Power in the Pulpit | Romans 12:9–21

Introduction: Thank you worship team for leading us in worship this morning. This morning we will be continuing our walk through Romans. If you have a Bible with you, turn to Romans 12. We are going to be looking at verses 9-21. Those of you who aren’t aware, Maynard is a Southern Baptist Church. This means that we give to the cooperative program. The money we give to the cooperative program is split 50/50 between the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and the Southern Baptist Convention. Both use that money to fund many different ministries. One of the things funded by our state convention is collegiate ministry. This pays for Georgia Baptists to have campus ministers and ministries at the Baptist Collegiate Ministries all across the state. When I was in college at Georgia Southern, I was super involved in BCM. I tell people I did well to get out of college with a 3.4 GPA when I majored in BCM but they made me take journalism classes. My junior year, I was president at the Georgia Southern BCM. My senior year I was state president. As state president, I was a member of the executive committee for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. The executive committee is made up of pastors from different regions in the state, local association missions strategists, and different committee heads for different Georgia Baptist organizations. The executive committee meets a few times each year and in September of 2015 I made the trip from Statesboro to Duluth for the meeting. As you would suspect, most of the men there were somewhere between about 45 and 75. And then there was 21 year old Gabe. And in case you were wondering, I didn’t look older then that I do now. I may not have looked younger than I do now, but I certainly didn’t look older either. The entire time I was there people would come up to me and say, “You must be the BCM president.” They didn’t even have to ask. They could just look at me and tell. Shouldn’t it be like that for Christians. Paul certainly thought so. In verses 9-21 of Romans, Paul lays out what the conduct of a believer should be. This comes right on the heels of him saying that we should not be conformed to the ways of this world. In today’s text we will see that if somebody is in Christ, it should be obvious based on their conduct. We will see this in our natural conduct, our conduct towards others, and our response to poor treatment. Would you please stand as we honor the reading of God’s Word.

Romans 12:9-13.

Exposition: Paul starts this section out by saying in verse 9 Romans 12:9 “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” He starts this entire list of what should be part of the Christian code of conduct by saying to let love by genuine. This word genuine means without hypocrisy. How do we love without hypocrisy? I think it’s a good question. I think it means that we don’t pick and chose when we love. It means not setting a standard for others to receive our love that we ourselves can not live up to. It means that we don’t chose to love some people in the family of God a certain way but others differently. We must be consistent in how we show love. The word used for love here is agape. This kind of love is usually used when referring to divine love. To let love be genuine, is to love in the way that God has loved us. God doesn’t wait until we have something in return for him before he loves us. No, He just loves. This is how we are suppose to love.

Exposition: He then goes on to say abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good. This word translated abhor is the strongest word for hate in the Greek language. This seems easy enough, right. We think it’s pretty easy to hate what is evil. Murder, that’s evil. That’s an easy one to hate. Harm that is done to children, that’s easy. But, is that all there is to what is evil? You see, we don’t get to be the ones that decide what is evil. God does. And to God, all sin is evil.

Application: Let me ask you, how bothered are you by sin? Once again, there are certain sins we are all bothered by? I had mentor in New York who use to say that the worst sin is the one we are not committing. One of the dangerous games we play sometimes in The Church is that we pick and chose which sins we are going to be concerned about. There’s the ones that are easy to speak out against. But often times they’re easy because we or nobody we know is actively committing that sin. But when we have to speak out against somebody we know that is caught in this, it becomes easy to look past it. It becomes easy to play the, “Well, there’s worse things that he or she could be doing.” But that’s not the standard. But then we can say, Paul just said to let love be genuine. Correct. And it is not loving to stay quiet when we see a brother or sister caught in sin. We don’t do this with any other area of life. Sometimes life requires us to have tough conversations with people we love because we love them and hate to see them stuck in sin. We know this because Paul offers a better way. Verse 9 ends with Paul saying, “Hold fast to what is good.” When we are living in sin we are living apart from the way that God would have us to live. This phrase translated hold fast means to cling to preserving devotion. Are we devoted to the things that are good. God’s way is better. When believers choose to live contrary to how God would have us to live we not only dishonor his name, we are choosing a way that is not better for us. But when we hold fast to what is good, we not only live a genuine life, we are choosing the better way.

