8/25/19 Romans 12:1-8 “A Bag of Oranges”

23 Aug 8/25/19 Romans 12:1-8 “A Bag of Oranges”

8/25/19      Romans 12:1-8    “A Bag of Oranges”

I will be the first to admit that I have a hard time reading Romans.  That is because there is no story here.  There is no plot line to follow.  That is not the way of the author Paul.  The more I learn about Paul, the more I find out that he was a no nonsense type of guy and his writings are the same way.  His letter to the Romans is a great example of how to be a Christian.  As a matter of fact, it is this very book that is said to have inspired both Martin Luther and John Wesley on their new understanding of what it means to be a Christian.  Today we are going to take a look at part of the 12^th chapter and what Paul means for us to be a Christian.  Hopefully we will be enlightened to a point of joyous action as we follow Jesus in ways that He means for us to follow.

I have several devotions that I like to read in the mornings and evenings.  A short time ago, I was reading one from Dr. David Jeremiah’s Turning Points.  I caught myself chuckling so I had to read it a second time.  It goes something like this.  Years ago a pastor stayed the night in a young couple’s home.  When he awoke the next morning, he heard a beautiful voice singing, “Nearer, My God to Thee,” and inquired about it at breakfast.  He said he was pleased to hear the old hymn but remembered it being a little slower than how he had heard it that morning.  “Oh,” replied the hostess, “that’s because I wasn’t paying too much attention to the words.  It’s a song my mom used to sing and I’ve found it’s a good one to boil eggs by; repeat the song five times rapidly for soft-boiled eggs and eight times for hard-boiled .”

The second time I read it made me think of just how we are so much like this in some of our church activities.  I think that we sometimes sing the hymns without hearing the beautiful message of the song.  Sometimes we pray prayers like the Lord’s Prayer and we forget what we are really saying.  And often times or it could be most of the time in some cases; we do the work of the church because it is the work of the church and not the work of God.

Today’s Scripture begins with the word ‘therefore.’  Some versions use a different connecting word.  But this is a connecting word used to tie all 11 chapters before this to chapter 12.  Up to this point, Paul has been telling the Romans and us that we need God and need to get right with God, through Jesus Christ.  We are to carry this message to the world.  God has done many, many and wondrous things for us.

Therefore, in light of all of these things that I have told you about, you are to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God as your act of worship.  That, my brothers and sister in Christ, is a big order.  It does not mean that we are to run out and get ourselves killed in the name of Jesus.  God operates a little differently.  You might not know but for many years I was afraid to ask Jesus what to do for fear that He would make me a missionary in some remote part of the world.  I have always been a little selfish and I like it here in this country.  How many of you have also been afraid to ask Jesus for your mission in life?  It is just plain natural to sometimes think like this.

But this is not what Paul means here.  Don’t get me wrong God may ask me to go to some foreign land.  But chances are that God would like me to start right where I am.  This means that I have to listen to what God is saying.  Jesus might be telling me to go to my neighbor and listen to his troubles.  Or he might say to talk to that lonely person over there.  I have never been a great extrovert.  I like to visit with people but it has always been a little hard to knock on a door to visit with someone I have never met.  About 12-13 years ago, I was told of a lady that needed some help.  So I went to her door and we talked.  It turns out that this lady could barely walk, you had to really work hard to understand her speech, and she was dirt poor living in squalor like conditions.  But God told me to go or nudged me and I went.  I got to know one of the sweetest people that little town had to offer.  Veronica Wise was one of the kindest, nicest people I had ever met.  All I had to do was obey God to meet her.  That is what being a living sacrifice is all about.  This is what Paul is talking about.  I have said this before, if you continue to do things your way and not God’s way, you will miss out on countless blessings and good times that God has to offer.

I would like to say one more thing before I leave this section on offering our bodies as living sacrifices.  We have a major problem in our society today.  It is our bodies.  We are obsessed with them.  I would be willing to guess that 75% of those listening today feel that they are too heavy.  Our society tells us we have to be thin.  And look at the cosmetics market.  I have noticed over the years how so many people abuse or over use cosmetics, especially young girls.  And we also have to exercise to be beautiful.  And we have to eat this or eat that and definitely don’t eat this or drink that.  We are to a point in our culture where it is embarrassing to see people at the mall or on the street because they are wearing the least amount of clothes possible.  I don’t want to see your navel!  Just for your information, I recently read a survey that stated a majority of teenage boys don’t want to see navels either.

We have gone berserk on this stuff.  Now if you are a Christian then just follow my thinking on this.  God is perfect.  Everything that God does is perfect.  God cannot do anything wrong.  God made us all perfect.  Therefore, God doesn’t make junk because junk isn’t perfect.  There is nothing wrong with any person here today, just the way you are.  You don’t need all of the extraneous junk that company’s say you need.  God doesn’t want us to be unhealthy but God doesn’t want us to be obsessed by this garbage either.

