1. Please pray with me. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer. Amen. What do you preach as a pastor in your last sermon to the congregation you have served the last 6 years? I thought about that this past week and my conclusion was this… to preach once again Christ & Him crucified for the forgiveness of your sins. For that is the ONLY message that saves us and gives us eternal life!!! The message from God’s Word on this 12th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Romans 11.33-12:8, and is entitled, “Transformed for Service,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. The poet, Elizabeth Barret Browning, once wrote: “Earth’s crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God but only he who sees takes off his shoes.” Our readings this morning invite us to be among those who see. They invite us to see the earth crammed with heaven, to see how God in Christ has come down from heaven and touched the earth to fill it with his glory.
3. Consider the Old Testament reading. Here, the Prophet Isaiah writes to a future people, suffering in exile away from Jerusalem, and he reveals for them a world crammed full of heaven. “Look,” he cries. And there, he reveals the wonder of God. One family, Abraham and Sarah, touched by God’s grace and the source of God’s blessing for all nations of the world. One sees the glory spread as God multiplies descendants for Abraham, extending his blessing from one family to all nations. Isaiah promises that Jerusalem, the city that is devastated, will experience rebirth. Songs of sorrow will become shouts of joy. God’s salvation will go forth and, though heaven and earth pass away, God’s righteousness will remain. His salvation will endure forever.
4. In the Holy Gospel, we find Caesarea Philippi crammed full of heaven. Jesus has drawn his disciples north, above the Sea of Galilee, where the land breaks forth into hills and waterfalls. The place was ancient. It had been a site for worshipping Baal among the Canaanites, and then Pan among the Greeks, and then Caesar among the Romans. As cultures changed, so did the worship. Yet, here, Peter confesses heaven touching earth in the unchanging work of God, now seen in Jesus. This isn’t an ancient pagan religion. Peter doesn’t worship a fertility god like Baal or a god of nature like Pan or a god of the political state like Caesar. No, Peter worships God, the creator of all things, who promised to bring salvation to the ends of the earth, and has now come to live and walk among his people. Peter confesses Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. What Isaiah prophesies in the Old Testament reading, what Peter confesses in the Gospel is what the apostle Paul celebrates as he writes to the Christians in Rome. Paul has seen earth crammed with heaven and in these few verses he shares with us a life transforming a vision.
5. You know how sometimes when you look at the sun and then look away, your vision is touched by an afterimage of the light? You see the people around you, but they look different. They are bathed in the glow of the light. This is what happens to the apostle Paul in our text. He’s seen a brilliant vision. The work of God, extending to all nations. And then, when Paul turns and looks at the people of Rome, he sees them in a different way.
6. Listen to the wonder of Paul at the beginning of our text. He writes, “O the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and inscrutable his ways!” (11:33). Paul has seen a vision of the end of the story. The restoration of all peoples in the church. The New Israel of God. That vision is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy from our Old Testament reading this morning.
7. Isaiah prophesied of a time of “joy and gladness” of “thanksgiving and song.” Isaiah promises that when “the ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion . . . everlasting joy shall be upon their heads” and “sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (51:11). This is what happens for the apostle Paul. Paul sees the day of restoration, when God brings about a gathering of all nations, Jew and Gentile, into the church, and Paul’s sorrow turns into singing, his sighing into praise. It’s as if Paul has seen the light of a beautiful sunset, a glorious ending to a long and difficult day, and his song changes from sorrow to joy, from sighing to gladness. He offers praise and thanksgiving and glory to God.
8. Then Paul turns his eyes to the church in Rome. Now, the Roman Christians wouldn’t have been glorious to the world around them. Not many of them were rich or powerful. They gathered together in small house churches, their lives a far cry from the glories of Rome much less the glories of heaven. And yet, as Paul looks at these people, he sees earth crammed with heaven and he writes so that they join him in celebrating the wonder of God. Paul writes, “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” (12:1). Notice how Paul uses the language of sacrifice. The sacrificial worship of God’s people from the temple in Jerusalem, is transformed. God’s people become sacrifices, outside the temple in Jerusalem, hidden inside the small house churches gathering in the heart of the empire of Rome. These people are God’s people, transformed into sacrifices, living, holy, acceptable to God. Paul knew that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ put an end to temple sacrifices. His death was the perfect sacrifice. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. By his sacrifice, God’s people were freed from offering sacrifices for sins. By his sacrifice, they were freed to become sacrifices. Living sacrifices of praise. As they poured out their lives in service in the world.
9. As Paul looks at the people in Rome, he sees an afterimage of God’s glory. They are the body of Christ, at work in the world. Paul begins to see gifts of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the people – prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, contribution, leadership, and mercy. Not only does God freely forgive all sins but he also freely bestows all gifts, so that people have a purpose and a place in God’s greater story. God has a greater plan for each person in his story of salvation. This is the vision Paul sees. It stirs his heart with wonder. It opens his mouth with praise. Earth is crammed with heaven as God gathers his people and transforms them for spiritual service in the world.
