by Mr. Titus Menezes
Romans 12
When I was given this topic I was debating whether I should speak on this subject primarily for two reasons – first it’s a very complex subject and secondly whether I, personally live a life of sacrifice?
The key verse I have chosen for this topic is from Romans 12:1 – I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. As you will read, this verse has 5 commas and so we have at the minimum, five distinct topics. Day in and day out, each of us is involved in some form of sacrifice: sacrifice in marriage, for children, at our place of work, the sacrifice of the Mass and so many others.
What then is this word sacrifice? In very simple words and its original understanding it means
- an offering to a deity something precious
- the killing of a victim on an altar.
This falls in line with out understanding in the OT. We read a lot about sacrifices in the first five books and this forms the base for our topic today. God was the first one to sacrifice so that He could clothe Adam and Eve. Later we read about the offering of Cain and Abel. Cain brought the fruit of the ground as we read he was a tiller of the ground and Abel brought the firstlings of his flock as he was a keeper of sheep. God accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. Abel brought the first fruits whereas there is no mention that Cain’s offering was the first cut of the ground. From thereon we read of many sacrifices. In today’s world we use the word sacrifice to denote giving up something precious to us: giving up our time, money, careers etc. but in all these, we overlook the real significance of the act. When the Jews went to the Temple to offer their sacrifices, they had to take an animal or bird free of defect and any blemish. It had to be perfect.
And I want you to look at me or picture yourself walking towards the altar where the High Priest was to collect the offering. Here I would like to introduce the Hebrew word for sacrifice i.e. korban. This word does not suggest giving up something rather it means coming close, drawing near. Bringing a sacrifice draws us closer to God, raising our lives to a higher purpose.
For God the sacrifice was secondary. He was more interested in the person drawing near to Him. The sacrifice was a mere ritual, the real intention being to draw man close to Him. Each of our sacraments is based on the premise of drawing us closer to God: we are right there in front of the altar.
Now there is a difference between offering and sacrifice: offering is something of substance given to another: as we just saw the Jewish offering, money, donations: something tangible but sacrifice is the attitude in which the offering is given. Psalm 51:16-17 - For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
During charity drives, we hear people say, I gave all my old clothes for the relief victims. Is that really charity or sacrifice? You gave so that you can empty your wardrobe, to make space for the new ones. Give the new ones and that will be considered charity. We can fool one another by our words and works but the Lord is far above all this.
Quickly and briefly, I want to run you through the five sacrificial offerings the Jews had to make and you can find this in the Book of Leviticus Chapters 1-5
Burnt Offering commitment & complete surrender to God Voluntary act of worship
Grain Offering recognition of God’s goodness/provision Voluntary act of worship
Peace Offering thanksgiving & fellowship Voluntary act of worship
Sin Offering confession / forgiveness of sin Mandatory act of worship
Trespass Offering unintentional sin requiring restitution Mandatory act of worship
Of this only grain offering did not involve blood, rest all had the slaughtering of an animal or bird. When more than one kind of offering was presented (as in Num 9:15 -17), the procedure was usually as follows:
1. sin offering or trespass offering,
2. burnt offering,
3. grain offering and
4. peace offering (sacrifice of well being).
This sequence shows us the spiritual significance of the sacrificial system.
Ø First, sin had to be dealt with (sin offering or trespass offering).
Ø Second, the worshiper committed himself completely to God (burnt offering and grain offering).
Ø Third, fellowship or communion between the Lord, the priest and the worshiper (peace offering) was established.
To state it another way, there were sacrifices of:
Ø Expiation/atonement sin offerings and trespass offerings,
Ø consecration burnt offerings and grain offerings and
Ø communion peace offerings.
Can you see this pattern in the Eucharist?
- confession
- offertory & elevation
- peace & communion
Many of us attend the Eucharist as a matter of obligation but in this is built our acts of worship to draw us closer to God. I hope and pray you will recall this when you attend Mass from now on.
One last thing on these offerings! Look at the mandatory offerings: sin and trespass offering: in which prayer do you see these words appear? The Lord’s prayer “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” When Jesus gave us the Lord’s prayer, He ensured the mention of the mandatory offering: sin which was directed against God and trespass against neighbour. Here we see the two greatest commandments the Lord gave us: love your God and love your neighbour.
As I was preparing this talk I asked the Lord to teach me more on this subject and He just gave me a four-letter word – LOVE. And there began a new journey. I was wondering whether it had any relation to this topic or was it just a general instruction. The more I looked at it, the more it conformed to the word sacrifice.
To love is to sacrifice, to sacrifice is to love. Look at a person in a loving relationship: he or she is willing to give up anything just to be close to the other, be it spouse or family. No matter time or cost, they just give up to draw near to each other. The person is important to me, so I keep aside my agenda, my program.
Marriage is a sacrifice no matter whether you are a Christian or of another faith. You have to give up on many things as the years pass by. You know what I did before marriage? I could do anything I wanted the way I wanted. I could sleep for hours without anyone disturbing me, my parents brought the groceries and readied the food for me. Marriage in a way binds us up, the road gets narrower. Received an sms: Marriage is giving up the appreciation of thousands to listen to the criticism of one 🙂
John 15:13 - No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. To lay down one’s life: to sacrifice: the greatest form of love. Jn 3:16 / Mark 8:34 - If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Look at these two other commandments Jesus gave us: love the Lord and love your neighbour. To love the Lord is to give up on all other gods in our life. To love your neighbour is to accept them though they hurt you or sometimes create trouble for you.
