Love with Volume pt 3

How do we then live? How do we put that fear and awe and obedience into practice? What does it look like to worship with your whole life?

Paul says it looks like dying.

I know. That’s not something I am signing up for I don’t think.

But that is what worship was before Jesus. Death.

Over and over again animals being slaughtered on an alter and consumed by fire. Worship was a bloody business.

It required full commitment of something we could never get back.

And that’s worship.

We are saying Someone or something is worth giving everything for- it is WORTHY.

And Paul, in Romans 12, hammers this home. And here is the wild thing, I have heard countless sermons on the first 2 verses of Romans 12, but very few on the verses that follow- all 19 of them. And that is wild because verses 3-21 tell us how to do verses 1-2.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

It marks the transition from the theology of God’s redemptive act in Christ Jesus to the ethical expectations that flow logically from that theological base. We come now to what is usually called the “practical” section of Romans

So today, let’s tackle the whole thing and try and find the answer- what does it look like to die as a worshiper in 2026?

Start with the first 2 verses:

This is the whole thing- worship is not something we go to do. It is a continual activity.

And if you think about that it makes a lot of sense, even if we are not talking about Jesus. We were made to be consumed by something.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

The metaphor in the verse has as its setting the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. Believers are exhorted to “make a decisive dedication” (Berkeley) of themselves as worshipers stepping forward to place their offerings on the altar. Holiness of life rarely progresses apart from deliberative acts of the will. While sanctification is gradual in the sense that it continues throughout life, each advance depends upon a decision of the will. That the sacrifice is “living” reflects the voluntary nature of the act. F. F. Bruce comments that “the sacrifices of the new order do not consist in taking the lives of others, like the ancient animal sacrifices, but in giving one’s own

Worship is built in our DNA.

People worship money, spouses, kids, sex, cars, sports, vices…long list. I bet right now you can think of someone whose object of worship is pretty obvious (U2 fan community)

Paul says we worship God with living though- by pursuing holiness- the obedience that Tosha talked about last week. That which is missing from so many people’s lives- as we talked about week 1- not lip service but actual practice.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

So Christian ethics are practical specifically because they do not stand alone but emerge as unavoidable implications of an established theological base. Theology in isolation promotes a barren intellectualism. Ethics apart from a theological base is impotent to achieve its goals

And they contrast to this is in verse 2- the “world.”

That word there is referring to the broken, fallen systems of the world. There have been a lot of people that have gotten this twisted over the years, so let me set the parameters here.

When Paul says “world” in this passage he is using a word that refers to the way the world orders itself vs the way God orders us. So this is less about cutting yourself off from participating in common everyday activities, and more about forsaking pursuing the things the world calls important- which by the way are always shifting.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

Believers are no longer to conform themselves to the present age (cf.

What we are to pursue then is what is good, acceptable, and perfect.

That is where so many sermons end. But that’s not the end. That’s the prologue. What follows is the explanation.

So go with me to verses 3-8.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

As J. Denney writes: “To himself, every man is in a sense the most important person in the world, and it always needs much grace to see what other people are, and to keep a sense of moral proportion.” That they were to think of themselves with “sober judgment” (v. 3) suggests how out of touch with reality were their opinions of themselves. Since the metaphor suggests intoxication, one might say they were in danger of becoming “egoholics!”

Paul starts with how the church is constructed. Not the building, the Body.

Because worship as the church is not just about singing, it is about how the whole Body functions as a whole.

Look at verse 4-5.

We all have a different role to play. And guess what, your role is meant to be filled by YOU. Your role in the Body of West Metro is just as vital as anyone else’s. God literally brought you here for that purpose. It is an act of worship.

And here is something we all need to get straight- you gift may be something that others notice only in its absence. So when you are absent the Body suffers.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

Unity in diversity is the theme that runs through this section. This unity, however, which is spiritual, was only possible because the members were “in Christ,” that is, joined by faith they had become a part of the body of Christ. Since they were all members of one body, it follows that “each member belong[ed] to all the others” (v. 5). The Christian faith is essentially a corporate experience

And it may not be something you think about as a gift or role or act of worship. But to God it is EXACTLY what He wants you to be doing. Verses 6-8 are a sampling of the gifts in the Body. They are not exhaustive.

There are 2 more things I want us to catch in this section though. First, in verse 5 it says we are members of “one another.” That means we are connected to each other. We have a bond together. We are family.

That is not something to take lightly. Serving one another is an act of worship.

Second, look at verse 3- and yep I skipped it for a reason.

Worship is humble- and that means when we are serving one another we are humble. We don’t have to be recognized. We do not demand attention. We do not expect reciprocity. We know that being able to do what we can do is because of Jesus, not us, so we give Him the glory and cultivate humility.

