A Day in the Life…

These next two posts were actually delivered as one sermon, but I expanded on them both and thought they deserved to be split.  This first part deals with the atual text of chapters 15-16, then the next post deals with the lessons we’ve learned from the entire book.

Closing Things Out
Romans 15-16

The beginning of chapter 15 carries on from Paul’s discussion in chapter 14, where we left off last time.  As we learned then, it seems the manner in which we disagree (not the content) on things in the Body of Christ really does make a difference.

Romans 15:1-13 (NIV)

¹We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. ²Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” ⁴For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs ⁹so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing hymns to your name.” ¹⁰Again, it says,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” ¹¹And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and sing praises to him, all you peoples.” ¹²And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him.”

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Notice Paul continues by showing on whose side the burden lies in a disagreement.  If two people disagree, and it is primarily a matter of maturity of faith, those who are more mature should bear with those who are less mature.  This is a simple solution – after all, if a child disagrees with us because she doesn’t understand what’s going on, we don’t expect them to just grow up and deal with it.  As Paul points out, this is just what Jesus did.

But again, Paul stresses what he’s been focusing on since chapter 12.  From the beginning of his letter, he laid out the story of redemption – humankind’s sinfulness, our inability to reconcile ourselves to God, God’s steps to be reconciled to human beings.  How then shall we live?  We ought to live in obedience and love for God and for all God’s children.

Keep the Peace

And as the Body of Christ, we ought to maintain love and unity at all times.  Why?  Because it is one of the primary ways God shows his glory to the world!

After all, the natural order of the human world is decay, corruption, division, and death.  Every civilization in history so far has become corrupted and has fallen.  Every government deals with corruption.  Every person comes into some kind of conflict with another person.  And all together, our normal response is to be intolerant, spiteful, to hold grudges, to want revenge.

So when a group of people can live together in harmony and in love – respecting our disagreements but not allowing them to divide us, forgiving when we are hurt, giving to each other so that all may have what they need – when a group of people can live together like this in unity and peace, the world will notice.  And we can tell them – the only way it’s possible is because of God.

In fact, most of Paul’s instructions to the church from chapter 12 onward are directed at keeping peace and unity.  This seems to be his primary concern.  It’s understandable, considering the recent history of the church in Rome.  The fights between the Jews and the Jewish Christians had gotten so bad that Claudius expelled all Jews – both Christian and non-Christian – from the city of Rome in AD 49.

Five years later, Nero allowed all the Jews to come back into Rome, but by that point the Gentile Christians had probably grown distrustful of the Jewish Christians.  It’s obvious from Paul’s letter that there has been a lot of conflict there in the recent past.  This concerns Paul greatly for theological reasons: Jesus had commanded his followers to live in unity (John 17).  But it also concerns him for practical reasons – who would want to become a Christian if it automatically meant fighting and getting kicked out of your home?!

So Paul’s instructions toward peace and unity make perfect sense.  As an apostle and an evangelist, he’s concerned about how Christians present ourselves as a witness to the world.  Our conduct as a Family of God speaks more to people than our words ever will.

If last words are any indication of the main point Paul was trying to get across in this letter, his final instructions in 16:17-19 should tell us what he urges above all else:

¹⁷I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. ¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. ¹⁹Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

Final Plans

Next, Paul moves from theology and exhortation, to more personal details of his travels and his plans.  In 15:14-22, he recounts what he’s been doing and why he hasn’t been able to visit the churches in Rome.  He has felt God’s call to minister to the Gentiles in Asia Minor, Macedonia and Greece.

Now he is free at last to tackle what he imagines will be his greatest challenge yet – Spain.  During most of Paul’s tenure in each town and city, he would first look for an established group of believers.  If he found none, he would then connect himself to the Jews in the synagogues.  Often, the Jewish people would resonate with Paul’s message of God’s messiah, and they would gladly receive Paul’s message of the Gospel.  This was a perfect starting point as Paul encountered places where the Gospel hadn’t yet taken root.

But in Paul’s time, Spain was almost completely pagan – there were no Christian believers, no Jewish synagogues.  Paul would be starting “from scratch,” working with people who had never even heard of Jesus of Nazareth.  You can hear his excitement building from verse 17:

¹⁷Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done- ¹⁹by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. ²⁰It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. ²¹Rather, as it is written:
“Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand.” ²²This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

²³But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, ²⁴I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.

