04 3rd Sunday in Lent Romans 12
Have you heard of a band called Needtobreathe? They are a fairly good band. You can hear their stuff on Way-FM. But they have an interesting name don’t they? Needtobreath? If you listen to that radio station, you probably know where their name comes from. Any guesses? According to one of the band members, one of the great philosophers, Socrates or Aristotle, was walking along the shore of a lake with their students and one of the students asked, how do I know what is most important? And the teacher took the student and held his head under the water for just a bit. As the student came up, gasping for air, the teacher said, “when your need for God is as great as your need to breathe, then you have found what is most important.”
It is a cool story and one that fits well with the theme for this evening. The theme is Why Christ is Crucial. So let me ask you, why is Christ crucial? That is a big question. And yet, at the same time it is a very simple question. Why is Christ crucial? Because he is everything. He is our prophet, and he speaks to us through his word. He is our priest, he has made the supreme sacrifice so that we would have forgiveness and life. He is our King, he rules over all. All authority in heaven and on earth have been given to Christ. Without Christ there would be nothing.
You see what I mean? Simple, yet very deep. And I have only begun to scratch the surface. In Christ we know what God’s position is toward us. That is for the sake of Jesus, we know that God loves and forgives us, that he is always with us, that he will never leave us or forsake us or even abandon us. In Christ we have confidence, a sure and certain hope, of our position before God. That is that we are forgiven. The price has been paid. All is washed away. No matter how bad we have messed up, no matter what we have done in our past, when we take it to the cross, there is forgiveness and we are washed clean.
In Christ we are transformed. You and I, are constantly being worked and shaped so that we can be more like him. He works through the scriptures, through is word connected to the waters of baptism, through his body and blood in, with and under bread and wine. We are forgiven through him. We carry around his name. We proclaim his life, death and resurrection in our lives. Whether we think we do or not, we do it. For like it or not actions speak louder than words, and you can tell what a person believes based on what they do.
I saw an article in Christianity Today this week. I love in books and magazines where they give you kind of a cliff’s notes version right in the article. You know what I’m talking about. They will publish really big, almost like a picture, various quotes from the article. You read those and you get the gist of the article. Well, I saw one of those and this is how it read. “The emerging (church) contention is that haw a person lives is more important than what he or she believes.” What do you think of that? What do we, who are Lutheran, who tend to be a little more on the cerebral side of things, what do we do with this? Do you agree with it? How a person lives is more important than what he or she believes. I would have to say, I don’t believe that this is an either or kind of a thing. But instead a both and. What you believe determines how you live and the actions that you do. You can’t separate one from the other. But if you say that you believe something and with your life you deny your belief, do you really believe it? Can you begin to see why Christ is so crucial? Because without him, we would be totally and completely lost. This is some big stuff. This is an important issue. It is not so much an issue of pitting belief against action. But rather it is holding one another accountable so that our actions reflect our beliefs. So then, how do we live? What do we do? What difference does it make that we have this crucial Christ in our lives? What effect is there since he has found us, and brought us to himself? What effect is there sine he has purchased and bought us back from the power of the Devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood, and with his innocent suffering and death? The answer is simple. It is not easy, but it is simple and we see that in our lesson from Romans chapter 12. Paul writes, “Brothers and sisters, because of God’s compassion toward us, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you. Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants – what is good, pleasing, and perfect.”
It begins with how we see ourselves. How do we see ourselves? How does the world tell us to see ourselves? How does this compare with what our text says here? We live in a world of looking out for number one, and fighting to get to the top. We live in a world where the pursuit of happiness can sometimes trump common sense and morality. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the pursuit of happiness, but when it is taken to the extreme that it is sometimes taken to. How does our God say to see ourselves? As living sacrifices. Now this isn’t because he wants us to suffer. This is not because he doesn’t want us to have any fun or to be able to live life to its fullest. It is exactly because he wants us to know what it is to truly live that he says this. You see the kind of life that our Lord lived is the life of a sacrifice. And quite literally too, because it was on the cross that he sacrificed himself for the sins of the whole world. How might we lives our lives as living sacrifices? What would that look like?
As we do those things, as we live our lives in that way, then we will be living in a way that is pleasing to God. It will bring him glory. We will know what to do, and then all we have to do is do it. Now keep one other thing in mind here. This letter is not being written to an individual. This is not an e-mail that is sent to only one person. Rather this letter is being written to the church in Rome. It is an entire community of faith that is being addressed here, and they are being instructed on how to live life together. Does that make sense? Are you with me? What kind of picture is being painted here for you? Ok. With that in mind listen to the rest of these verses.
“Because of the kindness that God has shown me, I ask you not to think of yourselves more highly than you should. Instead, your thoughts should lead you to use good judgment based on what God has given each of you as believers.” Do you think this might be important in a community? Absolutely it is. Because there is nothing in any of us that would make any one of us more important in the eyes of God than the other. The things we have or don’t have, the things we do or don’t do, those things do not make God love us more or less, and so we should unlearn to use them as important factors in our lives. Instead to see one another as Christ sees us, and in so doing we reflect his love for each other. This is why Christ is crucial. Paul goes on…
“Our bodies have many parts, but these parts don’t all do the same thing. In the same way, even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other. God in his kindness gave each of us different gifts. If your gift is speaking God’s word, make sure what you say aggress with the Christian faith. IF your gift is serving, then devote yourself to serving. If it is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. IF it is encouraging others, devote yourself to giving encouragement. If it is sharing be generous. If it is leadership, lead enthusiastically. If it is helping people in need, help them cheerfully. Love sincerely. Hate evil. Hold on to what is good. Be devoted to each other like a loving family. Excel in showing respect for each other. Don’t be lazy in showing your devotion. Use your energy to serve the Lord. Be happy in your confidence, be patience in trouble, and pray continually. Share what you have with God’s people who are in need. Be hospital.”
Wow. Can you imagine what this looks like when we live it out together? And not so that people would look at us and say, “Wow, what a great group of people.” But so that they would look at us and say, “Wow, what a great God they have.” You see, we all need one another. We cannot do what God has called us to do as a congregation without the gifts that each of us brings to the table.
Does this seem impossible? And well, yes, it would be on our own. But we do not live on our own. We have Christ. And the lives that we now live, we live in him. Living life this way, is living life in the Kingdom of God. And as we live this way, others will be drawn to it, and through that, the Kingdom of God will spread. It won’t be easy. We won’t always get it right. But when we fail, we go to our God, and to one another and there is forgiveness and another chance. Paul finishes “Bless those who persecute you. Bless them, and don’t curse them. Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be arrogant, but be friendly to humble people. Don’t think that you are smarter than you really are. Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you. Focus your thoughts on those things that are considered noble. As much as it is possible, live in peace with everyone. Don’t take revenge, dear friends. Instead, let God’s anger take care of it. After all, scripture says, “I alone have the right to take revenge. I will pay back, says the Lord.” But, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. IF he is thirsty, give him a drink. If you do this, you will make him feel guilty and ashamed.’ Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil with good.”
Lent is a time to reflect on what is really important, and what really matters in life. That will come out in the rest of this service, and in the next one too. Lent is a time for us to seek forgiveness for failing to live life the way God would have us, and to begin anew. May God bless us, as we live together in this place, and serve him and our neighbors, now and always. Amen.