By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
August 23, 2026
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Romans 12:1–8 (ESV)
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. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
The past few weeks I have made a point to encourage us to use context as we read scripture. To observe more than the mere words within the passage, but to also consider the rest of the book, and even scriptures outside the book. Not just scripture, but also culture and history. It is even important to understand science, contemporary spiritual practices both inside and outside Hebrew influence. We need to do this because the writers of scripture were inspired to write within a historic and cultural context. The words were written to encourage and inspire those of their age, as well as us today.
This is significant when we consider the passages associated with eschatology. Imagine for a moment if the prophets of ancient times were only speaking of events that were to occur 3 to 4 thousand years in the future. Would the people of that age be able to recognize them as sacred texts, or would they only see them as the ravings of a mad man? The words were primarily for their time and place, but also allude to something more. But this something more, these future events, were understandable within their context.
I bring eschatology up not because this passage speaks of it, but because sometimes our thoughts on eschatology permeate through our lives to such a degree that our primary focus is on the end instead of the present. We are not called to merely prepare for that great day, but as we prepare we are to live today. We are to work, teach, serve, and share now.
Before we move on we do need to consider the context of our passage. When we look at the letter to the Romans we often assume that this was a letter written to the people of Rome. We are not wrong, but we sometimes forget what Rome was. Rome was the capital of an empire. There were people from every corner of the empire living within this city. There were representatives from the provinces of Africa, from the Central Europe, from Spain, and from across the lands surrounding the Mediterranean basin. There were also envoys from other lands. Envoys from the Persian remnant, diplomats from Ethiopia, merchants from the Far East, and even traders traveling down the rivers of Eastern Europe and Russia across the seas. Rome was not a homogeneous community but diverse.
The church within Rome was also diverse. There was a large Jewish population within Rome and many of them responded to the gospel along with those from the gentile nations. This is why Paul exerted such energy and thought to explain the reality of the grace of God. The church at this time did not have the scriptures that we have today. What they did have were the writings of the Old Testament, but they did not have the Hebrew scripture, they had the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. And because they had only the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, those are the scriptures that were used and recognized within the ancient churches.
When I was a child I was often taught that the Catholic Church added books to the bible. They are not wrong in that teaching, but they are not correct either. The Catholic Church added the New Testament, but they were not the only church that did so. The Church of Antioch, Ethiopia, Jerusalem, Constantinople, and Alexandria also added the New Testament. These however are not the book we are speaking of. Protestants frequently say that the Church of Rome added the Apocrypha, or the deuterocanonical books. These book were part of the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, so they were not added, instead they were already part of the Jewish community that lived outside Judea. The reason they are not included in our Protestant bibles is because during the reformation the leaders of the Protestant churches wanted only the books that were represented in the accepted Hebrew text. The texts they used, the Masoretic text, was only accepted around the 7th century of our current age, seven hundred years after the church began. One could argue that the Masoretic texts, could have been made in opposition to the church just as much as one could argue that the text was the Hebrew Bible used within Jerusalem.
So when Paul was writing to the church of Rome, everyone present only knew the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. The understanding that both the Jews and the Gentiles had of scripture was from those first century era of history. They believed that the nations were divided among lessor deities, under the leadership of the one true God. And that the entire purpose of the Messiah was to bring all people back to that one true God. As we saw within Psalm 138. “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise.”
Paul wanted both the Jews and the Gentiles of Rome to know the reality of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. It was not merely to make all people Jewish. It was to bring all people, all religions, all of humanity back to the place they were created to be. Restored to an Edenic existence, where all humanity lived as image bearers of that one true God.
The context is important. The people were reading the Greek translations. Books like Tobit, where a righteous man living in exile was given a quest by the angel Raphael. Or the book of Judith where a Jewish widow interacts and saves her people from the invading Assyrian army. These book gave those people living in exile hope, they provided direction and identity to people of faith living in exile. They often provided a bridge between the various cultures and allowed the righteous to live their faith in a problematic time. This is what Paul is getting at. All of humanity is in exile. All of humanity is living lives of faith as outsiders within an immoral worldly based context. Not only the people of Hebrew heritage but all people. And some of these people have been in exile even longer.
