Whose Life is this, Anyway?

Introduction

This past year, my life has not gone how I expected it to. I was working as a technical writer for a big firm, and then my team was forced to downsize, which led to my eventual resignation. I was then on unemployment, and my job became finding a new job. I did eventually find a new job as an e-commerce marketer, but that was eight months of unemployment in between. I've known Jesus since I was young, so I knew God could be trusted, that He'd provide what we needed.

But I did start to wonder what my life was supposed to look like now that this chapter had come to a close. Would I be a technical writer somewhere else? Would I find a job with my old employer? Should I go out on my own? Would I have to start over in an entry-level job? And how would God specifically work in this situation, where knocking on doors doesn't guarantee any kind of follow-up?

Then it occurred to me: Whose life is this, anyway? That question is exactly where I want to start today.

Scripture Reading

Turn with me to Romans 12:1-2.

[Read Romans 12:1-2, ESV]

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Let's pray.

[Prayer]

Main Sermon

When I read Scripture or listen to a sermon, I like to look around the passage for context. Verse 2 is really about having a renewed mind, seeing things the way Jesus sees them, and that's something I want to circle back to before we're done. For now, just know that God had to change my thinking about my job situation. I couldn't see His good, pleasing, and perfect will while I was so focused on my own plans.

For today, I want to focus on that key phrase: living sacrifice. Let's start with the word sacrifice.

Point 1: Present and Purposeful Surrender

That word “sacrifice” is where I want to start. Paul frames this not as a burden, but as spiritual worship. But what does that actually mean?

A sacrifice means giving something up for something else, it's more of an action than a transaction. I might give up watching YouTube to play board games with friends, or give up playing board games to watch YouTube. But in the Bible, sacrifice carries more weight than that. It's tied to bloodshed, to atoning for sin. The book of Hebrews, especially chapter 9, talks a lot about this: under the old covenant, it took killing animals, over and over, to deal with sin. Jesus became the perfect sacrifice, once and for all.

Let's turn to 2 Samuel 24 for a moment, sacrifice reminds me of this story. When Araunah offered David his land and cattle for free, David refused: “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver” (2 Samuel 24:24, ESV). In that culture, kings held ultimate claim to the land anyway, so Araunah's offer cost him little. That's what makes David's refusal so pointed. He would not offer God something that actually cost him nothing.

So when Paul says, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice,” he's not asking you to die. He's asking you to dedicate what's already been redeemed. That's exactly what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:5: “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Point 2: Living, not Dead

Back to Romans 12. The other keyword Paul uses is living, not dead. In the Old Testament, dealing with sin meant killing something, an animal on an altar. Because of what Jesus did, we don't have to do that anymore. That sacrifice already happened, once, for good. So what are we actually offering, if it's not something that dies?

That's where 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 helps: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Paul isn't talking about incense or an altar here. He's talking about the body you're sitting in right now. It's not yours to spend however you want, it belongs to God, and it was bought at a cost you didn't pay.

So what does a living sacrifice actually look like every day, not just on a Sunday? It means you can exercise as a way of honoring the body God gave you, not just to look a certain way. It means you can build real friendships, explore your hobbies, and show up to your job on Monday in a way that honors God. Paul puts it plainly in Colossians 3:23-24: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Even the parts of your life that feel completely ordinary, work, workouts, weekend plans, are part of the sacrifice. Nothing gets set off to the side as “not spiritual.”

That's the shift. A living sacrifice isn't a single moment on an altar. It's every day, handed over.

Application

Everything we've just walked through, the sacrifice, the temple, the everyday-ness of it, isn't a one-time decision you make and then move on from. It's a relationship we make time for, each day. Jesus put it this way in John 15:4-5: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

And abiding isn't passive. A few verses later, Jesus ties it directly to staying in his word and keeping what he's commanded (John 15:7, 10). So the ordinary stuff, reading Scripture, praying, choosing obedience even when it costs you something, is what it looks like to walk daily with Jesus.

That's actually the renewal of the mind Paul talks about back in verse 2. Seeing your life, your job, your schedule, the way Jesus sees it, instead of the way fear or control wants you to see it.

So here's the question I want to leave you with. Don't answer out loud, just sit with it for a bit:

What part of your life have you been keeping off the altar?

Maybe it's your schedule. Maybe it's your money, your relationships, your ambition, or something you're avoiding dealing with. Whatever it is, the invitation isn't to shame. It's to freedom. Because the moment you stop holding it, you're finally free to become who God made you to be.