Love Changes Everything

Jack Kelley, a reporter from USA Today tells the story of a trip to East Africa in which he was taught a very valuable lesson. He was in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, to cover a terrible famine. It was so bad that as he walked toward the village he saw many people already lying on the ground dead. In his retelling of the story he recalls how the smell of death is something that gets into your hair, onto your skin, onto your clothes, and can’t be washed off.

As he made his way down the road he came across a little boy. He could tell that the boy had worms and was malnourished; his stomach was protruding. His hair had turned a reddish color and his skin had wrinkled as if he were 100 years old, both signs of malnourishment.

The photographer who was traveling with the reporter had a grapefruit which he gave to the boy. But the boy was so weak that he couldn’t hold the whole grapefruit for himself. And so they cut the grapefruit in half and gave it to him. He took the grapefruit, looked up at the two men as if to say “thank you” and began to walk back towards his village. What the little boy didn’t realize was that the photographer and reporter were following at a distance.

As he entered the village, there was another little boy who looked to be dead. His eyes were completely glazed over. As it turned out, this was his younger brother.

The older brother kneeled down next to his younger brother, bit off a piece of the grapefruit and chewed it. Then he opened up his younger brother’s mouth, put the grapefruit in, and worked his brother’s jaw up and down. The reporter and photographer later learned that the older brother had been doing that for the younger brother for two weeks.

A couple days later the older brother died of malnutrition, and the younger brother lived. I wonder if this is what Jesus meant when he said, "There is no greater love than to lay down our life for somebody else." Love changes everything. It changes our hearts and causes us to do things for others that we would never have done before.

Love Changes Our Actions

We live in a world that is disengaged from each other. A world that ignores one another. We live in a world that has been described as a “dog-eat” world, where to the victor goes the spoils.

And yet, We are called to another type of love

Romans 12:14–15 ESV

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Love in the World (vv. 14-21)

The world, says Chuck Swindoll, is characterized by

Indifference, non-commitment, disengagement, no sharing or caring … meals eaten with hi-fi headsets turned up loud, even separate bedrooms, each with a personal telephone, TV, and turntable, private toilet, and an it’s none-of-your-business attitude. No hassle … no conflict … no accountability. No need to share. Or reach out. Or give a rip. Just watch the numbers and look at nobody.

And yet, we are called to see the world around us, to ‘give a rip” about those God has put us into community with, even those who persecute us.

As Christians, we are to be aware of the hurts and needs around us and to

“rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep.”

In a world of cold separation we are to be as those who walk among the world and love it.

Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Love in the World (vv. 14-21)

George Fox, the great Quaker, recorded this prayer in his diary:

I prayed to God that He would baptize my heart into all conditions so I might be able to enter the needs and conditions of all

That’s what it means to love. To be able to “enter the needs and conditions of all.”

The Christian is called to rejoice when they rejoice, not pray for their suffering.

The Christian is called to weep with those who weep. Not celebrate the tragedy of another. How many times do we get glee out of our enemies, politically, socially, or just that neighbor who is mean to us, “getting what they deserve”?

Too often we are just worried about ourselves, but a Church that will impact the lostness around it is engaged. It’s engaged with the needs of its community. It’s engaged in the needs of its body.

AWARE is a key term we need to see. We are placed into the world to be a blessing to the world.

Let me ask you a question, “Tomorrow if this church ceased to exist, would this community care?”

Love Changes Our Minds

It’s this kind of love that leads to a changed mind. V. 16 says this:

Romans 12:16 ESV

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

The words live in harmony with one another are actually accurately translated “be of one mind with’. God is calling us to have minds that are changed from a us vs. them mentality to a mind that sees people where they are and loves them.

One of the most tragic problems we have in our nation today is the massive increase in deaths due to drugs, alcohol or suicide. In the 2017 the Well Being Initiative reported that alcohol, drug, and suicide deaths accounted for 55,403 deaths per year. By 2020 that number increased to 186,763 deaths associated with alcohol, drugs or suicide.

This trend coincides with the increasing sense of loneliness that Americans, particularly among the younger demographic. Overall national loneliness score was alarmingly high at 44 on a 20-to-80 scale, but the prevalence of social isolation among those ages 18 to 22 at 48.

As Christians we are called to do three things in v. 16: Live in harmony, associate with the lowly, don’t be arrogant.

Verses 14–16 call for a caring heart which is vulnerable to the world. A Christian who is elitist, who only associates with people of the same intellectual or academic or professional interests, is not living up to what the Scripture mandates. We are to have a heart open to the world. We are to pray for those who persecute us, to enter others’ joys and sorrows, to associate with everyone regardless of their station in life. What a way to go after the world

We are to love the lowly

Love Changes Our Focus

Finally love changes our focus.

Romans 12:17–21 ESV

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Paul’s call is for us to relate to persecution, not in the way the world does, but in blessing and rejoicing.

This is a radical departure from the way the world responds to persecution. We live in a world that values retribution.

We have political parties seeking retribution against opponents, descendants seeking retribution against wrongs done in the past, neighbors seeking retribution against neighbors.

And yet the Bible is radical in its call to love. Not only does it say, “Don’t do unto others before they can do unto you” Paul says, “Bless those who persecute you.”

Don’t do it by lip service, or begrudgingly. We are to bless instead of cursing: We are to pray that God would be with them and give them his grace instead of calling down his judgment. We aren’t to seek to avenge ourselves, but to leave that vengence to the Lord. In the words of Paul, we are to “overcome evil with good.”

We do this by as Paul says in v. 18

Romans 12:18 ESV

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

This means we are to seek peace. This doesn’t mean we don’t stand on the truth, nor speak boldly the gospel, but it does mean we don’t seek conflict for conflicts sake.

Paul’s Letter to the Romans 4. Responding to Hostile People and Their Hostile Acts, 12:17–21

Similar instructions are found in 1 Peter as well:

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us’. (1 Pet 2:12)

For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. (1 Pet 2:15)

Keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. (1 Pet 3:16)

Such instructions not only draw upon Proverbs 3:4 (LXX) but also reflect the teaching of Jesus himself: ‘In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven’ (Matt. 5:16). All this suggests that when Paul speaks about doing ‘what is right in the eyes of everyone’, he is not suggesting that believers should simply let their behavior be determined by public opinion, but that under God they should be careful not to offend outsiders unnecessarily.

When we respond to the world like this, the Bible says

Romans 12:19–20 ESV

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Is this a call to “get the world” by being good. No, it means simply that by living in a way that is contrary to the retaliatory nature of man we bring embarassment to those who would persecute us as they are shamed by our godly response to their persecution. As Christians we love our enemies and treat them as Christ. Jesus was sharp in his critique, but the end result was also pointed towards love and reconciliation. As Christian, our conduct is to be such that people see in the face of their criticism, and persecution our

Matthew 5:16 ESV

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

So what about you? How do you respond to the world. As Christians, our calling is to boldly and lovingly address sin in a way that leads people back to God.

So what does this look like? It looks like Christians serving the mother thinking about abortion and giving her clothing for she and her baby while we boldly preach the evil of abortion.

It looks like lovingly helping those with identity issues realize their identity is in Christ and he created them for his Glory and their joy and to joyfully embrace themselves as Christ made them.

It looks like inviting the gay couple to our homes and our churches where they can hear the life-giving gospel and repent of their sin and embrace God’s plan for marriage and sexuality.

It looks like giving the release felon work and encouraging them in community to not steal but to honor God. Or the husband caught in sexual sin, or the wife in adultery.

It looks like loving people in their sins and pointing