Romans 12:1-8 (NRSV)
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Chapter 12I 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. Verse 2Do 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. Verse 3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Verse 4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, Verse 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Verse 6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; Verse 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; Verse 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Devotion
A wag once observed, "The trouble with 'living sacrifices' is that they keep trying to crawl off the altar."
Whether or not Paul intended to coin a new oxymoron (like "jumbo shrimp"), this phrase is jarring. After all, in the biblical worldview, sacrifice always entails death-a giving up of life.
But what is this, a "living sacrifice?"
It is one more instance of the cross and resurrection upending everything, fracturing every old assumption about the way things are. Christ poured out his life, once and for all, but this yields more life for recipients of his gratuitous mercy.
And these receivers are compelled to become sharers of the Christ-shaped life. Talk about a jarring reversal of assumptions, a "renewing of your minds!" Living sacrifices are on the loose in the world-wherever Christ's perfect sacrifice leads to truth-telling, footwashing, enlightening, encouraging, overflowing, leading, and caring-all now multiplying Christ's abundant life.
Prayer
Reset my assumptions, O God, and liberate me to be a living sacrifice, loose in your world. Use me to multiply your abundant life wherever I may go. In Jesus' name, Amen.