Pastor: Wayne C. Eichstadt

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Hymns: 27; 767; 307/377; 764

WELCOME in the name of the Lord our God, who gives the power to transform our lives so that they become living sacrifices of thanksgiving to serve Him.

Pre-Service meditation: Psalm 34

Pre-Service prayer: Lord Jesus, by the sacrifice You made on the cross cleanse me of my sins. Through the love that You demonstrated by that sacrifice, increase the love in my heart toward You and my fellow sinners. Help me to consider myself humbly as Your servant and to evaluate the gifts you have given me; and then move me to faithful use of those gifts at every opportunity so that Your name may be praised. Amen.

Cong: And let us exalt His name together.

C: Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

C: And your lips from speaking deceit.

C: Seek peace and pursue it.

C: And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Epistle Reading: Hebrews 10:11-25

SERMON:

Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had children. Hannah did not. Hannah longed to have a child. Hannah longed to have a child because she cherished what a blessing a child would be. So Hannah fervently prayed for a child and on one occasion, she vowed: "O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life…" (1 Samuel 1:11).

The child whom the Lord gave to Hannah in answer to her prayer was named, Samuel. After Hannah had weaned Samuel, she brought him to the tabernacle and said, "For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord." (1 Samuel 1:27-28).

Hannah desired a child so much, and yet she promised that if God gave her a son she would return the child to the Lord and His service. Looking at this from shallow human understanding it was silly. Why would you long for something so greatly, receive it, and give it right back? Hannah treasured the gift of the Lord that was her son. By giving Samuel to the Lord she was not losing her son, but enhancing the blessing. Now that precious gift of a child would also be one who would serve the Lord all the days of his life as a prophet and as a judge.

We have been given a tremendous blessing in our LIFE—not just our physical life (though that too is a blessing form God); but the LIFE of the forgiveness of sins, the LIFE of salvation, the LIFE of eternity with God in heaven. We hear in Corinthians that we are not our own for "…you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Corinthians 6:20).

We have this tremendous gift of LIFE and belong to God by Jesus redeeming work. God desires that because we are His we return the gift in how we live and in what we do and everything about us. Just as Hannah had been barren without children and received a son, so we were barren in our sins with no ability to serve God. By giving our lives back to God, we are not losing the lives He has given us; but rather, that blessing is enhanced because of the joy of service—the joy of having this life as a gift from God which I am so gladly and so willingly giving back to you, Lord, out of joy and thanksgiving.

So this morning, we hear (and pray that we heed) the encouragement from the apostle Paul that you PRESENT YOUR LIFE TO GOD I. Transform it II. Evaluate it III. Use it.

The Old Testament sacrifices were many. Many, many sacrifices were offered each year and this is multiplied by all of the years. These were DEAD sacrifices. The priests slaughtered the animals and offered them on the altar to God. They were DEAD sacrifices because animals died, but also as a picture of the DEATH Jesus would endure in punishment for our sins. Jesus HAD to DIE in order to be our Savior. So, the picture of the sacrifice Jesus would make also had to die.

We no longer need DEATH sacrifices because Jesus came and died once for all. Our sins are washed away. There is no more blood that needs to be shed for our sins—it’s DONE. Jesus said IT IS FINISHED (cf: John 19:30). But we do have the opportunity to present LIVING sacrifices. Paul wrote, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…" [v.1]

Our bodies and lives and everything about them are living sacrifices, not just because we are alive (which we are), but because as living sacrifices they are ongoing, they are all-inclusive, they involve our LIFE, not just a part of it. Just like every living thing grows, so too our sacrifice to God grows. We don’t want the giving and presenting of ourselves to God to stay "this size." We want it to GROW and keep on LIVING and EXPANDING. So Paul says, "I BESEECH you to present your bodies—your whole life—a LIVING sacrifice."

The motivation that Paul uses is "by the mercies of God." In two verses preceding this section, Paul had told the Romans, "Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! … For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen" (Romans 11:33,36). Then Paul says, "THEREFORE – because this is true, because God is God of all who has dominion over all things, because He is the one who by His wisdom, knowledge and mercy has redeemed you…THEREFORE, because of who He is, "present yourselves living sacrifices…holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service" [v.1]

We are able to present ourselves "holy and acceptable" to God because of the change that Christ has accomplished in us. Paul, writing to the Corinthians says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:7). To the Ephesians he said, "Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).

That "new man" who loves to do the Lord’s will and who follows after everything God says is true is the part of our lives that is a living sacrifice to God.

In order to present this "new man" as a living sacrifice to God, Paul says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed" [v.2] We need transformation before we could ever hope to present our bodies and lives as living sacrifices. By nature we have sin so we want to use our gifts and every bodily effort for sin and the self-satisfaction of pursuing our sinful lusts. Earlier in Romans Paul said, "Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God….For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness" (Romans 6:13-19).

