I Appeal to You, Friends
Rom 12:1-5
Romans 12:1-5 (NRSV):
1 I appeal to you therefore, (Friends), 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.
This scripture is so Quaker-coded. The kids these days are describing things as “coded.” What they’re talking about—I think—is that something has a vibe or a feeling that resembles some other known thing. So if you walked in wearing super baggy jeans, I might say you looked very 90s-coded today. Or if I didn’t know your job, and you came up to a mic and introduced yourself by saying, “good morning everyone, this is your captain speaking,” I might describe you as very…pilot-coded? I’ll ask my kids tonight if I’m describing this correctly, and they will tell me I’m…not.
This text is very Quaker-coded. In a way, it summarizes much of my experience of Quaker spirituality, worship, and community. Now I don’t think everyone who reads this would conclude that, and I’m certainly not trying to retcon Paul, the author, as a Quaker. All I’m saying is that I bring a Quaker lens to this text, or what you might call a progressive, post-evangelical Quaker lens. And in doing a Quaker reading of this text, several things that arise for me that speak to my experience with you all.
I appeal to you, Friends “Friends” is my term, replacing the gendered language of the original. Friends, i.e., Quakers, often speak of answering or appealing to that of God in others. We’re invited to say “I see it, I see the Light in you, there it is” and then to help it shine. It’s not just strategic to offer someone nine affirmations before one criticism. If you tell me you appreciate a specific way I show kindness to you, I’m probably going to keep doing it, if not lean into it a little more.
If Quakers have a positive moral anthropology–meaning, if it’s most Quaker, despite very obvious human-caused evils in our world, to emphasize human goodness, not depravity, and to believe that the good in each person can be awakened or mobilized, than I think this is our work, our appeal. To point people toward Love, within.
On the basis of God’s mercy. I find “mercy” a slightly problematic word, because it was introduced to me in a religious context in which “mercy” meant “not getting a punishment you deserve.” From God, of course. Its use implied that just for existing, you deserve to be punished. Back to that question of moral anthropology.
Quakers’ patterns of action—at our best—reveal a belief that people deserve to be helped, not punished. Treasured, not condemned. Our faith is not based on punishment and reward, but love and liberation. What do you need to be whole and free—liberation—and how can I help you get that—love?
I have found clarity about mercy from the Catholic tradition–Dorothy Day, in particular. The “works of mercy,” the foundation of the Catholic Worker movement, are drawn from Matthew 25. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, care for the sick, visit the prisoner. These kinds of actions–among others–are the pattern of God’s mercy, and the potential basis for our practice.
Present your bodies. It’s kind of weird to talk about bodies. It’s probably for the best that we don’t include anything like what Paul is saying about bodies in our welcome statement at the beginning of meeting for worship, because somebody visiting for the first time might get the wrong idea. “Camas Friends Church is a participatory, inclusive, Christ-centered, Quaker meeting…that wants your body. Your living body.”
I am also wary of the word “sacrifice,” and recognize how people in religious communities have been coerced into making sacrifices they should never have been asked to make. At least the word “living” could remind us that we’re not meant to waste away, in doing good for others. We can create a space where people, on their own terms, can determine what kind of sacrifices they are willing and able to make, without coercion. Encouragement, affirmation, support, yes—but not coercion.
At the risk of sounding a little creepy: I see how you offer your bodies as living sacrifices. It’s one of you using your hands to make coffee, even if you don’t drink coffee. It’s one of you using your ears to listen, even though you’re kind of ready to go. It’s one of you settling your body into a pew for 90 minutes, even with all the other things pulling at you. It’s one of you joining a protest and using your body to, in some small but crucial way, disrupt. And this is just where our lives overlap; there are many other ways you center the needs of others, at some cost to you, throughout the week.
Where are you putting your body? That might be an odd way to put it, since you are kind of inseparable from your body. But there is a difference between thinking about your values, and living them. In that light, “where are you putting your body?” is a pretty Quaker-coded question. You say you wish for peace and justice, but where are you putting your body? You say it’s important to love your neighbor, but where are you putting your body? You say the Earth is worth protecting but where—you get it.
For those of you for whom age is making it difficult to put your body in a variety of places these days—where has your body been? What is your body’s legacy of love and justice? For those with a disability that limits where they can put their body, well…our bodies can often do good right where they are, and sometimes technology can take us to places where our bodies can make an impact. And, in a truly loving ecosystem, we make accommodations to make it easier for each body to be where it needs to be.
Holy and acceptable. Friends traditionally don’t practice baptism or communion as part of our testimony to the sacredness of every body, every space, every moment. Sacredness isn’t mediated by clergy or a wafer—it oozes out of everything. You are connected to the Divine, whether you like it or not. Whether you experience that Divine as theistic or nontheistic, tender parent or energizing force, or both, or neither, or don’t have strong opinions about the matter, the point is more about you: do you recognize the Light and Love within you? You don’t need to become holy, you just are.
