Last week I mentioned that I wanted to break the gospel message down into two parts. We talked about the first part last week, focusing on what God does for us. Probably the primary emphasis in our Reformed Tradition is the sovereignty of God, so when talking about the gospel of salvation, we must necessarily begin with the initiative of God and with God’s acting on our behalf. A discussion of the gospel always begins with God, and what God has done for us. But there is more, for what God has done, he has done for you, and for me, indeed for the whole world. And so while the discussion of the gospel begins with the gracious and merciful acts of God, we must continue the conversation by considering how we ought to respond to the grace and mercy of God. What is the appropriate response to what God has done for us? That is the question I want us to consider today.

Hear now the word of God as it comes to us today from Paul’s letter to the Romans, in the 12^th chapter, beginning to read in the first verse…

A little boy was standing in the lobby of his church, and he was looking at the plaques on the memorial wall. An usher came up to the boy, and the boy asked about the plaques. The usher said, "Well, those are the name of the people from this church who died in the service."

The boy’s expression changed from confused to concerned, he asked, "Which service—the 8:45 or the 11:00?"

Today I want to talk to you about service. It’s not deadly, at least not in the sense that the young boy understood. But it is costly.

What motivates you to serve? It’s an important question, because how you answer it will generally characterize your relationship with God. You see, some are motivated by guilt, and so they serve because they feel it is the only way they can make up for all the things they have done to displease God; guilt-motivated service works on a ledger system, and so a person’s goal is not so much to serve God, as it is to balance the scorecard. Guilt does motivate, but the basis is somewhat self-serving.

Some are motivated by fear. Some are told that God is going to smite them, unless they get their act together. The problem of fear as a motivator is two-fold: first, it paints an inaccurate picture of God; second, it makes serving God simply the best choice only be default, because you certainly don’t want to suffer the consequences of not serving, do you?

No, I’m convinced that love is by far the most effective motivator. Love is how I was brought into the kingdom, and it’s the foundation of my discipleship. I serve God because I have experienced his love toward me, and out of gratitude I want to share his love with others.

I think Paul recognizes this. Look at how he words his appeal. He says, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice…" The heart of Paul’s exhortations lies in the tender mercies of God. Paul’s background is that of a legalist, a Pharisee. He easily could have appealed "to the severity of God’s judgment… But here we have the constraint of God’s manifold mercies. It is the mercy of God that melts the heart…"

Consider Isaiah. Isaiah didn’t offer himself out of fear, but out of a grateful response for what God had just done for him. It was fear that caused Isaiah to cry out, "Woe is me…" It was only after God addressed Isaiah’s fear by sending the angel to declare that Isaiah had been forgiven that Isaiah then offers himself out of gratitude for what God had done. It was not fear that motivated Isaiah to say, "Here am I! Send me!" It was gratitude. Isaiah had experienced the loving mercy of God. It was on the basis of the loving mercy of God that Isaiah offered his life as a living sacrifice.

What motivates you to serve God? Is it fear? Is it guilt? Or are you compelled by the love of God?

Paul has answered the question, "Why serve the Lord?" We serve the Lord because of the loving mercy we have received. But in these verses from the 12^th chapter of Romans, Paul also addresses three other questions: "To what degree do we avail ourselves for service?", "By what power are we able to serve?", and "In what manner do we serve?"

To what degree do we avail ourselves for service? Paul is clear on this: The proper offering of self is 100%. When Paul exhorts us to present our bodies as living sacrifices, he’s telling us to jump into our discipleship with everything we have. Isaiah didn’t say, "God, I have a couple of hours on Sunday and Thursday that I’ll give to you." Paul doesn’t say, "Present whatever’s left over to God."

Most of you have heard the old Gospel hymn, "I Surrender All." That really does capture the essence of what Paul is exhorting of us:

"All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live. I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all."

It really is a pretty radical departure from the prevailing mindset of today’s world. We live in a world that is under the tyranny of Daytimers and palm pilots. Yet even with the most advanced organizational theory and technology, we have overextended ourselves. We try to do too much, and we have to do it now. Where are we going to fit another commitment into our already over-crowded lives?

Actually, that’s the wrong question to ask. It’s not about fitting God into our schedule. It’s about making God the Lord of our schedule. It’s about offering our lives to God, and then arranging our lives and our schedules according to God’s priorities. Our life of service to God is not meant to be one activity out of many; rather it is out of our offering of our selves to God that all of our lives are to be defined and directed.

How about you? How much of your self have you presented as a living sacrifice?

Paul also addresses the issue of ability. How are we made able to serve? Our tendency is to hear God’s call to serve, and then for us to respond, "Oh, I could never do that. I’m not qualified." And it’s true, you’re probably not qualified to do whatever God is calling you to do. And that’s precisely the point. Because you see, it’s not about what you are able to do for God; it’s about what God is able to do through you as you make yourself available to God.