10. “Earth’s crammed with heaven,” Elizabeth Barret Browning once said. “But only he who sees takes off his shoes.” And that’s the trouble with God’s people. We often don’t see this vision of God at work in our lives in the world. For the apostle Paul, there was some concern that the Roman Christians would take pride in their status and gifts for service. Paul warns them, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone not to think of himself more highly than he ought” (12:3). But, God’s people, today often have the opposite problem. Ask a fellow Christian how God works among his people, and see what they say. Often we will point to the service of others rather than confess God’s work through our lives. We will point to moments set apart for worship, rather than confess God’s work in daily life. For example, some will point to the Pastor of the congregation. He’s God’s servant, the one the Holy Spirit has called through God’s people to serve in their midst. They’re right. But, God’s work isn’t limited to the Pastor. Give it some thought and you may name a few other members. Old members. Faithful members.
11. Those who have gone before us. And soon our mind drifts from the present to the past and then we begin to speak of how God worked among his people. Great figures of the faith come to mind. We talk about what God did through his servant Martin Luther. The rich music of Bach. The inspiring hymnody of Paul Gerhardt. We see and celebrate God’s gifts to the church, how God calls, gathers, enlightens, and equips members for service in a particular time and place. But turn from the past to the present, and the vision changes. The glory fades until we only see a small group of a few people that we speak of as serving God. Our vision is nowhere near the inclusive celebration of Paul.
12. Listen, today, to the apostle Paul. He invites you . . . today . . . to trust in God’s promises and experience his greater plan for you. God has brought about your salvation in Jesus Christ. He has offered the perfect sacrifice that takes away your sin, that forgives your blindness and opens your eyes to see and your lives to celebrate the working of God. God does more than work in the lives of others. He works in your life . . . for others . . . in this world. This is why Paul starts to name gifts –such as teaching, service, leadership, mercy. His list isn’t complete. But Paul names these things so that you can see how God is at work in your life. Paul invites you today to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. He encourages you to discern God’s good and gracious will in your life.
13. You may devote your life to caring for cattle or tending the earth that it brings forth food for the table. This stewardship of creation is a gift from God. Not all people are called to such service but God in Christ has called you and equipped you for this work. You may teach the faith to your children. Not in formal classes with desks, lectures, and quizzes but, in the car as you drive your son to soccer practice and talk about challenges to his faith, or at the nursing home, as your children visit their grandfather and you offer to pray. Parenting is a gift from God. Not all people are called to such service but God, in Christ, has called you for this work.
14. Martin Luther taught us to see the mercies of God, working through us in our vocations. To live in God’s mercy is to enter the world and discover God at work in our humble lives. He transforms us for service. There’s a monument east of London at Three Mills Green. It pictures two hands, joined together, in self-sacrificial service. Over 100 years ago, Thomas Pickett was working in a well. He was overcome by the carbonic acid (the “foul air”) that gathered in the well. Godfrey Nicholson responded. He went and reached out his hand to help. He was followed by Frederick Eliot and then Robert Underhill. Each worker offering a saving hand in rescue. Each dying in the end. To remember these men and their sacrificial service, a workers’ memorial was built. Two hands, joined together, in self-sacrificial service.
15. If you were to go to London, it would be easy to miss this monument. After all, London is filled with so many glorious things to see. The crown jewels. Big Ben. Buckingham Palace. The changing of the guard. But there, in east London, at Three Mills Green, stands a much more humble sight. A memory of ordinary people, who offered their lives in acts of sacrificial love. Their daily vocation became a place for service to others and to God. This place doesn’t gather many crowds and it doesn’t inspire tours but it does recall the way God works in the world. Through the lives of his people in their daily vocations. This is how God’s hand reaches into our world. He touches his people through His Word and Sacraments, transforming them for service, so that they offer their gifts as a sacrifice of praise.
16. And, this is why Sunday after Sunday, for 6 years now, there has really only been one topic preached from this pulpit. Though there have been many themes and many texts. Though some sermons have lacked the energy and freshness of others. Though some have been downright boring and much too long. Through it all, there’s really been only one thing the Lord has given me to preach here. One person, one favorite topic, Sunday after Sunday, and that’s Jesus Christ, crucified & risen for you.
17. What this monument does in East London, Paul does with his words in this letter. He calls us to see the glory of God, hidden in the lives of his people, in sacrificial service on earth. Our world would have us conform to its ways. Seek glory and power by gaining things for ourselves. In the ways of our world, religion can become one more tool we use to make ourselves better. Claiming the power of God to gain glory on earth. But, God’s ways are different. Humble. Hidden. Sacrificial. Selfless. In a world attracted to glory, the apostle Paul asks you to see God’s greater plan for you. You have been joined to the body of Christ. Made part of his people by the forgiveness of your sins. And Paul now invites you to no longer be conformed to this world but to be transformed for service. To live by giving rather than gaining. By service rather than selfishness. In this way, the church is the afterimage of the glory of Christ. It reveals the ways of God in the world. We are the body of Christ, drawn into his public ministry. Our lives are monuments of his sacrificial love. Each life touched by the hand of God. Your life joined to the ministry of Christ. “A living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God.” Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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