By the Mercies of God

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 12:1 (ESV)            

    I have been pondering upon this thought since early last week when Hapi and I were choosing the hymns for the upcoming Sunday (yesterday). Abba has been preaching a mini-series on Christian Service for some Sundays now. When we were told that the sermon for yesterday would be about the personal application of Christian service, the Take My Life and Let it Be hymn immediately came to mind as a fitting hymn of preparation. I'm not sure whether the hymn had a similar scriptural reference, but it turned out to be really such an appropriate hymn to what the sermon discussed. The text was in Romans 12. This topic, of course, has already been preached several times before. It was highlighted in the mini-series on Biblical Christian Service in 2017 as well (haha my closest friends know very well what it has been like in our church, about three years ago). Still, the verse and the message it speaks never fails to resonate so deeply with me. Too bad I hadn't written this before hearing the sermon yesterday--then I could have claimed we were coincidentally meditating on the same lines of thought. But as it is, I would get most of my content from Abba's sermon. :)

I appeal to you.

    Paul's concluding thought after pouring glorious truths about who the true believer is for the previous eleven chapters is not a command. He could have easily used his usual indicative-imperative way of laying down the foundational truths about the Christian life. You are this. Therefore, do that. Had the verse been written that way, it would still suffice to compel the true believer to comply with what was asked. But, as Abba said yesterday, the apostle didn't just state the imperative. He appealed. 

By the mercies of God

    On what ground was the apostle basing his appeal? Here, Paul tapped into the most fundamental motivation in Christian service. In three words, he summed up everything that he laid down in the past eleven chapters: mercies of God. By the mercies of God. It's the mercy of God that man does not immediately perish and gets thrown to hell the moment he was born. It's the mercy of God that He has saved and set apart a people to Himself. It's the mercy of God that we, His people, are called, justified, and glorified. It's the mercy of God that we are upheld and sustained--sinful and fallen creatures though we are.

    Everything that God has done to save us, everything He has done to us that we do not deserve—these are all His mercies to us. Christ's act of salvation and how He took the body of death tied to us and takes it upon Himself; God pouring out His wrath upon His Son instead of upon us; the Father's loving care for us despite our faithlessness and inconsistency in trusting and obeying Him. These are all God's mercies.

Present your bodies a living sacrifice

    It was on the basis of these innumerable mercies that Paul made his appeal: present your bodies a living sacrifice. I forgot who said it, but I've read a comment on how interesting it was that the translation used "body". While people could simply claim that they think about God all the time, or that they love God with their whole hearts, someone who presents his body as a sacrifice would be hard to miss. Tangible acts of service and devotion would inevitably be seen by others. This, in essence, is what Paul was appealing for the Christians to do. We are called to obey and serve the living God who has showered us with wondrous mercies and infinite benefits. How could we not lovingly serve and live devotedly for Him who saved us and is mindful of us, unworthy though we are?

But what kind of service is expected of us?

    The usual notion when service is mentioned is usually the activities that we do. "Oh, I serve in the church as a presider." Or, "I serve in this and that ministry." Or, "My service is ____________ (whatever activity it is that you do)." But Paul was clear in the very nature of the service that he considers to be Christian service. It isn't just any activity that you do. More than anything, Christian service is you offering your entire life to Him who has saved you. It's the giving of oneself as a sacrifice. When something is set apart as a sacrifice, there's no taking it back. This is what Paul was saying. When God takes hold of your heart, life, and self—you only get to give it once. And it's forever His. Your whole life—work, break, and leisure included—must give glory to God. Must be in service to God. 

    Christian service isn't a weekend activity. It's not a day job. It's not even something that takes up the majority of your day. Christian service is a life that we all ought to live, simply because the Lord has been so merciful to us. Psalm 116 says this most articulately when it answers the question, "What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me?" with this conclusion (v.16):

O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds.

    The Lord has loosed our bonds. We have been freed, not to live for our own sinful desires, but to live for Him who has redeemed us. We are not our own. We are bought with a price. Therefore, we glorify God in our bodies. Therefore, we are His servants. 

    And what does the servant do for his Master, but to be fully His? To be entirely at His disposal? To be at His beck and call? True Christian service is not doing the things that are most natural for you; not engaging in activities that you truly enjoy in the name of Jesus. It isn't choosing to do for God or for His church the things you want to do, or the things at which you excel. But true Christian service is patiently waiting upon God and using whatever grace and gift He has bestowed upon you--for His glory, and for the church's growth.