As I reflected on 1 Cor 13: love is kind, love is patient, love bears all things: every time you are kind you sacrifice being unkind, every time you are patient you are sacrificing being impatient, when you bear all things, you are sacrificing. And I came to a conclusion: the word sacrifice that we read so often in the OT has an equivalent word in the NT: LOVE. For me this word ‘love’ revealed for this talk was like a huge jigsaw puzzle solved. All texts both in the Old and New Testament fell in place. Friends, if you have grasped the Word until now, from hereon when you read the Bible you can have a better understanding of what we are to do with our life.
Lets then go to our key verse Romans 12:1 – I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
I appeal to you therefore: Paul is not commanding us but he is appealing, pleading.
By the mercies of God: Paul is pleading with the people to live by the mercies of God and not your own mercy. The mercy (kindness, compassion, forgiveness) that you have received from God is the mercy you have to show others: unconditional, just the way God does it with each one of us. Human mercy is based on a returnable favour in some way or the other: you scratch my back and I will scratch yours.
How can I look or understand through God’s eyes? Ask the question what would have been God’s response to this situation and what mercy has God shown me and you have the answer. I want to avoid reading the text but if I don’t mention it probably you will miss the point. Romans 12:6-18 (24 points): Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
I want you to do me a favour during the course of this week read Rom 12:6-18 – the 24+ attitudes that are listed out there.
Immediately after this verse 19 tells us do not avenge for God says vengeance is mine, I will repay. Recall the parable of the unforgiving servant who was forgiven 10,000 talents but could not forgive the debt of 100 denarii of his fellow servant. And the matter was brought before the king who told - Mt 18:33. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' In our human capacity, we cannot forgive easily but by His grace received, we can do a lot better.
To present your bodies – here Paul mentions of presenting your bodies. He specifically tells us to present, just as we gift others: beautifully give presents. Each of us has a different body with so many characteristics. How can I offer this imperfect body? God is not interested in the physical characteristics of our body. The body encompasses the whole of our being body, soul and spirit.
Secondly in the next verse he mentions Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect. Our bodily members (eyes, hand, feet, mouth) and their actions are governed by what is in our mind and Paul hits the nail on the head. If your mind is being transformed by Christ, your bodily actions will follow suit.
As a living sacrifice – as I explained earlier, the sacrifice brought to the altar was cut and the sacrifice died. Jesus gave himself up as the one-time perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. Then why do we need to offer up ourselves as a sacrifice? The purpose was not the sacrifice but to draw the person closer to God. The person had to have a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart. This did not require us to die but in our living die to sin, to ourselves. Again read Rom 12:6-18 – all these amount to being the living sacrifice.
Holy – for the Jews the externals had to be holy and their actions were precisely towards this. I was in my teens when I happened to be with a group of people and one of them was on his way to a place of worship. There came by a person who brought along with him a dog. Immediately this person told him keep the dog away as he was going for a service else he will have to take bath again. Paul is not interested in this external factors, he is talking of our hearts and our minds which govern our body. He is calling us to an inside-out holiness. Holiness is continuous sanctification and the way to this is in Romans 12:6-18. Someone has well said: the way to God is sacrifice but the walk with God is sanctification.
Acceptable – free of defect and blemish: again God is not looking at physical defect as they did for the sacrifice in the OT. May we not be found wanting on the points mentioned in Rom 12:6-18. If our bodily living is holy or sanctified, then the sacrifice is acceptable to God.
Which is your spiritual worship – presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable is spiritual worship. This is indeed a difficult phrase. Let us look at the way we conduct praise and worship: Praise we are loud, fast, action-oriented. Worship is different from praise – it is quieter, silent. This is let say physical worship. When you show patience when you have run out of patience, you have actually become silent. When you show kindness when actually the person deserved unkindness for the doing, you are expressing restraint, you are falling silent. Think of it. When you bear all things happening around you, you are becoming silent. My Lord when he was questioned by Pilate to the accusations of the people gave no answer, He shut His mouth, He was silent. He bore all those things. When He said not my will but Yours be done, He was silencing Himself of any action or thoughts from His side.
This, my dear friends is true worship, spiritual worship. Physical worship we see at a service here or in church or in the blessed sacrament but when we do things mentioned in Rom 12:6-18, in 1 Cor 13, we are spiritually worshipping the Lord.
In a nutshell: When things are going against you: Keep quiet, remain silent, be patient. Be a ‘loser’. I am not talking of the times when you have erred and have been caught, you keep silent. There you have to! I am considering those times when you are trapped in situations which you did nothing to get into. The Lord knows it all. I am seeing it happen in my life and it is happening in the life of all those who love the Lord. I am not asking you to bottle it up inside you: leave it at the feet of the Lord so that He may address the situation.
The theme was ‘life of sacrifice’ - I would just add one more word to this – a lifestyle of sacrifice, daily living, way of living. Yes I admit I have been faltered on this front but this is an opportunity the Lord has blessed me to understand. Before I close, there are two areas I will just mention. You can reflect on it on all that I have said:
Fasting – fasting is the physical aspect of the sacrifice. Many people fast but that is not a sacrifice. The real purpose / motive should be to draw near to God and what better way than through prayer. This makes it the correct sacrifice.
Sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving – In the many years of my reading and scanning through scripture texts, I have never come across or probably have missed out on the phrase - sacrifice of petitions, supplications. If you find it, please let me know.
Psalm 50:23 -Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honour me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God. Hebrews 13:15 - Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. What I want to tell is this: God is interested in our continual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to Him. Philippians 4:6 - Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
We have a petition box here: I wish we can call it thanksgiving with supplication but that’s only as far as the basket is concerned. When we write our petitions, let us give thanks to God for all that He has blessed us with and then mention our requests with an additional line for grace to handle the situation. He knows all that we are going through.
Today, we have heard the word on sacrifice, love, mercy, the Eucharist and many other areas. I can summarise with the statement – a call to a lifestyle of sacrifice, a lifestyle of love, a lifestyle of mercy. Amen