0827 Reflection -- Romans 12:1-8

Upcoming Sunday Epistle Readings

Sunday 27 August 2017

Romans 12:1-8

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 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.

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There are two words that jump out from this reading: Humility and Unity.  Paul challenges us to embrace humility.  The challenge is also one that is very much directed at himself as well as his audience.  He struggled greatly with humility, but strove to attain it.  Certainly, we would do well to remember the importance of such humility and the struggle to embrace and practice this virtue.  Paul also challenges us to strive for unity.  This is something we need even more in our generation.  The Church is divided in ways that challenge us and make the proclamation of the Gospel difficult.  How we need to remember that we are one in Christ.  When we pray for the unity of the Church, we need to actually seek such unity.  It is in that unity, after all, that we encounter the fullness of the gifts of God given to the Church.  Christians, both as individuals and as communions, do not live in isolation.  When we do, we are fractured, and the proclamation of the Gospel is impaired.  But when we can overcome the temptation to maintain division, we find that we are indeed stronger together.  And when we are stronger together, there is a greater chance that our proclamation of the Gospel will bear fruits of eternal life even among those whom we likely would not otherwise reach and bring to the embrace of Christ and the Gospel.

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Father Timothy Alleman