Romans 12:9-21 - Love Good Part 2

Good morning. Please open your Bibles with me to Luke 19 vs. 28 and we’ll read together of Christ’s triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem as King.

Luke 19:28–40 (NIV)

28 After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, 30 “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” 32 Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They replied, “The Lord needs it.” 35 They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. 36 As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. 37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

If you’ve grown up in Church you will remember that today is Palm Sunday. Today is the day in the Church calendar where we talk about Jesus riding a colt into the city to the praise of the crowd as we just did.

It’s an important part of the Easter history of Christ.

And I just want to highlight a few things for you from this passage about why it’s important.

Firstly, this passage reveals to us that Jesus was and is God.

He knew things that were impossible to know and commanded authority in a way that no ordinary human being ever could.

This whole business about the colt is striking.

Jesus knows where to find this colt and sends His disciples after it. It’s exactly where He says it would be. He also anticipates the owners objecting to random strangers stealing their animal, which that’s not very God like, right. I mean, we all could anticipate this response. However, what he tells them is striking and not only what he tells them but the fact that it works!

People are going to ask you why you’re stealing the animal, just tell them the Lord needs it.

Now, let me encourage you the next time you’re in Walmart, do not give this a go. Right don’t grab one of the new smokers in the back and try walking out the front door only to be stopped by security. When they stop and you say, “the lord needs.” Don’t expect that to work!

Why, because you’re not God and you’re not Jesus!

Also, I’m not a big animal guy, I don’t know much about horses or donkeys, but the fact that no one as ever ridden this things seems striking to me as well.

Again, I’m not a horse person so I could be wrong about this, but I’m pretty sure animals have to be broke for them to take a rider and not completely loose their minds. That is typically the case, unless the person who gets on your back happens to also be the God of the universe… if he gets on your back, you don’t buck and you quite the stubborn act! You listen and obey.

Now these things are striking, but they don’t seal the deal on Jesus’ identity as King of the Universe for me.

What seals the deal for me is not even the fact that the crowds praise him and confirm the ancient prophecies about the Messiah riding on the back of a colt into Jerusalem to shouts of Hosanna.

Right, I can’t read this passage and not point that out as well. This scene was foretold in Zechariah 9:9

Zechariah 9:9 (NIV)

9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Rejoice people of Jerusalem. Shout the praises of your King! He comes to you riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey!

Church this was penned 500 years before the scene we just read!

But none of these things seal the deal for me. The fulfilled prophecy. The foretelling of the future. The authority to take an animal and ride it as it’s never been ridden. Not even the praise of the crowd.

Crowds are fickle as we’ll see. They don’t truly understand who Jesus is, but Jesus, Jesus is not confused about His identity, and this, this is what seals the deal for me as to Jesus’ identity.

Jesus receives worship. He receives worship not just as a special earthly person, but as God in flesh, the Messiah, King of Heaven. He receives worship as God’s son!

And the people who know the Bible, who understand theology and religion, they see this too! The Pharisees see what is happening! And they rebuke Jesus for receiving worship! They tell Him to silence his disciples to silence the crowds who are worshipping him as not just a King, but the King and God of Heaven and what seals the deal for me is Jesus’ response.

“If these people were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Now folks I need you to understand the weight of this statement.

Rome at this time is a powder keg of political tension. The Jewish people hate being under the authority of Rome and there had been revolts in the past. Others had claimed to be the Messiah. There was even another guy who rode a donkey into the city because they knew the prophecy and then lead an army of Jews against the Empire of the time.

And Rome wasn’t having any of this. Rome prided itself on keeping peace and it did so with an iron rod of violence. Any threat of revolt. Any excitement from any people group was dealt with swiftly and sternly to keep people in line.

And here we see Jesus riding into the city of Jerusalem to shouts and praises as King! He accepts worship as King and says, if he told the people to be silent, then the rocks would cry out!

Does this sound like a man who doesn’t know who He is?

No. Jesus knew who he was. He knows who He is!

He is the God who can give voice to rocks and you say, Levi how do you know that, because He’s also the God who did and does give life to the dead!

This statement here clues us in to the identity of Jesus! He claimed to be God. He did things only God can do like foretelling the future, commanding storms and unbroken animals. He accepted worship as God and said if he silenced the crowd, then he’d give voice to the rocks!

And upon entering the city, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem for not understanding that God had showed up just as He said he would. He then takes authority over his temple and drives the money changers from it’s midst because as He put it, “you have made my Father’s house into a den of robbers!”

This friends is Jesus! His love was sincere. He hated what God declared to be evil and He loved what God declared to be good!

He was and is God. He deserved for even the stones of the earth to worship Him but He was delivered over to the hands of sinful people, beaten, mocked, and hung on a cross.

He deserved worship. He deserves worship. He deserved Honor. He deserves on Honor. Instead we killed Him.

And how did He respond. He responded like we’re commanded to respond in Romans 12.

Rather than demanding loyalty. Jesus was devoted to us sacrificially through love. He never lost His spiritual fervor. He served the Lord to the point of giving up His very own life. He was joyful in hope. Patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Instead of cursing those who cursed Him and hung him upon a tree. He blessed them!

