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.  

Called by a New Name

This is our 3rd and final week with Isaiah during this time after the Epiphany.  In week 1 we allowed the metaphor of light to illuminate the text.  In week 2, we embraced water and fire as metaphors for the struggles of life as we moved through the text.  This week Isaiah “of the Restoration” talks about transformation of the people and their lives in the form of “re-naming.”   In the bible God renames people when they have had a powerful experience during which they have been changed from within.  Isaiah expects that when the exiles return their lives will be transformed just as our lives are transformed when we fall short, turn away and subsequently return to God. 

Let’s listen in as Isaiah comforts the exiles returning to Jerusalem.  You can read more about Isaiah and the context of this passage in this paper I wrote several years ago:  Vision of Restoration.  Although it focuses on a selection located a few verses before today’s passage, what is written about the Exiles and their journey back to Jerusalem still holds true. 

As you prepare your heart to read and pray the scriptures, remember the Israelite exiles … going home to a desolate, dark and lonely place … only a faint shadow of what it once was.   Remember refugees all over the world, people who are fleeing war and strife in their homeland.  Remember those you know who are struggling with life right now, especially the homeless men or women who are cold and have no place to lay their head tonight.  Remember your own struggles, be they old ones or new ones. 

Just sit with your "remembering" right now and breathe a gentle breath prayer for the world:  

Breathe in … God of All Names (pause)  
Breath out … Change our world (pause) 

When you are ready to move into the text, use these verses of Psalm 23 (adapted) as a prayer:

O Lord, you are my shepherd, I shall not want.
You makes me lie down in green pastures;
You leads me beside still waters;
You restores my soul.
You lead me in right paths
    for your name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
   your rod and your staff — they comfort me.

Now, read Isaiah 62:1-5 with the "ear of your heart" using Lectio Divina, during which you will breathe and listen deeply to Isaiah’s encouraging message as you read the text slowly, savoring it in all of its beauty.

Reading 1.    Read the text slowly. Focus your attention on the sense of the passage as you hear it.   Perhaps you will find a word or phrase full of meaning for you.  Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready ...

Movement 1 (Read) and repeat your word or phrase several times.  Let the word or phrase that has chosen you sink into your soul.   What word or phrase is most full of meaning for you where you are in your life right now? 

Isaiah 62:1-5
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

2.    Read the text slowly again ... As you read, listen for the still small voice of the text whispering to you, “Here I am, where are you?”  Where is God calling your attention?  Sit with the “word” God has for you … it can be from the text itself OR it can be a different word or phrase that has arisen from the text.  Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready ...

Movement 2 (Reflect)  How does God want to work in your life and change your name?  If God gave you a new name what would it be?  Use your own words and consider this phrase as a meditation to pray with:  I once was _____ and now I am ______

A butterfly in the countryside of Panama ... a sign of transformation!

3.    Read the text slowly again.  Respond to God with prayers of surrender and commitment ... sing praises, whisper confessions, laugh gratitude, breathe in discernment, breathe out commitment ... whatever emerges from within you as you pray.   Take a deep breath and move on when you are ready …

Movement 3 (Respond)  How do you offer your prayers and your life to God today?

4.    Rest in the gentle silence of God's presence.  Breathe in the transforming power of God.  As you move on, breathe out the transforming Love of God upon the world!

Movement 4 (Rest) Breathe … Breathe … Breathe … Amen

To end your time praying with scripture, use these remaining verses of Psalm 23 as an amen:

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long. 

If music is a pathway to God for you, listen to this song sung by Eden's Bridge: I will change your name.  The graphics on this video are not that clear and the words are blurry but I simply close my eyes and listen. This song illuminates our passage by Isaiah in a beautiful and moving way and was written in the 1980's by a woman named DJ Butler.  It is her story and my story and your story ... and our prayer for exiles and refugees all over the world.