Sermon Tone Analysis

Mercy Received. . .

Now What?

Romans 12:1-8

 

! Introduction

·         *Wile E. Coyote catches the Roadrunner.*

A historical moment of utmost importance.

Favorite second only to Taz.

Scheming away.

Great intelligence.

Summarize cartoon clip.

Holds up a sign: “Okay wise guys, you always wanted me to catch him.”

Then he holds up another sign: “Now what do I do?”

·         *La 3:22-23 (NRSV)* The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

·         God’s mercy is amazing—always fresh—never ending.

·         A few minutes ago Susan read the first 8 verses in Rom.

12. Now get this . . .

Paul’s been writing about mercy throughout the entire book of Romans up to the point where chapter 12 begins.

·         *God’s mercy is HUGE.

We’ve caught it, now what do we do with it?

Well, Paul helps us with that in 12.1-2.

**/Our challenge:/*

!

1.

To give ourselves as sacrifices

!! a) Living, not dead

* It's not "wanted, dead or alive."

God doesn’t want us dead, he wants us alive—ready for action.

Typically when we think of the offering of sacrifices in the Bible, we think of dead animals.

Goats, sheep, bulls, etc. It’s not just our bodies that God wants—oh, he wants that.

But more he want all of us—the kind of sacrifice God desires is our lives.

He wants us!

All the time.

Not just here on Sunday mornings.

Not just for a couple of minutes during our daily prayers.

He wants us during every minute of every day.

* And deep down we want to respond to God’s mercy in that manner.

He loves us and we long to love him back.

* Time and time again we say, Hey, God, I give myself to you.

I’m gonna do things your way instead of mine—my life is yours to do with what you choose.

* *Biology lab—organisms responding to stimuli.*

Cold worms from Canada.

A series of simple tests on the worm.

Touch with a toothpick.

Put near a heat source.

Now, suffice it to say that when you put a group of sadistic 10th graders in such a situation, they’re gonna find ways to extend the tests far beyond what is required.

When the heat is turned-up, the worms will wiggle.

* Funny thing about living sacrifices as opposed to dead ones—living sacrifices are always trying to crawl off the altar.

Especially when things get a little hot.

* We give ourselves to God only to turn around a short time later and not necessarily defiantly or maliciously we ease ourselves back off the altar.

* *Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing:** *Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.

!! b) Holy, not common

·         Not too difficult for us to get to the placed where we feel small, insignificant, ordinary.

That’s not reality.

Fact is, as we give ourselves to God and his work, we are far from small, insignificant, and ordinary.

·         General meaning of the term "holy" in the Bible is that of separation.

Being set apart.

And that's the basic idea here.

We're not for common, everyday use.

We're instead marked--set apart by God himself to do his work--to be consecrated for his service.

·         Do you /really /get what I’m saying here?

Look, the God who exists beyond time and space.

The One who created all we know.

The most amazing being in existence.

Our Savior and Lord.

When we give ourselves to him and his work—when we present ourselves as living sacrifices, we’re joining hands with Almighty God!

We receive a stamp if you will that marks us as the King’s Kids.

Now that some radical stuff!!

!! c) Accepted, not rejected

·         *Terri.*

Wanted to romance her.

She wanted to be friends.

Ouch!

·         Rejection comes in all forms—Dear John letters—phone calls where the interviewer says we selected another applicant—divorce decrees—children too selfish to visit that dear parent in a nursing home, the person who sacrificed so much to give those children what they needed.

On and on . . .

·         I hate rejection, don’t you?

Of course!

All sane humans would prefer to be received with open arms.

But life’s just not like that.

No one stands alone in the arena of rejection—we’ve all been there.

Maybe you’ve been there recently—turned down for something—heard these words: “you’re not exactly what I need.”

And it hurts no matter how thick our skin.

·         There’s one person who’ll never say no to you as you offer yourself to him—God.

Maybe this is sounding a little cheesy, but the truth is that for some of us we get to the place where it seems that all have rejected us.

God /always/ accepts us—period.

And at the place where the rubber meets the road, he’s the one who matters most.

·         To others we may not measure up.

To others we may be lacking what they’re longing for but . . .

·         God accepts us-as we are-as we give ourselves to him.

He is pleased with our sacrifice.

!! d) Reasonable, not unreasonable (based on the word logikos)

·         Logikos.

What word do you hear that?

Logic.

Sure! Logical!!

·         *Epictetus (1st century stoic philosopher):* "If I were a nightingale, I would do what is proper to a nightingale, and if I were a swan, what is proper to a swan.

In fact I am /logikos/ (a rational being), so I must praise God." [From Stott-Romans]

·         Does this whole idea of giving ourselves to God make sense?

Paul says, “Yes!”

·         This whole idea of offering ourselves to God as living sacrifices isn't just some lofty, ivory tower concept—it’s clearly the rational, right action to take.

!

2.     To get our minds right

·         *Strother Martin in /Cool Hand Luke:/*/ /“Luke, you’ve gotta get your mind right.”

·         *Ohio Burger King worker fired for bathing in sink*