WELCOME: Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord. May the Lord, maker of heaven and earth, bless you. (Psalm 134)
What Are You Full Of?
Romans 12:9-21 | 11/23/03
It used to be Christians asked: "Are you saved?" Perhaps the equivalent question today is: "What are you full of?"
What is our church full of? Peace and love, frustration and apathy? Are you full of all the things that describe “Christian,” such as genuine love, full of enthusiasm for God’s work, hopeful, patient when you’re suffering, always praying, empathetic, blessing those who cheat you? In Romans 12:9-21, Paul gives us very specific characteristics of being Christian: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as sit depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.
No, if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” There is a classification system that botanists and biologists use which breaks living things into smaller and smaller groups based on smaller and smaller sets of common characteristics. It is a system so precise, yet so flexible, that it has been able to stretch and adapt to all the thousands of discoveries that have been made and all the knowledge and insight that has been gained in the 200 years since it was first established.
In this system, each division whittles away at the identity of a creature until finally you are left with only one possible answer. For example a creature belonging to the kingdom "Animalia," the phylum "Chordata," the sub-phylum "Vertebrata," the class "Mammalia," the order "Carnivora," the family "Canidae," the genus "Canis," and the species "Familiarus," can be nothing other than the family dog. The characteristics necessary to promote the creature from one division to the next unquestionably identifies its essential being.
It seems that here in Romans 12:9-21, Paul intends to provide the same kind of precise series of specific characteristics to define a Christian. This list making up Paul's "marks of the true Christian" is dauntingly complete. Jesus summed up his faith into the dual commandment to "Love the Lord your God," and to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39).
Such a simple command. Yet it is a demand that challenges all members of a church community every moment of every day. Where genuine love thrives, Paul suggests, these other attitudes will spring up and prosper - a hatred of all evil, a commitment to the good--God's will--and the kind of caring concern usually reserved for our own families. As Christians, we are directed towards the welfare and well-being of the entire church community. With individuals so tuned to God's will and ways, so attuned to the lives of others, Paul naturally expects Christians to "outdo one another in showing honor" (v.10).
This honoring goes beyond the command to "love one's neighbor as oneself" established in Leviticus 19:18 and given by Jesus as the second most important Commandment. While it demands an equal amount of love for yourself and others, it always places the needs and concerns of others first.
Americans are taught from childhood that competition is good - it builds character, strengthens drive, fuels ambition, pushes us to do our best. But the competitive spirit has been bred so successfully that it now extends far beyond our playing fields or boardrooms or factories. Competition between spouses destroys the trust and love necessary to maintain the relationship. Competition between children escalates into gang wars that destroy families, neighborhoods and lives. Competition between Christians also exists - and like other misplaced matches of worldly rivalry, it is a competition that creates only losers.
Individual churches and whole denominations have eagerly bought into the "numbers game" - convinced that more is better, that biggest is best. The church with more members, a big choir, a dizzying array of programs and groups - we call these churches "winners." What seems like a whole bunch of self-contained cultural disputes (over things like abortion, gay rights, prayer in schools, etc.) actually amounts to a fairly comprehensive struggle to define the meaning of America - of how and on what terms will Americans live together, of what makes up the good society.
One gradual change that makes me sad is that competition and serious differences within denominations have become bigger and more widespread than competition and serious differences between denominations.
Paul does call Christians to enter into serious competition. But it is a contest with a considerable difference. There is no "winner-take-all" warfare against outsiders waged in the name of liberty, justice and the American Way. The biblical challenge calls Christians to "outdo each other in honor" - not in sanctuary size or annual budgets or disputes.
The "fullness" of which Paul speaks is not the fullness of size but the fullness of Spirit, the fullness of Christ. In fact, numbers can be a thoroughly false indication of a church's health. In sports competitions and secular face-offs, size and wealth may be the winning marks of success. But Christian competition is determined by how many of those marks of honor Paul lists in this week's scripture.
Instead of pitting Christians against Christians, in competition for everything from the best way to do church to singling out those who don’t contribute at all, Paul's list suggests other ways of outdoing each other. Our real reason for being Christians is to carry on the mission of Christ on earth in our age, which is sharing the Good News of His death and our salvation with as many people as we can.
Verses 12-13 continue to name these characteristics of true Christians, adding hope, patience, prayer, charity and hospitality toward strangers. Verse 14 tells us to “bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” This directive stood in stark contrast to the synagogue's practice of formally cursing one's enemies in the daily prayer. The Old Testament, especially the Psalms, never shrinks from calling for God's wrath to spill down on those who persecute Israel. As God's "chosen" people, the Israelites never hesitated to call on that special relationship in hopes of punishing their enemies.
This new attitude taught by Jesus called for a different set of standards to be followed. Sadly, many in the world today who even call themselves “Christians” do not follow these mandates for our lives. I recently read a clip about an Army unit in Iraq about to make another attack. The chaplain prayed for the men saying, “God, there are bad men out there. Help us to kill them.” Part of a distinctly Christian character is not only simply to avoid doing wrong; the Christian must actively seek to do right.
Outdoing one another in honor is not the world's way of competing. The world may brand our efforts as foolish, futile and failing. "You're full of it." And we should say "Thank you." When we compete with one another for joy, compassion, tenderness and forgiveness, the world will know what we're full of.
The "Grinch who stole Christmas" had a heart "two sizes too small." That was his problem then and the problem of many so-called "Christians" today who are stealing the spirit of Christ from our churches and communities.
The church is the place where "big-hearted" is a cure not a disease. All "sacred heart" churches have big hearts, bursting with love and joy and forgiveness.
Can we be "full of" forgiveness, even to those most wicked wrong-doers? In closing, I’d like to review each of these qualities of what defines a Christian and I ask you to consider which ones are easy for you, natural even, and which ones are most difficult. The ones that are hard, even seemingly impossible for you, I want you to write down or highlight in your Bible to personally work on.
Romans 12:9-21: genuine love…hate what is evil…hold fast to what is good…love one another with mutual affection…outdo one another in showing honor…full of passion (zeal)…eager in spirit…serve the Lord…rejoice in hope…patient in suffering…persevere in prayer…contribute to the needs of all Christians…extend hospitality to strangers…bless those who persecute you…bless those who cuss at you…share in each other’s happiness…cry with those who cry… live in harmony with your spouse and children…don’t be snobbish…be friends with the lowly… don’t think you’re smarter than you are…do not seek revenge…live in peace with everyone…do not seek revenge…feed and give drink to your enemies…never let evil get the best of you… always overcome the bad things with good.
I don’t know about you, but I realize that I have several of these that I need to work on. Let’s continue to find the answer to the question, “What are you full of?”
Please pray with me.
God in Heaven! You have loved us first, help us never to forget that you are love so that this sure conviction might triumph in our hearts over the seduction of the world, over the restlessness of our souls, over the anxiety for the future, over the fright of the past, over the distress of the moment. But, grant us also that this conviction might discipline our souls so that our heart might remain faithful and sincere in the love which we bear to all those whom you have commanded us to love as we love ourselves. Amen.
Sources:
(Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America [New York: Basic Books, 1991], 51.)
Peter Wagner, How to Have a Healing Ministry Without Making Your Church Sick (Eastbourne, Eng.: Monarch 1988), 143.
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