Paul considers Spain the ultimate challenge – the starting point of what Jesus meant when he “ends of the earth.”

But he has to take care of one thing first – he has a gift to deliver to the believers in Jerusalem.  The Gentile Christians have heard of their distress, and they have sent monetary gifts to assist the Jewish Christians.  Paul recognizes this generous overture – after all, the Jews had shared their faith.  The Gentiles could certainly share their wealth in return.

Acts tells us that Paul did make it to Jerusalem, and he eventually made it to Rome – but not as he had planned.  Paul acknowledges in 15:30-32 that his visit to Jerusalem could be dangerous.

³⁰I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. ³¹Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there, ³²so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.

But he didn’t realize how dangerous it would be.  Paul had become one of the best known Christians during his time – his name was spoken across the Empire by both believers and non-believers.  But Paul had been a Jew once, and a very zealous Jew.  Remember that Paul was one of the first to persecute the Christians before he was converted.  Once he had been a model Jew.  Now he is a model Christian.  You can imagine how the Jews felt about that…

So when they got their hands on Paul in Jerusalem, they arrested him and accused him of being a trouble-maker.  Paul recognized his opportunity – he invoked his right to appeal to Caesar, and ended up traveling to Rome in chains…

But that’s a story for another time.  If you want to hear where Paul goes after he writes this letter, read Acts 21 and onward.

Greetings and Commendations

Finally, Paul wraps up his letter by sending greetings to the believers he knows in Rome.  Notice how many people he knows in the church, even though he’s never visited it!

Notice also, that Paul mentions 11 women among the almost 30 people he names.  Two of them appear to be leaders, including Phoebe – who was either a deaconess or a minister.  The other is Junias, whom Paul calls an “apostle” before he was!

©2012 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

.

Intro – Asking the Right Questions

It’s important to ask the right questions in life – in fact, much of our education focuses around finding the right questions to ask, and the best ways to answer them.

Have you ever played the game “Psychologist?”  Tanya used to love to play this game with her youth in Birmingham.  It’s kind of an enhanced version of “20 Questions.”  One person is dubbed the “psychologist” and is sent out of the room.  While that person is gone, everyone else decides what’s “wrong” with them – for instance, everyone thinks that they are Michael Jackson, or everyone thinks they are a dog.  Then the psychologist comes back into the room and has to ask yes/no questions to figure out what’s wrong with everyone.

It can be quite comical – and pretty frustrating, too, if the group chooses to have a problem that’s complex.  For instance, each person thinks they are the person seated directly to his or her left.  It takes some good question asking to figure out what’s going on!

Of course, questions are important in real life, as well.  Take asking directions – unless you get lucky and stumble upon a really good direction-giver, if you don’t know how to ask good questions you can end up more lost than you were to begin with!

Or think about doctors and nurses and healthcare professionals, trying to figure out what’s wrong with someone.  If you focus on the symptoms, ask the wrong questions, you can end up nowhere – or worse, you can end up with the completely wrong diagnosis!

Jesus was a master of asking questions that got to the heart of the matter.

It’s the same in matters of faith.  Each sermon I work to find the questions that are vital to us today, here in this place and time.  Some passages have questions that are easy to find.  Some don’t.  This is one of the latter.

We could ask all kinds of questions about this passage – but only by asking the right questions will we get to the heart of what Paul is saying, and what it means to you and me.

Wrong: Weak Vs. Strong

First is the question, “Who is WEAK and who is STRONG?”  After all, we always want to know where we stand in our faith.  What does God think of us?  What do others think of us?

Admittedly, Paul seems to be acting a bit superior here.  But I don’t think that’s Paul’s tone at all.  After all, Paul has spent several chapters now discussing our relationship to the Law – not just the old Mosaic Law, but to any certain set of practices and rites.  We are free in Christ, he says, to follow the LAW of LOVE and not the old strict laws.

And, Paul has also been very clear to make sure that everyone is seen as equal in God’s eyes – no matter their background, social status, or level of spiritual maturity.

