Teachers: the objective of this lesson is to change the typical Christian concept of worship. Many Christians think of worship as occurring in an assembly. The most popular concept centers on specific things occurring in that assembly. This lesson uses Paul's illustration to reveal that worship also is offered by a daily life surrendered to God. While Christians collectively gather to honor and glorify God as a group, each individual Christian also worships by the way he or she lives his or her daily life. Worship honors and glorifies God. Worship occurs in Christian assemblies that honor and glorify God and in the lives of individual Christians who honor and glorify God. Both forms of worship are important in honoring and glorifying God.
When you hear the word "worship," what thoughts and images naturally come to your mind? In our current, common focus, "worship" is the watchword. Our natural images of worship likely are related to Sunday morning worship assemblies. In our thinking, what does and does not occur in those assemblies is critical, all important. How do we "prove" we are "the church"? Through our worship assembly on Sunday morning. How do we "prove" we "keep the faith"? Through our worship assembly on Sunday morning. How do we "prove" we respect Bible authority and follow Bible examples? Through our worship assembly on Sunday morning. Nothing that occurs in a believer's life is as important in declaring "faithfulness" as what occurs in the Sunday morning worship assembly.
At this time, many American Christians view what occurs in worship assemblies as the critical evidence of faith and faithfulness. To many, an emotional attachment to specific assembly acts is powerful. Not only must correct acts occur, but they must occur in specified modes of expression. Entire congregations are judged to be "in the faith" and devoted to God's authority by what occurs in worship assemblies. In many Christians' thinking, what occurs in an individual Christian's life is not as significant as what occurs in worship assembles. In this restricted view of worship, Christian worship is confined to events that occur in an assembly.
In a common current concept, the key factor is attendance. Worship occurs if a Christian is physically present in an assembly on Sunday morning. Worship occurs if the Christians assembled take communion. Worship occurs if the Christians assembled sing a cappella (even if a Christian attending does not sing). Worship occurs if the "five acts of worship" actually occur. If worship occurs, and if the Christian is physically present, he or she is "faithful."
In this restricted view of worship, the important key is attendance. For decades we stressed attendance to worship assemblies. That emphasis created a false confidence. The false confidence is this: the critical element of devout Christian existence is physical presence in a weekly worship assembly. Motivations for attendance are secondary. Attentiveness in worship is secondary. Participation in worship [prayers, singing, personal heart response to God] is secondary. How one uses his or her time as the assembly occurs is secondary. The life the individual Christian lives is not even regarded [by some] as a secondary consideration. "If I am physically present when assemblies occur, I am faithful." Faithfulness is a matter of physical presence in a weekly worship assembly if the appropriate acts occur in the appropriate ways. The ways "I live my daily life" are unrelated to worship. The ways "I live each day" are not a worship consideration. Worship and daily existence are distinctly different considerations.
Our common concept of biblical Christian worship regards worship to be an event. Worship occurs when correct procedures happen on designated occasions in an assembly of Christians. Paul introduced Christians in Rome to an expanded concept of worship: worship occurs when the daily life of the individual believer is devoted to godly existence. Worship is an existence, not an event. At times, Christians gather to worship as a group. As a group, they honor and glorify God. But the individual Christian worships his God and his Savior by the way he or she lives, by the way he or she thinks, and by the way he or she serves God's purposes.
The primary concept you want students to consider is, "Worship is an existence, not an event."
Consider the imagery of sacrifice in Romans 12:1,2. To us, sacrifice is typically centered in the idea of "giving up" something. "Giving up" foods with a high saturated fat content for health reasons is, to us, "sacrificing." "Giving up" a boat to acquire money to help educate our children is, to us, "sacrificing." "Giving up" a weekly trip to the movie theater to help the family budget is, to us, "sacrificing." To us, the imagery of "sacrifice" is a "personal loss" we absorb for a purpose. Infrequently do we associate sacrifice with worship.
When most Americans speak of sacrifice today, their concept is likely to focus on personal hardship and loss. Today, to us, "living a sacrificial life" commonly means living a life of hardship that deprives us in ways that other people commonly experience.
