PENTECOST
22
October
23-25, 2021
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Romans 12:1-8 (EHV)
“WE LISTEN TO
GOD’S ‘BODY’ LANGUAGE”
1.
As
we offer our bodies in service to Him.
2.
As
we value the bodies He has placed us in.
Romans 12:1-8
(EHV) “Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the
mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy and pleasing to
God—which is your appropriate worship. 2 Also, do
not continue to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewal of your mind, so that you test and approve what is the will of God—what
is good, pleasing, and perfect. 3 So by the grace given
to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you
ought, but think in a way that results in sound judgment, as God distributed a
measure of faith to each of you. 4 For we have many
members in one body, and not all the members have the same function. 5 In
the same way, though we are many, we are one body in Christ, and individually
members of one another. 6 We have different gifts,
according to the grace God has given us. If the gift is prophecy, do it in
complete agreement with the faith. 7 If it is
serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. 8 If
it is encouraging, then encourage. If it is contributing, be generous. If it is
leadership, be diligent. If it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.”
We
communicate with more than words, don’t we? In fact, I’ve seen reports that
suggest that more than 90% of communication is non verbal and that has some
implications. Many of you have heard me repeat the mantra. You can’t tell tone
in text so while emails and texts are great ways to communicate factual
information, they and social media are awful places to have discussions on
anything important whether it is family drama or political views. It almost
always ends badly. Why? We talk with our hands. We talk with our face. We talk
with our bodies. You can’t see those anywhere but face to face.
This morning in God’s word from Romans
12 you heard the Lord, who is spirit, use some body language of another sort.
It’s important that we listen to it. Today we are at the end of the Pentecost
season of the Church Year. It’s the part that has us focusing on growing in our
Christian living or sanctification, the way we thank Jesus for all He has done.
Listening to God’s body language sums it up nicely.
First let’s offer our bodies in
service to God. “Therefore I
urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living
sacrifice—holy and pleasing to God—which is your appropriate worship. 2 Also,
do not continue to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewal of your mind, so that you test and approve what is the will of God—what
is good, pleasing, and perfect.” God wants you. He wants you to want to
serve Him willingly. Make no mistake, my friends, God can make anyone He wants
to serve Him. Just ask Pharaoh in Old Testament Egypt about that. But forcing
people is not want God wants. Just like all of you parents want willing and
loving obedience from your children God desires that we offer ourselves. That’s
a willing word. And God gives us what we need to do that. Mercy. I was at a
meeting recently where I saw a pastor friend I had not seen for a while. He
asked me how things were going. I said, “Great. Every day where I wake up and
I’m not in Hell where I belong is a great day.” I came out as a quip. But when
he responded, “Amen brother.” It made me think a little bit more. I said it. Do
I really mean it? Am I really living each day conscious of what I deserve and
that is the torment of Hell? Are you? But that’s not what we have received from
God. He has not given us the punishment we deserve. That’s mercy. Each and
every day we exist by the mercies of God.
And it’s gratefulness for the mercy of
God that He desires to be our motivation to offer our bodies, our very selves,
in service to Him. As you read your Old Testament it becomes really clear
really quickly that God desires sacrifice and that sacrifice included bodies.
The bodies of animals. But remember, those were pictures designed to teach
until Christ came. Once Jesus finishes His work things change. Pictures are
replaced with reality. Animal sacrifices were outward pictures that God’s
people were giving Him their hearts. That’s what God has always wanted from His
people. Their hearts and their lives lived for Him as a spiritual act of
worship.
Do you see what this means? Not only
do we get to worship God corporately together but we also get to worship Him
daily in everything we do. We do that with our bodies when we stop conforming
and keep transforming. Stop conforming to the way the world thinks and be
transformed to the way God says. “It’s my body I can do what I want to” is
transformed to “You are not your own you were bought at a price therefore honor
God with your body.” Self esteem gets transformed to Christ esteem. He gives me
my value. “My boss is a jerk so I do no extra work” is transformed to my boss
is the Lord so I will be the best mechanic, the most honest accountant, the go
the extra mile server because God deserves my best. Morality determine by poll
is replaced by “Thus says the Lord.” And the only amount of likes that concern
me is does God like how I talk, dress, act. Each and every moment of my life
and your life becomes a spiritual act of worship as we listen to God’s body
language and offer, willingly, thankfully our bodies in service to God so that
whether we eat drink or whatever we do, we do it all to the glory of God.
But God’s not done yet. Listen to His
body language and value the bodies He’s placed us in. “So by the grace given to me, I tell
everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, but
think in a way that results in sound judgment, as God distributed a measure of
faith to each of you. 4 For we have many members in
one body, and not all the members have the same function. 5 In
the same way, though we are many, we are one body in Christ, and individually
members of one another. 6 We have different gifts,
according to the grace God has given us. If the gift is prophecy, do it in
complete agreement with the faith. 7 If it is
serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. 8 If
it is encouraging, then encourage. If it is contributing, be generous. If it is
leadership, be diligent. If it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.”
Here God’s body language is used to
picture us as a congregation. A congregation is just like a body. There was one
at Rome. We have one at St Jacobi. Have you wondered why it is that you are
here? We are Americans so we tend to view things as decisions we have made but
the God who loves you so much He gave His Son for you has been working in your
life sometimes obviously, but most of the time in hidden ways, to mold you and
shape you the way He wants, always with the greater plan of salvation in mind.
Your salvation and the salvation of others. So you might think it is because
it’s where your parents go or went or because of the school or it’s close or
because you accepted a call here but the reality is you are right now because
God placed you here. And for a purpose. It’s beneficial for your salvation and
the salvation of others.
Now of course the Devil does not like
that so he works hard to stop us from working together hard for the Lord. He
uses our pride. Look at all I do. Why doesn’t everyone else do what I do.
Listen to God’s body language. Don’t think more of yourself than you ought. Look
at yourself through God’s eyes. He’s given you the gift of faith. He’s given
you the abilities. He’s given you time and energy and everything else that you
are. He’s given you each other. We listen to God’s body language when we value
each other’s different gifts. Just like he’s put the different parts of the
body. You can’t have a body made up of all eyes or ears or hearts. And you certainly
wouldn’t want a body made up of all backsides. But you do need one. So it is in
our congregation. We have different gifts as God wills. What’s important is
that we use them for the good of the mission of serving the Lord. Good at
cleaning? Clean so that people who come here can tell we think a lot of our
God. Good at tech? Help us take that beast captive to spread the Gospel? Know
the word? Share it with others? Musically gifted? Use it for the Lord. Are you
an empathetic encourager? Keep your eyes open for who needs that physical or
figurative hug. Got the gift of money? You’ll find joy in in generosity. Got
the gift of gab? You are a perfect person to make sure everyone who walks
through our doors feels welcome. Got the extra time to pray as you wait for
Jesus to come take you home? Then join the ranks of prayer warriors and pray
for each other. Each one of us has a part to play. Together we make a great
team. The body of Christ at St Jacobi with the important work keeping people
connected to Christ. God’s body language.
Friends if you have a blow up in your
family or a friendship and it’s because of something you posted or emailed and
you come see me you are going to hear me ask, “Why didn’t you have that
conversation in person. You can’t tell tone in text!” There is one exception. When
you are reading the text of the Bible. You can tell God’s tone very clearly.
He. Loves. You! To the death of His Son. Always. That’s why we all want to serve
Him as bet we can until His mercy which has withheld the Hell we deserve is
paired with His grace in giving us the heaven we could never deserve. Amen.
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