So we can’t get caught up into splitting ourselves into “WEAK” and “STRONG.”  That’s God’s job, not ours.  No matter how strong you might think you are, there are always others somewhere, sometime, who have a stronger faith in some ways.  No matter how weak, there are always others who are newer and less mature in their faith.  And besides, how are we going to classify strength and quality of faith?  What criteria will we use?

These distinctions don’t matter to you and to me.  They don’t even really matter to God.  This question is only a distraction.

Wrong: Looking at the Issues

Another trap we can fall into is looking at the specific issues Paul brings up – vegetarianism, celebration or non-celebration of certain days.  And it would be an easy trap.  We could go on for several sermons digging into the biblical roots of vegetarianism, into the debate over the true day of Sabbath.

But Paul is not talking about the specific issues here – his language shows that these are only examples of where he’s really going.  The issues he raises are rooted in the culture, time and place of the people to whom he was writing – they have no real meaning to us.

Obviously, there were disputes among the Christians in Rome over these two issues.  The

• Vegetarianism – was both a pagan and a Jewish practice.
• “Certain days” are not clarified. Could be the continued observance of Saturday as Sabbath, or the celebration of some cultural holidays observed by the state.

In our context these kinds of issues can take many forms:

• Seventh-day Baptists/Adventists,
• Working on Sunday
• Celebration of Halloween (or Christmas, or Easter), previously pagan holidays
• dietary restrictions,
• praying before meals,
• using contemporary or traditional music
• the style of our worship – formal or informal

In these things that are not explicitly set out in scripture or that are unclear, we must TRUST our brother or sister in Christ to examine God’s word, allow God to speak to them, and follow the convictions given to them by the Holy Spirit.

Right Questions: What is Essential and what is Non-Essential?

How should we respond when we have different opinions?

Here’s the bottom line – Paul is telling us to make a distinction in matters of faith between what is VITAL and what is NOT (14:17-18). Notice that Paul is very clear on excluding certain sinful practices throughout his writings – he’s not being overly tolerant of any and every thing.  Neither is he promoting any kind of religious pluralism.

Rather, he’s cautioning us to be careful to distinguish between ESSENTIALS of the Christian life and NON-ESSENTIALS.  Stand up for the essentials, absolutely!  But on the non-essentials, we have a God-given task to overcome our differences and continue in worship and witness.  Our goal is not to achieve the perfect set of beliefs, but to glorify God by our love and unity (15:5-6).

This was the problem the Pharisees and religious leaders of the day faced. They were so busy looking at the details of the non-essential things that they missed the most important essential of LOVE.  That’s why Jesus boiled it down for them – the most important commandment was not one of the myriad little ordinances in the Mosaic Law.  Rather, it was a summation of the whole Law – “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Paul points out the most important essentials in 14:17-18:  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Focal Questions:

• What are our ESSENTIALS?
• What strong convictions do we hold outside those Essentials?
• How can we preserve love, peace and unity when we disagree about these non-essential things?

©2012 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

.

Romans 13:1-7 (NIV)

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Context

In the previous passage of his letter, Paul has begun to elaborate on how we are to live in community.  First, he discussed life in the Body of Christ, then he urged us to “live at peace with everyone (as far as it depends upon you).”  Now Paul reflects on how civic government shapes our lives and relationships.  The passage itself is straightforward and easy to understand.

But to understand what’s going on, we should also consider the context of the letter.  Paul was writing to people who had just recently been allowed to return to Rome – Jews and Jewish Christians had caused such an uproar that in 49 AD, Claudius ordered them all to leave the city.  This wasn’t persecution of a people because of their religious practices – it was a way for the emperor to quell a public disturbance.

Paul knows he is addressing people who have a tendency to get carried away with their opinions and demonstrations.  So he is using this opportunity to give them some instructions about how they can conduct themselves in future arguments.  And of course, his point is theologically tied in with everything that comes before.

It’s also important, in context, to realize that Paul is not making an entire statement here about how Christians are to relate to the government.  This is not a blanket, end-all instruction for being completely submissive to government.  This was written before widespread persecutions were carried out against the church.  Otherwise, I imagine Paul would have been much more careful in the way he worded this section.

