Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany (2025)

Romans 13:8-10

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we have in our Epistle lesson this morning St. Paul writing to the Church in Rome to encourage them towards good works, and reminding them of what Christ said to His disicples, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The Church in Rome is enduring particular hardship at this point and is in need of this reminder that we still owe love to one another.

God’s Law is Love

The Commandments explain love.

The shape that love is to have, and how it is to be directed. That is why when Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment, he answers that the first is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. But that means is

Love is what we owe.

To all people, it is what we have been commanded and are expected to show first towards God, and to our neighbors. To say that it is what we owe, is a bit strange, because when think of showing love to our neighbors, we often ask,

Who deserves this love?

Who is worthy of it, why on earth would I show it to the unworthy. We have no issue showing love to those that we like or those that we think are worthy, but what about those who we don’t consider worthy? Well who is worthy of Love?

Why is Love Hard?

Love points us outward.

It is much easier to focus on loving ourselves, and prioritizing our own lives. Our world encourages this in a number of different ways, but yourself first, don’t you deserve a break, think of your own needs, and the list goes on of ways that we are encouraged to love ourselves instead of loving others. It appeals to our sinful self, because

Luther refers to us as navel gazers.

We are predominately fixated on ourselves, but it is the opposite of what the commandments teach us. That’s why the commandments convict all of our hearts, because they require us to lift our heads up to look out at our neighbor and show love to them.

Love has always been difficult.

For wherever there is sin, there’s a lack of love for others. Be it the lies we tell to get what we want, or the thought well since they don’t love me the way I deserve to be loved, I don’t really need to love them anymore.

Where Does Love Come From?

God is love.

Quite often people hear this and they think, well how can God be love? Look at all the tragedies and suffering that there is in the world. How can we say that God loves the world? But

Consider how God cares for all.

The Scriptures tell us that God doesn’t just watch over the people who call upon him, and the people who love him, or show him respect. We acknowledge that God is the creator, but He is also the source of life, and it is by his will that we live move, and have our being, for there is only one God. So who is taking care of the people here in our country and providing them with life, breath, food, and the like. God, well is our country entirely christian? No, yet he provides for them to. What about those countries where Christianity is not the dominant religion? Or where they even oppose and persecute the Christian faith? Is God providing even for those who hate him? Yes, and

This is shown clearly in the Cross.

Who did Jesus go to the Cross to die for? It wasn’t just for the people who liked him, it wasn’t just for those who already believed in him, it was for people who worshiped God, Jesus went to the Cross to die for sinners, and the reason that Jesus did that is because He was fulfilling the Law of God for you. What is the Law? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself.

This Love is poured into our hearts.

It is this love that not only restores us to life, but also encourages us, strengthens us, and gives to us comfort not based upon what we have done but rather based on what Jesus has done for you, that you might go out and share this love with others.

The Fulfillment of the Law

Who has loved perfectly?

Not a one of us, we have prioritized love towards people we like even when we saw someone in greater need. That is why Jesus came to earth.

Jesus came to fulfill the Law

The Law which required that He love others more than Himself. Jesus’ incarnation, his descent from heaven, and taking upon himself our flesh, and suffering for us, was so that He might show to you the greatest love there is. He was beaten, bloodied, and nailed to a cross, and then Jesus laid down his life for you that you might be forgiven, and He might be condemned. Why would Jesus do that?

Jesus considers you His friend.

Even when you didn’t know him, love him or care for Him, since He shares in our flesh, you are His neighbor no matter how horribly you may have treated Him, and that is why He was willing to be crucified for your sake. What greater love is there than that? To sacrifice oneself not because it benefited you, but it benefits them, that’s a lot of love.

Building On This Foundation

We seek our neighbor’s good.

Our neighbor’s won’t always be good, right, or decent, but when we look at Christ we realize that isn’t the reason that we love. God created mankind to love and care for each other, and that love is to be extended to others. We love what is right good and true, and we desire that for all. I can’t love my neighbor and then push them out into the road, but I do warn them, and call them back, especially when we see it leading to their own destruction.

It isn’t for our benefit.

This what makes good works possible. If we only did good works or loved our neighbors to get into heaven, then we aren’t really doing them for our neighbor. It is always going to be for myself.

We love as God first loved us.

God loved us while we were still his enemies, He loved us while we were far away from Him, and He did not even withhold from us His only-begotten son, that we might be saved. That’s why God is Love,

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, when you see your neighbor, don’t love only those who are worthy or those you like for the world does that already and that would be no different than the world. The Love of Christ has been poured into your hearts and who gave himself up for you to save you while you were yet still his enemy. The reason Paul says that we owe that love to mankind isn’t because mankind is worthy, its because it is what God created us to do from the beginning. As though that weren’t enough, it is what Jesus did for you, so love others as Christ has loved you. In Jesus name. Amen.