Father forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!

Even though the rocks knew who He was and were eager to declare His praises, He was not proud and was willing to associate with people of a low position. He was counted among the tax collectors and thieves the poor and the prostitutes. He was a friend of sinners.

He did not retaliate when spat upon, when beaten and mocked. He did not seek revenge but instead He committed His Spirit and cause into the Father’s hands upon the cross and with His final breath, he overcame evil with the greatest good by laying down His life and announcing to the world, to the spiritual realm to heaven, hell and hades, that it is finished!

He lived Romans 12 out perfectly and we killed him for it!

And because He refused to be conformed to this world but rather chose to make His life a living sacrifice for God, as He gave up his life, God exalted him to the highest place that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and tongue will confess that He is Lord forever to be praised!

And next week we are going to celebrate the historical fact that this Christ who laid down His life, took it up again 3 days later in victory over sin, death, the devil and the grave!

But that’s next week. This morning, I simply want to circle back to Romans 12 with you again and give you a part 2 to that passage.

I said some hard things last week.

We talked about what it looks like to love sincerely and how that means that our love must correspond to God’s will, meaning that we must in love stand for truth. That we must seek to help others hate evil and cling to the good as God defines it just like Jesus did for us.

I spoke of this in regards to human sexuality and marriage, that we must be a voice of sanity that points people to God’s good and beautiful design for marriage between 1 man and 1 woman for life and that He made them male and female and declared it to be beautiful and good!

I also spoke of how as parents we are called to discipline our children if our love is to be sincere.

We must stand up what is evil and cling to what is good in our parenting.

More specifically I said you should spank your children.

And then I gave you these 4 verse for your reflection and research.

I realize what I said in regards to both these issues on human sexuality and parenting are not popular, but folks it’s what God says! And I want you to see that our Savior stood for these things. He stood for not what the crowds shouted or what the Empires stood for. He stood for God and God’s good truth and the world killed him for it! Jesus didn’t care what was popular. He cared only what His Father said!

That said, I do want to offer a bit of clarification.

I stand by what I said, because I believe what I said is what God says.

These 4 verses command us to discipline our children.

Hebrews specifically implies that if you love your kids you will discipline them and then the 3 Proverbs I’ve given you give you some wisdom on what that discipline could look like. It recommends spanking as a wise and useful tool for correction and training in the Lord.

But here’s what I need you to know.

First, for those who’ve been abused by their parents or guardians, the Lord God of Heaven hates that! Jesus loved little Children and gave severe words to anyone that hurt or lead one of his children astray. He said it would be better to tie a rope around your neck, afix that rope to a boulder and then push that bolder into the sea dragging you down to the bottom than for you to harm or lead one of the little ones astray!

God hates abuse and He does not condone it! Neither do I or the leaders here at Crossroads.

Abuse is wrong and sinful and that’s not what God wants or this Church wants.

If you have anger issues and can’t control your temper, then spanking should not be on the table for you!

So firstly, God hates abuse and wants you to know if you were abused as a child, that was not his desire for you!

So when I recommended spanking to you as a valid and biblical form of discipline I need you to know that abuse is not what I had in mind or what God suggests!

Also, this is not a salvation issue. I do think spanking correctly which I’ll talk about briefly in a minute is biblical although it’s not a necessity. Discipline is the non-negotiable.

In the old testament, did you know that a child could be stoned for ongoing and unrelenting disobedience and rebellion to their parents?

Do you know why that is, because God knows if children don’t learn to live under the earthly authority of their parents, then they’ll never learn to live under His heavenly authority and their rebellion will infect and effect the entire society as a whole.

I’m sure you all remember the recent rioting that happened a year or 2 back. The rioting at the captiol. The rioting in the streets over race. Liberals and Conservatives. The all were rioting at one time or another. You remember.

That my friends is what failed parenting looks like, a generation of children who’ve grown up entitled and have never learned to submit to the authorities God has established in this world for our protection and the curtailment of sin and evil!

Parent’s it is your God given responsibility to discipline your children! It’s not the states job or the Church’s job, this is your job!

And you should discipline in love, never in anger.

You don’t have to spank to discipline, but you are responsible to disciplining and I do believe the Bible presents spanking as wise tool to use.

If you choose to use it.

Here’s what it should look like.

It’s not punishment. It’s loving correction and discipline. So the child needs to understand how they stepped out from under your authority.

We spank in my house for the 3 d’s of discipline: dishonesty, disobedience and disrespect. We don’t do it with our hands, we use a small spatula that Rachel and I need to walk and retrieve for 2 reasons, one we don’t want our children to fear our hands and 2 the time it takes to go get the instrument for discipline gives us time to cool off, to pray and to think through the correctives that we need to offer.

Once we get the spatula. We talk to our kids. Do you know why you’re about to get spanked and they always know. Because we disobeyed, because we were disrespectful. Because we told a lie and were dishonest. Then we paddle them. Usually once or twice. Enough so it stings but not so hard that it leaves a mark. Then we hug them and remind them that we discipline them because we love them and remind them that even though they did whatever they did nothing they ever do will change our love for them.

