That's The Problem With Living Sacrifices . . .

What is a living sacrifice?
In the epistle reading for today, the Apostle Paul encourages us to be living sacrifices. What does that mean?
A living sacrifice is living. It breathes, it moves . . . it feels. It can make choices, it can communicate, it walks, it talks. Money doesn’t breathe, a check in the offering plate can’t walk. Though—I am quite sure that money speaks. It always seems that my money, at least, speaks to me, and that if I hold it up right next to my ear I can hear it say, “Spend me! Spend me!”
A living sacrifice is a sacrifice. It is something that has been completely and utterly turned over to God, it has a cost associated with it. It expresses the reality of a relationship between God and the giver, a reality that acknowledges God as the source of all that is good in the giver and the giver’s life, a reality that acknowledges that we have nothing to give to God except what He first gave to us.
A living sacrifice, then, is a living, active thing that has been completely committed over to God. It has surrendered its own will, thoughts, and desires to become the tool of God Almighty. No longer content to be the captain of its own destiny, the King over its own life, the living sacrifice gladly surrenders each and every aspect of its being to the control and Divine say-so of God Himself. This is what Paul is urging us to be.
The Problem With Living Sacrifices
Now, what could be the problem with that? I mean, that sounds pretty good, right? Just think, every single day we could wake up and do the will of the Lord. Not bad at all, huh? Why not start today? Today we are living sacrifices, fully committed to knowing and doing the will of God in every aspect of our lives! And here we are, on the altar, a living sacrifice!
But what about those days when we’re not fully committed to God? What about those days?
You see, that’s the problem with living sacrifices . . . they keep trying to crawl off the altar! We want to do what’s right, to be fully committed to God, but it can get so hard to know what He wants us to do, and when we do find out, we usually don’t like it very much. We figure that being a living sacrifice demands too much from us.
It’s seems like it’s kind of a curse, being a living sacrifice. Oh, if we could pick our best moment and freeze it in time we’d look pretty good . . . but it wouldn’t be a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice isn’t all that pretty. If we could freeze that one moment in time we’d be able to believe that our faith was strong, that we lived lives of complete devotion to God. But since we’re living sacrifices we tend to mess up, we’re human. We fall short and we fail. We need help to become a true living sacrifice.

How do I get help becoming a living sacrifice?
We’ll get to who helps us in a minute, but for right now the question I want you to ask yourself is this: “How do I get to be a living sacrifice? What is the process that I can follow to make me into a living sacrifice?”
In our reading for today, the Apostle Paul gives us the answer for that question. In Romans chapter 12 verse two he says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
First, “do not be conformed.” The first step in being a living sacrifice to God is to stop allowing the world set the pattern for our lives, to turn away from the way of life that the world offers. “Do not be conformed” means "do not be shaped by the world", "do not live in the manner of the world.” The world’s pattern of life is characterized by greed, selfishness. It is a pattern that looks exactly . . . like . . . you, because it is a pattern that has one word at the center in big, bold lights: “ME!”
The pattern of this world seems right, and there are many, many times when we can rationalize it away, believing that we are doing the right thing. But keep in mind that Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” That’s what the way of the world is . . . a path to death. If you are allowing yourself to be conformed to the pattern of the world, you are on a path that leads to death.
But we have two commands here, don’t we? In order to be a true and living sacrifice, we must not only turn away from the ways of the world, but we must also be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Let’s break that down a bit. The word that Paul has chosen for “Be transformed” is the Greek word metamorfou/sqe, and it means to be changed in form, to have a fundamental shift in our very being. We would get our word “metamorphosis” from it. In other words, the word we use to describe the change from a creepy-crawly caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly is, in effect, the word Paul chooses to describe what should be happening to us through the renewing of our minds.
This process of transformation, of being changed in our very being, this doesn’t come from within ourselves, it comes only from God. Paul says it this way to the church in Corinth in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
That’s what it is to be transformed, to have God take us from our broken, worldly image and shape us into the likeness of His heavenly one. But transformation is the end result. Paul says the process of transformation takes place by the renewing of our minds.
Now what in the heck does that mean? How do we get our minds renewed?
Titus 3:4-7 says this: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
Did you catch that? God not only accomplishes the transformation in us, but also makes the renewal happen, as well! Out of His divine grace, God takes poor, miserable sinner—that’s you and me, in case you didn’t get that point just yet—God takes me, a poor, miserable sinner, someone who deserves nothing but punishment, someone who is filthy dirty with sin and shame, and washes me clean in Jesus Christ. And that washing—which is here mentioned as being nothing other than baptism—that washing is the agent of renewal in our lives. You see what that means? When you were baptized, God renewed your mind, He reoriented you from the pattern of the world into His Divine image.
See, there’s nothing else that you or I could do that compares to that! Paul hasn’t told us to get our act straight, to shape up and fly right, but He has told us that God is already at work in our lives, that Jesus Christ has already made it possible for us to be His own, that the Holy Spirit has washed and regenerated and renewed us through Holy Baptism, and that each and every thing we do now as people who are nothing other than Children of God should reflect the reality of redemption that we already have in Christ Jesus! You want to be transformed? In Christ you already are! You want to be renewed? The Holy Spirit has already accomplished that! And no matter what else happens, whether you or I fail, whether we fall down, whether we crawl off the altar, we cannot change the fact of our transformed reality in Jesus Christ!

