Word of Salvation – Vol. 43 No. 14 – April 1998
Love Is Other Centred
A Sermon by Rev. T. Flanagan on Romans 12:9-13
Scripture Readings: John 13:1-7, 34-35; Romans 12:9-21
Suggested Hymns: BoW 134:1-3, 9-10; 432; 437; 479; 133
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Introduction
Over the last thirty to forty years there has been a lot of talk on the Christian scene about evangelism. And rightly so! However, it’s interesting to compare this emphasis with the amount of space in the New Testament actually devoted to instructions and commands about evangelism.
You’ve probably noticed that the letters of the New Testament are usually divided into two sections. The first section is of a doctrinal nature – setting out what we are to believe concerning: Who God is; what He has done through our Saviour Jesus Christ, and all the privileges of being a Christian. The second section is then a list of instructions for Christians to apply what they believe in everyday life.
But when you look through these commands how many are actually about evangelism? You’d be flat out finding a handful! In fact as you go through page after page of the New Testament, you keep coming up with instructions to do with caring for the health of the church. The bulk of New Testament exhortations are about relationships within congregations like ours.
I haven’t counted the number of verses devoted to evangelism in the New Testament, but I’m sure the percentage would be pretty low! Ah, but I hear you correctly pointing out that only a few verses devoted to evangelism doesn’t make them any less important. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 is enough to compel every congregation to have evangelism as a priority in its activities.
So what’s the point I’m making? It’s this – an emphasis on being devoted to one another in the congregation, to the health of the Body, is not at the expense of evangelism. Evangelism is worthless unless you’ve got a church family that reflects the Christ you proclaim. This is clearly demonstrated in the following story?
Some years ago a pastor was regularly called up on the phone by another pastor who was new to his congregation. The new pastor was at a loss because from the moment he’d arrived he’d been getting phone calls from folk who claimed they were lonely. Some had been with the congregation for years and yet they still felt left on the fringe. Apart from Sunday services there was no contact with the rest of the congregation. They couldn’t break into the family and social circles. Imagine that congregation pushing the evangelism slogan!
Strange as it may seem, that congregation wanted to “do outreach!” What would be their slogan? “Come and join us, and you can be lonely, too”? Outreach without a healthy commitment to sacrificial relationship building is unrealistic.
Now let’s meditate on one of the vast number of passages which calls Christians to reach out to all in their congregation. As you would expect, Paul stresses LOVE as the essential attitude with which to carry out his instructions. You could say, the instructions in the 2nd half of Romans 12 are based on the assumption that “LOVE IS OTHER CENTRED.”
LOVE IS…
1. CENTRED ON GOD’S INTERESTS, NOT OUR SELF INTERESTS
(Read vs.9) The Scripture tells us that love must be ‘sincere’, that is, ‘without hypocrisy’, or ‘fair-dinkum’. In this passage it seeks to benefit God’s interests and the interests of others. In other words, love is all about “clinging to that which is good.”
Actually, the potential for good or evil in every situation is another mini theme in this chapter.
For an example… (read vs.21). Paul gives us one definition of sincere love here by telling us that it involves actions which aim for good as against evil. Earlier in verse 2 of this chapter ‘good’ is defined in terms of something being in harmony with God’s will.
This needs to be understood because so much in our world that’s done in the name of love has little to do with that which is good. We hear a lot in churches about ‘loving people’, but so often what it means is ‘making myself and the other person feel happy and warm about the other person’. Love, being ‘good’, can mean a love which ‘feels good’. WITHOUT IT EVER BEING SAID, IT CAN MEAN: “You stroke me and I’ll stroke you.” When that’s the case, love becomes divorced from goodness.
But Christian love must be sincere; it must cling to good… AND THAT MEANS IT WON’T ALWAYS BE WELL RECEIVED!
I remember at a Bible Study many years ago, that someone was trying to make the point that as long as we show love to people, our witnessing would always be well received. Another member of the group quickly replied, “Well, who showed perfect love all of His life? And look what happened to Him!”
Jesus shared His time and His love with everyone from the tax collectors, to the prostitutes, to rich and poor alike. But He loved people too much to tolerate and condone their sin. Jesus was a friend of the down and out, but He always called for commitment. Love without hypocrisy is based on God’s truth. It will have maximum power on those around it, and it will also face opposition.
In fact, Paul certainly told these Roman Christians NOT to be surprised about persecution, even if they carry out his pleas to show love (read vss.12 & 14). Sincere love is God centred. It seeks the good of others, not first and foremost their acceptance.
Secondly, Biblical love is…
2. CENTRED ON GOD’S CHOICE OF FAMILY
(Read vss.10 & 13) Now we have to watch the danger of hearing words like, ‘brotherly love’ and, ‘practice hospitality’. We can often race through our minds finding examples of these terms in our lives and quickly think: “Yep, I’m carrying out these verses!”
The question to ask is, “Towards whom do I generally show active love and hospitality?” Are the examples you think of, people well known to you? Perhaps close friends and family? That works fine when everyone in the congregation is naturally connected with someone else. But in an outreach situation, if the Lord were to add newborn Christians to our congregation, who will automatically show them constant care?
What about those people who’ve got less connections? Are we looking out for one another? Are some widows / widowers / single people / sick people visited much less than others in the same category? Jesus said in another context, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you. Even the pagans love those who love them!”
The emphasis here is not on our choice of relationships, but God’s choice. It’s not centred on our family interests, but God’s! Verse 10: “Be devoted in brotherly love …!” In verse 13, where the NIV says, “Share with God’s people”, the Greek is actually “the saints”, that is, ‘the called out’ or ‘the separated’ ones. ‘The saints’ are people with whom God has called you into a relationship.
