The Communion of Saints

The Communion of Saints – Manuscript Romans 12:1-8 F.C.F.: We, the Church, often make it easy for people not to believe the gospel. Our Scripture this morning is Romans 12:1-8. Paul’s epistle to the Romans is one of the few letters we have in the New Testament that is not written to address a particular situation. And because of that, it is often considered to be a treatise on Paul’s theology; an extended meditation on the grace of God found in Christ. This was the book that was the balm to Martin Luther’s soul as he struggled with the question of how he could be justified before a holy God. Fast forward 200 years, a young Anglican passing Aldersgate Street heard a sermon from Romans and felt his heart strangely warmed. In this letter, Paul explains God’s righteousness, our depravity, and the redemption found in Jesus Christ. Once Paul has concluded the theological exposition, he begins to apply it. That’s where pick up this epistle at the beginning of Paul’s application. I invite you to follow along as I read Romans 12:1-8. 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. 2 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. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. 1 Pray of Illumination: Pour out your Spirit on us again, as your Word is proclaimed, that we may be faithful to our baptismal calling, ardently desire the communion of Christ’s body and blood, and serve the poor of your people and all who need your love, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns. Amen. In recent years, various news agencies and outlets have noted that the nones are on the rise. No, not the nuns, women who have given their lives in service of the Roman Catholic Church. The nones that we often hear of are those who when asked about religious affiliation reply none. In a recent Pew survey, from 2012-2017 the percentage of anyone who identifies as religious dropped from 59% to 48%. In 2012, 58% of all Americans said they were religious, either Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc. But now that number is 48%. In 2012, only 19% said they were spiritual but not religious but in 2017 they number had grown to 27%.2 Those who reply “none” when asked about their religious affiliation are on the rise. The reason for that is multifaceted. But one of the reasons that the nones are on the rise is the church. Studies and common sense tell us that while people have a hard time believing in God, they have an even harder time believing in the Church. G.K. Chesterton, a well known apologist from the past century, once remarked that the most powerful argument against Christianity is Christians. One of my friends growing up really struggled with Christianity. But when you dug a little deeper, his issue was mostly against Christians themselves; his issue was with the Church. And so when people say they are spiritual but not religious, what there is, “I have an issue with the Church”. Today, we come to section in the Apostles’ Creed that says we believe in the holy catholic Church, and the communion of saints. It is something that is important for us to profess. It is something that is a practical confession. As we come to participate in the local church, we come to see our unity with other believers, and understand the basics of Christian living. As we examine this passage in Romans, Paul will tell us basics of Christian living, the basis of the unity of the Christian Church, and a diversity within the Christian Church. The Basics of Christian Living In verse 1 Paul says, “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.” Everyone who was part of that congregation would have instantly thought, “Paul, you’re not making any sense. Sacrifices aren’t living. They’re sacrificed, they’re killed”. The idea of a living sacrifice was an oxymoron. See, all of the religions had an elaborate sacrificial system. Pagans of every stripe had rituals to appease their god and there was almost always an animal sacrifice. The Jews had an incredibly elaborate system of animal sacrifices. They’re recorded for us mainly in Leviticus but in a few other places in the Old Testament. They atoned for sin. We’re told in numerous places in the Old Testament that the blood of a sacrificed animal atoned for the sins of the people who had sacrificed it. But Christians have never practiced sacrifice. We have never sacrificed a lamb. Why? Because Christ fulfilled the sacrificial law. That’s what it means when he cried out “it is finished” on the cross. The sacrificial system has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews makes it even more clear when he writes, “And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”3 The sacrificial system has ended with Christ’s death. Ok, if Christ’s death has ended the sacrificial system then how do sacrifice? What do we sacrifice? The Apostle Paul is telling us it is our lives that we are to sacrifice. The basics of the Christian life is living our lives for Christ. Pastor Tim Keller puts it like this, “What it means to live a Christian life is that you put to death the right to live life as you choose. You put to death the idea that you belong to yourself. You put to death the idea that you know best what should happen in your life. You put that to death, and you give it to God. It feels like a death to really say, ‘You know best, and I just trust you. Here’s