I am reposting this sermon because of the major revisions I made. I am still
not really satisfied. Sorry to say, this is the best I've got this week.
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." With these Words, St.
Paul talks about your spirituality. That is, St. Paul talks about your
day-to-day connection with God your Father and the way this connection works
itself out in your everyday life.
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 entirely 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.
· 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 talks about
your spirituality. Today's Epistle will help you see that growing in your
spirituality has to do with growing in the way you see yourself in the
mirror.
Simply stated, you do not become more spiritual by improving your efforts or
by reaching out more sincerely to God. Rather, you become more spiritual
when you increasingly see yourself in the way that God right now sees you.
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.
· 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"-He shows His mercy and compassion 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."
With these Words, "by the mercies of God," your 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 or with anything
else that you need to do 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-looking at your body in the same manner that He Himself sees it. 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
more effort at praying or Bible reading, but your spirituality also has to
do with getting out of bed in the morning. Your spirituality-your living
sacrifice-has to do with realizing how deeply spiritual are your everyday,
physical acts. Do you go to work in the morning? That is your spiritual
sacrifice? Do you spend your days at home, on account of your age or your
health or your family situation? That is your spiritual sacrifice. Do you
wipe a child's nose more times in a day than you care to count? Do you make
supper or mow the lawn or change light bulbs when you get home in the
evening? God is saying to you today, "Present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship."
That is to say, view your bodies-and the daily things you do with your
body-as high and holy acts of spirituality by which you serve both your God
and your neighbor.
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, perhaps 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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