Exposition: Paul then goes on to describe this love and how we are to show it even more. He says in verse 10 Romans 12:10 “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” This brother love can also be thought of as family affection. Paul is calling those that are a part of the church at Rome to care for one another in the way that a family would care for its members. Paul goes so far to say that they should outdo one another in showing honor. Paul uses similar language in his letter to the church at Philippi when he writes Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Paul is calling the believers to care so deeply for one another that they would rather that person receive more honor than themselves.

Application: Brothers and sisters, this is how a church should operate. We should never be looking for the credit. We should never be looking for prestige. We shouldn’t even look to see what a person has done for us. No, we should look to make ourselves less and our fellow brothers and sisters greater because that is what a family does.

Exposition: Paul goes on to say in verse 11, Romans 12:11 “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Paul then turns his attention to one’s attitude towards being a part of the family of God. He says to not be slothful in zeal. This word zeal is one’s eagerness and diligence. This is contrasted with the next thing Paul says. He says to be fervent in spirit. To be fervent is to be excited. It carries with it the connotation of something glowing. The Revised Standard Version translates this phrase, be aglow with the Spirit.”

Application: Let me ask you, what is your attitude towards the things of God. How do you act towards the idea or the action of studying God’s Word. Do you rejoice at the opportunity. Are you excited that you get to live somewhere that unhindered you can study God’s Word. Or do you barely open your Bible outside of Church. Are you a person of prayer? Do you pray with intention, do you pray with and for other people? Or is prayer something you slothfully let go to the back burner. What about your attitude towards coming to church. Do you look forward to gathering with other believers? Or do you look for reasons why you can’t make it that week. Do you find it easy to justify only showing up in person a few times each week. Let me sum up all these questions this way. Can people look at your life and tell you are a follower of Jesus Christ because you are excited about the things of God? Or do they just maybe know that you go to church every so often. Paul then states to serve the Lord. My guess is that serving the Lord is an outcome of whichever one of these attitudes is what dictates our lives. I have a feeling that if we are not excited for the things of God. If we are not glowing as believers then we probably aren’t serving the Lord. But if we are, maybe it’s not the Lord we are serving, but ourselves or others.

Exposition: But attitude changes don’t happen just because somebody tells you to. Those of you are married, how many of you have ever truly changed your attitude, at least on the inside because your spouse told you you were in a bad mood. Like, that doesn’t happen does it. You’re not all the sudden in a good mood. No, you have to begin to see the reasons why you should be in a good mood. And we have that. Paul writes in verse 12 Romans 12:12 “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” We can have this good attitude because of the hope we have in Christ. We can look at what Christ has done for us and what is to come in the promise of heaven and live with hope. But we aren’t just to do that in the normal day to day of life. We are to do that as well in the the struggles of life. After telling us to rejoice in hope, Paul says to be patient in tribulation. The word translated be patient is probably better translated endure. Paul doesn’t say to endure if there is tribulation. He says it as if it is a forgone conclusion. It is. Troubles will happen in this world. This world is broken, and we are constantly reminded of that. But we have two things on our side. We have the hope of what is to come. But we also have prayer. We fight our battles through prayer. Paul says to be constant in prayer.

Application:How often when we face our trials to do we just kind of complain. But we have the God of the Universe who listens to our prayers. There are very few of us who would say that we don’t believe in the power of prayer. But I imagine there are few of us who spend more than a few minutes each day in prayer. If we are going to be a Godly people, we must be a praying people.

Exposition: Paul then ends the section by saying in verse 13 Romans 12:13 “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” The way that Paul words this is not encouraging people to begrudgingly give. He says it like it is an opportunity to give. It is a blessing to be able to help others in need. How often do we spend money we regret spending. In theses instances it is a chance to contribute to somebody in need. If you are a guest here this morning. I want you to know that you are at a church that lives out what Paul says here. You are amongst a generous people who so often come to help those in need. Paul also writes that we should seek to show hospitality.

