Romans 12:9-21 - Love Ultimately Defines the Body of Christ
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Introduction: Love Ultimately Defines the Body of Christ
Introduction: Love Ultimately Defines the Body of Christ
Turn to Romans 12:9
All you need is love
In 1967 the European Broadcasting Union aired a two and a half hour program called “our world” that featured creative artists from 19 different nations.
One of those artists was a little band called the Beatles who wrote a song just for that program called “All You Need is Love”
Band manager Brian Epstein said of this song, “The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It’s a clear message saying that love is everything.”
Really? But then of course this begs the question, how do you define love?
The reality in our world today is that we recognize that we actually have different definitions of love, and so a song that is “so simple” as this one really CAN be misinterpreted.
Last week we talked about how life in the body of Christ requires that each of us use the gifts that God has given us for the building up of the body of Christ.
But Paul also then follows this by our text today in a pattern similar to other places where Paul talks about gifts in the church.
Last week we talked about how life in the body of Christ requires that each of us use the gifts that God has given us for the building up of the body of Christ.
In , Paul talks about spiritual gifts, but then in goes on to say that exercise of gifts without love is completely useless
Love defines the body of Christ in a way that gifts do not; in other words, when we talk about gifts we are talking about what we do to build up the church for the mission of Christ, but when we talk about love, we are talking about who we are, what actually defines us as a community.
But there’s a danger here
Consider Jesus’ words from
34 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.”
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 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 writer of John in one of his later letters revisits this same theme in
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
34 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.”
Once again we see that it is God’s action toward us that transforms and changes us so that we become new people who are like Jesus.
So once again, as we get into again, Paul is going to take care to let us know that the body of Christ has gifts but is defined by love, both for those inside the church and those outside the church.
I. Love must be genuine to be love
I. Love must be genuine to be love
9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Let love be genuine
These four words should cause us to think deeply and make a searching and fearless personal inventory. Why?
Because genuine love is difficult
It’s easier to desire the ideal of love than it is to live out the reality of love
It’s easier to talk about loving people than it is to love people
But Paul is not telling us to talk about love, to desire to love, to hold up love as a great moral ideal and value; he is telling us to love, to really love, to genuinely love
Genuine love is not simply whatever I think is love or want to call love
Genuine means “the real deal” and this text this morning will challenge what we believe genuine love is
It’s easier to desire the ideal than to live out the reality
It’s easy to talk about loving people than it is to love people
But Paul is not telling us to talk about love, to desire to love each other, to hold up as a great ideal to love, but to actually love.
Easy example: Love is not a feeling; love is a commitment
34 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.”
Genuine love is not whatever I think love is or want to call love
A little more than eight years ago I made a steadfast promise to Kelsey, and genuine love is keeping our commitment to that promise even on days when the feeling is not as strong - love is the commitment, and the choice to honor that commitment, not the feeling
Feeling oriented love is actual selfishness - my “love” for someone is expressed…in how they make me feel? As long as you keep making me feel this way, I guess there’s love. In that case, love isn’t about something I give to another person, but something I take from them.
Love is not sentimentality
Working definition of love: Love is relentless commitment to the wellbeing of another
Here’s an easy example: Love is not primarily a feeling; love is a commitment
Example: marriage
Your love is not about the feelings you give one another, but the commitment to the wellbeing of each other in all areas of life
This is reflected in the words, “Abhor what is evil, hold fast what is good.”
The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Romans 3. Love of the Brothers, 12:9–10
True love involves a deep hatred for all that is evil, for evil can never benefit the beloved.
Real love means a commitment to the wellbeing of another to the point of loving what is good for them and hating what is dangerous for them
If you see sin or wrong in my life, it is NOT LOVING of you to not say anything about it
Sometimes love means I say something out of a deep concern for the well being of another that offends them, saddens them, angers them, frustrates them. It doesn’t feel good, and so we often want to say that’s not loving.