Let it no longer be what it used to be! Don’t use your power, your energy, your gifts, your abilities for sin and your own selfish desires; BUT TRANSFORM into using those things for righteousness. STOP being conformed to this age, to this world, and the things all around you. This is difficult because we are talking about doing something totally different from what the world around us is doing. John encourages us, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15).

Present your life to God. You CAN’T do that if your life is looking like the world because the world (not the physical world, but this atmosphere, this society, this sinfulness in which we live) is opposed to God. If you love this world and all that it stands for, you do not love the Father because they are totally opposite. In Scripture, God says that the god of this sinful age is the Devil (cf: 2 Corinthians 4:4, etc.) So presenting your life to God cannot be mixed with presenting your life to this age which follows after Satan.

It is so easy to conform and want to conform to the world. We are tempted daily to pursue the things the world pursues. We are tempted daily to act like the people "next door" when they are acting like the world. We’re told again and again in so many ways to "satisfy yourself…do what you think is right…pursue your own ambition." What we think is right and our own ambition are tainted by sin. Do not be conformed to this world but TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind through Christ Jesus.

As we consider how to present our lives to God, we need to look and beware that we not be conforming and fitting in with the world. We need to stand out. If we have a desire to "fit in," to be like the world, to look like the world, to dress like the world, to act like the world, to enjoy what the world enjoys…we better STOP, repent, and seek Christ for transformation.

As we evaluate ourselves for that transformation and stand guard against conformity with the world, we are given an opportunity to "prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." [v.2] As we transform and testify to the righteousness of Christ, we are proving who God is. We are declaring Him to the world. People can look at you and say, "There is someone who claims to be a child of God and I know why—because he is different than everything I see in the world." It is a whole different "being" with a whole different outlook. It becomes a blessing to testify to our Savior by the transformation which He accomplishes in our hearts through the working of His Holy Spirit.

Thus transformed with a desire to serve God, the next part of presenting our lives is evaluation. Paul says, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." [v.3]

From this point through the rest of the text, Paul is speaking very individually. We can speak in terms of a group, for example, this Christian congregation; but he is now speaking to each one of you personally. It is laser-point instruction to every individual in the balcony, all the way down to the back rows and to the front. It is no longer "yeah, you guys…" it is "YOU!" individually. Paul encourages us toward INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION because it is YOUR life that YOU are presenting to God. The first step of this is to see yourself for what you are.

"…not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think." By nature we think pretty highly of ourselves. We take confidence in what we can do. We’re quick to be tempted toward pride which leads to arrogance; but even more than that it’s "all about me." It is serving me, looking out for me. This is not what Jesus did when He came to die on the cross. So Paul encourages us in Philippians, "Let EACH of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4) and He uses Jesus as an example.

Paul also ties this "looking at yourself" to faith. "…not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" Look at yourself SPIRITUALLY! Evaluate your spiritual place - your soul’s condition. Don’t think more highly of yourself than you ought to think saying, "I am strong in the Lord. I have nothing to be concerned about. My life is good." You do stand strong in the Lord but "he who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall!"(1 Corinthians 10:12). Evaluate yourself, see yourself spiritually as NEEDING the Lord; not as someone who has accomplished something and there is nothing more to do.

Do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think but soberly... Don't let your evaluation go high and beyond what is real, wildly imagining yourself to be what you are not. But sober-mindedly, evaluate yourself. Seeing the gifts that God has given you and the strengths, but knowing your own frailties and repenting and returning to the Lord for strength.

Another area in which we need to evaluate ourselves and not think more highly than we ought to think is in how we use our lives. Paul continues, "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." [vv. 4-5]

Not thinking more highly than we ought to think includes not thinking that we are "IT." God says you are "PART." You as an individual are one part of the whole body of Christ’s Church. Think of yourself in that way. A biblical commentator put it this way: "All men are soloists by nature, they must learn the art of playing in God’s orchestra." [Martin Franzmann, Romans, CPH]

God has in mind for you—individually—a role to play. You are each individually playing a role in the Church of God. Thinking soberly, evaluating, and presenting your life to God asks the question, "How do I fit in that role of serving Christ and my fellow Christians?" Paul instructs Corinthians in the same way as the Romans when he says, "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually" (1 Corinthians 12:12,27).

If I am evaluating myself and my life as one part, one piece of the whole group of Christ’s Church that means whatever I do to someone else is really affecting me because it is really no longer I standing alone and I’m not an island. I am now working with you, serving with you, rejoicing with you in our salvation. That unity of individual members as one body is why we should not lie to one another. Paul wrote the Ephesians, "Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,"[WHY?] for we are members of one another" (Ephesians 4:25). Would you lie to yourself? Some people do without even realizing it, but would you want to do so? NO! So, don’t lie to one another because you are ONE joined in the body of Christ.

In Corinthians Paul again writes, …there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another" (1 Corinthians 12:25). Look out for each other! You are part of one body! Evaluate your role in that body.

