Readings for today: Acts 20:4-38, 21:1-23:35
I’ve always been struck by the words Paul writes to his friends in Rome, “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.” (Romans 12:1) The phrase “living sacrifice” is the one that intrigues me the most. What is a living sacrifice? What would my life look like if it were offered on the altar to God on a daily basis? How is what I have to offer holy and acceptable? Unblemished like the sacrifices of the Old Testament? Isn’t spiritual worship redundant? These questions hit me again as I read through our readings in Acts this morning.
The same man who wrote these words to the Roman Christians is the same man who now faces danger at every turn. He has not ceased to preach the whole counsel of God wherever he has gone. He has planted churches in cities all across the Mediterranean. He has suffered hardship and beatings and been left for dead. He has relinquished all for the cause of the gospel. And what has that gotten him? A broken body in constant pain. An itinerant life with no place to call home. A life of discomfort and uncertainty as he follows the will of the Spirit. And here at the end of it all, his reward is greater persecution. Greater resistance. A price on his head.
“And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:22-24)
Paul, indeed, is a living sacrifice. He has offered his body up to be tortured and killed for the sake of the gospel. He willingly walks into danger. He surrenders to the will of the Spirit. He knows his life is in God’s hands to use as He sees fit. He has been warned. He knows the fate that awaits him in every city. Word has gotten out about this little Jewish-Christian preacher whose message stirs things up. The authorities are on the lookout. His enemies lie in wait. He has no refuge. No sanctuary. No safe place where he can go. Rather than lament his condition, Paul simply embraces it. He counts his life as nothing. His only goal is to finish his race. With every last ounce of strength, he will proclaim the gospel of the grace of God.
It’s a deeply convicting and humbling read. It reminds me of the men and women I know in the Horn of Africa who take the gospel to some of the most dangerous places on the planet. They too are beaten. They too suffer hardship. They too are killed for their faith. But still they go. They refuse to let sufferings of this present life stand in comparison to the glory that will one day be revealed in them. Their names will never be known. They will not write any books. They will not speak at any conferences. They will not become social influencers. They simply go. They simply suffer. They simply die. All for the cause of the gospel of Christ. And they count it an honor to offer themselves as living sacrifices.
It’s hard not to compare. My life is so easy. The comforts I enjoy so abundant. The challenges I face seem so small. My sacrifice so paltry. But then I look back at Paul’s words again. What makes the living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God? Is it the cost? Is it the amount of suffering? Is it the burden borne? No. It is the mercies of God. By the mercies of God, I was born where I was born. By the mercies of God, I have been given the life I’ve been given. By the mercies of God, I face the challenges I face. By the mercies of God, I am to offer what I have as a living sacrifice. This isn’t about comparisons. This isn’t about who’s better or who’s worse. Who’s more or less faithful. It’s simply taking what we have - by the mercies of God - and laying it on the altar. This is our calling and it is unique to each one of us.
Readings for tomorrow: Acts 24-26