Part of our responsibility to each other in the church as the family of God is to hold each other accountable to living lives of obedience to Jesus
We are called to build up each others faith and help each other grow
This is counter-cultural, because in our culture it’s viewed as hateful to call out the sin in each other
But that’s more about our fear of someones rejection and anger than about their ultimate wellbeing.
Patrick Lencioni in his leadership book The Advantage says this:
At its core, accountability is about having the courage to confront someone about their deficiencies and then to stand in the moment and deal with their reaction, which may not be pleasant. It is a selfless act, one rooted in a word that I don’t use lightly in a business book: love. The hold someone accountable is to care about them enough to risk having them blame you for pointing out their deficiencies.
Love means holding a strong enough commitment to the wellbeing of another person that you will hate the evil that will do them wrong and cling to the good that will give them life
Caution: It is possible to say something from a motivation that is not loving
A desire to bring someone else down
A desire to hide your own sin by pointing out someone elses
A desire to make yourself feel more righteous by comparing yourself to someone else
It is possible to be “brutally honest” in a way that takes more pleasure from the brutality than the honesty
This brings out the concept in the Christian faith that we are supposed to speak the truth in love
People often pit truth and love against one another
“We have to tell the truth, but we also have to be loving”
But telling the truth is love, and failing to tell the truth is not love
In addition, we must speak truth in loving manner from a motivation of love
This all
Transition: This kind of genuine love means relentless commitment to the wellbeing of another, even when it is difficult, awkward, or painful. As Paul works through what this looks like in the rest of he lays out both an inside the church and outside the church dimension of love.
II. The body of Christ is built on love
II. The body of Christ is built on love
Romans 12:10-
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.
Love in the body of Christ looks like family
By being justified by Jesus’ sacrifice, we are adopted into the family of God
This means leaning on each other, helping one another, receiving help from one another, doing life with one another, showing affection toward one another
If we are unwilling to ask our church family for help, it means that we have not actually yet caught sight of the way the gospel transforms each of us and our community as a whole into a real family of God
Love in the body of Christ looks like showing honor
Jesus willingly went from the place of highest glory in all of the universe to the place of the most shameful embarrassment, hanging naked on a cross for our sin
We are likewise to be more concerned with showing honor than receiving honor
Love in the body of Christ looks like serving the Lord
Warning not to be slothful - the need is urgent!
Be fervent in Spirit
This means we operate with common purpose; we all exist for the mission of Jesus to reconcile the world to God
Love in the body of Christ looks like reminding each other of hope
We are running a marathon together, not a sprint
Some of you have been doing life together for decades
If the Lord doesn’t return I hope to be doing life with many of you for decades
While we are going this road together, we do so rejoicing in the future hope we have in Christ, patient in the trials we face together between now and then, constant in prayer with and for one another
Love in the body of Christ looks like hospitality and generosity
Welcome people into your home
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Contribute to the needs of God’s people
Contribute to the needs of the church for the mission of Christ
Contribute to the needs of other people in the church
In the context of hospitality, it means let people eat your food!
I’d rather feed people and be with them than hoard my food and be without them
Love in the body of Christ looks like harmony
Do not be haughty or wise in your own sight
Don’t be haughty
The truth is that the vast majority of our quarrels and disagreements in the church don’t come down to serious things that matter
The truth is that the vast majority of our quarrels and disagreements in the church don’t come down to serious things that matter
Illustration: Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone where you got to a point where neither one of you actually knew what you were fighting about anymore?
Illustration: Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone where you got to a point where neither one of you actually knew what you were fighting about anymore?
Harmony means diversity coming together for a unified purpose, uniformity and consensus on all things
Illustration: Orchestra; many parts that actually sound beautiful together, and some parts at times take a back seat to other parts
People do not all have to be the same, but they do all have to be playing the same song
Dangers for harmony in the church
Harboring resentment and bitterness rather than giving grace
Elevating personal preference over the wellbeing of the community and the advancement of the kingdom
Inability to speak honestly to one another in love
Speaking clearly about our questions, disagreements
Doing so with a fundamental commitment to grace and love
Resolving to pursue unity
Transition
Last week we talked about how life in the body of Christ means using our gifts to serve each other and build up the church.
