By now you’ve most likely heard this year’s Catalyst Week theme: Bold Love Unleashed. What a powerful statement! In order to live it out we must understand that bold, extravagant, fearless love and sacrifice go hand in hand. You really can’t have one without the other. We can try to avoid it but that is impossible if we are to be true followers of Jesus.
Romans 12:1 says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Paul had written in Romans 1 about the futility and danger of worshiping anything other than God and having a corrupted mind. He is referring to that as he begins chapter 12 and goes on to explain that because of the ongoing mercies of God, ongoing power is released in and through us. By that power we are enabled to present our lives as a sacrifice to the Lord. In fact, it is the only appropriate response we can give.
It’s an awesome thing to be so empowered by God but it also requires an act of our will to live surrendered to Him. Are we ready to fully give ourselves, body and soul, as living sacrifices to God? Are we willing to offer up our very lives to the Lord as an act of worship which is holy and acceptable to Him?
I’ve thought a lot lately about the description of Stephen in Acts 6. We are told that he was full of grace and power. He performed great wonders and signs. He spoke with wisdom and the Spirit. Kalamazoo desperately needs to see these qualities and actions displayed through us in this hour. We’re even told that Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel. At different times in Scripture we see angels bringing messages of great significance. Stephen did the same after he was falsely accused by preaching the sermon of a lifetime. Sadly, instead of embracing Jesus as Savior the people became enraged.
When he finished addressing the crowd Acts 7:55-56 says that Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” The crowd cast him out of the city and stoned him. Stephen’s final words were, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” He then fell to his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
I pray that we will become men and women like Stephen. He displayed a level of devotion to God that leads to one being so transformed that he is willing to literally lay down his life for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Hebrews 13:12-14 we read that Jesus suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
What a powerful picture of sacrificial love for Jesus that demonstrates itself in sacrificial love for others. This form of love takes risks. It moves us beyond the gates of our comfort zones and self-centeredness. It compels us to love through our fears and reach out to those who are different than us even if it means enduring the reproach of Jesus. Lord, make us willing to present ourselves as living sacrifices to You.
This is our mandate. It is the call of God for each of us. It is bold love unleashed every day of our lives for the transformation of our city and the glory of our great God.
~ Pastor Leigh Larson. Intents Life Family Church.