Sermon Notes Rom.12:9-21

August 31, Rom. 12:9-21

I have read the passge from Romans  a lot at weddings.It is a christian ethic in a nutshell.I have always liked Barths’ idea that a fmaily is in itslef a little church.I must admit that we find a lot of material within that shell.Maybe better is a Christian ethic in outline.

Last week we read of Paul's polar distinction between being conformed to the operating system of the world as we know it and the transformation of a Christian worldview. We then see that love is the agent of transformation. We need to be careful here, as he is not speaking of romantic passion alone,but a power so complete that it goes beyond the sense of finding completion with another but a willingness to sacrifice one’s life for another, to see one’s well-being wrapped up in another.

I am haunted by his phrase, let love be genuine or sincere, or unfeigned.One way is to be able to rejoice with those who rejoice. Compassion flows more easily often than being able to appreciate the good fortune of another. You know that love is genuine when we are able to rejoice as if we ourselves did something fine, as when we glory in the accomplishment of a child or grandchild. Of course, when we find it difficult to mourn or weep with someone, we are living on the outskirts of love. when we find it easier to blame a victim that to mourn with them, we have created  a barrier.

A quote has been attributed to Gandhi that while hate may be the opposite of love; it is fear that drives hate.

Paul imagines love as an inner drive that results in action. to me it conjures up my difficulties in physics with its mathematical descriptions of forces and vectors.

Let mutual love brotherly love, (philadelphia) be tender/kind In the movie Philadelphia the Tom Hanks character and the attorney move toward one another, beyond being attorney and client

communicating/participating in the needs of the saints

Paul moves now toward enemies to bless and not curse them, and this sound like the Sermon on the Mount. Unless you are a complete saint, all of us are tempted to return evil for evil.The advice seems to radiate outward until it reaches that most difficult item for us: to love our enemies. I tend to think of love as operating within a limited circle of intimates, but Paul seems to think of it as a force field that pulses outward in all directions, unlimited by proximity.Return no one evil for evil.

   I wish to suggest that being fervent in spirit , steadfast in prayer is vital to this whole way of living. I continue to shake my head at how easily christians shake off any sense of being relgious when they speak of matters secular, how eaisly they speak just like everone else, perhaps with less passion and understanding. Praying takes our needs into a spiriutal framework, so it goes beyond a decision tool. It moves us into a different realm, God’s way for us. To pray places us more fuly, or with more awareness in the presence of a Spirit who is moving and working through the world as it is to remake the world as it could and should be.Perhaps we can dare to say that love forms the energy of the Spirit of God.-What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.Saint Augustine