Marks of Faith

Romans 12:9–21 NRSV

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 No, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

These last few weeks, we’ve considered what it means to stay true to one another, even when we have differences. We’ve looked at what it means to delight in all we share and encourage one another on as we participate in this ongoing rhythm of life — gathering and sending, gathering and sending, telling the stories of God’s faithfulness and then going out into our days to see God’s goodness, and then gather and tell about it and be sent out to do it again.

You get the picture?

Now, as we move into a new month, a new season of life together, we are going to shift towards looking at some of the practical life-plans and frameworks that we need to maintain this life. Just saying we’ll stick together and honor what we share with one another is good…but sometimes we need a little more of the “how to” of faith. What are markers that identify a faithful follower of Jesus? What are indicators of faith? Is spiritual growth measurable? If so, in what ways are we working this out and moving along in the journey?

Today’s text jumps us from Hebrews to the book of Romans, one of the key theological expositions from Paul’s writings in the New Testament. Paul spends the first 11 chapters of the letter arguing for the wide, inclusive way of the Kingdom of God which includes Jews AND Gentiles, all participants in this way of life. The dividers we once were built are being broken down. We are one: in Christ. It is through Jesus Christ that all are reconciled to God and this diverse community of people is able to call themselves ONE.

Therefore. Paul begins Romans 12:1 this way:

Romans 12:1 NRSV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Therefore, now that we have this common family, all knit together through Christ, therefore…now what?

Now what? Bring your whole self in worship and offer your whole self to God — this is worship.

But again, with this directive, we don’t have the particulars that help us understand how this is done.

Offer yourself as a sacrifice? What does that even mean? Early Christians and modern Christians alike wrestle with this statement. This is why I find our text today so helpful: it lays out what kinds of attitudes and ethics and particular ways of being that we can work towards — these are how we offer ourselves in worship.

Today, I want to parse through them, individually, and have us consider…what does this mean for me? Us? Our community and how we engage with the broader world. How we care for each other AND care for the orphaned, the widow, and the stranger.

I would invite you to think of practical ways these teachings “hit” you, as well.

For instance, the first statement goes like this: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good.”

Do you hear the call to honesty and transparency here? Let your loves, the way you love God, neighbor, stranger, and yourself — let it be true, authentic. Sincere.

Are we sincere? Are we genuine? Are we able to boldly “hate” what is evil, resting in the profound goodness of what is just, true, righteous?

This is where we start.

Next, “love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”

How might we do this? My seminary professor, in speaking about love, defined love as the mutual giving and receiving of pleasure. Obviously, there’s a physical, sexual dimension to that definition that speaks of intimacy between people. But isn’t love, in all its forms, pleasurable? I mean, how we love one another should lead us to delighting in one another. I can say “I love you” in how I treat someone. It’s about how I seek their well-being and wholeness, alongside my one, for our mutual flourishing. We champion one another. We celebrate one another, we hold hope for the goodness of each other’s lives AND we make efforts to encourage this goodness for others.

Here we move on and are instructed to “not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

This boldness, this courage to serve God with a full spirit, this emerges out of rightly ordering how we love and seek that mutual flourishing of all. That kind of love, that kind of relationship building, in our context and in the world: it is not a simple, light task, but rather what we call a “labor of love.” We “work” at this with zeal, energy, imagination, spirit alive. We do not settle for mediocrity in how we care for and serve with one another. We could even say that this kind of life is worth fighting for. Perhaps we must fight for our love, fight for each others’ needs. Maybe not in outright conflict, but with passion and earnestness, serving God and loving one another.

We can only do this, then, by learning to “rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” How do we sustain this fight, this work, this labor? We find ways to celebrate what brings hope. We find the good, even in the mess of all the bad, and we rejoice in it. We will not be held down by all the burdens of our lives…we will boldly rejoice, even amidst the tears. And that is the patience in suffering we need, too. Suffering may last a long time. Patience and steadfastness are essential for those who walk this way together. And hope and patience are sustained through faithful, persevering prayer. Elsewhere in his writings, Paul reminds us to pray without ceasing. This is the perseverance in prayer — a constant breath in and breath out of reliance upon God’s Spirit, a trust in God’s presence in all circumstances. We keep that connection going so that we can be bold in our hopeful rejoicing and patient through the ongoing suffering we must endure.

As we round out the first paragraph of directions, we hear this: “contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”

You might be asking, who do all of these directives apply to? Who is my neighbor?