What does a living sacrifice do?
God indeed has transformed us from children of darkness to children of His glorious light. We know that we are not to be conformed to our old ways, to our sinful and worldly ways, to the pattern of the world, but what does our new, transformed pattern look like? What does a living sacrifice do?
Paul gives us that answer, too. In verses 6-8 he says, “6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”
See now, there is a pattern to this new life we have in Christ. God has not transformed us from something into nothing, but has transformed us from purposeless, lost creatures into redeemed Children of God who have a part in His plan! In this new, transformed life of being a living sacrifice, He gives us tasks to do. NOT tasks that lead us to salvation, but express the salvation we already have. Paul’s list of things that living sacrifices do are, in fact, gifts that come with our transformation.
So, as believers in Jesus Christ, God has transformed each of us. In order to guide us in this new pattern of life, He has also given each of us gifts. The gifts are all different, but the have only one purpose in mind: They are gifts to serve one another. These gifts are to help build up one another in the faith. There are no small gifts, no unimportant ones. Each gift is important, is vital, is critical in living out our lives as living sacrifices.
Anyone wondering what Paul’s list—this list of prophets, teachers, encouragers, givers, leaders, and showers of mercy—anyone wondering what that list might look like for you? For you, as a member of Our Saviour?
. . . I’m so glad you asked. If you’ll check out your September newsletter—it’s available now—you’ll find a list of choices where you could use the gifts that God has given you, a list of areas where you could be a living sacrifice.
September Choices:
Worship
· Now forming a Worship Dreaming Team! The purpose of this group is to dream up ideas to help develop more meaningful expressions of worship. Music experience not a requirement, and in fact we need a good mix of musical and non-musical people. Meets once a month for four months and then transitions into an action team.
Discipleship
· Adult Sunday school: We are currently discovering how prayer and praise fits into our modern lives through a study of the Psalms: Prayer and Praise. Join us as we draw insight and application from God’s Word! Meets every Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m.
· High School Sunday morning class: Come ready for an interactive thirteen week Bible study covering topics on choices, culture, acceptance, faith, and hope. Meets ever Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m.
· Doorway to Discipleship is the name for our class for new members, inquirers, and seasoned Christians wanting a refresher in the basics of the faith. Classes start Wednesday, September 14th, and meets for 1 hour every week for 10 weeks.
· Youth Group: Youth from ages 10-20 will meet on Saturday, September 17th from 1-3 p.m. to plan the year together and have a little fun, too!
Ministry
· Small group ministry: Have you ever been a part of a close band of friends that got together on a regular basis for talk and mutual support? That’s the idea behind a small group. We are now looking for solid, caring Christians to develop as small group leaders. Meets 1 hour every week for 6 weeks.
· Teaching Sunday school. Love kids? Want to lead them to Jesus? But no experience? No worries! If you love kids enough to want to lead them into a deeper relationship with God, we’ll help you by giving you the tools you need. Sunday School teachers teach for one hour every Sunday morning at 9:00 and gather together once a month for a training session.
· Ladies’ Guild. The Ladies of Our Saviour begin their year with a potluck dinner on Thursday, September1st at 6:30 p.m.
Missions
· Now forming an Evangelism Dreaming Team! Like the worship team, the purpose of this group is to dream up ideas to help build effective and relevant bridges into our community. Creative and out-of-the-box thinkers with a heart for seeking and saving the lost of Hillsdale and Lenawee counties will meet once a month for four months and then transition into an action team.
Fellowship
· Bowling! Now forming a Hudson-area church bowling league at Ten Pin Bowling Alley. Meets every other week beginning Saturday, September 17th.


You are a living sacrifice. Transformed by God to a new, regenerated, renewed pattern of life, your gifts of service tell of the marvelous God who redeemed you from the way that leads to death. Don’t crawl off the altar, now . . . but live as a sacrifice to Jesus Christ.