This Church, is not child abuse. It’s loving, biblical discipline and this is what I meant by what I said last week.

Again, it’s not the only way to discipline, but I do believe it is biblical and it is wise.

Along with this, I recognize that every child is different. If I look at my middle daughter cross, she cries. My sister growing up just grew more defiant if she was spanked and so my parents took tv away or toys away and that was a far more effect means of discipline for her.

You know your children better than I do which means you know how to discipline them better than I do.

All I’m saying and what I believe God says to us through the Scriptures is that we must take great care to ensure that Godly discipline is taking place! The fate of society and the souls of our children depend upon it! Parent’s your love must be sincere. Hate what is evil and cling to what is good!

Now there is one more section of Romans 12 that I didn’t get to spend enough time on last week and that is part about forgiveness and retaliation.

Romans 12:17–21 (NIV)

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On 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.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

How in the world do you and I live like this. When true evil is done against us, how do we just give it to God forget, forgive and bless rather than curse?

Good question. Let’s talk about it.

Here’s what God is asking from us and what He’s not asking from us.

Firstly, God’s not asking us to necessarily forget the offense. Why? Because you can’t even if you try! We cannot rewrite history and it would be a lie to pretend like something evil that happened never happened.

Forgiveness is not forgetting.

And forgiveness doesn’t always restore the friendship. Remember, in as much as it depends upon you, live at peace with all people.

Forgiveness is about your response not the other persons!

And forgiveness is a command for the Christian! This isn’t an option you can choose to follow or not! God expects that you will not retaliate and that you will forgive. Your freedom depends upon it and so does the evidential proof that you are saved!

Saved people forgive because they realize that Jesus forgave them!

That still leaves us with the question how? How to I not retaliate. How do I forgive when true evil is done to me?

I’m going to give you steps.

Step 1, go to Jesus in prayer. This step assumes you know Him, not just as a figure in history like you know that George Washington was president but that you know His character because you know His Scripture and that you have a relationship with Him where you talk to Him and He talks back to you through His Spirit, His Word and the wise counsel of His people.

Go to Jesus in prayer and tell him what happened and how it made you feel! Personally, I have to journal to Jesus. I don’t know why, but that’s how I’ve found I best express my heart to Jesus, is by writing to Him.

It doesn’t matter how you do it, but go to Jesus with the offense. Tell Him what happened and how it made you feel. Good. Bad. Ugly and really really ugly.

Vent to Him about.

Then ask Him to tell you or show you how He feels about it and listen to what you hear in your heart and mind.

Test what you hear against the Bible and what you know of the character of God. Are the thoughts forceful, venomous, condemning or fear inducing? Do they tell you to get even? That’s not the voice of God. But if it’s compassionate, loving, merciful, full of grace and truth. You’re probably hearing from God.

You can always share it with some wise godly people as well and ask them to help you test what you heard.

The point is to talk to Jesus about it. He will give you perspective and comfort.

Step 2.

After you’ve named the offense and talked to God about it, commit to release your right to get even.

I said this last week. Forgiveness is like turning someone over to God’s debt collection agency. Naturally we all want to be the repo service. Someone offends, abuses or hurts us and they incur a debt against us. Then we seek to get even! Pay up! You owe me.

Forgiveness is a choice we make to hand the debt you’re owed over to God.

So pray a prayer like this. God here’s what happened. Here’s how it hurt me. Here’s the debt that I am owed. But Lord, I’m choosing now to release this debt to you. I renounce my bitterness, my resentment and I hand this person over to you! I give you the debt they owe me and ask that you would be the one who collects. I renounce my right or any need to be repaid and I’ll leave this, I’ll leave them to you!

Step three.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 as the hurt resurfaces.

Step 4. Pray blessing.

In your heart, in your head, alone in your car out loud, pray blessing over the one who offend or sinned against you.

I’ve found in my life that it is very hard to harbor bitterness and resentment against a person I’m praying for God to bless.

God bless this persons family. Help them know you. Give them the joy of walking with you. Comfort them. Give them your peace. I pray that their day today is bright and filled with the joy of your presence!

Pray blessing over them.

Step 5. Repeat Steps 1 through 4.

Step 6. Rest in the justice of God.

God is a God of justice. To satisfy justice He was willing to give up His one and only Son. Jesus sacrificed Himself to satisfy His justice and His love.

However evil the evil was that was done to you. God saw it. God sees all and He have justice. Either upon the cross where all your evil and sins were paid for or in the judgement!

Friend, bitterness is the poision you take hoping someone else will drop dead. Release it to the God of justice and love! Rest in His love and His justice!

Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t be overcome by it! Love good! Follow in the footsteps of you savior.

Jesus was God. He deserved the praise and worship of the crowds but chose to hate evil and cling to good rather than seek the approval of man. And in doing so, the crowds turned on Him and Killed him.

But don’t be mistaken, they did not take His life. No one could take the life of God. He gave it up for love so as not to be overcome by evil. No He overcame evil with good!

Let’s us seek to follow in His footsteps!

Pray