Explanation: In this time period when people travelled it took a while. Paying to stay places on the road could be expensive and/or dangerous. It would be of great benefit to a traveller to be taken into their home. As Christians our homes should be available to those that we know in need. If somebody within our church body was on hard times, would your home be open for them to come stay?

Transition: What Paul gives us in verses 9-13 are things that are based on almost nothing but what we do. It’s whether or not we are going to do it. But as Paul continues to write, things get a lot messier. Because Paul then begins to bring up how we should act when we are being mistreated or when our own egos are threatened.

Exposition: Paul writes in verse 14 Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” Paul here is echoing what Jesus said in the Beatitueds at the beginning of the sermon on the mount. We read in Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” How do we respond when we are persecuted.

Application: I am not going to stand here today and pretend like we know persecution like our brothers and sisters in other countries, but there is no doubt that at a societal level many of the things we believe in are under attack. How do we respond when that happens. Are we willing to bless those who persecute us in this way? Or do we take the bait. Do we take the bait and respond in a way that further distances us from those that persecute us. In those moments do we show Christ, or do we show a mirror.

Exposition:Paul goes on. He says in verse 15 Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Do we share in the feelings of others. The stoicism that was found throughout Roman society taught that one was to distance his or herself from emotion. Paul says it is the opposite. When somebody rejoices, we should rejoice with them. But when they weep, we should weep with them.

Application: There are two natural reactions we often have when we see somebody weeping. Often times we will distance ourselves from them, either intentionally or unintentionally. Maybe we say, “I’m just trying to give them space.” Another thing we do is we try to say things that we mean as a way of comfort, but they are in times where comfort may not be possible. When somebody loses a loved one we try and remind them that the person is in heaven. And this comes from a place of good intentions. But sometimes people are just sad. And sometimes we just need to be there to weep with them.

Exposition: Paul goes on to say in verse 16 Romans 12:16 “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.” This entire verse is something that unfortunately churches often gain the reputation for doing the opposite. Paul was writing to the church in Rome. This church was predominantly Jewish most likely, but would have had a number of gentiles who had come to know Christ as well. There would have been a tendency for disagreements. Paul writes at the beginning of this verse to live in harmony with one another. There are too many people that wear being a pot stirrer as a badge of honor. They act like they’re just not afraid to say what needs to be said. But they say what they say in ways that are unproductive. Maybe they wait until they are in group settings to where everybody can hear them. Or maybe they go and tell other people things without ever finding the person they are upset with and just talking to them about it. Maybe you aren’t the person that does this, but maybe you sure like to listen. This breeds disunity. We should not be doing things that cause conflict. That doesn’t mean not addressing issues, it just means addressing them in a way that will lead to unity. He then goes on to say, do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

Application: If you ever start a sentence off with, “With all I’ve done,” or, “with all I’ve done, you are not doing what Paul speaks of here. If you have ever said, “I give this much to the church,” you are not doing what Paul speaks of here. If you have ever said, “My family has been around for this long,” then you are not doing what Paul speaks of here. Whenever we begin to act as if we are owed something, we have become haughty.

Exposition: Paul then goes on to take it one step further. We shouldn’t just not be haughty. He also says we should associate with the lowly. What is the lowly? I think it would just be those that others do not want to associate with. This could be because of racial prejudice, it could be because the person is in a lower socioeconomic status. It could just be because the person is different. But we have been called to associate with whoever is the lowly in our context. It could be associating with a sinner outside the family of God who knows our disapproval of their sin but knows that we love them because God loves them. There is nothing more damaging to the name of Christ, than when his people are not welcoming to all people. It also says, never be wise in your own sight.