    You are not your own. When the Christian gives himself to his Lord and Master, nothing is left in the treasury for himself. When we truly sang, "Take my life," we really must mean all. How often have we sung the hymn while living a life inconsistent with it?

Take my life, and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to thee.

Take my moments and my days;

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Are our lives truly consecrated to God? To be consecrated is to be dedicated solely to that specific person/purpose. How many times have we sung the hymn whilst our minds wander away in other pursuits? There is no other tinier fraction of time measurement than a moment; a split second; a fleeting instance. And yet we sing, take all of those moments, Lord, and let them flow in ceaseless praise. As goes in another hymn, "So let my whole behavior, / Thoughts, words, and actions be, / O Lord, my Strength, my Saviour, / One ceaseless song to thee." And yet--are our lives truly a ceaseless song of praise to Him who is worthy of it all? How many times have we sung these precious words while entertaining thoughts that aren't glorifying to our Master? How many of our days have we spent living a life that praises God in one ceaseless song?

Take my hands, and let them move

At the impulse of thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be

Swift and beautiful for thee.

Hands and feet are the extremities that we use for almost everything that we do. With our hands, we work and with our feet, we go places. How many of our daily activities are compelled by the love of God? How much of our routine is done because our feet are swiftly going where God is pleased to see us?

Take my voice, and let me sing,

Always, only, for my King.

Take my lips, and let them be

Filled with messages from thee.

Even in the songs we sing and in the words we say, we are the Lord's. How much of our speech is edifying? Or are we all just gushing about the latest Tiktok videos? Or the most famous K-drama stars for the year? Perhaps the upcoming Netflix movies? I'm not saying we should all just be blurting out scripture verses all the time. But if we are God's servants, and if He holds the reins of our tongue--what kinds of messages should fill our lips? What words burn in our very hearts, waiting to be said out loud to all who have ears to hear?

Take my silver and my gold;

Not a mite would I withhold

Take my intellect, and use

Ev'ry pow'r as thou shalt choose.

Another tough one. Personally, I have only started learning this lesson by heart very recently. While the concept of tithing is not really new to us, especially to those who grew up in Christian churches, this hymn talks of something way more than 10% of your material blessings. Not a mite would I withhold. I searched up the monetary value of a mite and it's worth about half a penny. How does that translate to us? Not a peso would I withhold? Not a cent? How many times have we sung this hymn whilst having a long list of things added to our Amazon/Lazada carts--not to glorify the Master who gave us these financial gifts but to "spend on our own passions"? How many mites--gold and silver even!--have we spent in ways not dedicated to God? I'm not saying we put all our income into the offering bag. But how much have we spent, being fully convinced that in our spending, God is honored?

Use ev'ry pow'r as thou shalt choose. How many times have we used our intellects, our reasoning abilities, and other mind powers to labor for the kingdom? Have we not more often used these capabilities to convince others to do what we wish them to do? 

Take my will, and make it thine;

It shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is thine own;

It shall be thy royal throne.

One's will is determination; being set on doing something. One's heart is the faculty of all emotions and affections. And these faculties are no longer yours to keep. The true Christian has set all his desires upon God; has put his will entirely at the disposal of his Master. How many times have we sung this hymn while cultivating in the dark, deep corners of our hearts desires and wants that betray our hearts to something, or someone else? How many times have we sung this hymn perhaps loudly even, whilst letting someone or something else sit on the throne of our hearts? Your heart is not your own.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour

At thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be

Ever, only, all for thee.

When Christ affirmed that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul, He gave a blanket statement. We are to love God with our all. Everything that we hold dear must find itself under the umbrella of the ultimate Object of our love--God Himself. Everything that we treat as precious must be found at the feet of the only One who is most precious above all--our Master. How many times have we lied to ourselves by singing this hymn whilst keeping some hidden idols in our hearts?

And are we ever truly, only, all for the Lord? Have we really offered up our whole selves to be sacred to God?

While on this side of eternity, we are all bound to fall short of the devotion expected of us. But may we ever appeal to ourselves, and to the brethren around us, as Paul had appealed to the Romans. We need not any other motivation but this.

By the mercies of God.