Romans 12:9-13

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Reading the second half of Romans 12 is like trying to drink from a fire hose – the ideas come so fast it is hard to breathe, let alone think about what they invite us to do and to be. So we are looking at a short segment of chapter.

Love in this passage is very practical, having little to do with emotions. We are going to go at the passage backwards.

Show hospitality to strangers. This is love, love to people we do not know. Showing welcome to the stranger, the outsider. In a community (Fergus) with new arrivals coming in every day, we have lots of opportunity to show hospitality to those we do not know.

Contribute to the needs of the saints. Yes, there are those among us who have few of this world’s resources. Helping to provide for their needs financially is a sign of love. As well, there are those who do not need our money, rather they need our time, our connecting with them, our offering to do things for them. This too is contributing to the needs of the saints.

Jumping back to vs. 10 – we are called to show this practical love in a way that respects the honour and dignity of the other, for they too are made in the image of God as we are. We show them care and compassion in the same manner and attitude that we would hope others would show us care and compassion.

And then to verse 11 – showing love this way is very hard work, it is draining. We are invited to not wear out, but to keep on serving, to keep on going, for in showing such love we are serving Jesus Christ.  

The love Jesus calls us to is practical, hands on caring. 

PRAYER:

O Lord, shape us to be people who show welcome and hospitality to strangers. Form us into people who are willing to help those who are in need of our financial support or our time. Give us the strength and energy to keep on serving in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. 

Luke 6:32-36 

32 ‘If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

This fall we will spend time thinking about the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Jesus is radical – in fact, Jesus words here are ridiculous by any human measure. And so, we are drawn to vs. 35 – “for the Most High (God) is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” That, as vs. 36 states, is the measure of what love looks like. Not a measure that humans would use, but the measure that God uses. The measure of love is not love for family and friends – for as Jesus says in vs. 32-34 – everyone does that. That is a basic, ordinary thing – to love the people who love us. No, the measure of love that Jesus calls us to, is to love our enemies. To love those who borrow from us and never return what they borrowed. To be kind to people who never say, “thank you”, to be kind to the people who the rest of the world thinks of as wicked.

The love that Jesus has in view is not words, isn’t even emotions. The love Jesus has in view is kindness to those who do not deserve kindness. The love Jesus has in view is acts of care and kindness to people who see us as opponents, as enemies, as people to be taken advantage of. To show kindness to such people, Jesus says, that is love. 

Jesus knows all about this kind of love, this unconditional benevolence towards the other, towards the enemy. For as Amy Grant used to sing, “This love of another kind” is the kind of love Jesus shows to us in his death and resurrection. Love that does good to the enemy, to the one who opposes us – this is the measure of love Jesus invites us to.

We begin this path through action, through acts of care, through demonstrating kindness, regardless of how we feel, we reach out to the other with good deeds. The emotions may or may not come with time, but the acts of care will show the love of God.

PRAYER:

O Lord, it is hard to show love to those who insult us, ridicule us, act in ways that hurt us or others. Grow the fruit of the Spriit called love in us, that we might live your love in our connections with those we are at odds with. In Jesus’ name. Amen.