If you look through the ministry of Paul and the other apostles, you’ll see they don’t always simply submit to what the governing authorities tell them.  Sometimes, they’re even outright law-breakers!

• In Acts 4, Peter and John tell the Sanhedrin that they will continue to speak about Jesus, even though the authorities have told them not to.
• In Acts 5, all the apostles were arrested and thrown in jail for preaching Christ. But God sent an angel to let them out, and ordered them to go back into the Temple to preach again! When they are re-arrested, Peter gives this famous response: “We must obey God rather than men.”
• In Acts 9, knowing that the Jewish authorities in Damascus meant to kill him, Paul escaped the city at night in a basket – in effect, he was “resisting arrest”
• In Acts 12, we see another “jailbreak.” Herod has killed the apostle James, and planned to kill Peter also. But again, an angel came and let Peter out.

We also find times when the Apostles use their “altercations” with the authorities to further God’s work:

• In Acts 16 we find probably the best-known miraculous jailbreak. Paul & Silas were in prison in Philippi, when an earthquake shook the building and broke the walls. But Paul and Silas stayed in the prison and cared for the other prisoners until the jailor arrived because they knew their escape would mean his death. They used the opportunity to share the Good News with the jailer, and his entire family was saved!
• In Acts 22 – and following, Paul is arrested and allows himself to go through the legal process because he knows that this is his way to reach Rome with the message of the Gospel.

Our Allegiances

So what is our relationship to government as God’s people?  The United States has always been a place where the people have a voice in the government – we are free to express our opinions, and to agree or disagree with the policies and practices of our elected officials.  The word “submit” stirs up all kinds of feelings here!

Is Paul saying that we must submit ourselves completely to every government?  Of course not.  He’s saying that we must abide by the laws of the place in which we live.

So how then can we understand what we see Paul doing in his own ministry – sometimes submitting, sometimes using, sometimes even rebelling against authority?

In order to understand Paul’s actions, and in order to understand how we must make decisions about our allegiances, we must understand one crucial point:  You and I are dual citizens.

This is not an unusual concept for us.  We are actually used to thinking of ourselves as being bound to more than one group.  And we also understand that our allegiances are arranged in a hierarchy.

For instance, my passport shows that I am a citizen of the United States of America – that I have all the rights of a citizen, and that I am bound by its laws as well.  I am also a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia by virtue of my residence here.  That means I am given the specific rights, and bound to the specific laws, of this Commonwealth… as long as they are not in conflict with the rights and laws of the US.  The same holds true for the county and town in which I live – the laws and rights of each are trumped by those that are “higher.”

I’m also a member of several kinds of groups and organizations.  I’m a COSTCO member.  I have a Blockbuster card.  I’m a contributing member of the National Geographic Society.

Membership is chosen.  We can take it or leave it.  If I decide tomorrow I don’t want to be a COSTCO member, then I can call and cancel my membership and I won’t owe them any more “allegiance.”

Citizenship is a reality.  You can’t just cast off your US citizenship so you can print fake money in your basement.  Citizenship is something that is not chosen but conferred.  My highest citizenship will always take precedence over any other citizenships or memberships.

So I don’t owe equal allegiance to each of these.

• If the army called to draft me, I couldn’t say, “I’m sorry, you’ll have to wait because I have a movie from Blockbuster and I can’t do anything until I’ve watched it and returned it.”
• If I was a member of a club that decided to blow up a public building in protest, I would have a definite conflict of interest – and would find myself in violation of laws at all kinds of levels.
• If Kenbridge decided its citizens didn’t have to pay any kinds of taxes in 2009, that would be nice. But it wouldn’t stop the IRS from coming to our door next year.

You understand what I’m saying.  No one owes allegiance to just one government or group.  Therefore, no one has only one law or rule to consider when they are making a choice about action.

Our Highest Citizenship

Paul is showing us the order of our citizenships, and he makes reference to the fact that our highest citizenship is not that of our nation.  Our greatest and highest rights and responsibilities lie in our status as citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Being a part of God’s Kingdom is not a membership we can revoke or cancel when we don’t like it anymore.  It’s citizenship, conferred by the reality of who we are – God has chosen us.  It is as natural and binding a citizenship as any other – but it’s higher than any other.