It’s interesting that in chapter 15 of this letter, Paul mentions his plans to deliver money collected by the gentile churches for “the saints in Jerusalem”. The Gentile saints, who didn’t know their brethren in Jerusalem from a bar of soap, were eager to share with them! I think congregations like ours have been similarly motivated in our World Relief collections.
But, how are we going looking out for newcomers to our church family? Those who’ve got no automatic connections? If we’re not conscious of doing something for people without connections who are already in our midst, then we’ll have difficulty coping if the Lord were to bring us five new families with no natural connections in the congregation. Whenever we ask the Lord for growth through evangelism, it’s sobering to remember that this will lead to years of time-consuming commitment to people we haven’t known before.
In verse 13, we’re exhorted to “practice hospitality”. The word translated ‘practice’ is an aggressive word. It refers to ‘pursuing’ something, such as, going out to battle instead of letting the enemy come to you. This is all part of “honouring one another” above ourselves. “Honouring someone above yourself” has sometimes been mistaken to mean we humbly praise others as being better than us, even if it’s not true! For example, telling others they are more intelligent or wiser or better tennis players than you, even when they’re not! Honouring people then becomes false praise.
Well, it’s not that easy. To honour another above myself is to serve another, regard another’s needs above my own. Jesus did this when He washed His disciples’ feet. This didn’t involve backing away from who He was in relation to them. He said, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so!” But He added, “Whoever is to be great among you must be your servant.”
AND NOTICE HOW THIS CONTRIBUTES TO EVANGELISM…!
“BY THIS SHALL ALL MEN KNOW THAT YOU ARE MY DISCIPLES – IF YOU HAVE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER”
Our actions match our message! Jesus’ death on the cross for us, as Lord, fits perfectly with Jesus washing His disciples’ feet! I wish evangelism was as simple as having worship services refashioned to make them more user friendly!! May God grant us His grace and love that we may be available to His family seven days a week.
So far we’ve seen that love is based on God’s interests not our own. We’ve also seen that it’s practised on God’s choice of family not ours.
Finally our passage tells us that…
3. LOVE IS FOCUSSED ON A HOPE OUTSIDE OUR OWN CIRCUMSTANCES
You see, we need to answer the question, “How do I keep this selfless attitude up despite the ups and downs of life?”
It’s no good saying we’ll naturally do these things at the same fervent level all the time without any hiccups. Yet we can say there’s an answer that stops us from being pathetically inconsistent in our attitudes toward one another. There’s a solution to a pretend love that comes and goes according to one’s mood.
The answer is found outside of own narrow circle of circumstances… and that’s great!! The Christian life has things to latch onto beyond our day to day ‘island of life’. We’ve got spiritual realities that never change.
Feeling depressed? Had a lousy day? Do you lack motivation? Are you facing opposition from people or an illness? Well, if that’s the case, then I agree there’s not much in your life at the moment which would inspire you to get involved with other people’s problems.
But verse 12 points us to resources outside of ourselves! “Be joyful in hope!” The Christian possesses things that are beyond his or her immediate circumstances.
Comparing the Christian and the non-Christian outlook on an identical situation can be described in this way. Imagine two guys walking from home to the local supermarket to buy groceries. When they finally arrive they both discover that they’ve lost their $50 notes. One returns home feeling a little inconvenienced but content in the fact that his parents have plenty of money and he can just go back and buy the groceries later. The other guy returns home absolutely devastated. This has completely destroyed his week. That $50 was all he had at his disposal!
When we’re knocked down, what prevents us from staying down in life? Things beyond our own resources! An alternative translation of “keep your spiritual fervour” in verse 11 is “keep burning with the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is able to lift our feeble spirits away from self-centred despair. We’re also reminded to be conscious that we’re “serving the Lord”. Whatever you do for His sake in any circumstance has eternal value, even if the results of your work seem insignificant or disappointing. He will remember that glass of water you offered in his Name, even if you forget.
Keeping this in mind, verse 12 says we can be “patient in affliction”, not defeated by harsh circumstances. This is because the hope we have gives us the joy of knowing that nothing can ruin our inheritance in Christ.
Knowing we have resources beyond our own limitations should then make us “faithful in prayer”. If God requires of us costly love, then He must supply the resources we need in all circumstances to help others in need. Like the man who went home from the supermarket inconvenienced by the loss of $50. He knew if mum and dad still wanted him to go back for some groceries then they would supply him with the cash required.
When my love is dished out with selfish motives, conditional on how well things are going immediately for me, then life is going to be frustrating for me and for others. Instead of my love being sincere I’ll love you according to how I feel at the time – always with myself in focus. If I’m in a good mood, then you’re in luck, I’ll be nice today, otherwise don’t bother me now. I’ve got my own problems. But Christian love has the potential to be consistent. It focuses on God and others. Unconditional love finds its delight and motivation in the message of the gospel.
Our culture says if you are able to focus on yourself first of all in life then you’re free, you’re independent. But the danger of that philosophy is that we become slaves to self. Selfishness is a cruel master. It’s never satisfied, always frustrated and bitter. Jesus says He came to set us free from such slavery. I call upon us all today to free ourselves of self-interest.
Make a decision to be more focussed in your acts of love. Let’s ask such questions as this in our dealings in the congregation this week:
i. How does God’s Word tell me to love ‘so and so’ in this situation?
ii. Is there anyone in the church family who is ‘missing out’ lately, to whom I can show hospitality, even though I’ve got other people closer to me?
iii. When things get tough, where do I go to get the patience and strength to stop me from climbing back into my selfish shell?
Let’s look in these verses and find out – then our love will be sincere – it will be without hypocrisy!
Amen.