Daily Devotional • May 20
A Reading from Romans 12:1-21
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
3 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.4 For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8 the encourager, in encouragement; the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Meditation
“And here we offer and present unto thee our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto thee.”
Those of a certain generation will recognize these words from an older Eucharistic prayer that is contained in the Rite I section of the Book of Common Prayer. They are spoken in the most intimate section of the liturgy, when we put into words the mystical experience that lies at the heart of our relationship with God. He offers the life of his son for our redemption, and, in the sacrament of the altar, we likewise offer all that we have and all that we are to him. To sacrifice is to make holy, and this is the beating heart of Christian discipleship.
In today’s passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome, he exhorts us to offer our very bodies as a living sacrifice to God which he calls “our spiritual worship.” Paul goes on to remind us that our many and diverse gifts, when offered to God, come together to create the fullness of the Christian community, also called the “body of Christ.”
As our unique spiritual gifts are offered and combined, we gain the capacity to extend the ministry of Jesus deeply into the heart of the world. It is in this context that we can even seek to be patient in suffering and bless those who persecute us. These admonitions of Paul can be seen to be addressed to the entire community. As a body, we have both gifts and abilities that are greater than the sum of the individual members. By offering ourselves to be part of this body—the church—we gain the strength and fortitude of the entire community and can even gain the power to overcome evil with good.
The Very Reverend David duPlantier has served as Dean and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral in New Orleans, LA since 2002. He is founder and chair of the board of the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing initiative: https://jerichohousing.org
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
St. John’s Church, Savannah, Georgia
The Diocese of Monmouth – The Church in Wales
