Sermon - 2017-08-27
Who are you? For many of us, this is something that we are forced to wrestle with as we are growing. We are asked to define who we are, what we enjoy and truly what is it that we are going to do and be in the world. It is in the midst of school, while children are learning and growing that we encourage them to begin to explore who they are. It is especially noticeable in middle school. Here in the merging of schools, children seem to gather together into defined groups that are united based on hobbies, excellence in an area, or even more defined through the public accolades of athletics. Yes, I am talking about the band geeks. I am talking about the Mathletes. Yes, I am talking about the football team. These groups and paths shape us and form us into having characteristics that while leading us through the beginning of life but they shape so much more than that, they also shape how we will live out our life here on Earth.
Asking the big questions of life and what it is you are doing through the days, weeks, years, and decades that you are on this journey of life and faith is precisely what the church is supposed to help us do. We are in the work of helping you get from where you are at today to the glory of God, to have a relationship with God until you are standing in His Presence. That’s a pretty large task and one that looks so different for each person because we start in different places.
Paul speaks to us today in the letter to the Romans about using our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Paul is talking about what it is that we do, what it is that we say, and even everything that we are should be done for the glory of God. That we do not simply worship God at one place or at one particular time but that every single moment, we are living, breathing and worshipping God. This is the ideal, this was our created purpose and the way things were way back in the beginning in the Garden of Eden.
However, now we have the distractions of this world. Paul reminds us that we are part of this fallen and broken world. That it contains aspects that would take us away from God. These smaller g gods are ones that we place our hope, trust, and faith in. They are things or ideas that will distract us from what is important or even harm ourselves or others around us. Yet we place them in such high esteem that we elevate them to the position of the one True God.
Yes, one of the reasons that the Bible though written 2000 years ago is still relevant today is that it speaks to a human condition of us seeking God yet for many of us we are willing to make almost anything fit into that space. While they did not have cell phones, computers, or many books, they did have their hearts and imaginations of creating and filling their life with anything that made them happy.
Yet the world is something that in itself will want us to conform to the ways and manners that it has. You can see this in the advertising, the voice of experts, and the ideals that are uplifted though never achieved. For example, watching the TV the other day, I saw an advertising for cars. The slogan was, “it’s time for you to have a new car. And now is a great time for it.” However, I really do not need a new car. I do not need another payment to make for that would make a slave to my job and thus needing to work more, longer or perhaps even needing a second job to cover all the costs of my life. And while one voice is telling me to spend, another expert tells us that we need to save more for our retirements. That we need more money because in the future, housing, food, and medical expenses will be so much higher.
Paul is drawing us away from the voices of this world and reminding us of our Creator and Sustainer. By renewing your mind so that you may discern the Will of God. This allows the person to see the world as God’s Will sees and understands the aspects of this world. For when we understand the Will of God, then we can live and display God to others in our life. By doing this, then we are able to bring the person to God. Paul’s words can be best summarized by “Trust in God”.
However, they can also be expanded to help us greater understand the depth that Paul is speaking about for the people at Rome and also for us today.
Paul and his letter to the Romans were truly getting the people to focus on three different areas of their life and how it relates to God: the body (actions), the head (thoughts), and their heart (feelings). When Paul implores the people to begin realizing what it is that they are doing wrong, he also wants them to realize what it is that they should be doing. To think about what it is you are doing. How are you taking care of your home? How are you taking care of what is your possession? This is a reflection of how you care for what is yours and thus how will you treat something that someone else. For truly in the end, we realize that we can not take what we have with us but that all that is with us is given to us by God. This leads us to realize how are we thinking about our stuff, and along with it, the people that are around us. Are we viewing people as a gift? Are we realizing that the people around us are more than just a transaction, more than a person with flaws, more than a person who can help us get what we want? Do we realize the people who are around us are in need of our love? This leads us deeper into our heart. The feelings that we have for yourself and others, shines through how we think of them and how we treat them.
This is a complete circle and some may say where do you start then in teaching and growing the change? Each and every one of us is different. Thus we need to engage people in different ways. For some of us, we love to read. Our happiest day would be spent in the library or on a computer reading and writing. This is generally the thinkers however they can get lost in the many voices. For some of us, we love to do stuff. Our happiest days are perhaps playing football, serving others in a service project or building something. This is generally the doers, however, they can easily be led astray by a simple task that draws them away. Then there are others who hear a person’s story and are moved to action to help that person or a people. These are the feelers, yet they can easily be taken in by a story that is not true at all but instead supports something that is going against the exact story that they have heard.