God does not repent of his calling of Israel, he needed them as the one people through whom he would reveal himself, but the ultimate goal was not merely Israel but everyone. And everyone that calls upon the name of Jesus will be shown mercy and grace.
He spent eleven chapters building up to this point. Drawing on language of the Law, or the teachings of God, to unify the church. We are not Jews and Greeks, but we are a spiritual family united under the one true God. And because we are one people, present yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
I want us to slow down and consider this for a moment. I have just presented a bunch of historical context that we may not have been aware of. But what Paul is telling us is that everything we do should be devoted to honoring God. Every word we speak should be laced with encouragement and grace. Every time we go to work our actions should be reflecting the devotion we have to God. When we interact with people around us our mind should not be focused on the things our world focus on, instead our thoughts should be devoted to bringing honor to God.
We are to be living. But not just living, we are also to be sacrifices. I want you to consider this. Most sacrifices are not living. Instead, their life is given to bring honor and signify devotion to the deity being worshiped. Our life is to be given. It is not our own everything we do, and every aspect of who we are should be directed to give honor to God. If you call on the name of Jesus, you are no longer living to yourself. You belong to God. You are set apart for a different purpose.
Paul then continues, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
As I was studying this week, I opened a translation of the New Testament I forgot I purchased. It is called the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. This translation was formulated by a group of pastors ministering to various native cultures throughout North America. They wanted to present a translation of scripture into the context of their people. At first, we might think this is heretical, but I want us to consider how we learned about God. Very few of us know Greek, each of us listen from our own cultural context. We explain the gospel to children in language they understand. We do not use words they are unaware of like, “propitiation.” because most adults do not even understand that word to mean atonement. It goes over our heads.
This team of translators present it like this:
“So then, my sacred family members, because Creator has shown us such mercy and kindness, I now call on you to offer your whole beings, heart, mind, and strength, to the Great Spirit as a living sacrifice. Do this in a sacred and spiritual manner that will make his heart glad. Do not permit the ways of this world to mold and shape you. Instead, let Creator change you from the inside out, in the way a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He will do this by giving you a new way of thinking, seeing, and walking. Then you will know for sure what the Great Spirit wants for you, things that are good, that make the heart glad, and that help you to walk the path of becoming a mature and true human being.”
(Romans 12:1-2 FNV)
I sat reflecting on this passage from that perspective. I then considered what I knew of the various indigenous people groups. Their culture was not always like the cultures of European people, and neither are the cultures of Africa or Asia. I might not understand their culture, but that does not mean that they do not have some understanding that I do not have. I looked at these words from that perspective. And I was no longer looking at it systematically. Often European minded cultures look at everything from the rule of law perspective. We have hierarchies, departments, economies, and philosophies. We interpret everything from that western perspective. But that is not how everyone lives. The indigenous people of North America had a different rhythm of life. Their focus was on different aspects. Often their life revolved around survival of the community instead of individuality. They look at their place within a larger creation, and instead of conquest they instead strive to be a true human.
My understanding of their various cultures is lacking for sure, but this gave me pause. It challenged me to consider the words of Paul from a perspective that I was not used to. And I found it encouraging.
What happens to a group of people migrating around the prairies of Kansas and Missouri if those within the tribe are self-centered instead of focusing on the community? They will die. It is not a question of if, but when. There are so many factors in life that we cannot possibly be completely self-sufficient. When one person begins to become selfish, another person goes hungry. When one person demands the skins from the hunt, someone is left without clothing. When we become selfish we leave within visible sight someone without. What will eventually happen if we allow this to continue? We become weak. We become fractured. We become greedy. If the tribe continues down that path, how will they survive the winter? How will they respond to other tribes seeking harm?
