Focus:
Christian love
Function:
To help people practice love
Form:
Bible Study
Intro:
My theology professor
was one of the world's renown scholars on the book of Romans. He was
largely responsible for its translation when the New International
Version was translated.
In many ways, he
explained to us that the first 8 chapters are largely “the
theology/doctrine of the Gentile Church.” Chapters 1-3 demonstrate
the fact that all of us have a sin problem and need a Savior.
Chapters 4-8 explains the doctrine of Grace and salvation. Up until
chapter 9, the book is largely theoretical issues in doctrine. In
chapters 9-11, brother Paul speaks about his love for his own people,
the Jewish nation and then we get chapter 12 to the end.
Chapters 12 to the end
can sometimes be the most preached passages because they are a whole
long list of things we should, or shouldn't do. They are easy to
preach on because they are actionable and preaching is much easier
when we give people something to do instead of merely things to think
about.
Chapter 12 starts out
with the command to consider ourselves as living sacrifices. To
consider ourselves as servants, even slaves of God. The Logic comes
from Jesus' own words, which we considered last week, the fact that
we, like Jesus, are to take up our cross and follow Him. This world,
and its goals are not the goals of believers anymore. We literally
are the body of Christ, and as such, we are Jesus' extension into the
entire world.
Todays command deals
with one of the most important in the entire NT. The command to love
others.
In 1 Timothy 1:5, he
says, “Let
love come from a sincere heart.”
How do we, with impure hearts love with sincerity? In this passage,
he gives us principles behind what genuine love, as a virtue of
Christian character, looks like.
My English professor at
Bible College was careful with the way she loved and forgave other
people. It was a point of Christian Character for her. And she would
say: “In my class, or in personal conversation with me, you can't
say `well, I love (or forgive) them as a Christian... ...but ...and
then make up some excuse like how bad they hurt me, or the fact that
they are unrepentant and etc.'” She said: “you either love and
forgive or you don't. Loving and forgiving `as a Christian' should
mean that you go farther in love and forgiveness. But to use the
phrase “as a Christian” and then not love them is you trying to
make up some new category of love. Loving and forgiving as a
Christian means unconditional love and forgiveness. That kind of love
is the love and forgiveness that Jesus has given us.”
Sincere and genuine
love, no pretense, nothing hidden, that is what Jesus is after.
Perfect love from imperfect people. And this passage speaks about how
we can live out that kind of ideal.
So let us take the
passage verse by verse.
Hate evil and cling
to good.
That does not mean hate evil people. He is talking about judging our
own personal actions and not the actions of others. If someone is
sinning, even if they are sinning against you, your response to them
is unconditional love and forgiveness.
For your part, do not
be the one who participates in evil. Be the one who participates in
good. When someone else is gossiping, either ask them to stop, or
respond with kind words in return. Don't return evil with evil, but
return evil with good.
One of my dear
childhood friends and I reconnected on facebook. 2 years ago he
called himself an atheist. Through a lot of prayer and
correspondence, he now believes in the Jesus that the scripture
speaks clearly about. He still isn't sure about the faith that he was
raised in. And he said his doubt about the faith he was raised in
comes from the way that outspoken Christians are clear to be offended
by the sins of others, but they aren't offended by their own lack of
doing good. He said: “moral outrage is used as and excuse to not
love our neighbors as ourselves.”
And that is what Paul
is speaking about when he says hate evil and love doing good. Hating
evil means nothing to God if it isn't balanced by the love of doing
good. The emphasis on action is for us to love, rejoice in chances to
do good.
Practice liking each
other.
The literal words are
be affectionate towards one another. You may have heard me say
something that is not right or consistent with this passage. I have
been guilty of saying: “well, I love you, and I also like you.”
It really is the wrong thing to say because it implies that there are
people that I love, but it is okay for me to not like them.
That is why Paul tells
us to practice liking people. It is a Christian discipline. Don
Miller, in the book “Blue Like Jazz” talks about a man that he
got to know. The man scoffed at Christianity, subscribed to
pornography, cussed, was loud and obnoxious. And when Don was praying
about the man, because he had to work with him, God told him to
practice liking the fellow. It wasn't easy, but he worked on areas
about him that he could like. And eventually the man gave up the
obnoxious attitude toward Don. Don found out that his behavior was a
screen that he used to defend himself. Don became friends with him
and eventually, the man became a Christian.
Don disciplined himself
to like someone and God did the rest.
Don't keep score
with others.
Literally,
Outdo each other in doing good to each other. He isn't
speaking of competition. Competition leads to jealousy.
Don't keep score with
others. If you love someone, you will arm yourself with an attitude
of service. This is especially true in marriage, unless the marriage
is an abusive one. I am not saying that an husband or a wife should
let their spouse walk all over them. But at the same time. If we stop
keeping score, our love for each other becomes much easier.
About 5 years into our
marriage, Kathy and I attended a marriage seminar at the Church. The
preacher asked us to make the same commitment that Jesus made to us.
Jesus' commitment to us is and was 100%. So, he asked us to make a
100% commitment to our spouses. It makes love easier when we stop
keeping score. Instead of a 50-50 commitment, if each of us is giving
100%, then the marriage should work.
It works in marriage,
it works in every relationship.
Have you ever met the
person who continually reminds you of how they were hurt, either by
you or by someone else and they are spending their lives looking for
some sort of payback or balance?
That person has not
learned this principle of losing count with others.
