Motives for Service

Romans 12:9-21

Why do you serve God or do whatever good deeds and good works that you do? According to the “About Catholics” team, who maintain the Catholic website AboutCatholics.com, the following logic and motive applies to why we should do good works (which they call “positive actions”).

God wills for each and every one of us to be good.

The fewer negative actions we perform the more we remain in friendship with God.

Therefore, the more positive actions we perform the more we remain in friendship with God.

Hence the more good works we perform the more we remain in friendship with God.

Do you agree? Do you perform positive actions in order to remain in friendship with God and to prevent yourself from falling out of friendship with God?

According to Romans 1-11 (the larger, first half of this book), we learn that God though every person is a sinner who by nature rejects and suppresses the truth about God, God’s love is so extraordinary that he himself became our Savior – living the life we could not live and dying the death that we deserved to die, doing all of this for our benefit and in our place. Because of this incredible, loving sacrifice, which Paul calls “the gift of God” (Rom 6:23), by God for us, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom 10:13).

This gift of salvation is both complete and permanent. The moment we believe on Christ as God for salvation, he completely forgives our sin and places us into a permanent relationship with him. Therefore, we first (1) cannot form or maintain a close relationship with God by doing positive actions, nor can we (2) erase or lose a close relationship with God by doing negative actions.

Two weeks ago, we learned from Rom 12:1-2 that the proper response to God’s incredible work of love and sacrifice to give us salvation is not to “do good works to remain in friendship with God,” but is instead to “offer up our lives to God as a living sacrifice.” In other words, we should not do good works of service to God and for others with the motive of keeping or preserving our relationship with God. Instead, since we recognize that God has done everything for us through Christ so that we can therefore earn or merit anything from him, then we must respond to such extravagant, undeserved love by serving him with the motive of appreciation and love – not to maintain or merit his favor but to display and return whatever love we can out of gratitude and honor.

Last week, we learned from Rom 12:3-8 that God not only saves us from our sins and gives us a close and permanent relationship with him, but he also gives us each diverse, personalized abilities to serve him and others in especially effective ways. These abilities include: ministry, teaching, exhortation; generosity, administration, and mercy. Such God-given abilities should bring us together as a church who is committed to serving God, serving one another, and serving our community together for God. What’s more, they should cause us to be humble, recognizing how greatly we need to rely upon one another to be effective in service and to become more like Christ.

So now, in the rest of this chapter (Rom 12:9-21), Paul makes clear that our primary, driving, underlying motive for serving God and others as living sacrifices must be love. Said another way, the key test of whether or not you are offering up your life to God as a living sacrifice in response to his ultimate sacrifice is that you are exhibiting an evident, genuine love through your life and service.

“Love of others – love especially of enemies – is a key test of the reality of a living sacrifice.” (Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier).

Rom 12:9-21 resembles 1 Cor 13, Paul’s famous chapter on love.

“In 1 Corinthians [love] is a higher value than spiritual gifts (which were being used carnally), and in Romans it is a higher value than retaliating against those who persecute you.” (Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier)

So, does genuine, genuine Christian love motivate you in a life of sacrificial service to God? Let’s hear how God teaches us to answer that question – by seeing how God describes the evidences of genuine love in a life a Christian service.

Genuine love should motivate our service to others.

LET LOVE BE WITHOUT HYPOCRISY. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality…

This passage (Rom 12:9-21) features three main statements or commands. Though the passage mentions many actions, most of them are written as participles or, in other words, as secondary and supporting actions and concepts which further describe and portray the main action verb or command given first. These three main action verbs or commands are as follows:

Express love, but not in a hypocritical way.

Bless other people, esp. those who mistreat you.

Do not make yourself the number one focus.

Let’s focus on the first evidence of genuine love first – “express love, but not in a hypocritical way.” Why must this be said, because what we call “love” may spring out from a variety of motives. Not all that we call love is genuine, Christlike love.

Simply being nice and polite is not necessarily genuine love.

Withholding truth to avoid offending someone is not necessarily genuine love.

Strong romantic, sympathetic, or affectionate feelings is not necessarily genuine love.

Simply doing kind or generous things is not necessarily genuine love.

Not all that we call love is motivated by God’s love nor does it genuinely care for the people in view, for our love often has ulterior, self-interested goals.

“It is difficult to express how ingenious almost all men are in counterfeiting a love which they do not really possess.” (John Calvin)

The idea of “hypocritical” means “to wear a mask,” or to appear one way to others while be something different underneath or within. Genuine Christian love though should be “wysiwyg” (what you see is what you get).

