Saints & Suicide Bombers

Romans12

August 26, 2012

There is a phenomenon increasing in frequency in recent years – that of the suicide martyr. We see it mostly in Islam in the form of suicide bombers – young men and increasingly young women blowing themselves up in order to kill as many of their enemies as possible. It became famous in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 but it has become a standard weapon in radical Islam’s arsenal. Recently I watched an interview with a Muslim woman on television whose son had recently blown himself up in Afghanistan. She was praising her son for his action. She said that she had three other sons and that she was praying to Allah that they would also become suicide bombers. I just can’t understand a mother saying this or thinking this – wishing that her children would kill themselves! Moderate Islamic scholars say that it is wrong – that neither suicide nor the taking of innocent lives are permitted by the Quran. But obviously there is a powerful school of thought in Islam that teaches otherwise and a lot of people are buying into it. Suicide martyrs are not just in Islam. Tibetan Buddhists have been immolating themselves recently – committing suicide by setting themselves on fire. The Dalai Lama has been urged to speak out against this practice in order to save these human lives, but he refuses to do so, thereby tacitly encouraging this behavior. Religion seems to have the power to cause people to do drastic things like this. It is encouraged by the promise of heavenly rewards in the afterlife in both of these religions.

Thankfully Christianity has not followed in the footsteps of this type of practice. But to be honest there is in Christianity the idea of self-sacrifice. Our Christian religion is based on the idea that Jesus willingly sacrificed his life for us. He did not commit suicide; he was executed by the Roman government. Also he was not trying to maim or kill others through his death, but to save others. So there is a big difference. But the idea of sacrificing one’s life is at the heart of Christianity. It is at the heart of Christian discipleship. We are to give ourselves to Christ. I think that the Islamic and Buddhist suicide practices are a bizarre distortion of the spiritual urge people have to sacrifice their lives to God or to a cause greater than themselves. I think we see it in a more acceptable form in war when a soldier is willing to sacrifice his or her life for country, comrades, and for certain values. We rightly understand that a soldier’s death is a noble sacrifice. We know that some things are worth dying for.

Today I want to talk about a noble Christian form of self-sacrifice to be practiced by all Christians, which are called “saints” in the New Testament. Not suicide bombing or self-immolation, but giving one’s life to God spiritually. I am using as my text Romans 12. I read the whole chapter earlier, but I am going to focus on the first two verses. The rest of the chapter is an exposition of these two verses. This, by the way is also a Summer Sermon Suggestion. Someone asked me to preach on this passage. The words I am going to focus on are these: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  I am breaking this passage down into three points.

I. First this is a call to Sacrificial Living. Verse 1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Here is the idea of sacrifice that is at the heart of Biblical religion, but it is not a dead sacrifice. It doesn’t involve killing. It is the presentation of a living sacrifice. That is the big difference between the bizarre religious behavior that we see in suicide martyrs and Christian practice. We are urged by our God to present our bodies as a living sacrifice.

There are a couple of things that need to be mentioned immediately. First this is a presentation of our bodies as a living sacrifice. This is physical, practical and down to earth. It is not theoretical and purely spiritual. We aren’t just supposed to present our souls or spirits to God. Christians talk about giving their hearts to Jesus. That is all well and good, but what he wants is our body. What good is your heart if your body doesn’t follow. He wants all of us – heart, mind, body and soul. Christianity is a very physical religion. We don’t just talk about  ideas taught by Christ; we talk about God becoming enfleshed in a physical man - Jesus Christ. Christianity is a very down-to-earth religion in this way.

Another thing that needs to be mentioned immediately is the motivation for sacrificial living. Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” The motivation for sacrificial living is the mercy of God. Specifically it is the mercy of God as demonstrated in the sacrificial life and death of Jesus Christ. Jesus is our example for sacrificial living. Jesus Christ gave his body as a living sacrifice for thirty years of his life. That is what made it possible for him to give his body as a sacrifice on the Cross. It is all the mercy of God.

