Leo Hartshorn
Romans 12
- Living sacrifice (v. 1) – A sermon on this verse could explore the meaning of embodied sacrifice as a key form of spiritual worship. Background might be shared on the Old Testament sacrificial system and the New Testament understanding of Jesus’ death as a sacrifice. How do they differ and coincide with present-day embodied sacrifice? Care should be given to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy forms of bodily sacrifice, particularly as it relates to women. Consider exactly how the martyrdom of persons such as Martin Luther King, Jr. or Oscar Romero might be considered embodied sacrifices.
- Conformity, nonconformity, and transformation (v. 2) – Conformity and nonconformity to the world may sound clear, but this sermon will need to bring clarity of meaning to these concepts. Is conformity to what is good or what God is doing incognito within the world a bad thing? When is nonconformity just an outward form of being unconventional? Concrete illustrations of a transformed life, particularly in relation to peace and justice, will be important to give flesh to the idea.
- Practices of the Christian life (vs. 9-13) – Here is a list of Christian practices that are not simply for the individual Christian. These practices of love, zeal, service, patience, prayer, charity and hospitality form the church into a people who are able to live in the world justly and peaceably. This sermon can connect each of these practices to making a just peace church.
- Live peaceably with all (vs. 14-21) – This sermon could examine what it takes to “live peaceably with all.” It should be clarified how these admonitions are “unnatural.” Blessing those who persecute us. Associating with the lowly. Not repaying evil for evil. Feeding enemies. They don’t come naturally, easily, or simply by self-determination. They come by self-transformation and a new mind (as indicated in v. 1). And self-transformation comes in relationship with Christ through the community of faith. Care should be taken in interpretation of “assigning vengeance to God” and “heaping coals on enemies.”
Betsy McCrae, Glennon Heights Mennonite Church
Like a chemical imbalance in the brain, the value system of the world in which we live sends us powerful signals. These signals come fast and hard and have an immediate effect: You are what you own. You need more. Happiness can be purchased. Thrills are what you’re after. People are not to be trusted. Life is dangerous. Violence is necessary. Protect yourself at all costs. And on and on and on. One message after another. Endlessly racing, loud and bright. And sweeping us into a downward spiral of self-centeredness, loneliness, greed and despair from which we cannot escape.
It takes a concerted effort to counteract these messages from our culture. It takes a concerted effort on our parts to change this pattern before it shapes who we are, before we are conformed to the value system of this world. It takes an effort much like the effort that folks living with depression or bipolar disorder have to make each day to keep themselves on an even keel. If we truly want to follow Jesus, we must consciously choose to think differently. We must focus on Christ. All the time, in every situation, even when it is very difficult to do. And we must practice thinking differently until this new Christ-centered thinking becomes who we are, until instead of following the dictates of culture, we are offering our very selves and the lives that we live to God.
Spencer Bradford, Durham Mennonite Church
“The will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” seems well-distinguished here from what the powers and principalities of the world carry out by offering influence and station (“do not be haughty”), destruction of enemies (“never avenge yourselves”), and security (“bless those who persecute you”). Is “the will of God” whatever happens on the surface of history? Or is the will of God what introduces the contrarian dynamics of God’s kingdom into the currents of history – hospitality to strangers, patience in suffering, harmony by humility, returning evil with good?
Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we seem to assert the latter. When we join with Jesus in praying “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven,” we pray for a holy, nonconformed discontent with the present order. Implicit in this prayer is the presumption that God’s will is not being done on earth in the present reality. Our prayer is for God’s will in heaven, what theologian Robert Jenson calls God’s “final future” intended for us, to arrive now on earth among us where it is not yet. The conscientious offering of this prayer in word and action would seem to lead us toward “the transformation of our minds” and “the offering of our bodies” for the newness God does will as our final future here and now.
With minds transformed and renewed by hunger for God’s heavenly will, we can discern that the world does not have to be the way it is. The way the world is does not reflect the will of God. God’s will is for the world to be changed.
That may seem fairly obvious, but consider how much human destructiveness is excused or tolerated on account of “the will of God.” The wicked suffer, the good are blessed with success, and the powerful practice justice. Isn’t that how God’s will works?
In 12-step recovery groups, the rationalization of addictive, destructive behavior is called “stinking thinking.” The incarnate revelation of God’s kingdom in Jesus transforms and renews our minds free from our stinking thinking about God’s will. The god who wills the world as it is, is not the God to whom Jesus taught us to pray as Father.
The world does not have to be the way it is. We can change our minds, be transformed and renewed. We can offer our bodies to overcome evil with good, and change the world, drawing God’s heavenly future into the here and now. God’s will be done, really, on earth as in heaven.
Alan Stucky – Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church
Be conformed … differently.
I must admit that verse 2 of Romans 12 holds a certain appeal for me. There is part of me that reads, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world …” and stands up cheering with some sort of anti-establishment glee. It appeals to the part of me that enjoys shaking my fist at corrupt systems, and justifies a desire to simply be counter cultural. Unfortunately, this is not what Paul is talking about.
Romans 12 is not a license to be different simply for that sake of being different. Paul tells us not to be conformed to the world, but rather to be transformed into something new. Paul then spends the rest of chapter 12 describing what that “something new” looks like. He tells us not to be conformed to the world, but rather to be conformed to the kingdom of God. The bulk of chapter 12 is not a tirade against the world, but rather a description of conformity to the kingdom of God. Paul simply recognizes that the world and the kingdom of God are so different that to be conformed to one means not being conformed to the other.
Our task is not simply to identify how our world is broken and how the system is corrupt. Our task is to focus on becoming the kingdom of God, which, when compared with the world, will illuminate where that brokenness and corruption is. Most importantly, however, focusing on the kingdom of God also shows us the way past that brokenness and corruption and toward the peace that God intends.