Generally, being a good citizen of the Kingdom will automatically mean being a good citizen of our other groups.  As Paul says, we will respect those who govern over us.  We’ll pay our taxes to support the work of government.  We’ll strive to live within the law.

Sometimes, our duties as Kingdom citizens and as citizens from some other group may come into conflict.  When they do, we can’t simply withdraw from the Kingdom for a little while.  But we must remember that the Kingdom is our HIGHEST citizenship!  Our obedience to God trumps all other duties we might have to perform.

©2012 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

.

I have been amazed at the amount of hatred and sniping that has been seen this week. I suppose I shouldn’t be.  But I am amazed anyway, and sickened.

It’s hard to put political feelings aside, I realize.  But I recognize that I’m part of a greater citizenship than that of a particular political party.  I’m a citizen of a heavenly kingdom first, and of a great nation second.  I think most of us recognize that.

So again, it’s amazing to me to see people already plotting our new President’s demise, after only three days in office.  I see them everywhere – CNN, Fox News, OpEds in papers, religious forums… even on Facebook.  There are, of course, the continued gripes about his policies – whether real or only imagined.  And then there are the petty jabs about something he said or did that was awkward… as if, just like our previous presidents, Mr. Obama is not a real human being who makes mistakes from time to time.

Is it possible that seeds of anger and division are already being sown, when the soil is only newly plowed?

I don’t suffer from the “savior delusion” many are claiming.  I’m as skeptical as many of you.  Barack Obama is not Jesus – he won’t be able to fix all our problems.  This side of heaven, no one is going to be able to fix all the ills that plague humanity.

But whether John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Franken or even Fred Thompson had become president this week, I have concerns that are greater than any awkwardness those people might present in their first days in office.  In fact, a bit of awkwardness might be expected… if nearly anyone stepped into the most powerful office in the world without a bit of awkwardness, I’d be worried.

No matter who you voted for, Barack Obama is our president in a historic and crucial time for our nation.  In the midst of several great crises – economic, energy, environmental, and international relations to name a few – how can someone root for our elected leader to fail, and thereby allow our nation to slide into even worse condition than it already is?  Just because they hold a personal dislike for someone?  Because they want someone they “like” to swoop in and “save” us all instead?

Many imply it, but only Rush Limbaugh has been brave enough to actually say it so far: “I hope he fails.”  Granted, Mr. Limbaugh can say something like that, since he has millions of dollars and his reputation is already secure.

Perhaps Mr. Limbaugh is not governed by certain “Laws” and “Policies” that affect me as a Christ Follower.  Didn’t Jesus say to love and to pray for our enemies (Matt. 5 to for a start)?  Didn’t Paul urge us to respect and pray for our leaders and authorities (1 Tim. 4, Romans 13)?  Is there anywhere in the Scriptures where bitterness and discord are encouraged?

This is the time to support our president in prayer and in action, and work for the good of our country.  It’s the season to sow seeds of encouragement and unity, to work together to nurture the ideals that have made this nation great.  It’s time to look carefully and critically at the policies and practices of a new president, not his dance moves or his verbal stumbles.

The seeds we sow now will be reaped later.  What kinds of seeds are we sowing in these crucial days?

©2012 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

.

Mealtimes at the Parks home have gotten significantly crazier in the last couple of years.  As the girls have grown older and are no longer strapped in to their seats, and as they have learned how to express their culinary likes and dislikes, dinner is more chaotic and unpredictable than ever before.

One thing is predictable, however.  Each day, we can count on the struggle over what will be eaten, and how much of it.  You see, for my daughters, mealtimes are a means to an end – all that chicken, rice, veggies, bread, fruit… all that’s just an appetizer for the main course:  DESSERT.  And the question is nearly always raised:  Just how much do I have to eat before I get a dessert?

The typical conversation goes something like this:

“Mama, can I have a treat now?”

“No, not yet.  You still have to eat your carrots.”

“ALL my carrots?”

“Yes, all your carrots.”

Then they’ll piddle around and play, and then two or three minutes later, you hear again,

“Mama, can I have a treat now?”

“Have you eaten your carrots?”

