"We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness." I have received several special gifts over the years. Hand crafted pictures and trinkets created by the fingers of students, my own children, or my grandsons. From twisted pieces of wire to messy hand turkeys, all were offerings of love and labor which would not bring in a solitary penny if sold, but are priceless to me. When I look at them I do not see the stuff, but I remember the joyful, selfless faces of the givers. Gift bearers, whose sincerity and sacrifice, time and talents invested, always masked any defects or imperfections in their creations.
"Holy, Acceptable and Living" St. Paul gives a tall order of personal sacrifice in Romans with these adjectives. Paul was very knowledgeable in the Levitical code, which laid down in detail what was to be sacrificed. Grain, drink, and animals of the highest quality were to be offered at specific times, specific occasions, and in a specific manner, which would usually include slaughter and burning. I am sure it was difficult for a farmer to choose his best young bull, which was just getting to the point of being productive, then build an altar, kill, and burn his offering. From the time of Moses to the arrival of Jesus, priests had evolved their thinking on the code, to the point that only priests were to decide which gifts were of acceptable quality for the faithful's sacrifices. Yet there were always vendors in the Temple, who sold acceptable substitutes for offerings determined of poor quality. This perversion of the law led Jesus to run all the lenders and vendors out of the Temple.
Acceptable to G_d demanded a spirit of pure devotion and obedience, the priests had focused more on the flaws and blemishes of the chosen sacrifice than the spirit of the givers. A sacrifice becomes holy as it is offered. G_d created all things and therefore they are offered to us as holy, and the return of these in sacrifice requires the ultimate offering: a heart completely consumed in the refiner's fire. Here is where the words of Paul become problematic. Getting through "acceptable and holy" is fairly simple, but how are we to offer, kill, and burn but remain alive? We are to understand that our bodies have already been offered, slaughtered, and burned. These are already belonging to G_d in holiness. Whether we desire it is irrelevant; our bodies belong to Him, who bought them with his own bodily sacrifice.
Our sacrifice demands a certain character of life in the physical world. We cannot conform to the world around us, but must be transformed in our worldly existence expressing the spiritual truth of Christ's redemption. Our bodies cannot play host to sin, because they were given, and have already been taken, for His Holy use. As a living sacrifice, we are not yet wholly consumed. We have not yet surrendered to the flames designed to carry us to heaven like the burnt offerings in Leviticus. The physical and spiritual task of a living sacrifice is to die to self and live to G_d, without reservation. We become gift bearers, whose sincerity and sacrifice, time and talents invested will mask any defects or imperfections.
Pax,
jbt
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