First, caring for the needs of the saints: that’s all y’all, looking after each other. Care for each others’ needs. You need to let us know what you need and we need to be willing to help in ways we can.

But then, remember, this doesn’t only apply to the ones we like or the ones nearest to us. The next statement reminds us that along with caring for the saints, we are to extend hospitality to strangers. That’s right, welcoming all people with loving hospitality. Saying and truly acting upon this reality: you are welcome here. You don’t have to have it all put together, you don’t need to be a saint. What we’re here to do is welcome you, make sure you know you’re safe, and then invite you along on this same journey of growth into disciples of Jesus, with us. Come on in, learn what it means to be a sinner who is also called a saint, which, of course, means us and how we become followers of Jesus, too.

It goes on. These ways of orienting our lives.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

How countercultural is this? Think quickly: who bugs you, who has it out for you, who do you seem to always be in conflict with? How might we bless them? How might we see their pain for what it is and help them? Not shying away, not ignoring, but actively blessing them. Perhaps we have to do this together, with one another, because 1 on 1 connecting with a persecutor may not be safe or wise. But together, can we bless those who hurt us?

We rejoice and celebrate with each other when it’s appropriate — which is often.

We weep and mourn with those who weep when it’s appropriate — which is also often.

In all of this, we learn a new harmony, a new song together. We live in harmony with one another, not thinking of ourselves as any better or worse than the other, but associating with each other across cultural lines that separate us.

In this congregation, we have people who are financially successful or who hold important jobs and civic positions. We have educated, thoughtful, accomplished people here. AND, in this congregation, we are also surrounded by people who are struggling, whether it be with having enough to pay rent or struggling to find a job or dealing with a chronic illness that makes their lives more difficult.

The point is not to say — some have position and privilege while others do not! NO. Rather, what we do as followers of Jesus is we live in harmony with ALL of the people. Not just the Elder. Not just the longtime member. But also with the ones among us who are weaker or who lack the means we have. In our structure, we are challenged and encouraged to welcome into members AND leadership people from all demographics, races, sexual orientations, etc., etc. I can say from personal experience that this kind of diversity and inclusion makes us stronger and healthier. And we must protect and uphold this ethic. If it helps you to remember, then “associate with the lowly.” Or, it could be said, “boldly serve beside the rich man and the widow” without assumption, without judgement, and with full hope that we can learn from one another.

Do not claim to be wiser than you are. Yeah, I hope we get that. For one, we don’t call ourselves wise. And also, we are all learning, all seeking wisdom. Perhaps we need to stop pursuing it and, instead, look for it where it already resides: friends, wisdom is here, in these pews…look for it, and when you find it, sit at those people’s feet and learn from them.

IN all of this, we don’t seek vengence when we’re wronged or repay someone for how they hurt us. No, we forgive, we turn the other cheek, we trust that the punishment or restoration that someone needs will be called into the light by God. So leave in peace, as much as you can.

Anyone have enemies? Again, those people who you just can’t stand or who are opposed to you? Seems like we need to be reminded, even in just this one text — what are we to do with enemies? Love them, feed them, offer them a drink. You’re probably gonna drive them a little mad by doing this, but we are not swayed by this. Love, freely, even those who persecute you and stand at odds with you.

In summary, overcome this evil with good.

This is where our lights shine. This is where the way of Jesus meets our lived experience. We love boldly and extend grace boldly and, in doing so, supplant evil’s hold on our lives. Evil can be overcome. It takes passion, zeal, fervant commitment. It takes people loving one another well, mutually, wholly.

Light shines in the darkness…we know. And…the darkness cannot overcome it.

You might be saying, wow, that’s a lot, I’m not sure I can keep that up.

Friends, we don’t do this on our own strength. No. We learn to love together. Jesus equips us through how we love and care for one another. Do you need a practical example? When we hear joys and concerns in a moment, remember that this is the space to listen and then practically support another person here and now. Through prayer, of course, but also…what if you could actually help? We mentioned a few weeks back that a person in our congregation needs a car to drive to work. Here is where you come in — weep with them, celebrate with them, see what ways you can help out. It’s things like this, here, now practically, that we do as people who bear these marks of faith.

This is the way of Jesus. As our closing hymn this morning will remind us, we are summoned by Jesus, called to come and follow into this way of love.

Amen.

Life plans

Goals

Orienting ourselves towards what marks of faith (and growth) look like.