Called to BE a Living Sacrifice

Paul was originally Saul of Tarsus, a man relentlessly bent on destroying the fledgling Christian community before he was touched by God and came to know Jesus Christ through the Spirit.  After his transformation he became an "apostle," ἀπόστολος, apóstolos, a Greek word which means messenger, or one who is "sent" with a message. 

Paul grew to be a man who worked constantly and tirelessly to lead people to see Jesus Christ, to welcome him into their hearts and lives, and to understand what he meant for the world beyond Judaism.  His letter to the Romans is his most theologically complete because he is not writing to a community that he knows intimately like the Corinthians or the Galatians.  Because he has not lived with them and taught them the precepts of Christianity himself, he more firmly connects the dots for us in his belief system.  The letter to the Romans contains many lovely phrases which appeal to me and invite me to ponder about the way I live my life. 

In this week's reading I find something truly evocative about the phrase and the call to BE a "living sacrifice."  At the time, sacrifice for the Jewish people had more physical meaning than it does for us today.  In Jewish history, perhaps as recent as 70 AD when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, animal sacrifice was literal.  Many persons see the crucifixion of Christ on the cross as the final "sacrifice."  Paul epitomized this sacrificial sense of living for God, embodied it by living for others to the fullest, and calls us to offer ourselves and the gifts we've been given in our own sacrificial ministry to the people of the world.

I invite you to spend a few moments considering the word “sacrifice” in the context of your world.  As you continue on, read and pray and listen and celebrate God’s Presence through the Word.  Breathe and settle into a place of openness within yourself with a simple breath prayer.  Use this one or create your own (six to eight syllables is good for beginning breath prayer but I’ve used more as I've breathing more deeply, you really have to learn to move with your own breathing patterns:)

Breathing in ... God of Refining Fire

Breathing out ... Transform me into a pleasing sacrifice

and when you are ready to move deeper into the text ... Pray: God of Transformation, change my heart as I read and pray your holy Word.  Inspire me to change my habits and my life as my awareness of your loving presence deepens.  Amen. 

Read Romans 12:1-8 (NET) slowly.   Immerse yourself in these holy words as you engage in Lectio Divina, which means sacred reading.  Allow yourself to be drawn deeply into God’s presence as you read and pray and listen.  Let the words wash over you and take you where God is leading you ...

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.  For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith. For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.

Read the passage again slowly and Reflect ...
How does your word or phrase from this passage illuminate your life or the life of your community right now?  How is God inviting you to change or grow or pray or act?

Read the passage again slowly and Respond ...
What do you say to God about your life and how you feel you are being called in this moment?   How do you pray when you consider what God is saying to you?

Rest ...
Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "BE" with God.  Try for 10 minutes or beyond.

When you are ready to move on,  Pray:  O God, I don't really know what it means to be a living sacrifice but I want to know and to BE that for you. Call me, lead me, guide me, love me until my whole BEing is pleasing and acceptable to you, for you are always my strength and forever my redeemer.   Amen.

If music is a pathway to God for you, take this link to youtube, watch the video and listen to Refiner’s Fire, a song by Brian Doekson, sung by Hillsong.