Their images of sacrifice and ours are not the same. Whether converted Jew or converted idol worshipper, their imagery of sacrifice was quite similar. Before conversion, the devout Jew offered sacrificial worship at the Jewish temple. He took an animal there to surrender its life in honor of the living God. Before conversion, the idol worshipper offered sacrificial worship at the idol's temple. He took an animal there to surrender its life in honor of the idol.
For us to focus on Paul's point, we must understand that Paul used a first century religious act to illustrate the Christian's daily surrender of his or her existence. This religious, sacrificial experience was common knowledge to all who lived then. At that time, such sacrifices were commonplace in everyone's experience. The contrast is not seen in the basic first century altar experience. That altar experience resulted in death, the death of the sacrificial animal. The contrast is seen in the sacrifice, not the altar. The sacrifice the Christian offered on the altar was [is] the sacrifice of self, the sacrifice of total existence. The Christian's sacrifice was [is] the altar gift of life. Life was [is] not given in physical death, but in a daily existence. Life was taken from the sacrificial animal. The Christian voluntarily, willingly gave [gives] life in daily service to God's purposes. The way he or she lived [lives] reflected God's values and purposes.
A living animal was placed on an altar and killed. Paul was not talking about giving up desserts so that we physically can live longer. He was not talking about giving up a possession to educate our children. He was not talking about giving up a recreational event to improve the family budget. Paul discussed a "holy sacrifice." He talked about an understood act of worship. He talked about the most common act of worship occurring in their world.
It is essential to understand that Paul's illustration was based on a commonly understood act of worship. If we focus on our view of sacrifice, we will not focus on Paul's concept.
Paul presented this sacrifice as the action of Christian worship. It did not occur near or in a physical building called a temple as an event. It occurred each moment of life as an act of personal surrender. It did not involve giving the life of an unwilling animal. It involved willingly giving your own life. It was not a sacrifice in which animal life was destroyed. It involved a living sacrifice that gave the believer's life continually as long as that Christian physically lived.
A temple visit would be strange and surreal to most of us. Sacrifice as an act of worship would be strange and surreal to most of us. American Christians are not familiar with temples, altars, or worship acts involving animal sacrifice. The sacrifice imagery that was common and well known in the first century is foreign to our thinking.
When Paul declared to the Christians at Corinth that they were God's temple (1 Corinthians 3:16,17), they understood Paul's imagery. His concept was different, but his metaphor was well understood. Today we need to understand the imagery to grasp the concept. Temples, altars, and sacrifices were well understood by first century people, but not by us. The images of altars, sacrifices, and death are not common to our experiences.
Some notable differences contrasted this Christian act of sacrificial worship with sacrificial acts of worship in Judaism or idolatry. The motivation for the Christian sacrificial worship was God's mercy. God sacrificed Himself in the death of His son on the cross. Through that death, God atoned for our evil acts and rebellious thoughts. Through that death, God redeemed us [purchased the right to forgive us]. Through that death, God made us alive.
For the contrast to be obvious, the teacher may need to make certain the students have a basic understanding of animal sacrifice at a temple. The common motivations for animal sacrifices were (1) seeking atonement for guilt and (2) honoring the superiority of the god or God. The motivation Paul stressed to the Christians in Rome was God's mercy. Appreciation for God's mercy should motivate them to be living sacrifices.
Why? Because we deserve such consideration? No! Because we deserve forgiveness? No! Because we are a "profitable purchase" or "good buy"? No! In no way are people worth the price God paid. He or she who understood [understands] forgiveness knows God's forgiveness is not based on any form of human deservedness. We as Christians belong to God because He is merciful, and only because He is merciful. He allows us to belong to him.
Mercy likely had a significance to them it does not have in today's America. They lived in a cruel world that often had little regard for the individual's existence. Injustice was a part of life. The weak and disadvantaged were defenseless. The poor were exploited. Life was cheap. To understand God offered forgiveness, kindness, and blessing without consideration of personal worth or position was unthinkable. The merciful God stood in amazing contrast to most gods. For them, God's mercy made the impossible possible. God's mercy extended to the believer the unavailable. It was not what they could do for God, but what God already did for them through Jesus. God's love and kindness could be explained in only one way: mercy.
