I fear that many of us all too often get things reversed in this regard, perhaps because we are so concerned about “dying” for Jesus that we fail to live for Him.

Perhaps better, we might say, “If you give everything to this King, he will in return give you ‘the pearl of great price”. (Matthew 13) This “pearl”, of course, is the King Himself.

“Logikein” is of course related to “Ho Logos” or “The Word”, and this “Word” is indeed Christ. “In the beginning was ‘Ho Logos” (John 1:1). This service, this worship, this “living sacrifice” (a paradoxical phrase in Greek, given the most literal meaning of the Greek word for sacrifice is “to slaughter”) is that of the Logos Himself. Thus, it is first grounded in baptism wherein we die with Christ the Logos (Romans 6:1-5). It is kenotic, involving the “emptying of self” (Phil 2: 5-11, esp. vs. 8), reflecting the primordial, eternal act of being that constitutes the Trinity. It is motivated by love, both for God and for other humans (Eph. 5:2, I Cor. 13, I John 4:19-20), the Divine, Agapic Love which itself constitutes the Trinity and which the Logos manifests for humanity (John 15:13). It is physical. We offer, not just our souls or spirits, but our BODIES, even as the Logos does.

Fundamentally, this service is the service of the Logos, manifested in us, whose “bodies” are “members of Christ” (I Cor.6:15: see also John 15:5); without the Logos we “can do nothing”. Thus, making this sacrifice is done with, in, and through the Church, the body of Christ. It is therefore LITURGICAL. In the Church, in the Divine Liturgy, the Eucharist, we offer our bodies/ourselves by means of bread and wine and in return, we “chew the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Adam” (John 6) who took bread and, having given thanks, said, “Take, eat: this is my body” and also, the cup, again giving thanks and saying, “Take this, all of you, and drink from it, this is my blood”. Thus, the Anaphora, or Eucharistic Prayer, of St. John Chrysostom, repeatedly calls the Eucharist “this logical worship”, alluding to this passage and, the following appears in the Anglican formulary, “And here, we offer and present unto Thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a ["logical"], holy and living sacrifice unto Thee…”

From whence comes authority among Christians, in the Church?

Be that as it may, in general, as people become closer to Christ, as they grow in grace, as they become more holy, the greater the internal sense of their own sinfulness becomes. So as I ask you: are you indeed sufficiently mature in Christ to make that last statement from the bottom of your heart, understanding its meaning and significance in a psychologically and spiritually profound and existential way?