As a Christian, this is so very important to know. We need to know who we are, how God has created us. So that we know our strengths and our weaknesses. We need to understand that we are in need of others and truly reflect upon our lives so that we see the bigger picture that God has in store for us. That we are able to see and even do the work that we are able to do with the resources that are available to expand the Kingdom of God in this world.
Asking the big questions of life and what it is you are doing through the days, weeks, years, and decades that you are on this journey of life and faith is precisely what the church is supposed to help us do. We are in the work of helping you get from where you are at today to the glory of God, to have a relationship with God until you are standing in His Presence. That’s a pretty large task and one that looks so different for each person because we start in different places.
Paul speaks to us today in the letter to the Romans about using our bodies as a living sacrifice to God. Paul is talking about what it is that we do, what it is that we say, and even everything that we are should be done for the glory of God. That we do not simply worship God at one place or at one particular time but that every single moment, we are living, breathing and worshipping God. This is the ideal, this was our created purpose and the way things were way back in the beginning in the Garden of Eden.
However, now we have the distractions of this world. Paul reminds us that we are part of this fallen and broken world. That it contains aspects that would take us away from God. These smaller g gods are ones that we place our hope, trust, and faith in. They are things or ideas that will distract us from what is important or even harm ourselves or others around us. Yet we place them in such high esteem that we elevate them to the position of the one True God.
Yes, one of the reasons that the Bible though written 2000 years ago is still relevant today is that it speaks to a human condition of us seeking God yet for many of us we are willing to make almost anything fit into that space. While they did not have cell phones, computers, or many books, they did have their hearts and imaginations of creating and filling their life with anything that made them happy.
Yet the world is something that in itself will want us to conform to the ways and manners that it has. You can see this in the advertising, the voice of experts, and the ideals that are uplifted though never achieved. For example, watching the TV the other day, I saw an advertising for cars. The slogan was, “it’s time for you to have a new car. And now is a great time for it.” However, I really do not need a new car. I do not need another payment to make for that would make a slave to my job and thus needing to work more, longer or perhaps even needing a second job to cover all the costs of my life. And while one voice is telling me to spend, another expert tells us that we need to save more for our retirements. That we need more money because in the future, housing, food, and medical expenses will be so much higher.
Paul is drawing us away from the voices of this world and reminding us of our Creator and Sustainer. By renewing your mind so that you may discern the Will of God. This allows the person to see the world as God’s Will sees and understands the aspects of this world. For when we understand the Will of God, then we can live and display God to others in our life. By doing this, then we are able to bring the person to God. Paul’s words can be best summarized by “Trust in God”.
However, they can also be expanded to help us greater understand the depth that Paul is speaking about for the people at Rome and also for us today.
Paul and his letter to the Romans were truly getting the people to focus on three different areas of their life and how it relates to God: the body (actions), the head (thoughts), and their heart (feelings). When Paul implores the people to begin realizing what it is that they are doing wrong, he also wants them to realize what it is that they should be doing. To think about what it is you are doing. How are you taking care of your home? How are you taking care of what is your possession? This is a reflection of how you care for what is yours and thus how will you treat something that someone else. For truly in the end, we realize that we can not take what we have with us but that all that is with us is given to us by God. This leads us to realize how are we thinking about our stuff, and along with it, the people that are around us. Are we viewing people as a gift? Are we realizing that the people around us are more than just a transaction, more than a person with flaws, more than a person who can help us get what we want? Do we realize the people who are around us are in need of our love? This leads us deeper into our heart. The feelings that we have for yourself and others, shines through how we think of them and how we treat them.
This is a complete circle and some may say where do you start then in teaching and growing the change? Each and every one of us is different. Thus we need to engage people in different ways. For some of us, we love to read. Our happiest day would be spent in the library or on a computer reading and writing. This is generally the thinkers however they can get lost in the many voices. For some of us, we love to do stuff. Our happiest days are perhaps playing football, serving others in a service project or building something. This is generally the doers, however, they can easily be led astray by a simple task that draws them away. Then there are others who hear a person’s story and are moved to action to help that person or a people. These are the feelers, yet they can easily be taken in by a story that is not true at all but instead supports something that is going against the exact story that they have heard.
As a Christian, this is so very important to know. We need to know who we are, how God has created us. So that we know our strengths and our weaknesses. We need to understand that we are in need of others and truly reflect upon our lives so that we see the bigger picture that God has in store for us. That we are able to see and even do the work that we are able to do with the resources that are available to expand the Kingdom of God in this world.
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