Sermon (10-Sep): "Let's Try Love" Romans 13:8-10

Bible Passage:

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Objective:

The objective of this message is to listen and employ the words of the Apostle Paul as he reminds us about the importance of love

Introduction:

- I believe we all can agree that the Paul and Jesus had a special relationship that dates back to the road to Damascus

- From the very beginning, evidently, God saw something in Paul that He could use

- Paul would be the ONE used to lay down the NT church template (Acts 13:49)

- His template for the church and Gentile believers would center on grace by faith, loving God with your life and walking in love as a believer

- Paul never wants us to forget the practical applications of the Christian faith—specifically love

- Have you tried Love?

- One church, One melting pot, Various Backgrounds

- Love is God’s Idea

- Love is What we Do in Response to What Christ Did

1) Me - Have you tried Love?

-- The Story of Me

- 3rd Born (Last Born, Only Boy)

- Our family had a definition of love but not the biblical definition of love

- Strings were attached that weren’t always spoken

- One of the strongest words I heard during my teenage years, “Unlearn”

- I had to unlearn what I had been taught and learn God’s way (1 Cor 12:31) 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

2) We - One church, One melting pot, Various Backgrounds

-- What template were you given?

- One thing that we should all should love about the church is that it is made up of people—from different backgrounds/upbringing

- We can appreciate different perspectives, viewpoints and convictions

- On the flipside, what causes the most conflict in the church? In the world? People and their viewpoints

- For the most part, we tolerate our differencesrather than celebrate our differences

- All of us come from a family that had some level of dysfunction in it—some had more while some had less

- The only way the church truly becomes the church when we celebrate our differences and what each person brings to the table

- What’s the connecting point for us to celebrate our differences? It’s respect and love

- So, before Paul jumps into the concept of love in 1 Corinthians 13, he talks about showing this “most excellent way”

3) God - Love Was/is God’s Idea

8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

-- Paul says so simply what God says so loudly

- The idea of debt is unsettling to a lot of people; did you know that,

“More than a third of Americans say they would be embarrassed to let others know that they are not paying off their credit card debt in full every month, more than 40 percent say they believe they will be judged by family and friends because of credit card debt. The surprising thing is that Americans' average credit card debt is $15,355…An executive for the firm that completed the survey said, "It's no surprise that shame about debt isn't necessarily productive in preventing or eradicating it. … Shame doesn't guarantee success. The only way to pay off debt is to face it head on and make a plan to get rid of it." - Paul Ausick, "Americans Are Ashamed to Admit Credit Card Debt," 24/7 Wall Street blog (1-19-16)

- But, God says when it comes to love, there should be the “continuing debt to love one another”

- Why does God through Paul call it a “continuing debt?” Answer…that’s the way of the cross—the way of Christ

- Christ’s sacrifice was once for all time but it covers all time

- In a way, when we love, we are remembering Christ and we are fulfilling the law; Aurelius Augustine (Leadership, Vol. 10, no. 4) put it this way,

“Disturbers are to be rebuked, the low-spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, and all are to be loved.”

- We are all indebted to love others whether we consider ourselves OT or NT saints; the Law and fulfilling it is about loving one another

- You nor I nor any of the best poets or authors could have imagined love the way that God did

- We imagine love simply as a feeling; God sees it deeper than that—He sees it as a behavior and a way of life (SLIDE)

1 John 4:11 - 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:19 - 19 We love because he first loved us.

- In God’s mind, it’s not a debt in the financial sense; it’s opheilo or be “under any obligation (ought, must, should)” regardless of how we feel

4) You – Love is What we Do in Response to What Christ Did

John 15:12 - 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

-- Christ showed us the way!

- This side of heaven, none of us will get love right but receiving Christ and the Holy Spirit opens the best possibility /opportunity for us to love rightly

- Old Testament wise, the Law showed us how we could never please God on our own

- The root of the Law is love; it was never about the 600 plus rules within

- It was about what was within us and what He can do in and through us

- Pride infuriates God because it reminds Him of Satan and champions the idea that we can live life without Him

- So, the better, biblical way to live is to know that apart from Him; we can do nothing

5) We – Let’s Try Love!

- Imagine if you can, that the world has decided to try love

- Imagine if instead of responding in and of ourselves, we decided to put on love…not be a doormat but to take the extra step and PUT ON LOVE

Colossians 3:12-14 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

- How revolutionary a concept that would be!

- Christ came to save us from our sins and to fulfill the law

- Also, he came to relieve the burden of the law so that we would only be “obligated” to love

- Think about what Paul mentions, “adultery, murder, stealing, bearing false witness (lying), coveting;” love for God and our neighbor is the answer to the commandments

- Abiding in love shows we are loving our neighbor and not harming our neighbor

CLOSING: All this shows that we are all equally, contributing members destined to fortify God’s Church

-- One Body, Many Parts, Living for One God, One Kingdom

- God calls us out individually and separately to transform us to be stronger “members” of the body

- This answers the question of “How should those who have received God’s grace respond in their everyday lives?”

- Through the sacrifice of our bodies, the renewing of our minds, sober (sound) thinking, and devoted use of our God-given abilities and gifts; we’ll impact the church and the world

Christianity is not one ideology over against other ideologies. It is a life inspired by the Holy Spirit. Its victories are nothing but victories over itself, not over others. It propagates itself through humility and self-examination, not through triumphs.

- Paul Tournier, The Whole Person in a Broken World. Christianity Today, Vol. 29, no. 18.