“ALL my carrots?”

“Yes ALL your carrots.”

And on and on and on it goes until the realization finally sinks in – “I’m not going to get the good stuff unless I eat what they’re telling me to eat.”

Romans is so enjoyable to preach from, but we’ve been here a long time.  It was nice to have a break, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to come back.  I looked at the material ahead, and I see a few difficult things we have to face.  So I wanted to ask God the same question…

“Do I need to preach ALL of Romans?  Maybe I can skip a little bit here and there…”

But don’t worry, I won’t skip any of it.  We’ve invested time into this, and we’re going to carry it through to the end!  And more importantly, we’re just getting to the part where Paul moves from the theoretical and theological, to the practical.

What’s the Pattern?

Paul has been so organized up to this point: He’s followed an outline, and has stayed on course through the first 11 chapters, save for a couple of tangents here and there.  It’s easy (if you’re looking) to follow Paul’s logic, and he expresses himself clearly and eloquently.

So what’s going on here?  These passages seem like shotgun fire – the instructions he’s giving are all over the map.  Now, all of a sudden, there’s no order.  Here he’s talking about the church as a body, now he’s talking about being hospitable, then loving our enemies…

Maybe Paul’s following some Old Testament text?  Maybe he’s talking about some specific situations in the Roman church?

I think the answer lies within the first two verses themselves.  The passages may seem random… until we see them through the right lens.  Putting on the right pair of glasses helps us to see things that weren’t clear before.  In the same way, when we look in a certain way at what Paul’s saying here, the random begins to fall into line.

Let’s not forget that Paul has used that ever important word, “THEREFORE” in 12:1.  Paul has not lost his mind.  What he writes here is an outflow of the theology that came before. The correct lens to look through is this: Paul is showing us how love works in action – not as a theological concept, but as a reality.

Paul understands that God has created us to live in society, in relationship to one another.  We don’t live in a bubble – we’re made to live in community.  And if we are to live in community as followers of Jesus – whether it be the church community, or society at large – we must conduct ourselves in a certain way.

A Renewal of Our Minds

When Paul writes, “do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” he’s talking about a fundamental shift in thinking.  The words transform and renew together do not imply merely “tweaking” our minds.  Paul’s not talking about making some minor adjustments to our thought life – he’s talking about a whole new mental process, a new way of looking at the world.

12:3 gives us a clue to that transformed mind:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

The last phrase is hard to understand until you read what follows, where Paul defines “measure of faith”:

Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Paul says we should not be prideful, because God has given each of us a different gift to use in different ways – but it is GOD doing the work, not you and me.

Moreover, Paul is speaking from an entirely different starting place.  Rather than thinking of HIMESLF first, Paul is thinking of GOD and of OTHERS first.  He’s not saying, “Look how God has gifted ME,” he’s saying, “Look how God has distributed his gifts so freely among US.”  He’s not thinking, “how can I do God’s work?”  He’s thinking, “how can God do his work through US?”

This is a major change indeed.  As human beings, we’re used to looking out for “Number One.”  It’s the way we operate unless we consciously choose to do otherwise.  Katrina hits, and people complain about gas prices – thinking of themselves.  When the economy slides, we automatically think about our retirement accounts instead of the millions of people who were already in poverty – what must they be facing now?

Paul starts elsewhere – he insists that we begin with seeking God’s desires, then look to the needs of others.  When we do that, Jesus promises that “all these things” will be added unto us.

If you think about it, this is the way God sees the world.  God loves the world so much that he came down to our level and lived among us.  He even died among us, for us, so that we could be reconciled to him.  And even now, as Paul reminds us in Romans 8:28, God is constantly working for our good.

Make no mistake:  God does not exist for our sake.  He is not our servant or our magic genie – he does not seek our happiness or our whims and wishes, but our ultimate good.  God looks at each of us through eyes of such love and compassion, that he has made OUR good his primary desire.  And that is how he calls us to look at others.

Live in Harmony

So Paul is asking us to make a major shift in our perspective – to renew our minds and to be transformed. And this thought process is what determines our actions.  So what follows from 12:4 onward is not about thinking, but about action.  Let’s read on…

9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

So here, Paul is setting a high standard of conduct among Christians.  He’s talking primarily about how we deal with each other in the church.  Paul’s vocabulary is strong:

“Love must be without hypocrisy”

“HATE evil.  CLING to good.  Be DEVOTED to each other.  HONOR each other above yourselves.”

