for a predator to catch them
  - But then what happens to a caterpillar? It goes into a cocoon. And while it’s in that cocoon a complete and total change happens. And what comes out is something new and better and more capable – a butterfly
- God’s done that same thing for each of us
  - He did that through our baptism when with simple water and the Word, he adopted us into his family and made us his own. He transformed us from his enemies to his own dearly loved children
  - He continues to transform us as we receive Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper to tell us that sin is forgiven, that we're at peace with God. He transforms us every time we receive that body and blood in our hands
  - He transforms us, renews our minds into something new and better as he comes to us in his Word, in his Gospel to tell us over and over again just how loved and valued we are by him. And through that, we see more and more just how good, pleasing, and perfect his will is for us and our lives
Why do we worship our God? Because he’s transformed us and continues to transform us

And we worship God because he has freed us from…

The forces of this world that used to control us… Sin, death, an the devil… Guilt and shame… Fear and uncertainty about our future

Why do we worship our one true God? Because of his mercy. Because he's transformed us and made us new. Because he’s freed us from so many things

And he’s freed us for something. In view of God’s mercy, he’s freed us in…

3) HOW WE WORSHIP
Paul writes, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship… Each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts”

That’s right there, it’s freedom
- Free to live an entire life in worship. Free to receive his mercy every day. Free to be reminded every day of what God has done for us. Free to know that God continually forgives us
- Free to say “No” to the things around us that try to form us. And say “Yes” to the things God delights in. Free to serve God and people in our unique way. Free to be who God’s made us to be. Free to use the gifts he’s given us
  - The sad thing, though, is that when I look at my gifts and abilities, even though I’m free to serve with the unique gifting God has given me, it’s so easy for me to compare myself to other people. To think I’m lacking
  - But here’s the thing – No one else has your same history, your same experiences, your same life situation, your same family. No one else has the opportunity to be a member of the body of Christ in the exact place where God has placed you right now
You know, it doesn’t say it in the text. But I can’t help but think Paul had certain people in mind as he wrote these words:

“If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully”

As I read that this week, I couldn’t help but think of people at Hope that I’ve gotten to know the last 3 months since I got here. And I thought about what Paul said then and how applies to us today. And I think he’d say it something like this to us here at Hope:
If you’re a spouse, be a spouse. If you’re a parent, be a parent. If you’re a child, be a child. If you’re a teacher, be a teacher. If you’re a plumber, be a plumber. If you’re a military man, be a military man
Wherever and whatever you are in life right now, be that. And know that in all those things you do, you’re offering yourself up as a living sacrifice to God. Because that’s who you worship. And that’s how you worship. That’s how God wants to bring blessings into the lives of people around you. Amen!

Sermons

November 19, 2023 – Romans 12:1–8