We have just heard 700 words
of scripture but its one word I want to call attention to this morning at the
start of the second reading in Romans 1 verse 12 and its ‘therefore’.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the
mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.
In Greek this is
a little word oun just three letters
but it’s a great hinge so that the ethical teaching in Romans 1 to 15 has been
called oun ethics. All the doctrine
taught in Romans Chapters 1 to 11 brings ethical implications spelled out
somewhat unsystematically in Romans 12 to 15 and the key or hinge conjunction
or adverb is oun – therefore.
Christianity is
something beautiful that holds together without seams doctrine, worship, ethics
and prayer so that you can’t have one without the other. At St Giles School
assemblies as in confirmation classes we teach the Creed, the seven sacraments,
the Ten Commandments and the Lord ’s Prayer and we teach them as interconnected
as they are.
In the last few
months we’ve followed St Paul teaching in his letter to the Romans the new life
from God Jesus brings. Now he goes on from Chapter 12 to spell out application
– how the new life from God becomes a new life lived for God and verse 2 of our
reading gives us a major principle: 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.
A great novelist
was sitting down after Church to Sunday lunch with his mother and she asked
about the sermon. ‘It said the obvious’ he replied. ‘But what did it say about
applying the obvious’ his mother replied.
Here’s the rub
for any preacher. Paul knew this because all of his letters, even this most
theological letter to Rome, contain help to apply the truth revealed in Jesus
Christ.
People need to be reminded more than they need to be instructed wrote Dr Johnson. One of the most difficult
things to comprehend is how people can forget events and gifts on which their
life and salvation depends.
I summarized the
core teaching of Romans in my four part series last month as dynamite with
two blasts concerning law and history. Romans challenges the part of
us that seeks to earn good will legalistically through good actions and the
other part of us that’s deep down lost hope for the future of the world.
The first eleven chapters of Romans says reaching into a
right relationship with God is impossible from our side but that God has reached down to us in Jesus to
lift us to his heights. The righteousness of God is revealed through
faith for faith is banner heading of the letter, Chapter 1:17 saying we’re
saved ultimately not by following laws but by welcoming grace.
The second blast of Romans is that the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ has rewritten the history of the world, making the church God’s
new Israel and tying in the very destiny of the cosmos with that of God’s
children so that, as we read in Romans 8:21 the
creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Saint Paul, having taught this in Romans 1-11 moves on to
describe its practical or ethical implications and how the doctrine of Christ
has power to reset our life and our hope if we apply it. From next week we
shall hear more of the practical outworking of faith as the Sunday Lectionary
moves forward into Romans 12.
Like this practical advice from verse 9 headed in
my Bible ‘Marks of the True Christian’: 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.
Paul’s teaching against legalism finds application in outdoing one another in showing honour. His
teaching against pessimism about the state of the world is applied by the
fortitude that Rejoices in hope, [is]
patient in suffering [and] perseveres in prayer.
There is a link between what we believe of Christ and
how we live our lives and this extends into how we worship and how we pray.
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.
Christianity is a
seamless robe. It is very different to the patchwork of post-modern society
which stitches a bit of this belief and that practice together, gives a nod to
worship at Christmas and admires Buddhist meditation.
Our Christian
faith is something very beautiful, a beautiful as the One who holds us together
in his church that weaves together without seams doctrine, worship, ethics and
prayer. If at times I as a priest get despondent about change in the Church
it’s because so much of the propounded changes – like those of marriage
discipline or holy orders – tear that seamless robe, or patch onto it things
that are alien to it lessening its beauty. Marriage and holy orders are
sacraments, fountains of grace
instituted of God, with age old disciplines. When w change those disciplines or
doctrines even there’s a knock on effect that has implications for ethics,
prayer and worship as well as the doctrine.
There is a link between what we believe and how we live
our lives and this extends into how we worship and how we pray. All of this is implied by those first two
verses of our second reading this morning from Romans Chapter 12.
In the life of St Giles this is becoming more evident as
the worship and prayer of the Christian community links more into its biblical
and doctrinal moorings and into outgoing care for the community as evidenced
for example by the village lunch. I remain convinced many more would profit
from this event initiated by some of our members if more of our members who’re
around on third Friday lunchtimes took trouble to identify and bring folk along
to something that gives heart to Horsted Keynes.
We have a great brand as Christians but, individually as
much as together, we need to value its seamless beauty and use it to cloth the
needy God sends to us.
I end with what’s probably that simplest of prayers of
application we call the choristers’ prayer:
Bless, O Lord, your servants who minister in your temple. Grant
that what we sing with our lips we may believe in our hearts, and what we
believe in our hearts we may show forth in our lives. Through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
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