Worship As our Living Sacrifice - Ministry Exchange (MX)

“Worship As our Living Sacrifice” By Ross Kuester

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to
offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—-this is
your spiritual act of worship”
Romans 12:1 As I am settling into my ministry position as Pastor of Worship Arts I
have had numerous opportunities to reflect on what worship is. When we as
the church discuss worship and its nature, we must keep an open mind to the
many faces and forms true worship can take on in our lives. Thus said, I
chose the bible passage above, as a backdrop for this article. Paul says that we should “offer our bodies as living sacrifices.”
When someone says the word sacrifice we immediately think about death or
images of things being taken away. These negative connotations have aided
in our view of how we should sacrifice. However, Paul says “living
sacrifice.” This language is opposing the idea of a dead sacrifice the
Jews offered in the Temple. A living sacrifice has positive connotations.
It is supposed to bring images of life rather than death and bringing forth
rather than taking away. Think about this idea of sacrifice as worship.
How radical is this idea. I have been thinking a lot about worship on Sunday morning. This has
lead me to think about worship on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, and Saturday. What are we doing during the rest of the week? This
is why Paul’s words above are so important for us. It would be easy for us
to keep our worship limited to Sunday morning. However, if we do this then
it is impossible for us to completely and honestly follow what Paul is
urging us to do when he writes “offer your bodies as living sacrifices.” I
am not saying that what we do on Sunday morning is not worship, because it
is; what I am saying is that there is more to worship than the weekend
gathering. Moreover, Sunday morning equips us to go out and for the rest
of the week be a living sacrifice through our daily lives. Imagine this
idea put into practice. Yes, we worship through music, fellowship, tithes
and offerings, and hearing the word on Sunday morning. However, come
Monday we enter into a time where God is opening doors for us to bring our
living sacrifices, for us to bring our service, for us to use our gifts and
talents, and for us to reflect the character and nature of Jesus. For
example, there are people you will meet (divine appointments if you will),
serve them, show them the love of Christ. God will give you the
opportunity to help someone. Do it, this is your “spiritual act of
Worship.” In your jobs you will have the opportunity to show that Jesus is
your savior, not through proselytizing necessarily, but through the way you
work, talk, and handle the situations that arise. In conclusion, worship is
not limited to what you do on Sunday morning; your life worship is to carry
on into the week and be reflecting a living sacrifice, bringing what you
can to God, serving people, and showing the love of Jesus to the world.
This is worship!