Hoover Church of Christ Sermons

A frequent theme of Scripture is this: “Based on what God has done for us, what should we do?” God led the Israelites out of Egypt (saved them), and then he gave them the Law (taught them how to live as saved people). In a similar way, for the first 11 chapters of Romans Paul explores the inestimable depths of God’s love for us and his work in saving us. Then at the beginning of chapter 12 he writes, “Therefore, I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, . . .” (NIV). In other words, because God has done all of this for you, this is how you should respond.

And then he gives an evocative, visceral image: Present your bodies as living sacrifices. First-century people, whether Jew or Gentile, knew about animal sacrifices, so they immediately got Paul’s point. God is calling his people to offer their bodies as living, breathing, continual sacrifices to him. Jesus gave himself as the once-for-all sacrifice of atonement, and we respond by presenting ourselves to him as living offerings.

Think of all of the implications of this image: if we view our bodies as sacrifices that we offer continually to God, what parts of our lives are not subject to him? How do we respond to the world’s pressure to conform us to its spirit and set of priorities?

The pinnacle of creation week was man and woman, created “in [God’s] own image.” There’s some sort of mystery involved in God’s assertion that he created us in his image, but it certainly means that we are so highly valued. All of us, regardless of ethnicity or gender, of intelligence or accomplishment, are loved and honored by the God of heaven and earth. Many implications flow from this fact, affecting our views about ethnicity (racism, discrimination, etc.), gender (gender inequities, gender relationships, etc.), as well as our identity (who are we? what’s most important about us as human beings?).

The image of God in us has long been referred to as the imago dei, and when we understand it we recognize how not fully believing it is the source of so many of society’s problems, as well as our own individual struggles.

The imago dei in us has been distorted through the fall, but the Spirit’s work in us as Christians is one of reshaping that image–what Scripture calls sanctification. God is conforming us once again into his image, and we must commit ourselves to submitting to his sanctifying work and engaging the world in ways that help them see the imago dei in us . . . and in every human being.

Notice the pivotal question of the text: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” Jeremiah was struggling because when he looked around him he saw bad people thriving, and he couldn’t understand why God was letting it happen. Why doesn’t he simply punish evildoers quickly and harshly? Why do we look around us and see evil people who seem to get away with their wickedness? Examples are numerous on the world stage: terrorists, cruel dictators who bask in luxury while their people live in squalor, etc. Closer to home, we’ve probably been hurt by someone, or maybe someone we love has been hurt, and our initial reaction is to hope that the perpetrator gets punished quickly.

And yet so often it doesn’t happen. Why? What is God doing? And how should we respond to the evil in the world and those who commit it? Why does the way of the wicked prosper?

This is the last sermon of this four-part sermon series. Three weeks ago I spoke on The Great Compassion (Matt 9:35-38 — Jesus’ love for us); two weeks ago we studied The Great Confession (Matt 16:13-23); last Sunday: The Great Commandment (Matt 22:34-40 — love God and neighbor). Notice how the series progresses from Jesus’ love for us (Compassion), to our response to him (Confession: He is the Son of God), to our living out the call of discipleship (Commandment: Love God and neighbor).

Today we will look at the inevitable result of loving God and neighbor: we tell our neighbors about God. Not long before he ascended, Jesus assembled with the men he’d spent the last few years training and discipling . . . and he told them to continue the mission.