New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon Romans 12:1 “Total Surrender”
February 3, 2019
Listen to this sermon.
We are continuing today with our look at spiritual practices. These are things that we do to become more like Jesus. So we worship, pray, study the Bible, and single-mindedly follow Jesus. As we do these things the Holy Spirit works within us to transform us into what God created us to be.
Today we turn to another spiritual practice, Total Surrender. The idea here is that we dedicate our lives not to our own purposes but to God’s purposes. We will get to this, but first let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
When we pray the Lord’s prayer we say these words, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This means that we want God’s will, not our will, but God’s will to prevail on earth. And so we surrender our free will and pledge to do whatever God wants us to do.
Jesus put it this way, Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”
The first Christian martyr, Stephen, said this as he was losing his life for Jesus,
Acts 7:54 “When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ...
59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Stephen, and all the Christian martyrs who followed him gave up their lives to follow Jesus. They surrendered everything so that God’s will be done.
Whenever we make major decisions in our lives we must surrender our will and follow God’s will. We have to discern God’s will through worship, prayer, and Bible study. Once we know the character of God and what God has done in the past then we will know what God wants done now. And we are to choose to follow God’s will over our own.
Let’s take a look at one of the most important decisions a person will ever make, and try to discern God’s will in this matter. The important decision we will look at is whether or not someone should abort a unborn child.
Abortion is legal in every state. In 1973 the Supreme Court found an implied right of privacy in the Constitution and ruled that a woman could choose to abort a child growing within her. This decision was and remains very controversial. One side focuses on the mother, and the choice she can make. The other side focuses on the child and the life that is lost. We are divided between pro-choice and pro-life positions.
The standard that was set in 1973 was that a child could be aborted only if it was not viable. Viability means that the child could live independently outside of the mother. If a child could live outside of the mother then the abortion is prohibited. This was the law in all 50 states.
But this week the law changed in New York. New York was the first state to remove the viability standard. Now an abortion can occur in New York right up to the time of birth for any reason. Rhode Island and Virginia are considering similar laws. And the Governor of Virginia suggested this week that a child could be aborted shortly after birth if a woman and her doctor so choose.
We know that it is the will of many people to abort children before they are born. Thankfully it is the will of most people that a child be allowed birth.
State law gives us this right to choose according to our own will. But as Christians, we are to surrender our will and accept God’s will when we are making important decisions. So what is God’s will for a child not yet born?
Let’s turn to the Law of Moses and see what God has to say. Exodus 21 “22 If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
Abortion is a clear violation of the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder.” And the punishment for it is proportional to harm caused to the unborn child.
A child growing in a mother’s womb is a creation of God. We read this in Job 31:13 “Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?”
A child is created in the image of God. We read this in Genesis 1:27 “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
God cares for children before they are born. We read this is Psalm 139, “13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
God designed each child. We read this is Exodus 4 “11 The Lord said to him (Moses) , “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
We have a wonderful story at the beginning of Luke’s gospel about a meeting between two pregnant women. Here is what happened:
Luke 1:39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”
The child in Elizabeth’s womb recognized that he was in the presence of Jesus and was able to receive the Holy Spirit. And so children are able to worship even before birth.
And this brings us to today’s scripture, Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
When a woman is pregnant she is offering her body as a living sacrifice to bring new life into the world. She is to bring her child into the world through birth and nurture it in the faith because this is holy and pleasing to God.
Let me tell you a story about a woman who led a life holy and pleasing to God.
Agnes lost her father at 9 years old. But her relationship with Jesus sustained her and at age 12, over her mother’s objections, she entered religious life as a nun. Agnes felt God’s call to go to India to serve the poorest of the poor. By the time Agnes died at 87 she had started over 600 homeless shelters, orphanages, AIDS hospices, leprosy clinics and homes for single mothers in over 130 countries. In 1999, Gallup called her one of the most highly admired people of the 20th century. You know Agnes by her religious name, Mother Teresa.
The spiritual practice of Total Surrender means that we surrender our free will and follow God’s will in every important decision we make. We discern God’s will in our lives through worship, Bible study, prayer, and single-minded focus on Jesus. Once we discern God’s will for a particular decision we surrender our own wills and follow God’s will. We make a spiritual sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, we thank you for designing us and caring for us in the womb. We thank you for birth and for those who nurtured us in the faith. Help us to always seek to know your will for every important decision in our lives. And help us to surrender our will and follow your will in everything we do. This we pray in Jesus’s name. Amen.
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