And, you are acceptable. You are more than “acceptable”! There’s no need to ask “am I good enough?” in this space, because the answer is not “yes” or “no” but “irrelevant question!” Quakers are led to take good actions, not to prove anything to God, others, or themselves, but because that’s what Love moves us to do. As for what specific actions God finds “acceptable,” if you listen to the prophets, it’s not burnt offerings of grain and slaughtered goats that will appease the gods, it’s the work of peace and justice that will ease God’s tense shoulders and troubled mind.
Your reasonable act of worship. Quaker worship is about self-giving, among other things. Giving our capacity to listen well, ask good questions, discern the heart of the matter. Sharing the spark of the Divine within you and the wisdom you’ve gained from lived experience, for the good of others. When we meet for worship, we meet to experience Divine Love–to notice it, to receive it, to let it guide us.
Is this commitment to discerning and practicing Love…reasonable? Maybe, since sacrifice tends to involve killing and death, becoming “a living sacrifice” may seem unreasonable, to some. Impractical, dangerous, misguided, pointless, hopeless. “What sense is there in this?” we might ask. Nonviolence can seem unreasonable. Disobeying an order can seem unreasonable. Struggling for change can seem unreasonable. Silence, when there are so many things we feel like we need to say, can seem unreasonable. Speaking up—a risky move, at times!—can seem unreasonable. Yet our history offers hope that there is good sense in such “worshipful, embodied sacrifices.”
Do not be conformed. This is kind of what Quaker testimonies–the SPICES–are all about. Not going with the flow. When the world flows toward consumption, resist with simplicity. When the world flows toward violence, resist with peace. When the world flows toward empty or flimsy commitments, resist with integrity. When the world flows toward ego-driven and rugged individualism, resist with community. When the world flows toward…oligarchy?...resist with equality, or, justice. When the world flows away from right relationship with the land and its residents, resist with stewardship.
Simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, stewardship—S-P-I-C-E-S. The testimonies speak to historical patterns of Quaker resistance. But of course, we shouldn’t lock ourselves into a set of 4 or 5 or 6, simply because they make a cutesy and memorable acronym. Testimonies are not meant to be prescribed but to describe lived patterns, arising from the ground. How does your relationship with the Divine lead you and others to act, in ways that testify to a better way, that go against the flow?
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be ready for new learning, new revelation, new insight about how to be a creature in community with other creatures. I hear an invitation to practices that challenge a culture of hurry and overwork, whether that be retreating to the wilderness or to gathered worship–whatever gives you space to be opened and nudged. Read a book. Ask good questions. Go for a walk. Get tea with a friend with whom you can be yourself. Be ready to change your mind, heart, methods and even some of your most important commitments, as needed.
Discern the Will of God. That’s a big part of what is happening when we’re meeting together. And I don’t believe we’re meant to follow some kind of rigid Divine script, as though discernment were detective work, with one true but hidden answer.
I do, however, think that every moment or situation in life presents itself with possibilities, and some ways forward are more aligned with Love—the essence of God—than others. More plainly put: the will of God is always Love. So what is Love and what does it call us to—as a community, and as individuals, navigating our own important commitments? The diversity of good answers to those questions will mirror the diversity of our lives and opportunities and challenges.
What is good, acceptable, and perfect. Love is good, acceptable, and perfect. Not saying it’s easy, or that situations aren’t complex, or that we’re not constantly balancing our obligations to ourselves, family, and the wider community; just that for, Friends, there’s no more fundamental name for what we’re trying to discern and do, than Love.
As for the rest of these verses, I’ll just note three quick things:
Thing one: If you tend to take up too much space in your relationships and community, then take verse 3 to heart. If you tend to minimize or demean yourself, you either get a pass on this verse, or can take to heart the opposite, and take up more space.
Thing two: emphasizing community does not mean expecting conformity. Nonconformity, assuming it’s not harming others, is very welcome here! The biblical creation story is a story of unfolding diversity, and I hope that’s our story here too.
Thing three: we are one. There is no you apart from others, human or otherwise. How do our discernment, our social action, our friendships, even our self-care, reflect the reality that we are all connected? How do we emphasize community and unity without asking individuals to abandon who they are?
Anyway, there’s a Quaker reading of this text—at least one Quaker reading. So I hope this very…Camas Friends-coded sermon…sheds some light on what I think we’re doing here. And I hope that something I said might help sustain you in the week ahead.
Only one query today…wordy, but also kind of basic.
Query:
What points in today’s scripture or message do I need—in this time of silence and open worship—to underscore, supplement, illustrate, or apply, to potentially help those of us gathered deepen our practice of Love?