In our current passage, Romans 13, Paul brings our attention to what love will not do specifically and providing us with both motivation and the means for living in love.
Lets go back if only for a moment to our recent weeks of scripture. Romans 1-11 Paul was laying a doctrine foundation –laying the groundwork so to speak, in Chapter 12 he is challenging his believers to show action based on the truth previously taught.
Later when we turn to chapters 14-15 Paul will still be applying the principle of love, this can be seen in Romans 14:15, “ for if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love” Love is not only the motivation which inspires our actions, it is the principle by which our actions are governed.
Verse 8 “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another,” as I understand Paul’s words, he is teaching that our highest obligation toward men is our obligation to love them. We are not necessarily speaking in the financial sense. I am sure some have heard the saying “Pass it forward”.
Have you received a blessing from god, has a friend helped you, has the church? We may not be able to repay what has been done for us directly to whomever, but did we pass it on. Did we see someone in need and help him or her with out expecting something in return?
Verses 9 the instructions of God’s laws are “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” well first you have to love yourself, and not in a conceited look at me in the mirror way. I am not suggesting you become a boaster, or become high maintenance or I am above all type person. Now I am certainly not an expert nor do I always follow what the law implies.
But I believe IF you want to be respected for your actions, then your behavior must be above reproach. One should respect oneself and live right that is how you gain the respect of others. If our lives demonstrate that we are peaceful, humble and trusted this will be recognized by others-
If our lives demonstrate something else, that will be noticed also. If you follow Gods word this will bring peace and understanding to your life.
When anything you do is in God’s name you will find contentment and God’s love will shine through you. This is how you learn to love your self. When God’s love shines through you your friends and neighbors will want to know more about you, they would want to hear and share how God’s love shines through you.
Now by only raising your hands in your head, how many today struggled to come to church this morning? It’s a beautiful day, you may have wanted to stay longer in bed, go out for breakfast or just be lazy around the house. But hopefully you came because you wanted fellowship-you wanted to see you felt a need to worship with your Christian friends, some wanted to see how bad the sermon would be with the checklists in your mind—Oh and by the way the people that I gave my scorecard to please note I did mispronounce a few of the words in the scripture reading
I myself would have chosen any of the above instead of standing before you today sharing God’s words. Its not that I mind sharing God’s words, it’s when so much is depending on me to get it just right that worries me.
God so loves to wrestle in our minds. God loves to give us free will. He also loves to see what we will choose to do with the instructions he has laid out for us.
You see everyone is born with a sinful nature.
In Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” All of us like Paul have those darn inner conflicts. The great news is nothing can separate us from the love of God. Only through the perfect Jesus Christ can we become righteous. Justification is by faith, not by good works.
The instructions in Romans continues
Do not commit adultery; we must begin by affirming that adultery is sin simple because God says so. Adultery is also considered sin in our text because it harms our neighbor. It ultimately produces no good and brings much evil. Because of this, adultery is condemned as sin and contrary to love. You do not commit adultery because you are in love; you commit adultery as a sin against love
Do not murder, this could mean in the death sense or in demeaning someone, hurting someone, did you destroy another human being for your own self-interest?
Do not steal; have you taken what doesn’t belong to you? If I walked into a bank and stole $3 million dollars – although if I did I might be having this discussion in Hawaii or someplace else, but if I did would God think any different of me if I just borrowed money from someone and didn’t pay it back. If you get something free, or win some money do you make sure you pass it on?
Do not covet,
The dictionary defines covet as to wish for earnestly, to desire
Coveting is also harmful to your neighbor, in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5: Jesus taught that those attitudes, which lead to sinful actions, are just as sinful as the actions themselves. Coveting is a sin because it leads me to wish that my neighbor were deprived of something just so that I can possess it.
I really wish I had my neighbor’s house, car, oh wow they have a wonderful lifestyle; if I had what they have life could be so much better.
In verse 10: Love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
And again we go back to Love your neighbor, as you love yourself. What is it about your neighbor, Co-worker, which you don’t like? Could the very thing you don’t like about them be the very thing you don’t like about yourself, could their behavior be a reflection of you? Are you envious or jealous is it fear? Is that person over critical, demeaning. ARE any of those qualities what you see in the mirror? What is preventing you from practicing a Christian life style with your neighbor? Did anyone new come to church recently, what prevented you from inviting that person, family to sit next to you. What stopped you from reaching out?
Paul’s teachings in verses 8-10 might be summed up in this way: We are to view our neighbor from the perspective of love. When we do, we will seek his good, avoid doing what is harmful to him, and thus fulfill the laws.
Even more, The Christian should look beyond himself to others with a spirit of obligation, rooted in gratitude toward God. In our sinful, self-seeking flesh, we do not look upon others with an obligation to serve them at our expense, but to be served by them at their expense.
In verses 11-14; Paul turns our attention to both the motivations that inspire love and the means, which help it function. Our motivation for love is presented in the text of time. We are to love others “knowing the time” Paul uses the symbols of “night and day” “darkness and light,” and sleeping and waking up.” We usually go to bed at night when it is dark. The coming of light indicates the passing of night and the beginning of a new day. What Paul describes in verses 11-14 happens to all of us
We go to bed at night, and then in your first waking moments you become increasingly aware of the light. Suddenly it may dawn on you, its morning! Good grief, what time is it? You check your clock and realize you overslept. The day has begun, but you have not. You jump out of bed and now your fumbling, out of sorts, not sure
I think this is the picture Paul is painting. We have been oversleeping. We need to wake up. The night has passed. The new day is dawning. We must get about doing those things that need to be done. We must put off our nightclothes and put on the clothes appropriate for the work our Lord calls us to do. .