Since God sacrificed Jesus for us, it is only reasonable that we should give ourselves in sacrifice to God. As an act of worship, each day we surrender our existence to God. We willingly allow God to teach us appropriate ways to surrender.
The only appropriate response to such mercy was the gift of self. Giving oneself to a benefactor was not an unusual occurrence in that age. It was a matter of gratitude to surrender self in ways that showed appreciation and respect for the benefactor.
We surrender ourselves on the sacrificial altar (1) by refusing to allow the influences that shape and control "this age" to determine who we are and how we live; (2) by allowing God to reshape our minds so that He can teach us how to think; (3) by committing ourselves to the discovery and understanding of God's purposes; (4) by redefining good, God pleasing, and maturity.
Help students understand the four ways the Christians in Rome were urged to sacrifice self to God. Jesus determined who they were and how they lived, not the age. God, not the age, taught them how to think. This new way of thinking searched for and devoted the person to God's purposes. This new way of thinking redefined basic understandings: what was good; what God truly desired; what was mature.
Romans 12:3 through 15:13 focused the Christians in Rome on how this was accomplished. We must understand this entire section by understanding how Christians in Rome were to "climb on the altar." Only by "climbing on the altar" in an existence that worshipped God could they be living sacrifices.
QUESTIONS
The individual's faith in what God did in Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection gave him or her access to God's saving power. It was not a matter of heritage (as with the Jews) or a matter of significance through position (as with those who were not Jews). For each person, it was a matter of trusting what God did in Jesus' death and resurrection. God's mercy is seen in Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. God's mercy was the motivation for becoming a living sacrifice.
Our salvation is the specific result of God's actions in Jesus' death and resurrection. Through Jesus, God made it possible for anyone to be righteous before Him. Though all are sinners, those who trust God's goodness in Jesus Christ are justified and redeemed. God satisfied the requirement of justice (righteousness) by allowing Jesus' to die for human sins. God's mercy made salvation possible. God's mercy was the motivation for becoming a living sacrifice.
God promised Abraham that He would extend a blessing to all people through a descendant from Abraham. God's mercy selected Abraham because Abraham trusted God. God's mercy sent Jesus. God's mercy extends opportunity for salvation to all people through Jesus Christ. God's mercy was the motivation for becoming a living sacrifice.
The Christian is at peace with God because God has forgiven him or her. God's mercy in Jesus Christ justifies a Christian making that peace possible. God's mercy was the motivation for becoming a living sacrifice.
Through immersion, the Christian participated in Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. The God of mercy allowed Jesus to be crucified and resurrected for us. God's mercy was the motivation for becoming a living sacrifice.
When a person sees himself or herself for who he or she truly is, the person knows that it is not within human ability or power to destroy evil. The more the person understands true holiness and seeks to make himself or herself pure, the more obvious his or her unholiness and impurity become. God's mercy through Jesus Christ resolved the dilemma when the Christian allowed Jesus to be Lord. Being in Jesus Christ destroyed condemnation. God's mercy expresses itself in forgiveness. God's mercy was the motivation for becoming a living sacrifice.
They understood all their spiritual blessings existed because God was merciful. God's mercy provided the power that made salvation available to everyone. Because of God's mercy, a person can be saved. In mercy God's actions made righteousness and justification possible. God's mercy made a promise to Abraham. In keeping that promise, God's mercy made salvation available to anyone who trusts what God did in Jesus. God's mercy makes it possible for a person to be at peace with God. God's mercy makes it possible for a person to participate with Jesus in the crucifixion and resurrection. God's mercy destroys the condemnation of the sinner. In those understandings, a Christian should be moved by God's mercy. God's mercy should motivate him or her to be a living sacrifice.
The same reasons and understandings concerning God's mercy should move us to be living sacrifices.
Link to Student Guide
Quarter 3, Lesson 1