Holy People in a Hostile World

Introduction:

Ashly Chaffin, Dave Golden. Mike Trantham

Excited to work with these men.

[Segue]

God’s people are supposed to be different, special, unique

What makes God’s people unique and how do we maintain our uniqueness in the midst of an unbelieving world?

For the Jewish Christians observing the Torah is what made them special / unique, it’s what ensured they maintained their uniqueness in the Gentile world.

circumcision

kosher foods

sabbath days

It’s easy to think that our uniqueness comes from some of our

secondary and superficial practices

our traditions

our customs

our heritage

If we’re not careful, we will EQUATE maintaining our traditions and customs with maintaining our Christian uniqueness.

how do we fulfill our calling to be God’s chosen, holy, unique people?

Biblical Text:

Romans 12:9–13 ESV

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

We will revisit some of this next week

This is the uniqueness of the church - GENUINE LOVE

Love for God

Love for one another

Love for neighbor

It’s love for neighbor that we need to talk about this morning

Romans 12:14–16 ESV

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. Never be wise in your own sight.

Think about how hard this would be for the Jewish Christians coming back to Rome

Bless those who persecute you???

Bless them???

Do not be haughty (arrogant, proud, high and mighty)

Don’t believe all the glaze

Associate with the lowly

Never be wise in your own sight

No more of the Pharisee attitude, “Thank you, God, that I’m not like the Gentiles…”

Romans 12:17–19 ESV

17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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.”

Give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all

Be considerate

Consider their thoughts, what they think of as honorable

Jews for Gentiles

Gentiles for Jews

So far as it depends on you…live peaceably

that doesn’t mean, “If they start it, you can finish it.”

It means, on their side there may be hostility

But on your side, there should be only peace

Leave it to the wrath of God

vengeance is mine

I will repay

acknowledgement: there is evil in the world

acknowledgement: something needs to be done about it

this might feel like apathy

Being peaceable is not being apathetic—it’s being patient, trusting God to set things right.

Anger, bitterness, and vengeance dilutes the purity of the church!

We spend so much time guarding against the world, but we forget to guard against bitterness towards the world.

it’s more than patience, it’s proactive peacemaking

Romans 12:20–21 ESV

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.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

To the contrary

not just, “don’t retaliate”

Proverbs 25 quotation

feed your enemies

give him something to drink

Heap burning coals on his head

you are participating in his judgement

you are shaming him for his evil by showing how evil it is

when you do to someone what they did to you, you don’t expose their wickedness you become part of it

you only shame their wickedness when you do the opposite of what they’ve done

the text has no break…this is all part of the same context

Romans 13:1–2 ESV

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Don’t you know this was hard for the Jewish Christians

coming back to Rome after 5 years

continuing to suffer injustice

continuing to be taxed

Don’t you think they want to resist?

We know that feeling don’t we?

you can’t tax us!

we don’t have to do what you say!

Romans 13:3–4 ESV

3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

This isn’t a treatise on what makes a government legitimate

Paul is arguing why Christians should…

be peaceable / peacemakers

do good

be subject to the rulers

pay taxes

governments don’t always do this well

but generally speaking, this is why they exist

they exist to keep the wrongdoers in line

so, don’t be a wrongdoer

Romans 13:5–7 ESV

5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

This would have been so hard for these Jewish Christians

The Roman government not only kicked them out of Rome

But Rome was also making life hard on their Jewish family back in Jerusalem

It may be hard for us to hear this

If we’re not embittered and zealously fighting against the world, how will protect the purity and potency of the church?

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love is the fulfilling of the Law

It’s the fulfilling of our calling

our calling to live as unique, holy, chosen people

The Law is not fulfilled through superficial things like

the Sabbath

circumcision

eating and drinking

Nor is the Law is fulfilled through our customs and traditions, but through LOVE

Application:

Usually I try to sum up the text

Paul did that for us today…

“Love is the fulfilling of the law.”

You want to be the people you’re saved to be?

You want to maintain your uniqueness and specialness as God’s chosen people?

LOVE!

Love God

Love one another

Love your neighbor

Bless someone in a surprising way today, show them the love of Jesus…

simply because Jesus loved you

Invitation:

That’s why we love, because Jesus loved us

Maybe you want to begin to experience the love of Jesus…