Gleanings – Real Worship in an Age of Pep Rallies
Romans 12:1-8
“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
So often we associate “worship” with Sunday and that with an hour of organized praise. However, Paul wants us to re-imagine what worship really is. He says, given what God has done for us, giving our bodies as living sacrifices is the most reasonable or logical sacred service one can offer. Worship has more to do with making ourselves available to God for His purposes 24/7 than anything we do on Sunday morning.
Such worship requires great intention. Left to our own desires and devices we do the ordinary – plan for a career, indeed a life, which may or may not make us available to God for advancing His purposes. In fact we, men especially, may choose our vocation based on our need and the vocation’s capacity to provide for our families. And of course as husbands and fathers we are to provide. But do we use our vocations as an excuse to be unavailable. “I need to finish this and then I will devote some time to the Kingdom.” We compartmentalize. But Paul is saying worship is all of us being available all the time to God – living sacrifices. Vocation, recreation, everything is subordinate to being available to God.
Available for what? To advance mercy and grace! There is a universal problem – sin and the resulting alienation from God. There is a universal solution – mercy given us in Jesus Christ. Rather than condoning sin, grace and mercy become the impetus for righteous living. Grace, mercy and unconditional love, these are things that change the course of human history. God wants us advancing them in both our work and play. The question becomes if we haven’t done that have worshiped at all?