A friend of mine who is in med school shared with me his experience of practicing surgical procedures on human cadavers. He told me how it is such a great act of love and service to donate your body to science to help med students learn and develop. However, the thought of my body laying naked in front of a handful of students makes me feel… well vulnerable. I begin wondering how they’ll treat me, how they’ll see me. Will they be grossed out? Will they poke and prod unnecessarily? Fortunately, my friend said that the instructors teach the students a sense of reverence and respect for the deceased and to treat the cadavers as a gift.
In Romans 12:1, Paul urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices. He’s not telling us to kill ourselves or merely donate our bodies after we pass away. He’s telling us to live for the Lord. So, why does he say, “offer your bodies?” Most likely it’s because it’s the most difficult, vulnerable, and complete gift we could possibly offer to the Lord.
Think about it, there’s a homeless person on the street, and out of compassion, you want to reach out and help him. What’s easier – giving a few dollars or taking the person around and getting them shelter and helping them out in a much bigger way? When I think of the latter, offering $5 is a cheap and easy alternative. Maybe it’s because helping them out will take our energy and our time.
We, in our western world, are stingy about our time in more ways than we are stingy about our money. When there’s a big enough problem, it’s easier to throw money at it and walk away. While giving financially is important, Paul is urging us to offer our bodies. This idea encompasses our time, money, and talent.
In a sense, offering our bodies is much like being a cadaver; it is offering ourselves to the Lord and saying, “do whatever you want with me.” It is dying to ourselves and laying before our Savior. That is the perfect place for a disciple of Jesus. In a sense, the Psalmist who said, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere,” is not talking about his proximity to God’s literal Temple but his surrendering to the Spirit of God.
But at the same time that we are being a cadaver before the Lord, we are anything but lifeless. We are actively responding to what He wants us to do – serving in full devotion. In Jeremiah 18:1-10, the Lord demonstrates His authority but also His desire. He is one that creates and molds His creation. He shapes history and directs lives. He does this to some degree whether or not we are complicit with His desire. But His desire for us is that we would lay down our lives before Him and say, “Here I am – your servant. Do with me what you will.”
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