So, how does Paul describe the characteristics and marks of genuine, Christlike love? How do we see genuine love? With a series of twelve observable features and qualities, some of which are closely related pairs:

Abhor what is evil and cling to what is good. Genuine love is not merely “being nice” or pleasant sentimentality, and genuine Christian love does not appreciate or tolerate whatever is evil and wrong in God’s sight. The motto of genuine love is not tolerance. Genuine love hates sin deeply and passionately and pursues whatever is good, moral, and right with equal passion and strength.

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. Genuine Christian love treats other brothers and sisters in Christ in the church with the same if not increased care and closeness of actual, biological siblings and relatives.

In honor giving preference to one another. Genuine Christian love seeks to build up, elevate, honor, and draw attention to the other person rather than oneself.

Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit. Genuine Christian love exhibits wholehearted effort, not halfhearted, reluctant effort. Additionally, they will exhibit an energetic, passionate spirit, one that is “aglow and on fire,” not dismal and cold.

Serving the Lord. Genuine Christian love does whatever actions, deeds, or service in respect for and submission to Christ – for his pleasure and his pleasure alone, not to please or impress others or gratify oneself.

Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation. Genuine Christian love finds and expresses vibrant, evident joy and happiness from a calm, confident, settled focus on future promised and prophesied deliverance from God and his coming future kingdom, regardless of difficult present circumstances. This means that love patiently perseveres through suffering, even when that suffering is caused by the people they are attempting to love. They “suffer long” and do not bail of difficult relationships or contexts due to intense suffering.

Continuing steadfastly in prayer. A key way that genuine love operates is through persistent, relentless reliance upon God in prayer.

Distributing to the needs of the saints. Genuine Christian love shares or gives from one’s financial and other resources to meet the real needs of other believers in the church community. This describes not a reluctant, occasional, minimal contribution but regular, generous contributions.

Given to hospitality. Genuine love also looks for ways to providing temporary housing and travel assistance to other believers in need, including traveling, visiting guests, teachers, missionaries, etc. The way Paul describes this is as “pursuing hospitality,” meaning that you not only do this when absolutely necessary, but that you go out of your way to intentionally look for and seek or pursue ways to do this!

Moving forward, Paul makes another primary point about the nature of genuine love as a motive for serving God.

Genuine love looks for ways to benefit other people.

BLESS THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU; BLESS AND DO NOT CURSE. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble…

We may rephrase this second evidence of genuine love as “bless other people, esp. those who mistreat you.” With this statement, Paul takes all that he has just said about genuine Christian love and concentrates it upon a specific, special, and especially difficult case – expressing love to people who mistreat you or seek to hurt you in return. This is not new teaching from Paul for he is simply bring into focus that which Christ himself has already, previously taught, emphasized, and given to us as an example through his life:

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:32-26)

Here is how Paul explains the evidence of this kind of genuine love:

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. When others among us are suffering, esp. due to their Christian faith, we should weep together with them, sharing their sorrow with them and being their to support them in heart as well as hands. Likewise, when others among us experience joyful, celebratory things, we should not let our own current experiences us suffering make us envious and jealous of them, but we should celebrate and rejoice with them regardless of our own hardship at the time. When we seek God’s blessing for those who persecute us, we will certainly do the same for one another AND we will behave as one, unified family who shares together in the joys and sorrows of life.

Be of the same mind toward one another. When we experience hardship, genuine love continues to honor other people over self. As Robert Mounce explains, “This unity is less the result of accommodation to the other person’s point of view than it is the result of arriving at a mutual understanding of God’s way of thinking. Like spokes in a wheel that converge at the hub, the closer we are to God the closer we come to one another.” So, genuine love seeks to know and understand the Word of God together, letting a mutual study and love of Scripture draw us together in submission to God rather than elevating one person’s personal views and interpretations over another.

Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Genuine love also resists the urge to “climb the social ladder” or to “cater to prestigious, powerful, or popular people” in order to gain a more comfortable, accepted, successful, or less persecuted status in life. Instead, genuine love makes its default response to associate with, draw close to, and spend time with those who tend to be less attractive, self-advantageous, etc. This also means that genuine love, when given the choice, tends to choose less noticeable, prestigious, and eminent roles in ministry and service, preferring the less prominent roles when possible.

The more we suffer, the more easily we find it easy to feel sorry for ourselves and so to be envious of those who celebrate, unsympathetic with those who suffer more, to elevate ourselves over others when given the chance, and to look for ways to improve our social standing. But genuine love accepts suffering, blesses those who cause that suffering, and continues to take the lower place that honors others over self.