“Rejoice in hope!  Endure in suffering!  Persevere in prayer!”

“If someone in the church wrongs you, BLESS THEM.  If someone has a reason to celebrate, celebrate with them!  If someone has a reason to weep, weep with them!”

And it’s all summed up in verse 16: “Live in harmony with one another.”

What a word to use – “harmony.”  Any ensemble musician – someone who sings in a choir, or plays in an orchestra for instance – knows that the secret to harmony is more than just having the notes right.  In order to perform music effectively in a group, you have to put the goals of the GROUP ahead of your OWN goals.

Ever listen to the Three Tenors?  They did a beautiful job, of course.  But when they tried to sing in harmony it wasn’t as beautiful as a choir would be.  They were each trained to sing SOLO, not in harmony.  So each was starting from a different standpoint – how can I SOUND GOOD, not how can WE SOUND GOOD?

Good choral singers operate differently.  When you get used to singing in a choir, your first thoughts are not about how your voice sounds.  The first things you’re doing are watching the director, then listening to the others singing around you.  Once you do those things, you’ll find yourself fitting in without having to work hard at all!

Paul is saying that we have to shift our thought life – we have to “renew” our minds to look at things in a different way.  Instead of looking out for our own needs in the church, how can we look to the will of God and the needs of others first?

This is hard to do, but it’s the source of so much anger and frustration among Christians.  We look out for ourselves in most of the rest of our lives, so it’s only natural to do it here within these walls.  But Paul says that in order for us to live as Christ intended, we have to make others’ good our primary desire.

At Peace with EVERYONE

Then Paul “goes to meddling” as we say.  This isn’t just the rule for living inside the church – it’s the way we are to operate with EVERYONE.

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Come on, Paul.  I mean, we are called to love each other and to be kind and patient here at church.  But what about other people – what about strangers?  What about Hispanics?  What about the black folks that always look like they’re up to no good down on 4^th Avenue?

“God, do I really have to love ALL those people?”

“Yes, all the people.”

“Even THEM?”

“Yes, even THEM.”

“Even the ones who hurt me?”

“Yes, ESPECIALLY the ones who hurt you.”

And how in the world can we do something like that?  How can we love people who are so different from us that we don’t have any common ground to meet on?  How can we love people halfway across the world who are hiding in caves, trying to figure out the next way they’re going to blow something up in the US?  How can we love someone who is sitting on death row because he killed dozens of people in cold, calculated murders?  How can we love someone who has abused little, innocent children?

When we’re looking through our eyes, we can’t.  But when we’re looking through God’s eyes, we can.

And to love someone means to act for their good, just as God has done for us.

©2009 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

.

This sermon was actually delivered on November 23, 2008 – the last Sunday before Advent began.  Now that I’ve resumed the series on Romans, I am putting this sermon up as well, which actually covers just the first verse of Romans 12.  It also includes a summary of what’s come before – a good way to get re-oriented to where Paul has been and where he’s going.

Introduction: A Change in Tone

Today’s text marks a changing point in our walk through Romans.  A very important couple of words at the very beginning of today’s passage signal that something different is coming.

“Therefore… in view of God’s mercy” – in light of all that has come before

“I appeal to you” – Here’s what we should do about what we’ve heard

Paul has done with his theologizing.  We’ve heard 11 chapters of all kinds of theology:

• How our sin has separated us from God
• That all of us are without excuse
• That in God’s eyes, we are all on level ground, no matter the type or number of our sins – all of us have sinned, and all of us have fallen short
• But God did something to make matters right – he sent his only son as a sacrifice in our place.
• Jesus’ work is powerful enough to save any who will rely on him for their salvation.
• So we have been set free from our old master, sin, and are now free to serve a new master
• Therefore, if God has done this for us, we should not be afraid of anything – for “if God is for us, who can be against us?”

Now Paul moves from his theological section to the practical matters.  Most scripture – most writing of any sort – is arranged in this way.

