A bit rough as yet, and certainly will be revised a bit before Sunday
morning.
ER
Sermon for the Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
How to Be More Spiritual
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen. St. Paul says to you and to all Christians in today's Epistle, "By the
mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
Dear Christian friends,
1. If I were to close my eyes and throw a stone into this
congregation, I would probably hit a person who feels pretty certain that he
or she is somewhat less spiritual than some of the other people in this
place. Maybe my stone, randomly thrown, would hit
· A man who thinks he really ought to pray more than he does; or
· A woman who regrets the fact that her busy duties a home and at
work prevent her doing more to serve Jesus; or
· A single person who theoretically has more time than others, but
who still does not read the Bible as frequently or as perceptively as he
would like; or
· A young child who feels uncertain whether he could ever be as
spiritual as his parent are-and who isn't really certain whether he wants to
be; or
· A person of any age or gender or family status who leaves worship
feeling a little disappointed that the worship service did not make her feel
any more spiritual than she felt when she came in.
I'll bet a randomly thrown rock would hit one of those kinds of people. Who
knows? The rock might even hit you. You quite possibly have the heartfelt
desire to be more spiritual. Yet it is also quite possible that, the more
you try to improve your spirituality, the more unspiritual your life seems
to be:
· You want to pray more, but when you do, either your mind wanders
away from you or you fall asleep.
· You mentally commit to setting aside time in your busy schedule for
pure, uninterrupted service to God, but then something always comes up and
drags you away-or you are just too tired (or too full).
· Yes, you are going to be more committed to your devotions-just as
soon as you are done watching this episode of America's Got Talent.
2. Today's Epistle is a good Epistle for you because it tells you
how to be more spiritual. To those of you who believe yourselves to be
lacking in spirituality-and to those of you who have been frustrated in your
attempts at improving your spirituality-St. Paul says to you in today's
Epistle, "By the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
· With this single sentence, your loving God wants you to know, first
of all, that you are already way more spiritual-way more connected to Him,
way more holy, way more acceptable and pleasing to Him-than you probably
realize.
· With this one sentence, your God wants you to know that your
spirituality is NOT something you must deepen or improve upon, but your
spirituality is what He richly and abundantly pours out for you.
· "By the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." With these
Words, your God wants you to look at your daily life-with all of its kicking
and scratching-He wants you to look at your daily life in the same way that
God Himself looks at it. When you learn to look at your life the way your
God looks at your life, you will also learn how to be more spiritual.
3. Your lesson on how to be more spiritual begins with the Words, "by
the mercies of God." Into these few Words-"by the mercies of God"-your
heavenly Father has packed every element of the Apostles' Creed. That is to
say,
· You were created "by the mercies of God" and now every part of your
physical life is sustained, upheld, and preserved "by the mercies of God."
"In Him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17).
· You were redeemed in Christ "by the mercies of God." "God shows His
love for us"-that is, He shows His mercy and compassions for us-"in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
· "By the mercies of God" you were likewise given the Holy Spirit's
gift of faith; you were placed into the fortress of the Holy Christian
Church; you were adopted in Baptism to be God's child and heir, fully
cleansed of your sins, and promised eternal life. "You have been born again,
not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding
Word of God. and this Word is the good news that was preached to you" (1
Peter 1:23, 25).
In today's Epistle, God is teaching you how to be more spiritual by saying
to you, "By the mercies of God present your bodies as a living sacrifice."
That is to say, God wants you to think of His mercies as the wood that fuels
the fire of your spirituality, or as the wind that fills the sails of your
spirituality, or as the pure air that fills and expands the lungs of your
spirituality. "By the mercies of God" you have been made a fully spiritual
person. "By the mercies of God" you practice your spirituality in your daily
living. "By the mercies of God" you become more spiritual.
4. In the second part of His lesson on how to be more spiritual, God
says to you, "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
to God, which is your spiritual worship." With these words, your heavenly
Father draws a strong connection between your body and your spirituality.
"Present your bodies. which is your spiritual worship." With these words,
God wants you to know that growing in your spirituality does not necessarily
have to do with praying more or with reading the Bible more.
· Of course you must pray! God requires it of you in His Second
Commandment-but praying more does not make you more spiritual.
· Of course you must make good use of His Word-reading and hearing it
faithfully-but again, God wants you to know that your spirituality consists
of more than reading the Bible more frequently.
God wants you to know in today's Epistle that your spirituality has very
much to do with the way you look at and regard your own physical body. This
is why He says to you, "Present [regard, think of, treat] your bodies as a
living sacrifice. which is your spiritual worship."
Think of what this means for your life! Your spirituality does not consist
merely of praying or Bible reading, but your spirituality also has to do
with getting out of bed and going to work in the morning. Your
spirituality-your living sacrifice-has to do with wiping your child's runny
nose and with tolerating your spouse's bad habits. Your spirituality has to
do with enduring with your employer's harsh treatment and with honoring your
government even when you disagree with it. Your spirituality has to do with
that generosity you show toward others, especially your fellow Christians;
it has to do with your forbearance toward others and your readiness to
forgive. Your spirituality does not need to concern itself with rising up to
heaven, because heaven has come to you here on earth in the person of God's
Son.
5. So here is the big hurrah: What does God want you to do in order to
be more spiritual? He wants you to look with new eyes at the spirituality He
is already working out for you in your daily living. God wants you to
consider your mundane, repetitive, somewhat boring daily tasks as though
they were high spiritual sacrifices. God wants you to think of your job and
your family responsibilities and your citizenship as "your spiritual
worship."
You become more spiritual when you learn to look at your life in the manner
that God Himself sees it-"holy and acceptable"-holy and acceptable "by the
mercies of God." That is what today's Epistle announces to you and to all of
God's Christians. Today's Epistle announces to you that you are indeed a
"living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God." That which is holy and
acceptable to God needs no improvement! According to these Words, you have a
high spirituality, not by your efforts to improve your spirituality, but
solely "by the mercies of God."
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