Then as the hymn writer says, "LET NONE HEAR YOU IDLY SAYING, THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO!" Paul says, "…having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us…" [v.6] There is no "IF." Paul does not say, "IF you have gifts…" He says, "HAVING gifts…"

You are an individual in the body of Christ with a purpose and a role, and for that purpose and role God gives you gifts. There is not a single individual in this sanctuary who does not have gifts from God to use in your individual role for proving the grace and mercy of the Lord in all that you do. They are differing gifts—differing gifts according to the grace of God, differing gifts according to ability, differing in type, differing in amount, but YOU ALL HAVE THEM! God says, "Each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that" (1 Corinthians 7:7).

Present your life to God, evaluating yourself, not thinking more highly than you ought to think, seeing yourself as an individual in a larger body with a role to play and KNOWING that you have gifts which you can use in that role. When you have reached that evaluation, then God says, "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10).

When you have evaluated and when you begin to see the gifts that God has given you and you are considering your role in the larger body, then USE THAT GIFT! USE YOUR LIFE!!

Paul says in the text, "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." [vv.6-8]

Paul could have stopped by saying, "You have gifts, use them." But he gives examples because he knows our sinful nature which would tend to say, "I don’t have anything that I can use."

Paul begins with "prophesy." Don’t think in terms of "telling the future." To do so would quickly exempt us from Paul’s example. To "prophesy" in the scriptural sense is to proclaim what God reveals—to speak the words of God. If you have a gift for declaring and proclaiming the Word of God—to proclaim the revelation He has given you in His Word—then by all means PROCLAIM IT! Paul adds that this proclamation be done, "according to the faith." If you have the gift to proclaim the truth of God, do it, but make sure you do it according to God’s Word. Make sure that it is in proportion—that it matches—what God has revealed about the Christian faith in His Word. BUT DO IT! If you have a gift USE IT! And if that gift is proclaiming the Word of God PROCLAIM IT!

The second example of Paul is "ministry" which we would better understand as "service" because "ministry" might be considered only as the public ministry and that is not only what Paul had in mind. If you have the gift of service—serving one another, then SERVE ONE ANOTHER! We can serve each other in so many ways.

He who exhorts, in exhortation. Paul speaks of the gift of calling someone else to your side and COUNSELING them. It may be counsel to give direction, to help in making decisions, to help in solving a problem, to uplift, to correct, to encourage, to comfort. Whatever the need, it is a gift to be one who gladly listens and then with compassion is able to offer good counsel. If you are able to counsel and comfort and help you have the gift. USE IT!

Paul goes on, "He who gives with liberality." Using the gift of giving fully, not just stingily, not "Well, I suppose I better give you this…I better share." It is as if a parent asked a child to share a treat with another child, "OK, I’ll give you one bite." No…share with LIBERALITY! Give bountifully as the Lord has given to you! "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Then Paul says, "He who leads, with diligence" – with haste, with a sense of urgency. Leading is something that we understand is the role for pastors and teachers within a congregation. Chairmen and presidents are also recognized as leaders. If you have the gift to lead, even if you don’t have a title, even if you are leading only one other person, LEAD with DILIGENCE!

Our country, our world, our society is woefully lacking in solid, God-directed leadership. Not everyone is cut out to be "the leader" but you have gifts in the Gospel to lead in ways that no unbeliever can. If you have the opportunity to lead, if you are in the front, even if it is just you and a friend and you are the one who is going to decide a choice of right and wrong of what you are going to do: LEAD!! You have the gift, you have the opportunity, you have a role in this larger body of Christ’s Church.

As we approach the new school year, we might think well of teachers LEADING their students. Coaches LEADING their teams. It’s far more than teaching English, Math, Science, and the rest. It’s far more than telling the team how to make the plays. It’s more…its LEADING. It is leading and directing with diligence, urgency, a sense of purpose, knowing that when I’m leading someone else – when I’m in front helping someone else along their way – it is more than winning the game, its more than getting a diploma, it is LEADING THEM in the way of the Lord!

If you have the gift to lead, LEAD! Take the bull by the horns and GO! but to use another expression, don’t let that bull become a bull in a china shop. There is a danger for those who lead to run right over those whom they are leading. Peter warns against this when he writes, "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock" (1 Peter 5:2-3). LEAD, yes! but with compassion with understanding for those whom you are leading even as Jesus our shepherd, gathers the lambs with His arm, carries them in His bosom, and gently leads those who are weak (cf: Isaiah 40:11).

Every one of you has gifts. Every one of you has a role in this larger body of Christ. USE THOSE GIFTS! You may have gifts you won’t use for awhile, There are different times and different seasons in one’s life which means you’ll use different gifts in those seasons, but use them faithfully and thereby present your life to God.

We aren’t given any more indication of Samuel’s life with his mother except that she brought a coat to him each year when she came to the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:19). But one can only imagine the joy in Hannah’s heart and life as she saw her Samuel grow up in service to the Lord. Her gift was enhanced because her gift was serving the one who gave it.

Your life is your gift from God. It will only be enhanced to his glory when you as a redeemed child of God present it to Him and say, "Use me, Lord." Amen.