what you say in your Word, and I don’t like it, but I’m going to do it. I don’t choose anymore.’”4 The basics of Christian living is putting to death the right to live as you choose; put to death the idea that you belong to yourself. Maybe you’re starting to squirm a little bit. You’re starting to feel uncomfortable about following Christ and you think, “If this is what it means to be a Christian I had better check out right now”. The truth, even if you’re not a living sacrifice for Christ, you will be to something else. Maybe you think, “I’ll live for my family and I won’t have to do sacrifice my life”. You absolute will. You’ll sacrifice your wants, your desires for your family and at a certain point it’ll crush you. Your kids will grow up and move away and you’ll be crushed. You sacrificed your life for your family and the kids are gone and your life has no meaning. Or maybe you live for your job. You sacrifice your weekends, your vacations, your hobbies for your job. But then it ends. You retire or you lose your job and you’re crushed. Not just sad, but really crushed. Why? Because you sacrificed your life for your job and now that it’s gone your live has no meaning. We are a living sacrifice for something. Maybe you think you’ll be completely independent and won’t get attached to anyone or anything. You’ll be a living sacrifice for your independence. You’ll sacrifice your emotions, your friendships, your family all for your independence. Either you are a living sacrifice for Jesus or you’re a living sacrifice for something else. The more we are living sacrifices for Jesus, the more renew our mind and no longer conform to the world. The way we renew our minds is by spending time in daily devotion, reading Scripture and praying. As we read God’s Word, we renew in our minds who God is, what he has done, and that changes how we live. We live according to what we believe. If we believe that the world is an increasingly dangerous place, we live as though there is danger around every corner and so we take precautions to make sure we are safe. If we believe the world is relatively safe, we live as though its safe by leaving our doors unlocked. The more we renew our minds with God’s truth about who he is and what he has done, the more that affects how we live. We talked about this last week when we were talking about the Holy Spirit. We said that one of the things that the Holy Spirit does is to remind us of what Christ has said and done. As we spend time in God’s Word, he works to renew our mind so that we no longer conform to the world but to God and his ways. As he does this, we begin to honestly reflect about ourselves; we begin to have a sober judgment about how we have lived our lives. That is a rather humbling thing. And it causes us to continue to renew our mind with God’s Word. The Basis of the Christian Church Paul has just given us the basics of what Christian living looks like. Next, he moves on to give us the basis of the Christian Church. In verses 4-5 he writes, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another”. He is telling us the basis of the Christian Church, the communion of saints, is our unity in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ we are united to him and to each other. His redemptive work on the cross unites all of those who believe in him with him. Earlier in this epistle, the Apostle says, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 5 We are united to Christ through faith. Nothing can separate us from him. Christ loves his people not just enough to die so they might live, but by dying unite us with him so that nothing can separate us from the love of God. It doesn’t matter if we die, if we are in Christ we are still united to him. It doesn’t matter if rulers come who hate Christ, we are still united to him. Nothing that has happened, nothing that will happen can separate us from the love of God in Christ. We are united to him. But it’s not just that we are united to Christ as individuals. In Christ we are united to other believers. There maybe many different members, different believers through the ages, in different places, with different languages. But we are all one. It doesn’t matter if a believer speaks Spanish or Chinese while we speak English. We are one with them in Christ. It is lamentable that so often we forget this. We often think, “Unless they agree with me on every point of theology we cannot be united”. That’s part of the reason we have so many different denominations in this country. Some of it is that certain denominations have moved away from biblical teaching about certain things. But some of the most acrimonious and painful splits have happened not because someone has moved from biblical orthodoxy but because we have forgotten that in Christ we are one and united with each other. We are united with Christians in China and Afghanistan who have to worship in secret. We are united to Christians in Germany who are living sacrifices for Christ in a post-Christian culture. We are united with Christians who vote for a different party than we do. We are united with Christians who have a different form of church government or understanding of the sacraments than us. We united with Black, Hispanic, Asian, and White Christians. We are united in Christ’s atoning work. The Diversity Within the Christian Church The Apostle Paul has given us the