Romans 12:9-13
Those of you who have listened to me
carefully know that I have great problems with Paul; I believe he
distorted the emphasis of Jesus, and changed the direction of the
Christian Churches practice for all of history. Well, today I am speaking on a
passage of Paul’s that I think is brilliant in its preciseness and in
its insights. The passage from Romans is a clarion call to Christian
character and living, and as such is a worthy goal for any Christian
Church.
In the letter to the Church at Rome,
where Paul is the acknowledged leader, it seems to me that he has taken
the words of Jesus and stated them for the Roman Christians in a
crystal clear and honest fashion. They are so profound and intense in
this short passage that we will not be able to view the whole passage
with any degree of satisfaction. I have, therefore, chosen to divide
the passage in half. Today we will look at verses 9-13 and next Sunday
we will cover verses 14-21. In this passage, Paul is passionate about
the conduct that should characterize Christian living. That ought not
to surprise us, since Paul is the Christian follower who differed with
Peter and launched out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus to the
gentiles. That word “gentile” is a term used by the Jews to speak
collectively of all non-Jews. When Chris and I lived in
Salt Lake City, non-Mormons were also called “gentiles,” and that
included even the local Rabbi!
Peter, who was the leader of the
Jerusalem based followers of Jesus, insisted that certain practices of
historic Judaism were necessary in order to be a Christian: things like
circumcision among males, ceremonial bathing by women, and certain
dietary laws. Paul argued
that such requirements were passé, since “in Christ” believers
were a new creation, neither Jewish nor Gentile but Christian, and in
this new fellowship things of the law were no longer required, because
belief in Jesus Christ superceded the law. The controversy was severe
and intense, but when followers of Jesus first called themselves
Christians or Christ-ians, Paul sought to have the marks of Church
membership and participation mirror that of the teaching of Jesus. This
passage from Romans reads like a re-writing of the Sermon on the Mount,
and as such it is a tough and difficult challenge for all Christians.
In just four short verses, Paul
tersely states 12 admonitions. Let me state all twelve of them, and
with each give what one writer calls, a human response that often
follows. See if you identify with any of the responses!
1. Let love be genuine. What if I don’t really love them?
2. Hate what is evil. But then I can’t watch my programmes.
3. Cling to what is
good. I only have
devotions sometimes.
4. Be devoted to one
another in brotherly love.
Can’t I just be nice?
5. Give preference
to one another in honour.
But I like being noticed.
6. Don’t be lacking
in diligence? I can’t be
like…..(you fill in the blank).
7. Be fervent in
spirit. But I must not get
carried away.
8. Serve the Lord. But I’m very busy.
9. Rejoice in hope. You don’t know what I'm facing.
10. Be devoted to prayer. But I’m just a new Christian.
11. Contribute to the need of
the saints. I’ve got my
own needs to take care of.
12. Practice hospitality. Isn’t getting better then giving?
There you have 12 everyday rules for
living wisely and well, along with some very un-Pauline
responses. On the one hand, I suspect that most of us would agree
that the statements of Paul are excellent. If practiced, they would
result in a society being a true haven for fellowship and
participation. On the other hand, I suspect we all would agree that
Paul’s precepts are very difficult to carry out in our everyday lives. Because I think dealing with these
proposals within society in general is so difficult, I gave chosen to
apply them to the fellowship of the Church and even more specifically,
to this Church. It seems to me that as you prepare for a new
minister who will provide pastoral leadership, some congregational
goals such as Paul is suggesting are most appropriate.
Paul begins with the statement that
love must be genuine. There is no room for selfish or selective love
within a Christian fellowship. William Barclay, the Scottish
theologian puts it this way:
“Love must be completely sincere.
There must be no hypocrisy, no play-acting, and no ulterior motive.
There is such a thing as cupboard love, which gives affection with one
eye on the gain that may result. There is such a thing as selfish love,
which aims to get far more than to give. Christian love is cleansed of
self; it is our outgoing of the heart to others.”
While such outgoing love is difficult,
it is essential within a Church if the Church is to be a true Church.
It is a goal that must constantly be worked on and given to a
congregation as a goal for which we should strive.
Keith Miller, American author and
theologian says:
“Our Churches are filled with
people who outwardly look contented and at peace but inwardly are
crying out for someone to love them….just as they are- confused,
frightened, often frustrated, guilty, and often unable to communicate
even within their own families. But the other people in the Church look
so happy and contented that one seldom has the courage to admit one's
own deep needs before such a self-sufficient group as the average
church meeting appears to be.”