Application: Paul is saying to not always feel like you have to be the smartest guy in the room. Don’t act like you know more than anybody else. We all know we don’t like one of those people when we see them. But what we have a much harder time recognizing, is when we are that person. Don’t be the kind of person who feels like he or she always has a better way of doing things. DOn’t be the person that complains about how everybody else does things. Don’t be the person that always has to add on to something somebody else says. But also be willing to listen when somebody offers advice or correction. Be humble enough to hear what others have to say.

Transition: I said that things got messy in verses 14-17. But then the situation gets even messier because it starts involve the idea of when things are so bad we want to get someone back.

Romans 12:18-21.

Exposition: Paul writes in verse 18 Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” We don’t just need to try and have harmony with those that are a part of our church family. We need to have harmony with everyone. Now Paul is clear this will not always be possible.

Application: I think the gender ideology that has infiltrated Western society is one of the most dangerous things to ever happen. I don’t think there is a way to live peaceably with those that fight for school aged children to be taught they may be the opposite gender than what they are born. There are times where we must stand against the dangerous ideologies that infiltrate society. But what we should never look like we are antagonists. We should never be a people that are looking for a battle to fight. And if we are able, we must respond kindly to those that oppose our world view. How we respond in moments of conflict say a lot of how faithful we are in walking with Christ. We also see this in how we respond when we are wronged.

Exposition: In verse 19 Paul says Romans 12:19 “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.”” So often when we are wronged, we feel that we need to get even. We feel that we need to make things right. But Paul says that is not our business. He cites from the book of Deuteronomy where God says Vengeance is his. We are to trust that God is in control.

Application: Many of us will never find ourselves in a situation where we need to get even with violence. But when somebody has embarrassed us or hurt us, do we ever try to get even with our words? Do we ever feel like we need to say something to put somebody else down if they have put us down. How often do arguments escalate in this way to the point that relationships are ruined or we also begin to look like the bad guy. We need to trust that God is righteous in his judgements.

Exposition: Paul takes it one step further. He quotes from Proverbs in verse 20 where we read Romans 12:20 “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.”” We aren’t just not to response in vengeance, we are to do good to those that wronged us. What world does this make sense, right? What world does it make sense for us to help those that are our enemies. When we are nice to somebody. When we respond in kind to somebody that treats us poorly, we are only confirming what they wish to be true about us. We are ultimately giving them what they want. But when help them, we take away the narrative they want to be true. We take the main thing they pleasure in that situation.

Exposition: Paul closes out this section with verse 21 Romans 12:21 “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” If we stoop down to the level of the evil done by others, what good does that do. If we fight back against the evil ideologies in our society with name calling and poking fun. If we fight back by misrepresenting ideas, what good is that? We have only become the very thing we are fighting against. As Christians we must show there is a better way. It is not enough just to get a victory for the sake of the victory. We must get the victory for the sake of God’s Kingdom. We will not win the battle for truth with malice. We will only win it with truth and grace. We will not win based on the satisfaction of getting even, we will only win when we show who Jesus is to people who need to hear that.

Conclusion: How does a Christian act? That’s kind of where we began. I think what we must find is that we don’t aim to act like Christians. Our goal should be to act like Christ. The example of everything we talked about today is Christ. Christ loved perfectly. He was sinless and hated sin, but did good. He served the Lord up unto the point of death. He talked about the place he was building and he prayed for those who placed him on the cross. He associated with those nobody else in society would. He didn’t fight back, even when he was struck in a sham trial. But he was not afraid of conflict. But he didn’t seek to do evil. He overcome the effects of sin by death on the cross. And he arose again. The true marks of a Christian is to look like Christ. But maybe you struggle to look like Christ. Maybe you wonder if you can even be here because you don’t look like Christ. My friend, there is grace. God knew that this was a standard we could not uphold perfectly so he sent Jesus to live perfectly and to die on a cross for the sins we committed. And then he rose again securing eternal life for all that believe. If this morning you are ready to place your faith in Jesus, come down and pray with me when we are done. Maybe the Spirit is convicting you of something. Come down and pray. If there is business you need to do with God, don’t let the moment pass.