Proper 16A’26
23 Aug 2026
Romans 12.1-8
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>
“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.” – Romans 12.1
The all-American game of baseball has given us many things, not the least of which are figures of speech that we hear and use practically on a daily basis. When talking about achieving a milestone or accomplishment we say, “They hit it out of the park.” When actively showing our support for someone it is said that we “went to bat for them.” Others include, “Three strikes and you’re out, we need to cover our bases, they’re really out in left field, that one threw me a curveball, and when someone asks us to give them a “ballpark figure.” One final one, “It’s time to step up to the plate.” This one is useful during significant times of stress, challenge, whenever we are being called to ‘reup’ our commitment to an important task, or cause.
I guess I’m calling today’s sermon a “Pre-Rally Day Sermon,” because Rally Day will be held next Sunday and is the annual kick-off of the church year after summer vacation season is over. We regroup and “touch base” at the church and we’re reminded once again of all the places of service that are available here at St. Luke’s. A clarion call for volunteers will be sounded, and we’ll all be invited to “step up to the plate” to find our places of service for Christ through St. Luke’s.
In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans was calling all followers of Christ to ‘step up to the plate:’
“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.”
As followers of Christ, we are called to put at God’s disposal our bodies, our hands, feet, all our senses, our whole selves and to become a living sacrifice. Once again, we turn to the world of baseball for a clue to the meaning of sacrifice. Whenever a baseball player intentionally sacrifices their own advance by either bunting or hitting a fly ball, so that a teammate who’s already on base can advance. This offering ourselves to God will change our way of living. St. Paul adds:
“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.”
What is it to be conformed to the world?
As I pondered this question it made me think of the blessing we have used for the past several weeks now:
“Go forth into the world in peace, be of good courage, hold fast to that which is good, etc.”
To be conformed to the ways of the world we do just the opposite:
Go forth into the world with malice, and cowardice; hold fast to what gets you ahead, when someone does you evil, do it back to them, abandon the fainthearted; mock and make fun of the weak; kick the afflicted while they are down, dishonor and criticize those who are different from you; ignore and pay lip service to the Lord; and then fully expecting to still be blessed by God.
In short to be conformed to the world is to seek our own will.
But we who follow Jesus seek not to be conformed but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The renewing of our minds happens as we practice our faith in community with other believers. As we meditate on holy scripture, as we worship through music and liturgy, giving of our time, talents, and treasure, and as we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Through transformation the priority is not so much about getting to heaven after we die but getting heaven into us in the here and now.
One way of bringing about God’s will and our own transformation will is by each of us to using the gifts God has given us for ministry.
What gifts we may ask? St. Paul lists several not an exhaustive list but they give us some ideas: Prophecy, Special Ministries, Teaching, Exhortation (which means providing encouragement), Giving with great generosity, Leadership both lay and clergy, and the gift of Cheerful Compassion! None of us have all the gifts, so it really does take all of us to help the church function and to carry out all of our ministries.
I fear that we sometimes bring our mindset from consumer culture into the church asking what can the church do for me, as opposed to the other way around. I love what one of our visitors turned new member said after their first visit to St. Luke’s, “You know I think this church might benefit from my gifts!” Can we let that settle for just a minute… that is the mindset of someone who is ready to step up to the plate. Those of us who have been here let’s have that same spirit and reup to make St. Luke’s an even better place for people to experience Christian community.
It was such a blessing for me to visit Nancy Langlais who has just recently moved into an assisted living facility in Sherwood. She was so interested in what was happening at St. Luke’s, she said how much she misses us, and getting to be present for worship. She wants to be able to receive Holy Communion by lay eucharistic visitors. You’ll notice those who come up near the end of the service to receive communion kits take part in a brief liturgy, part of which comes from today’s reading from Romans: “We who are many, are one body in Christ…” The message is clear, we can’t make this Christian journey alone, we need each other, and it takes all of us in order to thrive and flourish.
Have you ever stopped to think about the sacraments of the church and how none of us can baptize ourselves, we cannot confirm ourselves, we cannot perform our own wedding or ordination, we can’t have Holy Communion by ourselves – a quorum for Holy Communion is at least two people – that means even priest or bishop cannot have communion with themselves. Sacraments have to be performed for us and this initiates us into a body of believers.
Frances Ridely Havergal lived in the 19th cen. and was the daughter of an Anglican priest, who began memorizing the bible from the age of four, and started writing her own verse by the age of seven. She lived her short life to the honor and glory of God caring for the needy, and writing poetry and hymns, and sharing the good news of salvation with those she came in close contact with. The hymn she is best known for was the one we sang right before the reading of the Gospel, “Take My Life and Let It Be.”
In it she gives us a beautiful picture of how to present ourselves as a living sacrifice:
Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee;
Take my moments and my days let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love;
Take my heart it is thine own, is shall be thy royal throne.
Take my voice and let me sing always only for my king,
Take my intellect, and use every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine, it shall be no longer mine;
Take myself, and I will be ever only, all for thee.
Amen!