Moving on, the next thing that Paul says here is to not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  This is another concept that we have a hard time following in our culture.  If we read Ephesians 4, we can see how to do this.  We are called to be humble, patient, love each other, tell the truth, be wholesome and put away our bitterness, rage and anger, to name a few.  This shouldn’t be so hard, should it?

When I was going to school to be a pastor a few years ago I would spend two weeks in July going to school in Kansas City and sometimes 2 weeks in January.  It was a good experience every year but a lot of work.  One of the great things that happen during my time there was that I didn’t get to watch TV.  For two weeks I had no TV.  There are a lot of people out there that would find this almost impossible to tolerate.  But I found it a blessing because I didn’t have to watch all the insaneness that is on every night.  We have become brainwashed with television morality which is basically no morality at all.  We see unmarried couples living together, we see drug use, we see obsessions about our bodies and we see nudity running rampant.  If you want your little ones to grow up with all the wrong ideas, then let them watch unrestricted TV.  In my opinion, I don’t know if you can restrict it enough to make it worth watching.

The point here is that we are not renewing our minds but we are conforming and destroying our minds by what we see.  This is not who we are and it is not what God intended for us.  We are to be reading our Bibles.  We are to be in fellowship with one another.  We are to have a prayer life because Jesus loves to talk with us.  We are to do things that are right, and we find this out by listening to God.

I would like to throw out a challenge to all the people watching today and to all readers of this message.  I would like you to get together with someone and set a time when you can turn off your televisions for two weeks.  This is something that we can do and should do.  It will free up a lot of time for some of you.  It will bring some families a lot closer together.  It will help your church as you relearn what it is to be a Christian by more reading of the Bible, more prayer, and more fellowship.  Let’s see if we can all do this and then let’s keep track of the results.

We can do this together because of what Paul talks about next.  We are all in this together.  I am no better than any of you people just because I stand up here and preach every week.  You are no better than anyone else just because you are the head of a committee or can build things better or you can cook better than anyone else.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be much of a preacher if there were no one to listen.  You wouldn’t be a good leader of a committee if there was no one on that committee.  The same goes for building things and cooking.  If you had no one to do it for, then why would you do it?

We are all in this together and, this is the important part, we all need each other.  Take a look at the people you know who are sitting in church.  You may not always realize this but you need these people.  This is not the only place in Scripture that Paul talks about this.  He talks of this extensively in 1 Corinthians and alludes to it elsewhere.  This is a very important concept.

This is the idea that made Methodism so special in the beginning.  John Wesley realized after reading Paul that we need to be together and accountable to each other.  Therefore, he set up his groups called bands and classes that met regularly between church services.  That’s right!  They met more than once a week!  Can you imagine this today?  You could actually get together during the week for some fellowship.  You could break out of the terrible habit you have of thinking you can only have God for one hour a week on Sunday morning.

You could do this through a Bible study, a men’s or women’s work group, or a student led mission group.  And it can be a lot of fun.  About 25+ years ago, I started a singles group at a church we attended in our community.  We would gather, pray together and then we would have some fun.  As a matter of fact, it was so much fun and we got so close to each other that we have had reunions and people were excited about attending.  Imagine that.  They are excited about reforming a church group for an evening.

And I cannot think of one reason why you cannot be like this also.  Paul isn’t telling you that you have to do this and you have to do that and that this should all be done in drudgery.  No.  He tells us to do it cheerfully.  I know this from experience that when you do these things in the name of Jesus Christ and you do them as a part of the team of Jesus Christ, then you will do them joyfully.  It is just natural.  And it is just easy.  It is just the way of Jesus Christ.

You can start to do these things on a small scale.  You can start a quilting group, a sewing group, a bowling group or a dart group.  You can do this in the name of Jesus and sometimes He will take you into a bar league and you can witness to others in the league in that bar.  You can have a book club, a dining club, or a choir.  You can have a group of parents with young children, a seniors group, a group that serves a food pantry, or a group that likes to putter around the church to fix things.  The sky is the limit or should I say that God is the limit and, guess what, God has no limits!  The most successful churches in the world have lots and lots of small groups that meet on a weekly or monthly basis.  And the people belong to more than one group.  And it is through these groups that ministry gets done.  Please try something like this.

And finally in closing, John Williams III tells the story of a woman who was on the Titanic.  She was a very wealthy woman who had a fortune of jewelry with her.  As the ship started to sink, she left these things behind as she went to the life boats.  Instead of grabbing some of her fortune, she grabbed a bag of oranges, something she and others might need.

So my question to you today is this: “Are you sinking because you have grabbed all of your worldly possessions or have you grabbed a hold of Jesus Christ?”  Please forget about your possessions and grab Jesus.  Jesus loves you even though you might be hanging onto all the wrong things.  It is never too late to let go and grab onto Him.  He is waiting for you.

Paul has told us to be joyful as you give yourselves to Jesus.  This is your act of worship.  God has this great plan where Jesus is the center.  I have lived life from both sides and there is no comparison.  Life in Jesus Christ is the absolutely best there can be.  I praise Jesus and I thank him for first loving us.  Let’s pray.