Consider the heroes of the Bible. We tend to glorify them as superhuman people. Abraham—oh, he’s the father of our faith; I could never be like him. Moses—he’s the great liberator of Israel; I could never be like him. David—he’s a giant slayer and a mighty king; I could never be like him. Mary—why she gave birth to the Son of God; I could never be like her (and actually, in that regard you’re probably right). But when you read their stories in scripture, you realize that it’s not about Abraham and his great ability; it’s not about Moses and his great ability; it’s not about David and his great ability; it’s not about Mary and her great ability. It’s always about what God accomplishes through these otherwise ordinary people. The only extraordinary thing about these people is that God has chosen to work through them.

That’s what Paul gently reminds us of in his words this morning. He doesn’t tell us to transform ourselves, but to be transformed. Grammatically speaking, God is the subject who does the transforming; we are the object that is to be transformed. That is, we are to allow God to take us, warts and all, and to work in us and through us to accomplish his purposes. Paul then goes on to point out that each of us is given different gifts. It means that God equips each of us in special ways to do the service to which he calls us.

If ever you think that God can’t use you, let’s consider once again those very heroes I just mentioned. Abraham was too old when God called him, yet God made his descendants as numerous as the stars. Moses had a stuttering problem, yet God empowered him to boldly appear before the Pharoah and say, "Let my people go." David was an adulterer and a murderer, yet God still used David to establish the lineage of the Messiah. Mary was a young unwed teenager, yet God still chose her as the instrument of his incarnation.

The same can be said about virtually all of the "heroes and heroines" of the Bible: Noah was a drunk, Isaac was a daydreamer, Jacob was a liar, Leah was ugly, Joseph was abused, Gideon was afraid, Samson was a long-haired hippie and a womanizer, Rahab was a prostitute, Ruth was a foreigner, Jeremiah was too young, Isaiah preached naked, Jonah ran away from God, John the Baptist ate bugs, Peter denied Christ, the Disciples ran away, Martha worried about everything, the Samaritan woman at the well was divorced (more than once), Zacchaeus was too small, Paul was a zealot against the disciples, and Lazarus was dead!

And you know that if God could use ordinary people like these, and accomplish extraordinary things through them, then you know God can use you. The fact is, your imagination isn’t big enough to envision the possibilities of what God can do in your life.

Finally, Paul addresses the manner in which we are to serve. It’s easy for us to fall into the trap of thinking that we have to cover everything ourselves. But that’s simply not the case at all. Paul uses the image of the human body to point out that different parts carry out different functions. He makes the application to the body of Christ, that together we are many parts, but one body. Each of us has a special function; this goes back to the idea that God equips each of us uniquely according to his purpose for us. It is not our job to do everything, just the part for which we are equipped. As in the human body a foot can’t smell and a nose can’t run—wait a second, that’s a bad example—as in the human body an ear can’t see and an eye can’t hear, so are we not asked to do that which God has not equipped us to do. So the implication of what Paul says here is that we’re not called to do everything; each of us is only called to do his or her own part.

Consider the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The images on TV and in the paper are absolutely overwhelming. You look at those images and you think, "There’s no way I can possibly make a difference." But you’re not being asked to carry the whole burden; all you need to do is offer what you are able. Maybe it’s money. Maybe you’ll be able to go and spend a few days as part of a clean-up or rebuilding team. The point is, you don’t have to do everything; you just have to do your part.

I’m going to spend more time later this fall exploring with you how we can discover the ways that God has equipped us for service, so I don’t want to go into great detail today. But I do want to emphasize—and this is terribly important--that the body of Christ is not complete when people aren’t using their gifts. Again, think of it in terms of the human body. If I lose the function of smell, for example, then I can’t taste things as well, and neither can I detect something dangerous in the air as effectively. Or if I break my arm, my ability to do many things is hindered. It’s the same way in the body of Christ. When we don’t use the gifts that God has given to us, the whole body is less effective. While sometimes we take things for granted when everyone is doing their share, we really notice it when something is amiss. It’s kind of like when you work on a puzzle and get all the pieces in place, except that somewhere you have lost a piece. If you look at the puzzle, you’ll find that your eye keeps wandering over to the space of the missing piece. When we’re not all employing our gifts in the service of God, then the overall work of the body of Christ suffers.

Last Monday I visited briefly with the coordinating council of the Presbyterian Women of this church. Now, you probably don’t realize much of what the Presbyterian Women do, because they do it quietly without bringing attention to themselves. But were they to stop doing the ministries they run so capably, I know you’d notice it in a heartbeat. Last Wednesday I sat in on a meeting to brainstorm and provide feedback for the direction of the children’s Christian education ministry. That meeting not only generated some great ideas, but it also succeeded in garnering some commitment from some parents to offer themselves as instruments by which to implement some of those ideas.

My point is this: the body of Christ needs you. When you’re not a part of it, we miss you, because we need the set of gifts that you bring to the table.

"I appeal to you therefore, my brothers and sisters in Christ, by the mercies of God, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices."

Amen.