But ultimately, if our church has all of the gifts in the world but we don’t love each other, we are completely bankrupt
The truth is that the vast majority of our quarrels and disagreements in the church don’t come down to serious things that matter
Illustration: Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone where you got to a point where neither one of you actually knew what you were fighting about anymore?
How can a church get to a point where they have gifts but not love for one another?
When we harbor selfish agendas rather than a common commitment to the mission of Christ
When we elevate personal preference above the well-being of the whole community
Paul is also concerned with how the body of Christ is characterized by love for the person outside of the community
When we disagree with someone, we either
When we harbor resentment at others
Because they have gifts we don’t have
Because they were honored and we weren’t
Because we
III. People are won to Christ by love
III. People are won to Christ by love
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:
We treat others not as they have treated us but as God has treated us
Blessing our enemies - pray and hope for their good, both immediate good and eternal good
Rejoicing with those who rejoice
This is difficult because we struggle to really celebrate the good and success of other people, particularly those we view as enemies.
This is because of our selfish jealousy - even when someone we love has something great happen for them, its hard for us not to feel a tinge of jealousy - what about me?
Weeping with those who weep
Enter into the sadness and sorrow of those who are in pain, even those who are our enemies.
Some of the best opportunities to share the gospel with people comes from genuinely loving our enemies in their darkest hour
We strive to live gospel lives that cause others to praise God
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.
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.”
Romans 12:
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.
We do not repay evil for evil
Let’s just say: This is VERY DIFFICULT
Negative example: The guy that cut me off and then pulled into my apartment complex
It is a strong inner pull toward vengeance
We give the job of justice to God
“Vengeance” is better translated as “justice”
He is more fair than we are
He is more accurate in his judgment than we are
We can give God our anger in raw terms, because he can handle it
Doing this should be an act of surrender, letting go of our anger and trusting God to do what is right with it - imprecatory Psalms
We are careful to live out a gospel witness that others can’t help but admire, even while they persecute or disagree
We live at peace with others in every possible way
We do good to others when evil is done to us
We
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 feed the hungry who have done evil to us
We give water to the thirsty who have done evil to us
The result is that we “heap burning coals on their head”
Bizarre picture - some people have believed this to be a reference to the best way to “get back at someone”
Some have interpreted this as the idea that if we refrain from doing evil to someone when they do evil to us, it stacks up God’s judgment against them because we have not taken vengeance
But there are allusions here to an Egyptian practice of a penitent person carrying a basket of live coals on their head to symbolize repentance
In essence, our kindness to an enemy works to bring them to repentance and faith in Christ
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Application Note: You will not win anyone to faith in Jesus by responding to hatred in kind
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
We do not “fight fire with fire,” no matter how badly we want to justify it
We win people over in the same way that
We thus overcome evil by good
Good overcomes evil by making the evil one good
This is what God has done in us through the cross
This concludes a sandwich from 12:9
We are to abhor evil and cling to good
We hate evil, but we do not respond to evil with more evil
We overcome evil with good
Application Note: You will not win anyone to faith in Jesus by responding to hatred in kind
We do not “fight fire with fire,” no matter how badly we want to justify it
We win people over in the same way that God wins people over - with grace, truth, kindness, and self sacrifice
Who is your enemy? Who in your life would it be a radical act to show true kindness, to give blessing and gift, to sacrifice?
Conclusion
Conclusion
In the end our evil was overcome by the good that Jesus accomplished in the cross. Our evil and sin was nailed to the cross in the body of Jesus, and the righteous wrath of God was poured out on Jesus so that we can stand before God forgiven.
Our response to that kind of love is to love one another as the family of God we have been adopted into, and to love those outside the church in the same way that God has loved us in order to bring them to Jesus.
Let us live with a relentless commitment to the wellbeing of others, both inside and outside the church.
Let us live lives defined by love because we have first been loved by God.
Communion