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A New Heart and A New Way of Life
Romans 12:1-8
Mari Ikeda
Today we begin Romans chapter 12. Let’s read it right away. First, verses 1-2.
A. A new way of life (1-2)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.
1. Every part of our life as worship
I think these two verses are one of the most famous verses in the Bible and are often given to those who are new to the faith, or to those who have joined a new school or workplace.
It encourages us to “offer ourselves to God,” and to “discern well what is God’s will and what is good.”
Moreover, it says, “Do not conform yourselves to the world,” which sounds like an advice to stay away from the dirty and dangerous things of the world and to live a clean and righteous life as a Christian.
Yet that is the exact opposite of what these two verses really mean.
I think the keyword for the real meaning of these two verses is the middle sentence of verse 1.
It says, ” Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
Here and now, with this body, we are living in this world, interacting with various people and facing our own challenges.
“Offering your body” does not mean that you should abandon your relationship with such people, ignore your own issues, and join some special ministry, but rather that you should seek God in the very relationships with people that each of you is now being given, and within your own limitations.
Then it is said, “This is the worship that is proper for you.
The phrase translated in Japanese as “reasonable worship” was previously translated as “worship that should be done,” and in English (NIV) it is translated as “true and appropriate worship,” which seems to be a difficult phrase to translate, but I think it means “it is a right and natural thing to do.
When read in conjunction with the before and after, it means that if we believe in God and live, everything we do with our bodies – everything we do with our lives and our lives itself – should be worship to God.
As we heard last week, worship is not just something we do in church on Sunday mornings, but something we do in all of our daily lives.
Therefore, this is an invitation for us to leave behind our old way of life and live a new way of life each and every day.
It is a shift to a way of life that seeks only the fulfillment of God’s will rather than one’s own convenience, profit, or meeting the expectations of others.
It is a steady process of dying to the old self and recovering the new or original self that God has given us.
Because of this, Paul described us as “living sacrifices”.
2. As a result of a new heart
However, this is not the same as stifling one’s own desires and being controlled by the obsession of “I should ~”, but rather trusting God and willingly letting go of one’s own thoughts.
Just as verse 2 says, “Renew your mind and let yourself be transformed.
Due to the limitations of the Japanese translation, it is translated as if it is ourselves who renew our minds, but as is not the case in English, it is God who renews our minds and transforms us.
Last Sunday we celebrated Easter. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is an event that proves God’s mercy in forgiving sinners and bringing those who would die to life.
As that mercy was poured out on us and we knew that we were loved by God, our hearts began to be transformed.
But it is not a once in a life time thing, we need to have the experience of knowing God’s mercy over and over again.
We can know God’s mercy only when we are in the midst of our various sufferings and sorrows, when we lose sight of whether God is really interested in us and has a good plan for us. Because that is where we encounter Jesus, who grieves and suffers with us.
In this way we can be renewed by God and find His love and good plan even in the midst of unexpected suffering, even if we don’t live the life we hoped for.
And we can know God’s righteousness rather than our own righteousness, and make it our joy to do what pleases God.
Although we are not God and can never be as perfect as He is, He renews us day by day.
And this new heart and new way of life also remakes our relationships anew.
Let’s read verses 3 to 8.
B. A new relationship with others (3-8)
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
1. Accepting one another without comparison and judgement
In verses 1-2, Paul, after encouraging us to be transformed by God into a new way of life, here advises each one of us not to be conceited.
God gives each of us a different way of life.
And yet, we want to give each other a superiority over the other’s way of life. It is the uncontrollable nature of human beings, and the church is no exception.
Here Paul uses the word “gift” in English to list the various ministries within the church.
Gift of prophesying, gift of serving, gift of teaching, gift of encouragement, gift of giving, gift of leading, and gift of showing mercy.
When we read a list like this, we naturally wonder which gifts we have, that person has this gift and I don’t, and so on.
But that’s like defeat the purpose. (putting the cart before the horse.) (That’s not the whole point.) What Paul was trying to say is that each of us has been given different gifts, and we should not compare ourselves to one another and be happy or sad.
Also, and I know this is something I haven’t learned enough about and will have to think about, and I would like you all to think about this, but how can a gift be something that you are aware of or that others can say “he/she has this gift”?
I believe that gifts are a gift from God, and are different from talents that people are born with or abilities that they acquire through hard work.
It often happens that what you think you are good at is actually getting in the way of God’s work.
I also think that humans tend to focus on outstanding works and we are limited in our ability to judge gifts.
So when I think about the gifts, I am reminded of the following words of Paul.
“My power is made perfect in weakness. When I am weak, then I am strong.”（II Corinthians 12:9-10）
2. To become one–the body of Christ
And above all, we have received different gifts because, as Paul says here, we belong to one body and complement each other so that that body can function.
That body is the “body of Christ,” and Christians around the world and churches around the world belong to the one body of Christ.
And now, on behalf of the invisible Christ, we are entrusted with the work of making His love visible in this world.
Paul says this about the body of Christ.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable … God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it … If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. (1Corinthians 12:21-27)
This last week I was rereading Henri Nauen’s book called “Here and Now-Living in the Spirit “. Even though I have read this book many times, it resonated with me as if I was reading it for the first time.
One of the passages seemed to sum up today’s message, so I will end by introducing it.
There is much sorrow and suffering in our lives. But what a blessing it is to be able to experience them with someone else. That is the gift of mercy!
(Prayer)
Dear God, we are so caught up in our own narrow perspective, so distracted by the suffering before us, that we easily lose sight of Your love.
Please transform our hearts by your spirit and lead us to offer our heartfelt thanks and worship to you.
Allow us to take your joy as our own and to suffer with you in your suffering.
And while we may not be able to remove the suffering and sorrow of others, may we suffer together and grieve together.
We pray in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Lord, we look up to you on the day to celebrate your resurrection. We just trust you, without falling into empty idolatry. We know events that affect our trusting heart to you happens from time to time. Regardless of circumstances, we do not forget you are our help and shield.
Please guide us to continue walking with the joy of your resurrection as a force.
Summary
Believing in Jesus and walking with him means that our hearts are renewed and that our whole way of life is changed. It is the kind of life where we are conscious of God’s plan and his love even in the midst of unexpected suffering and even when our lives don’t go according to our plan. God gives each of us grace and gifts and he wants us to accept one another’s differences without comparison or judgement, supporting and complementing the strengths and weaknesses we each bring to the table.
For Discussion
- What does it mean to worship God?
- Are our “gifts” things that we believe we are good at? Or are they things that others point out as our “gifts”?