It says “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Other translations say, “This is your spiritual worship.” Sacrifices in the Old Testament temple had to meet certain standards. People could not give unworthy gifts to God when they went to the temple. They could not offer crippled or diseased sacrifices. They had to give the best of their flocks and herds and the best of the fields. That is how we are to give ourselves to God. Whenever the Olympic Games come around the world is focused on these young people and how they have developed their bodies as these wonderful perfect instruments for their sport. They and their families have given up so much to compete and hopefully to win the prize. The apostle Paul elsewhere in writing to a church in Greece compares the Christian life to the Olympics.

²⁴ Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. ²⁵ And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. ²⁶ Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. (I Cor)

The Christian life is a physical life in which we serve God not just with our minds or thoughts or ideas or hearts, but with our bodies. Therefore we are to treat our bodies, as Paul says elsewhere as temples of God. We are to give to God the best of our strength, the best of our time, the best of our days, the best of talents and resources – just like the Olympic athletes give their best. As the old hymn says (which unfortunately is not in our hymnal) : Give of your best to the Master; Give of the strength of your youth. Clad in salvation’s full armor, Join in the battle for truth.”

II. Second, this passage is a Call to Nonconformity.  Verse 2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I will talk about renewing of our minds in a moment, but in this point I want to focus on “Do not be conformed to this world.” The spiritual life is a call to nonconformity. This is so badly needed in American society. Many American think of themselves as nonconformists, but it is not true. They think that nonconformity has to do with clothing or hairstyles or something superficial like that. There is this mystique of the rugged American individualist – the cowboy, the Marlboro man. Well the Marlboro man died of lung cancer because of this conformity to a macho advertised image. As much as we like to think of ourselves as individualists, we are a nation of conformists. We conform to the world.

And it is true of religion. For one thing it is cool these days not to be religious. People think of themselves as spiritual, but not religious, and they think that makes them nonconforming.  Nonsense. They are conforming to the secular culture. Even in Christianity there is massive conformity to cultural values. Most of the megachurches in our country proclaim a hybrid form of Christianity that mixes the gospel with the culture and calls it innovative, different, new and fresh. It is not new. It is the old conformity to the world in a different form. And the apostle pleads with us, “Do not be conformed to this world.” There are all sorts of interesting translations of this verse. Phillips says, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould.” The Message says, “Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.” I like that. We want to be well-adjusted people, but maybe a Christian is by definition not a well-adjusted person. To be well-adjusted to God means to be mal-adjusted to this world. AS another old hymn says, “This world is not my home I'm just a passing through …. And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.”

Christians by their spiritual nature are nonconformists. Some groups have tried to embody this by their dress or customs, like the Amish freezing time – dressing differently with different hairstyles from another era. Other groups have tried similar ways to demonstrate nonconformity. But that is not what the apostle has in mind. He is speaking of a more fundamental nonconformity. If our heart is conformed to God and his will, then it will naturally not be conformed to the world.

III. This leads into the third point of this passage which is the Renewal of Your mind. The spiritual life is a call to transformation. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  And the rest of chapter 12 unpacks what it means to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

It means humility. Verse 3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” In verse 16 he says, “Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.”

It means community. Verse 4 “⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” We are not meant to be the rugged individualists. We are meant to members of a body. He is talking about a community of faith. People think they can be spiritual people and have nothing to do with a church. That is the world’s way of thinking. The nonconformist way is to live for others and not for ourselves.

It means love. People pay a lot of lip service to love. But the love that the Scripture speaks of is not the fuzzy wuzzy sentimentality of the world. It is radical love. Verse 9 says, “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.” This is true communal love. It is supposed to be the sign of the church – that people see the church and are impressed saying, “See how they love one another.” Jesus says, “Everyone will know that you are my disciples because of your love for each other." Paul says here: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another.” They will know we are Christians by our love – or at least they ought to.

Verse 14ff continues describing this radical love: “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. … ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.²⁰ Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That is radical love. That is nonconformity.  Only God can create that kind of love and grace in our hearts and minds. This can only happen when we have received and experienced God’s love and grace into our lives through living in Christ. The Christian life is a self-sacrificial life. It is giving ourselves heart, soul, and body and strength to God. And God receives us as an offering. And he uses us as his instruments in this world – as instruments of his love and grace. This is nonconformist in any age and place. This is the true Christian life. This is what it means to be a saint in biblical terms. This is the life of sacrifice.