Reality Check: It is
Jesus we are serving.
Literally, Keep zealous
for God. Keep your spirit alive. Serve the Lord.
Ardent in Spirit, full
of zeal happens when we remember to do a reality check. And that
reality check is to remember that it is Jesus that we are serving.
For example: The Bible
says, “those
who give to the poor, lend to the Lord.”
So, when we give, we lend to God and God always pays His debts.
Therefore, don't complain about giving to God.
It makes giving, even
sacrificial giving, a step in faith, a way to trust God. So what if
they take advantage? God will pay us back. It is like that in every
single thing we do for the Lord. When we are serving God, we will
indeed find a just reward. That is how we keep ourselves zealous and
fervent in Spirit. In Psalm 73, the author is shaking his head in
wonder and sort of complaining to God that it doesn't seem fair that
wicked people sometimes do well. But then he goes into the house of
the Lord to worship, and he is reminded of their fate.
So, remembering that we
are serving God when we are loving and forgiving others helps us to
keep our love sincere.
Then Paul switches
gears, in speaking about sincere love. He speaks about the times in
our own lives when we get discouraged because we are suffering. The
worse part about physical pain, or emotional pain, is that the pain
becomes such a distraction that it forces us to focus on ourselves.
Pain has a way of getting our attention. That is why God created it.
And when we are in pain and suffering, it is harder for us to
consider this attitude of living for others.
So he reminds us, right
along with the fact that we are serving God and God will indeed
reward us. He reminds us to:
Rejoice in hope -be
patient in suffering.
The two go hand in
hand. Do you know somebody who is suffering who refuses to allow
themselves to feel any hope?
Those kind of people
can appear hopeless. But hope is an emotion, it is a feeling. And
Paul tells us to rejoice in it. We have a gate, a switch that we can
turn on and off. We can choose to allow ourselves to feel hope. His
command is to not only feel it, but to enjoy it, to rejoice in it.
The action is to allow
ourselves to hope again.
I don't quite
understand the mystery in 1 Corinthians 13. But you are all familiar
with the great passage about love. At the end, he says “there
remains three things, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these
is love.”
It is a three legged
stool. It can't stand with either of the other two legs. Without
hope, or faith, love dwindles. It takes hope and faith to give. We
have to trust that God will indeed pay us back.
So, in faith allow
yourselves to hope, and your love will continue. At the same time, if
you are the one who is suffering, be patient. Hope is an emotion,
patience is a choice. Both of them go back to faith and trust that
God is in control.
But keep patience and
hope genuine and sincere. Have we ever, when suffering, have we ever
consoled ourselves with the thought about the one who is causing our
suffering: “in the end, God will judge that person.”
If the is hope that God
will take revenge on them, then we are not living in love and
forgiveness. The correct response is: “God forgave me without
condition, so I will forgive others.
Give both time and
money to others. Give to strangers as well.
Here is another thing
to practice. Giving. It says, share with the saints. Give to brothers
and sisters of the faith, and give to stranger. Membership in the
family of God does have its privileges. When we give, we are invested
in one another. When we are given to, we allow others to invest in
us. Allow yourselves to be a blessing and allow yourselves to receive
blessings.
But he also commands us
to be generous to strangers and unbelievers. There is no way we can
practice love without giving.
The world does have a
different attitude. I knew another man who was a self-described
atheist. I was with him downtown Champaign Illinois when a panhandler
came up to us. I gave the man a dollar and my friend, when his wife
started to give money to the panhandler grabbed her arm, stopped her
and said: “only the rich can afford to be generous.”
God forgive him. Some
of the most generous people I have ever met are also among the
world's poorest. Remember, we cannot out give God.
And the passage about
love ends on the same note it started with:
Bless those who
persecute you and do not curse them in return.
It started with Hate
evil and love Good. And it is the same idea here. At least it is when
we remember that the only actions we can control are our own.
This is the biggest
thing about loving as Jesus loved. Jesus blessed the men who murdered
Him. When He tried to convince the Pharisees and other enemies, He
wasn't trying to show off His knowledge, or puff Himself up by
proving Himself to be right. No. Every encounter, even the ones where
there was confrontation and conflict, Jesus responses and attitudes
were for the welfare of the person He was dealing with.
This is Christian
character. It is a discipline. And when that discipline is practice.
Love is genuine.
Listen. The neat thing
about it is that this is the way Jesus loves us. This is the way
Jesus loves our enemies. This is the way Jesus loves the entire
world.
But focus for a moment
on how Jesus loves you without condition. Mom and I watched “Oh
Brother, Where Art Thou?” again yesterday. When Delmar gets saved
and immediately gets found out in a lie that he had been telling he
quickly says: “Well, Jesus forgave me for the lie, and for the sin
I did that I was lying about.”
We think that it is too
good to be true. But it isn't. Jesus said, “I did not come into the
world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved by
me.”
He makes it easy, and
possible for us to practice this love.
In 1 John 5, we read
about people who are afraid that they may not truly be saved because
they know that they are still not yet perfect. John says, “The
person who fears, has not yet let love perfect them.”
The one who has this
hard time forgiving and loving others is still learning just how
great and marvelous God's grace really is.
Too often, we begin our
Christian journey by faith, but then we forget that we cannot do it
in our strength. And so, we fail, and then we doubt. And the neat
thing is this: Jesus still loves and forgives us.
Do you have that
forgiveness? That Love?
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