Genuine love refrains from seeking personal revenge.

DO NOT BE WISE IN YOUR OWN OPINION. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Here, we see, that Paul now leans even further into how genuine love treats people who mistreat us.

Let me clarify that Paul here does not encourage us to neglect or overlook crimes. If a person commits a criminal act against you, it is appropriate and right to report their crime and to let the criminal justice system (which Paul upholds immediately next in Rom 13:1-5) do its job. At issue, here, though is any behavior or treatment which society in general permits that causes personal harm and pain for you. It was not illegal, for instance, for unbelieving employers to fire believers who were Christian, or in some cases, for government officials to imprison or harm believers. How should we respond to people who harm and mistreat us as believers though they have committed no crime?

We may rephrase this third evidence of genuine love as “do not make yourself the number focus.” The NKJV translates this as “do not be wise in your own opinion.” This means that we should not make ourselves the primary point of reference, taking a “victim” mentality and then making ourselves the judge, prosecutor, and prison guard who decides what, when, and how to carry out justice for yourself against a person who has hurt you. Here is what genuine love does instead:

Repay no one evil for evil. “Two wrongs don’t make a right” applies here. It is never right to respond to wrong treatment with wrong treatment. It is never to respond to sin with sin, or to respond to injury with injury. One person’s sin against you is never an excuse or never justifies any sinful behavior back to them in return. Though it may feel just for you to respond this way, that is “being wise in your own opinion.” As Prov 3:7 says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil.”

Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. This describes a behavior that chooses to value the dignity and reputation of other people, no matter who they may be, even if they have mistreated you. Once again, if they have committed a crime, then entrust that crime to the proper channels. But if the harm is not of that nature, then do whatever you can to treat that person with dignity though undeserved.

If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. This speaks to the importance of maintaining a good reputation and relationship with all people, including nonbelievers in the world around us. We should think twice before insisting upon our rights, privileges, etc. If pressing our case in a matter of mistreatment will cause us to appear quarrelsome, petty, and arrogant, for instance, we should refrain from such lawsuits, disputes, etc.

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Here Paul quotes directly both from Moses in Deuteronomy (Lev 19:18; Deut 32:35) and from the teaching of Christ himself (Matt 5:44; Luke 6:27-28). He does this because this instruction is esp. difficult to accept and practice and does, in fact, often feel wrong. This teaching reminds us and reassures that that God not only might but indeed WILL judge all injustice and make all wrongs right. So, in responding with kindness rather than vengeance, we defer and delay our vengeance to God, who will always and certainly not only make things right, but do so the right way – something which we most certainly will mess up. What does it mean to “heap coals of fire on his head”? Bible translator, James Moffatt, seems insightful when he says that it ”makes him feel a burning sense of shame.” Commentator, F.F. Bruce, says of this passage, “The best way to get rid of an enemy is to turn him into a friend.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Robert Mounce observes that “our most powerful weapon against evil is good. To respond to evil with evil is not to overcome it but toad to it.” So, when someone mistreats you, the best way you can respond – to respond in genuine love – is to respond to their hurtful behavior with good behavior in return. This is precisely how Christ responded, and why? Because he lived in genuine love, not only even but esp. towards those who mistreated him.

Why should we be so forgiving and kind? Because, as Scottish author Ian MacLaren, has said, “Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle or carrying a large burden.” I will add, “…including those who are making your own battle hard.”

In conclusion, Paul began this chapter by urging us to offer up our lives as a sacrifice to God in response to his extraordinary love for us through Christ. Such sacrifice usually will not require us to offer our lives as a martyr who leaves this world as the victim of a gladiator’s sword or the dying prisoner in a faraway prison. Instead, such sacrifice must usually occur as a “death by a thousand paper cuts,” countless, daily acts of selfless love to Christ displayed toward others.

Fred Craddock, a Christian speaker, in an address to a group of pastors had this to say about the nature of Christian sacrifice:

“To give my life for Christ appears glorious. To pour myself out for others … to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom—I will do it. I’m ready, Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table—“Here’s my life, Lord. I’m giving it all.” But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, ‘Get lost.’ Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ is not glorious. It is done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it is harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.” (Larson, 200)

This is how we give our lives as a living sacrifice to Christ – doing all that we do as a response of great gratitude to God motivated first and foremost by genuine, Christlike love that will evidence the qualities Paul has described for us in Rom 12:9-21.