Seen in this light, it is not
unusual that love is one of the primary emphases within Churches- and
in my mind, if it is not, it should be. The outstanding Presbyterian
scholar Frederick Buechner reminds us that:
“in the Christian sense, love is not
primarily an emotion but an act of the will. When Jesus tells us to
love our neighbour, he is not telling us to love them in the sense of
responding to them with cozy emotional feeling. On the contrary,
he is telling us to love our neighbours in the sense of being willing
to work for their well being, even if it means sometimes just leaving
them alone. Thus, in Jesus' terms we can love our neighbours without
necessarily liking them.”
(F. Buechner, Wishful Thinking” N.Y. Hagerstown, San Francisco,
London, Harper and Row, page 54)
That’s how successful Churches
operate. The love which characterizes a congregation becomes most
visibly manifest when there is some kind of trouble or challenge that
occurs. It is seen in kind remembrances, assisting when a flood occurs,
driving to Lions' Gate hospital for an appointment, preparing food for
some people who are hungry, or buying and bagging groceries for some
needy people. In one way
or another, I suspect every person here has experienced the love of
this congregation at some time in their life. That is as it should be,
and it should be encouraged to grow.
Paul asks us to hate what is evil and
cherish what is good. Again we face a difficult task. Many
hate the consequences of evil more than the evil itself. As
Christians, we are to hate the evil itself. For example, poverty is
evil. It robs people of their dignity, forces them to live in
terrible conditions, and often causes people to turn to robbery or
deceit just to survive. Our task is to hate the evil of poverty,
and that means everything that causes poverty- exploitation, ignorance,
rebellion, oppression or indifference. That’s why Churches are concerned about
social evils. Not only are they wrong and thus to be hated, but they
are endemic and causes ripple effects of evil throughout the
society. Believers who say we should not be involved in such
activities have missed the message and the actions of Jesus.
By the same token we are to love what
is good. And that demands that we are knowledgeable and able to
make wise decisions as to what is good. Some things are easy for
us to support- education, irrigation, sanitation, food, health and the
like. Sometimes, the issues are complicated and the Church is
faced with difficult decisions such as, does one support a rebellion
against an inhuman government? When or if are arms
necessary? What about greedy multi-national firms who in the pursuit of
profits offer employment to people of other cultures at rates
favourable to the company, not the workers? And I would add, what
do we do about Christian groups who instead of aiding and assisting,
seek to convert others to their sectarian position?
Hating what is evil and loving what is
good is often not a black and white issue. Study, discussion and prayer
is needed in order for the Church to practice true love.
The other requests for a successful
Church environment that are listed in these first 4 verses are all
action items. Have mutual affection for each other, outdo one another
in showing honour, be zealous, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord,
rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer, and
contribute to the needs of the saints i.e. support the Church and
extend hospitality to others. These are all great qualities, but in my
mind they will be the result of a fellowship that has genuine love, and
hates what is evil while it rejoices in what is good. It’s a high
standard to which Paul calls us, but it is a noble one, and if it were
followed, the Christian Church would not be having any growth problems.
The words of Paul are true. That they
are not a reality is that they have not been really tried very often.
That is why we are a Church. We are gathered in Christ’s name to
practice the art of living his way. Here we are all seekers. Here we
live each other and support each other. Here it is O.K. to fall short
while trying, because others will pick us up and start us over again.
Here we learn how to live the life of Christ amongst each other, so
that we can do it better when we are away from the Church building.
That’s why it is important.
There is one caution, however. We must
be careful that we do not substitute doing for being. Many a
Christian believer has lost a sense of being because he or she was too
busy doing. Listen to what Father Wes. Seeliger says:
“America (we would
say Canada) is a doers world. We live by ‘the production-significance’
philosophy. If you produce, your important. If you don’t your not."
The Dr. Jekyll of
doing is clear. Our parish cannot grow without people who roll up their
sleeves and dig in. And who will feed the hungry and clothe the naked,
if not the doers? Yes, doing is important. Introducing Mr. Hyde-
the monster side of doing. Doing can become an escape from being. You
spend your vacation working to have a good time. Yet you return
exhausted and realize you have not grown one bit closer to your family.
Or you get involved in Church. Worship, Christian education committees,
socials. Then one day you ask- What is all this ‘God’ business?
Why am I doing this? What are my real beliefs? When doing is an
escape for being, bad things start to happen.
You have no use for those who are not helping you do
your thing.
You hate yourself for not doing enough.
You’re always worn out.
There is no joy in accomplishment.
Sometime next
week, when your not too busy, ask yourself: Is my doing an expression
of my gratitude for life, or is it a frantic attempt tp earn a sense of
significance? Does my doing flow out of the depth of my
soul, or does it drain my well? Had you rather do or be?” (W.
Seeliger, One Inch From The Fence” Forum Publishers, Atlanta, 1973,
page 38).
Being and doing are what it means to
be a Church member. Hold them in balance, so that what you do is done
in gratitude for what God has done to have you be. Love one
another and your “messy spirituality” will grow in grace. May God
love you as you each grow in love!