Romans 12:1-8 “Using Our Gifts”
I have been running a fun little experiment this last week. Because of the New Year, I have been saying good-bye to people with the phrase “See you next year!” Most people reacted with a chuckle and responded in kind. However, there were a few who more-or-less growled at me and said, “See you next week.” I got the sense as well that those who said “See you next year” seemed happier than those who responded with “See you next week.”
Here is another experiment: How much does a glass of water weigh? 6-8 ounces perhaps, right? Water is rather heavy actually. To answer the question properly however, we must also ask how long we are expected to hold the glass of water in our hands. If we hold the glass for only one minute, then it is not that heavy. If we hold the water for an hour, it becomes rather burdensome. And, if we attempt to hold the water in the glass for an entire day, then the weight becomes unbearable. We must put the glass of water down. So, the weight of the object is relative to how long one has to carry it. See my point?
We have all been carrying 2009 for over a year now. We need to set it down and shake out our arms. Take a little rest before we pick up 2010. There is a sign at the Kauai Veterans’ Memorial Hospital advising workers there to stretch their fingers to avoid the condition known as “trigger finger.” So, stretch your fingers this morning, so that you do not go into 2010 with trigger finger. Yes, take your finger off the trigger in 2010! Put your burdens down and stretch before picking up the burdens of this coming year—otherwise you may collapse from the weight.
Paul is writing about this same idea in Romans 12 when he tells us not to be conformed to these times but to be transformed by the “renewing of our minds.” How can we be renewed if we are still holding onto all of the worldly things that keep us burdened in our lives?
Recently I heard somebody comment that Christians are wasting their time in worship on Sunday mornings. “Christians should find something else better to do with their time.” In fact, I have heard similar statements my entire life from people who honestly think that they can hold that cup of water forever without setting it down. That is what we do here in church: we take all of the burdens that we are carrying the rest of the week and we set them down here so that we can pick them up again and have the strength to make it until the next time we get to set them down.
At least once a week, we consciously make the choice not to conform to the world and times around us. We decide to let that world go so that we can renew our minds; that is, renew our spirits. Honestly, I do not know how it is for people who do not go to church. It must be really horrible. It must be exhausting. Without dropping everything at least once a week and refocusing on the spiritual side of life must be living with an extreme tiredness and fatigue that I am sure I have never known.
The Bible tells us that even God rested on the seventh day before continuing on with creation. The fourth commandment from the Ten Commandments is to keep the Sabbath. Jesus reminds us that “man was not made for the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath was made for man.” (Mark 2:27)
When we get to heaven, and we are all made new again, check out Revelation 21, I wonder if there are going to be some who are still not going to be able to lay down their burdens and hence will miss being made new again on the Day of the Lord. Every Sunday is a mini-practice for that day when we will finally be able to lay down our burdens one last time forever! I just think that there might be some people so fatigued because they are so conformed to this world that they might miss the renewal that is to come. They won’t know how to let go!
Let us go down to verse 3 of today’s scripture: Paul talks about judgment. He tells us that we have to judge ourselves with sober judgment and with the measure of faith that God has assigned. Use our faith from God to judge our own lives? What should that mean?
I think we all know what it means to judge someone else. Perhaps you have even served on a jury in which you have been required to pass a judgment down. The judge instructs the jury to decide only on the merit of the facts presented in the case. So, have you ever thought about putting your own life on trial? Have you ever thought about looking at the facts of your own life but as how God might see them? You know, from the standpoint of the faith?
Not too long ago I was cleaning out some files and ran across the paperwork for a court case I was involved with many years ago. The judgment had been favorable to me in the courtroom. However, as I was looking at all of the paperwork, I felt all of the emotions and hard feelings welling up in me again. I started that process of “sober judgment” of my own actions from the standpoint of my Christian faith. As I went through the file the last piece of paper in the file caught my attention. It was a letter to the other party in the case in which I had written to them that I had found it in my heart to forgive them. I had in fact forgotten that I had written that letter. And, the other party in the case had never responded back to it. Still, as I reflected and finally remembered having written that final letter off to them, I recalled how hard it was to write it.
The idea of sober judgment over one’s own life from a standpoint of faith in Jesus Christ is this knowing that no matter how much you have transgressed God’s law, Jesus has already written that letter off to you, saying that all is forgiven. Even if you are 100% guilty, that forgiveness is still there. It is the last piece of paper in your file up in heaven, that so-called “book of life” entry on you. God has forgiven.
In verse 4, Paul talks about the Body of Christ with its many members. Some people confuse the Body of Christ with the local church. I want to make it clear to you this morning that although we sometimes use that kind of language to talk about the church, I don’t believe that that is what the Bible is talking about. In fact I am sure that it is not as this part of the Bible was written before the official establishment of the first church (That would have been the church in Antioch.)
Yes, the Body of Christ that Paul is referring to is everyone. In Revelation 7:9 and on we read about those who will be saved. We read first that there shall be those who are saved from the Jewish faith. That precedes verse 7:9, then: “There was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne; and to the Lamb.’”
The Body of Christ are the uncountable multitudes that are going to be singing his praises in the end time. I am not going to limit those numbers. They are uncountable. More people than could ever fit into our current churches! I would never think of limiting the greatness of our God, nor would I ever make small the Body of Christ by saying it is just us here this morning.
The last point I want to make in this unusual four-point sermon is that we are given individual gifts from God. Just as in our own physical bodies various parts are used for different things, so it is in the body of Christ. We each and every one of us have special gifts.
We just had Christmas. We all got various gifts from people. The question is: are we going to use them? There is a cartoon strip from Peanuts that shows Snoopy coming to Charlie Brown’s door with a gift certificate in his snout. Charlie Brown looks at it and says that he cannot honor the gift certificate for pizza as he has no pizza to give. In the next scene, we see Snoopy coming back with a new gift certificate—this time for dog food. Charlie Brown responds with “Oh yes sir, I can give you dog food.” Snoopy remarks that he should have thought of using gift certificates years ago!
This year I have received many gifts, for which I am most thankful. Among these gifts I have received two large packages of Fig Newtons. Fig Newtons are lovely gifts. They are the kind of gift that is always welcome and appreciated. They are nourishing; they are comforting; they even are nice to share with others at teatime. If they are not eaten up, used in this way, then after so long one must simply throw them away.
Likewise Paul tells us that God has graced us with certain gifts that include such things as prophecy, ministry, exhortation, generosity, leadership and diligence. There they are—like two large packages of Fig Newtons on the kitchen counter. What are we going to do with them? What are we going to do with these gifts? If we are not going to use them, then we have to throw them eventually. The gifts will get stale and maybe even start growing mold and the like.
Here are once more the points from the scripture this morning: (1) Put down your burdens and renew yourself. (2) Judge yourself from the standpoint of faith and forgiveness. (3) You are the Body of Christ. And (4), use the gifts that God has given you.
Happy new year, Amen.