In Romans 13:12 “ the Night is nearly over, the day is almost here, will you be ready? Will God Passover you or will you be destroyed.
Two things are stressed in verses 11-14; the first is why we are to increase in our worship of service through loving others-the day of Christ’s return draws closer every day. The second is how we are to do so. If one is to walk in love, putting service to others first above his own interests.
We’ve covered the rules spelled out in Romans now lets move on to Exodus
Exodus serves as a foundation for three important Jewish practices: the celebration of the Passover, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the dedication of firstborn children.
The Passover became the focal point in Jewish history and theology—just as the Crucifixion is the focal point in Christian history and theology.
There are several connections between the Jewish Passover and Christian communion. To begin, Jesus instituted the sacrament of Communion at a private Passover observance with is disciples as found in Matthew 26.
Jesus served as both Host and Lamb. Jesus presided over the meal and infused familiar Passover elements with new meaning. He was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.
Exodus gives us scripture on top of scripture of what God expects,
God warned the Israelites that when He passed through if their home was not marked they would die. Although the story reads of blood being left over the door jam, how is your home marked? Gods’ instructions in Exodus 12 is clear, from how to pick the animals, how to divide them, what spices, what clothing was to be worn, details as little as what sandals and how your staff must be positioned. God is speaking clearly to the Israelites and to us today, follow my rules, obey my commands, (point to bible) this is God’s rulebook these are His commands. Obey his commands and no harm will come to you, Obey the laws of man live a life of hate, sin, selfishness and you will be destroyed.
Will God Passover your door, or will you be able to live? What is preventing you from becoming a faithful servant? If God came in the night or Jesus knocks on your door, what preparation will have been made?
In our passage Matthew 18: 15-20, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.” First we are to speak privately about the offense with the offender
If the offending party is unreceptive, then others are to be invited into the negotiations.
If after these two attempts, the person who committed the offense remains unwilling to work for reconciliation, then the offense is to be reported to the church.
Finally if no one in the local assembly can get through to the person, the group is advised to wash its hands of the situation.
Now I don’t know about you, but this seems like a lot of work for reconciliation. Should the church get involved in mediation? Should the church be a boxing ring? Well do we live by the motto that the world is our parish or that the church is our boxing ring? How we live together seems to be the general topic in all of our scripture readings today. It’s easy to figure out that hidden conflicts destroy churches and that members do not remain in churches that have undercurrents of controversy. But it is difficult to bring us to follow the recommendations as it spells out in Matthew.
Now I found this on the Internet and felt the need to incorporate it into today’s meditation on the scriptures.
If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him—work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend.” Matthew 18:15 (The Message)
And Love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:10
Once upon a time, there were two brothers, Paul and Peter, Their father owned a large farm and when he became to old to work, he called both his sons together and said, I am too old to work anymore and I will divide my farm and give each of you half, I know that you will always work together and will be good friends.
When the brothers first started farming on their adjoining farms, they were the best of friends and would share everything together. Then, one day there was an argument between Paul and Peter. They stopped speaking and for many years not a word was spoken between them.
On day, Paul had a visitor show up at his door, the visitor was a carpenter who wanted to do some work. The carpenter asked Paul, “do you have any work I can do?’ Paul answered, “I would like for you to build a fence on my property. Build it down near the stream there that separates my farm from my brother’s. I don’t want to see my brother any more and I would like you to build a high fence.” Paul then said he was going away for the day but would return in the evening.
When Paul came back that evening he was shocked to see that the carpenter had not followed his instructions. Instead of a fence he built a bridge over the stream.
A very upset Paul walked down to the stream to take a look at the bridge, and as he did Peter came walking towards him over the bridge. Peter ran to his brother and said to Paul, “After all the terrible things I’ve done to you over the years, I can’t believe that you would build a bridge and welcome me back. Peter reached out to his brother and gave him a big hug.
Paul then walked back to his own farmhouse to speak to the carpenter. “Can you stay?” Paul asked the carpenter, “I have more work for you to do.” The carpenter answered, “ I’m sorry but I can’t stay. I have to go, for I have many other bridges to build.”
Sometimes you and I have a disagreement with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When that happens, we often build a fence between them and ourselves. WE stop talking to them. We don’t want to see them. We don’t want to be around them. That isn’t what Jesus wants us to do. Instead of fences, he wants us to build a bridge of love between us.
So we read scripture in Romans on how to live and treat our neighbors, We’ve read in Exodus on what God expects from us regarding sacrifice and living a life filled as sinners, and in Matthew we learned we need to deal with conflicts in the church and in our lives. As Christians we live in the midst of offenses and conflict. How we handle and show others our way of living in the laws of Christ should be shown to the world.
Live according to God’s Law, live with a pure heart, be good to your neighbors and be prepared for the coming of the Lord.
Dear father, we know it is your desire for us to live in peace and harmony. Help us to love one another; it is hard even as Christians to love our neighbors with so many culture differences and challenges before us. We want to be ready Lord, ready for the day when Jesus Christ our savior returns, We want to live as good Christians as your son taught us to, we want to live a life pleasing to the Lord so that when the day is done and night has begun we are ready.
Amen
