No Strings Attached
(Romans 12: 1-8)
In the world of social media, it’s called: Click Bait. Something pops up on your Facebook feed that looks interesting, tempting and possibly too good to be true. For me, it’s usually some quick and easy way to improve my guitar playing short of going down to the crossroads to make a deal with the devil like Robert Johnson did. After a few quick clicks I eventually get to the catch. In exchange for these “free and easy” lessons they want you to buy their book or sign up for their fool proof lessons for the low, low price of whatever the desperate and gullible market will bear. Trust me, I’ve tried many of them and frequently get quizzed by my financial advisor as to what this mysterious charge on our credit card is all about. Other than God’s free gift of mercy and salvation there are no free gifts that come without strings attached.
And this, I believe, is what the Apostle Paul is referencing in our scripture reading for this morning. What I believe he is saying is that once we accept God’s free gift, we are not required to do anything in return, but if we are so inclined here are a couple of ideas and reasons why you should consider becoming an active participant in Christ’s church.
Paul starts out by saying: So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. What he is saying to those who have already accepted God’s free and unconditional gift is that if you are of a mind to, consider it a priestly service to God. Now that right there sounds somewhat intimidating to say the least. Is Paul saying we should enter the priesthood? Should I, as your pastor, go to seminary and make it official? Fortunately, that is not what he’s saying. What he’s saying is that whatever you voluntarily do for God will be highly regarded and appreciated by God. No service to God is meaningless or inconsequential in God’s eyes. He says not to be conformed to the patterns of this world, don’t do what everyone else is doing, don’t go along to get along. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is, what is good and pleasing and mature. We’ve been given a new lease on life and should use every opportunity to be bold, to be different, to make a difference where differences need to be made as we are led to do God’s will and not fret about the consequences or care about what those who are self-centered and are only focused on themselves think.
Paul continues by reasoning that: Because of the grace that God gave me, I can say to each one of you: don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Paul knows what he speaks of. In his past life, before being saved by the unmerited grace of God, he was a rising star in the ranks of the Pharisees, an up and comer with a bright future in protecting the status quo of the religious establishment. He thought so much of himself that he held the cloaks of those who stoned the Apostle Stephen to death. He got permission to go outside of Jerusalem into the countryside to hunt down new Followers of the Way of Jesus Christ and bring them back to face charges and possible punishment depending upon how egregious their offense was to those in power. Instead, he says, be reasonable since God has measured out a portion of faith to each one of you. He’s saying that possessing healthy personal self-esteem is important because some of us think too little of ourselves; on the other hand, some of us overestimate ourselves. He wants us to have a balanced, honest and accurate evaluation of ourselves and understand the basis of our self-worth as it pertains to our identity in Christ. He tells his readers, and us, that we have many parts in one body, but the parts don’t all have the same function. He says: In the same way, though there are many of us, we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. We take care of one another and treat one another just as if they were a functioning part of our own bodies. He then goes on to list some of the gifts that he thought were important to the growing Roman church. He says: If your gift is prophecy, you should prophesy in proportion to your faith. If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful.
What the Apostle is doing here is exhorting his readers, and us, to be humble and unified in Christ, that each member of Christ’s body should use God’s gifts to them for the good of the whole body. He’s telling us that the fitting human response in service or worship is to give oneself wholly and continually to God. The dilemma for us is that we are, in spite of our unmerited forgiveness, encumbered, loaded down with guilt over our sin, past and present. The good news is that the Spirit of God powerfully mobilizes us for good. With the help of the Spirit we can act as both priest and sacrifice as we engage in a form of priestly service that God deems holy and acceptable by giving all that we are. We can’t do it on our own. It’s God who transforms us so that we might discern his will and resist the influences of this world. With God at work through the Spirit renewing our minds, we Christians can cooperate by thinking properly and keeping the mission in proper perspective. A crucial part of this for Paul involves humility, not regarding oneself too highly and being a team player. This humility, reinforced by the measurement of faith, allows God’s people to live together as truly interdependent members of the body of Christ. And in this body, God empowers its members with the necessary gifts to serve the whole. Our faith, therefore, ought to mark and motivate Christian prophecy, service, instruction, encouragement, giving, leadership, and acts of mercy.
So, I say all that to say this. God gives us gifts so we can build up his church. To use these gifts effectively, we must realize that all our gifts and abilities come from God and we need to understand that not everyone has the same gifts. We know who we are and what we do best but must not be afraid to try something new. And when we do, we dedicate our gifts to God’s service and not to our personal success or to draw attention to ourselves. And, most importantly, we must be willing to utilize our gifts wholeheartedly, not holding anything back from God’s service.
We need to realize that God’s gifts differ in nature, power, and effectiveness according to his wisdom and graciousness, not according to our faith. Our role is to be faithful and to seek ways to serve others with what Christ has given us. That being said, I can truly say without reservation that this church, Community United Methodist Church, for over half a century has been at the forefront of putting their God-inspired gifts into practice and at different times in the church’s life different gifts have been given to a multitude of worshippers who have graciously and faithfully given all they have in their efforts in service to God making this the church that is needed in this community at any given time.
It goes without saying that Paul’s list of gifts was not all-inclusive. They were merely listed as an example of what he thought was needed in Rome at the time and I have no doubt Paul would be very impressed with how we have identified and developed our gifts to meet the needs of not only our church family but also those who look to us for mercy, kindness, compassion, and justice as we serve as advocates for the helpless and disenfranchised. We do this with the same love extended to us by God through his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Our love is expressed in works of piety, our devotion to God, our works of mercy, and our compassionate treatment of others. We show our love, in all we do in His name, with no strings attached.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, how grateful we are for the many gifts you have bestowed upon us and how during the different seasons of our lives you have given us the different gifts we need to be your humble servants. In doing your work and your will, keep us humble and remind us that we can’t do the important work of the church all alone, that it is a team effort. Remind us to be thankful for the people whose gifts are completely different from ours and not jealous or envious. Let our strengths balance their weaknesses and to be grateful that their gifts and abilities make up for our deficiencies. And most of all, move us to be cheerful in all we do. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
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8/23/26
No Strings Attached
Other than God’s free gift of mercy and salvation there are no free gifts that come without strings attached.