basics of Christian living and the basis for the Christian Church. Now, he tells us the diversity within the Christian Church. In verses 6-8, he writes, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness”. We are all united in Christ but given a diversity of gifts. He lists a couple of gifts for use within the Church, prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, contributions, leadership, and acts of mercy. We’re not going to examine all seven of those gifts, just the first three. Prophecy probably refers to the public proclamation of God’s Word. Today, we might use the word preaching. Proclaiming God’s Word is an important gift within the Church. We gather together for corporate worship. That consists of singing psalms, hymns, and other spiritual songs; it consists of corporate prayer and confession; and it consists of the reading of God’s Word and its interpretation and application. Since the beginning of the Church, we have had the public proclamation of God’s Word as an integral part of our worship. Service probably refers to caring for people within the community of believers. It’s possible the Apostle had in mind those who helped the poor and widows within the Church. The early Church had a lot of widows and poor who made up the membership. In that culture, women’s livelihoods depended upon their husbands and then their sons when their husbands died. If the widow’s sons had disowned her because of her faith, the Church would take on the responsibility of caring for her. That took a gift of God to serve people and see to their needs. This was a passion of the early Church, and should be a passion of the Church today. Throughout Scripture God makes clear that he has a special love for the poor, the widow, and the sojourner. As Christians’ minds are renewed by the Spirit and begin to conform to God and his ways, we begin to serve these groups that are often easily abused and maligned by society. The Apostle Paul then mentions teaching. Maybe you’re thinking, “Didn’t he already cover that with prophecy?” Sort of. Both of these gifts, prophecy and teaching, involve teaching. But prophecy involves more application than teaching does. Teaching is passing on the faith and explaining the Scriptures. The old word for this is catechizing. Throughout the history of the Church we have developed numerous catechisms. As part of the EPC, we use the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms. These catechisms are instructional tools for someone to help teach the faith to newer and younger believers. There is a definite gift for teaching. The point the Apostle Paul is making with this list of gifts is show that there is a diversity of gifts that are need within the Church for the Church to be the Church. We need people publically proclaiming God’s Word, giving its interpretation and application for our lives; we need people caring for the poor, the widow, and the sojourner among us; we need people to teach the faith to newer and younger believers. And each and every one of us has been gifted in various ways. And for us to really be the Church, we need you to be using our gifts. In what ways has God gifted you? Has he gifted you with the ability to proclaim his Word and apply it to his people? Has he gifted you with a love for those around you so that you serve them when they are in need? Has he gifted you with an ability to teach and explain his truth so that newer and younger believers can grow and mature in their faith? Has he gifted you with an ability to exhort and counsel people, knowing when they need to hear hard truths spoken in love and when they need support? Has he gifted you with an ability to lead his people so that they conform more to his ways than the world’s? Are you using those gifts? R.C. Sproul puts it like this, “If you have a gift, then the command from God to you is this: if you have a gift, then you are to exercise that gift. God does not give you that gift to hide it under a bushel. If you have a gift you are to use it. But the command is not simply given to you, it is given to me about you. I am to make sure that you are given the room and the freedom to use your gift. I should be doing everything in my power to help and assist you fulfill your gift; you should be helping me to fulfill my gift”.6 God has gifted you for a reason, use those gifts. As we use our gifts, we begin to see how vitally important it is that we are united in Christ because individually we don’t have all of the gifts necessary for the Church to function. I am not gifted in every area. I’ve taken a couple of different tests that highlight strengths and weaknesses. And every time the tests tell me I have a gifting for teaching, both public proclamation and private instruction, counseling and service. But what I am terrible at is management and finance. I need people around me who can manage well and who understand finances. So as you recognize the areas that God has gifted you and the areas he hasn’t, that should drive you further into the Church. Because it is there that we find others who a gifted differently than us. Even though the nones are on the rise, if we unite ourselves in Christ, use the diversity of gifts he has given us, and are living sacrifices the world will take notice. We will be the Church. And one of the stumbling blocks people have against the faith will be removed. Let us pray.