But it is more than how we act and serve at church. Go to verses 9-13.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

Nowhere else in Paul’s writings do we find a more concise collection of ethical injunctions. In these five verses are thirteen exhortations ranging from love of Christians to hospitality for strangers. There are no finite verbs in the paragraph. There are, however, ten participles that serve as imperatives. In the three other clauses (vv. 9, 10, 11) an imperative must be supplied. Each of the thirteen exhortations could serve as the text for a full-length sermon. What they deal with are basic to effective Christian living

How we act towards each other and to those who are not followers of Jesus matters. So does what we bless and say is righteous.

Paul has this list here that you would think would be obvious. However, so many pick and choose.

Church is our day and time, when so many claim the name of Jesus and then do ANYTHING but what He said, the scrutiny is intense.

I work with a lot of younger adults and I interact with a lot of folks across the country. I cannot tell you how many people I have met who are done with even considering the claims of Jesus because of the people who they know who say they are Christians but do not act like Christ. I am not talking about a single act. I am talking about a pattern of behavior that is contrary to scripture- especially these verses.

Genuine, unconditional love

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

The series begins by calling the reader’s attention to the absolute primacy of genuine love. Some view the exhortation to love as the theme that is then particularized in the following sequence of participial clauses

Being opposed to blatant evil

Having genuine affection for other people

Seeking to uplift other people

Serving God with a display of joy not just grudging obligation

Hopeful

Enduring patiently

Actually praying when a meal is not involved

Being generous with possessions and time

These are the things a watching world needs to SEE and they are acts of worship for us, because they bring glory to Jesus- not to us.

And finally, worship is shown when we are opposed. Look at verses 14-21.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

The principle of nonretaliation for personal injury permeates the entire New Testament. It provides guidance when life brings us up against those who care nothing for us and are in fact opposed to all that we stand for. Ask that they might enjoy the blessings of God! Love inevitably desires the best for other people regardless of who they may be. The old nature says, “Curse them”; God says, “Ask me to bless them

Church I said it week 1 and I am going to say it again. There is a strain of thought going around that God needs us to “defend” Him or to “save the Church” or to “save Christianity.”

No God needs to be saved. If they di then they are not a god.

Jesus said on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it. Is Jesus a liar???

God laid the foundation of the faith for His followers before the beginning of time. Can that planning be undone by ANYONE?

Then why are we responding to opposition with anger, hate, and bitterness. We are not choosing sides. We are on the side of the undefeated champion of eternity. We are victors.

So that means that when we are opposed we respond differently than the world. (Remember verse 2)

We bless people who oppose us and want to hurt us.

We meet people WHERE THEY ARE and when we go to them we listen before we talk.

We are not above anyone. And we have a special concern for the outcast and the overlooked (this is the history of the church…we were built with the rejects)

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

the admonition is to get off one’s high horse and come to grips with reality. There are both humble tasks and ordinary people who need our attention. To withdraw from either is to allow pride to control our lives. Cranfield writes, “It is always a sign of the worldliness of the Church when its ‘leaders’ no longer associate as readily and freely with humble people both inside and outside the Church as with those who are socially superior

“They don't grade here on the curve We both know what we deserveJust as you are Just a wretch like me Jesus is for losers Grace from the blood of a treeJust as we are At a total loss Jesus is for losers Broken at the foot of the cross”- Jesus is for Losers, Steve Taylor

Verse 18- we seek peace.

Church if there is a lie of this age it is the lie of choosing sides. That we have to be at war.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

In so far as it is possible, we are called to live at peace with everyone. Wickedness is to be opposed and righteousness lauded, but Christians must be careful not to allow their allegiance to God to alienate them from the world they are intended to reach with the gospel. Jesus pronounced a blessing upon the peacemaker (

War is already one. We are battlefield surgeons sent into the aftermath of the conflict to bind up wounds, restore life, and bring healing- by the Balm of Gilead, the Blood of Jesus.

God has the battle on lock. The wicked are going to meet His justice. He does not need us to do that.

We are to be the counter cultural force for the Kingdom. Feeding and clothing our enemies. Overcoming evil by offering a real alternative- good- not human good, but the goodness of God.

Romans 1. Among Believers (12:1–21)

God has promised to “pay back trouble to those who trouble you” (

Romans 2:4 says God’s kindness leads us to repentance. How can we be led by His kindness to Jesus and then not extend that to others who were just like us.

Living sacrifices are dead to an old way of life. And alive to a new system that works in marked contrast to the world around us.

What part of that system still lives in you today that needs to go on the alter- so your life is an act of worship.