Present yourself as a living sacrifice, Paul says, give yourself to something greater, something beyond yourself. Do not be shaped or molded by the ways of this world. This world is often devoted to sin. If we go back to the lives of Cain and Abel we see this. Cain was not accepted and Abel was. Cain wanted to be accepted, but he wanted it on his own terms. And God said to Cain if you do well will you not be accepted? That is the way of the world. We want things on our terms. We want it our way. We could not care less what anyone else thinks or feels as long as I have what I want.
It is short-sighted. And leads to destruction. God’s teaching his law is not for that short-sighted life. A few months ago I came across a discussion on the kosher dietary laws. The one presenting stated that we are not given a reason as to why certain foods are considered clean and unclean. So he explored possible reasons. Many of the reasons mentioned I had thought of, but there was one take that made me stop what I was doing to think. He said could it be that pork was unclean because there was only one reason to raise pork? Pork did not have multiple uses throughout its life like other animals. Sheep produce wool every year. So there is value while they live as well as value at the end of their life. Cattle also have multiple uses. They can be used as draft animals, for their milk, and at the end of their life meat and leather. But what is the use of swine? They are raised for one purpose and that is to eat. The point the presenter was making is God’s law in many cases was focused on continued existence, and not merely for short-sighted survival.
We can then look at other teachings within the law. How was Israel encouraged to build their dwellings? How were they supposed to handle mildew, and skin diseases? How were they to interact with individuals from other nations? Each of these laws point to something greater. Some laws have scientific explanations. Where some show us how to effectively assimilate others within our culture. But each of them teach us how to be true human beings.
Are we thinking about that type of life. A life lived to bring honor and glory to God while we live in service and ministry to others? This is the life and lifestyle that Jesus taught. He made it his custom to worship with the community. He often withdrew to pray in isolated places. And he would minister to the needs of the people. Providing healing to those with various diseases, feeding those without food, and providing teachings to draw us into a deeper understanding of life with God.
In all of this Jesus was encouraging us to explore where we fit and how we can become a blessing to others instead of living a life of self-centered consumption. Paul then expands on that thought as he writes to the people living in Rome. “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
He then speaks of us being one part of a greater body. And how each of us have different skills and gifts to bring health and wellness to that body. The point is that we have been blessed with incomes, with skill, with abilities, ideas, and many other things. We have been blessed, but that blessing is to be shared. The blessing, gifts, and our abilities are only fully enjoyed if we utilized them to benefit those around us.
What good is a painting if it is locked away in a closet? What good is being able to bake the best bread if it is never shared with another? How are we to enjoy a song that is never sung? Or find a use for a technology invented if that technology is never built? And how do we help others whose lifestyles are changed when new technologies render their gifts less useful?
We must give and share our abilities. If we do not put ourselves out there for others, there is no nation, there is no economy, there is nothing of value, and we are no more than animals looking for our next meal. We are not true human beings unless we live for others.
“If your gift is to speak the heart and mind of the Great Spirit, in a prophecy, then let trust guide your words. If your gift is helping others, then give yourself to help others. If teaching is your gift, teach well. If your gift is to speak courage and strengthen the hearts of others, then speak bravely. The one whose gift is giving should not hold back. If your gift is leading, lead with honor. And the one whose gift is showing mercy and kindness to others should do so freely, with a glad heart!”
(Romans 12:6-8 FNV)
Let us be a people united in Christ. Let us encourage one another to use the things God has given us well. And let us become a blessing to the world around us. Let us live our lives in such a way that people see that there is a better way to live. One that give hope to the hopeless, help to the needy, and mercy to the afflicted. Let us become a people of blessing, instead of a nation of condemnation. Let us become living sacrifices devoted to the things of God and a people loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. Let us not seek the end but to live for Christ now and until we take our last breath.
Previous Messages:
Trusting the Promise
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 16, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the…
The Rhythm of Christ
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 08, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Last week we spoke about how from the beginning God counted humanity as the elect over creation. This might have caused some of you to think I had…
For the Sake of My Brothers
Matthew 6:31–34 (ESV) 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and…
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