• Here are the facts.
• Here is the explanation of the facts.
• What should we do then, about the facts?

The Image: Sacrifice

12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship.

“Sacrifice” is a strong word to us – it invokes images of blood, violence and death.  It’s hard for us to understand, in our culture, what Paul is talking about.

The act of a sacrifice is to take something that is valuable to us, and to give it up for someone or something else.  A quick look in the definition yields the following basic facts about religious sacrifice in particular:

• WHO – the devotee of a particular god
• WHAT – Something valuable – crops, wine, valuable animals, etc.
• WHEN – A sacrifice occurred at a particular time – usually surrounded by ritual and prayer.
• WHERE – A sacrifice occurred in a particular place – on an altar, in an important spiritual place like a temple.

The basic idea of a sacrifice is to say, “This is what I’m willing to do for something or someone that’s important to me.”  When you sacrificed an animal, you said that the god you worship is of greater value to you than the animal you’re sacrificing.  When you took the best of your crops and burned them before God, you said that God was more important to you than the profit that could come from those crops, and that you trusted God to provide for your needs in place of those crops.

The more important the item offered, the greater the sacrifice and the greater the statement you made about the person or thing you were sacrificing to.

It became, over time, a way to satisfy an angry god, or to ask for something you needed – more rain for the crops, for instance.  It moved from saying “This is how much I value you,” to “This is what I’m willing to give you – what will you give me in return?”  Or sometimes it was used as a kind of spiritual “thank you” note – a way to tell a god “thanks” for something good that had happened.

That’s why eventually, people were willing to sacrifice the most important thing they had – their children.  What more valuable thing could you give to show your devotion to a god?  And what would a god NOT give to someone so devoted to him?

But God absolutely forbade this practice because it was against his nature to destroy human life, and because this kind of sacrifice was selfish – designed to get something in return.

And for the Jewish people, sacrifice had become their core act of worship.  They made the long trip to Jerusalem each year – but not to sit in a worship service and hear a Revival preacher.  They offered prayers while they were there, but their primary action, and the thing that all other acts of worship revolved around, was SACRIFICE.

But this was not the original intent of sacrifice, though.  The original idea was to declare how valuable God is to us by giving up something important.  And in using this important word, Paul is signaling a return to that original idea.

We don’t kill animals on an altar anymore.  But we still practice sacrifice today, though we may not view it that way.  When we tithe and give offerings – we’re not “paying” God, we’re saying that God is more important to us than money (at least, that’s the concept).  That’s a big statement to make – especially as Americans who value money so highly.

Living Sacrifice

So now that we’ve looked at the word “sacrifice,” what is Paul saying about it?

“…to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual act of worship”

A better translation for “your spiritual act of worship” would be “your reasonable act of service.”  It’s a term that implies the central and most basic act of worship.  Like the sacrifice to the Jewish people, this was to be the primary action of people who worship this God.

And what is this action?  It’s still sacrifice, but a different kind of sacrifice.

“Offer your bodies…” – are we to throw ourselves into the fire?  Commit suicide?  No, because he uses the word “living sacrifice.”  By “bodies,” Paul is speaking figuratively of our lives – our every moment of every day.

HOLY and PLEASING – this is to be “offer your lives as a LIVING, HOLY, and PLEASING sacrifice.”

Our most important sacrifice – our central act of worship – is not bringing our tithes.  For most of us, the amount we give is not enough to cause us undue anxiety.  Neither is our sacrifice the hour we spend here on Sunday mornings.  It’s no real sacrifice to be here on Sunday mornings… an hour is no big sacrifice for us most of the time.

No, our real sacrifice is the 167 hours we live the rest of the week. Living every waking moment of every day in a “holy and pleasing” way.  That is the ultimate cost for us.

Wow!  How in the world can we achieve this?

We want to believe that the way to follow God’s will – being a holy and pleasing sacrifice – is to know all the rules so we can follow them rightly in each situation.  But the problem is, you don’t always know all the rules, and you don’t always know how they apply to each situation.

So how do we do it?  Paul only gives us a hint:

2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

We’ll have to wait until the next sermon to figure out together what this means!

©2009 Notes From Jon. All Rights Reserved.

.