The Christian Life: Short Form

The Christian Life: Short Form

Second after Epiphany

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, who does govern all things in heaven and earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle: Romans 12:6-16

6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;

12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.

15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

Homily Text: Romans 12:9-16

You want to bake a cake? Set out butter and eggs. Locate the cake pans. Get out the mixer, mixing bowls, and spatula. Preheat the oven. Find the flour, sugar, baking powder. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the short form for cake baking.

In verses 9 through 16 of Romans 12, St. Paul gives us the Christian life in short form. I have gathered his 12 exhortations under 5 general subjects.

1. Hate Evil

The Bible teaches that there is good and evil. God is good and everything that pleases him is good. Everything that is opposed to God and displeases him is evil. God tells us what the distinction between good and evil means for our lives. The 10 Commandments tell us that worshiping other gods, murder, adultery, theft, and lying are evil, while worshiping him and respecting life, marriage, property, and truth are good.  

St. Paul tells us that as Christians we should abhor or hate what is evil. Christians loathe and despise evil. Rather we cleave or cling to what is good. When God established marriage he said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.” God’s expectation is that we leave behind our parents and draw near to and hold onto one another. Christians turn away from what is evil and they take close and tight hold of what is good.

We do this in our personal lives.  Our Lord warned us not to try to take the splinter out of another’s eye while ignoring the log in our own. Our first concern is to recognize and reject the evil in ourselves and hold tenaciously to what God approves.

We also have a responsibility in the life of the church. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, who were tolerating gross immorality in the church, “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump…” (1 Cor. 5:6, 7).

We need discernment as we live in the world. We must be aware that the world will often call evil good and good evil. St. Paul charged us to “Walk as children of the light...and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:8b, 10, 11).  

2. Serve the Lord

How do we see our relationship with the Lord?

We believe in reverence and order in worship. We have a Prayer Book; we take it seriously; we follow it exactly. We color inside the lines. These are good things.

In the Christian life we are careful about what used to be called “enthusiasm.” We don’t trust temporary feelings. We don’t attribute momentary impulses to the Holy Spirit. We know such things can mislead. We test everything by the truth of Scripture.

But, here’s the danger: we may try to manage our whole relationship with the Lord to keep ourselves comfortable. We fear being moved too strongly by the Scriptures, prayers, preaching, or taking the Sacrament. We keep our service to the Lord “reasonable” so that we keep it in a limited compartment of our lives. Our goal is moderation. The result can be that our Christian lives and service are neither cold nor hot - like the Laodiceans whom our Lord threatened to spew out of mouth.

Paul tells us not to be slothful or lazy in zeal, but rather to be fervent in spirit, and to serve the Lord.  

3. Handle Trouble

Trouble is an inescapable part of life.

Christians experience troubles that are common to all in a fallen world - loss, disappointments, sickness, grief, death. Christians experience troubles when God sends trials to purify and strengthen their faith, to help them learn to depend more on his grace and find it sufficient. Christians experience troubles because of the world’s opposition to Christ. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation.” When Paul revisited the Gentile churches he had established on his first trip as a missionary, he told them “that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven.”

How do Christians handle troubles?

They rejoice in hope. St. Paul wrote in chapter 5: “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” In the New Testament hope is not a wish.  It’s something you don’t have yet, but there is no doubt you will. Certain hope produces the joy of anticipation. We hope for the glory of God that will be revealed when Christ comes and raises our bodies to make them like his glorious body.

This hope enables us to persevere in tribulations. When you have no hope, you give up. But if you have hope, you can endure with patience tribulations. Christians keep going because we know our troubles are light and momentary compared to the eternal weight of glory that God is preparing for us.

Christians who have hope are constant in prayer. Persistent tribulations do not make us give up hope or grow bitter. Rather we pray knowing that we have a loving heavenly Father, Christ who understands and intercedes, and the Holy Spirit who strengthens us and keeps alive our hope of glory.

4. Bless Persecutors

Jesus prepared the Apostles for the future telling them that the world would treat them as it treated him. “If they persecuted me, they will persecute you.” Paul told Timothy, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

There has been persecution of Christians from the first century till today. North Korea, where 70,000 Christians are in labor camps, is the most difficult place in the world to be Christian today. Just behind North Korea is Iraq where Christianity is all but extinguished. We are spared such suffering, but who knows if it will always be so?

The question is, “How are Christians supposed to respond to their persecutors?” “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” Paul is reflecting the words of Jesus: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” This is the way Jesus conducted himself: “when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

5. Love the Brothers

St. Paul’s great concern that he threads throughout this section is our relationships with each other as believers. The one word that summarizes the whole is “love.” Elsewhere he tells us that love is the perfect bond of unity and that, if we lack love, we are nothing. He tells us these 6  things that should characterize our love.

Genuine. In Greek drama actors played their roles behind masks. The real person was behind the mask of the character. We must not pretend love while having in our hearts malice toward one another. St Peter calls us to a “sincere brotherly love” so that we “love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

Brotherly. There is something wrong when siblings do not love each other, because it is natural for those who share the same blood to love one another. Brothers may have disagreements and occasional estrangement, but brotherly love overcomes and restores the relationship. The church is a family. We are brothers and sisters who love one another, don’t allow disagreements to divide us, and who, when the chips are down, will be there for one another.

Humble. I went to a high school reunion quite a few years ago, and I found that the same pecking order still existed. Insiders were still insiders; outsiders were still outsiders. In the church, we can be concerned more with being honored than giving honor. We may be impressed with our own importance and consider others not important enough to receive our attention. We can get puffed up about how much we know and how wise we are. So Paul tells us:  “Outdo one another in showing honor… Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”

Practical. A test of love is what we do when the person we love is in need. Talk can be cheap. Paul charges us: “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” St John warns us: “...if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

Empathetic. How do we feel when another person rejoices? He gets job promotion; she receives an inheritance; they go on a dream vacation. We can feel jealousy and envy. We can begrudge them and think, “I wish it were me rather than him.” Paul says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice.” How do we feel when another person is distressed and sad. He loses his job; her husband dies; he gets diagnosed with a life-threatening disease; she has a clinical depression. We can isolate and insulate ourselves from the suffering of others. We’ve got enough to feel bad about ourselves without getting entangled in someone else’s sorrows. But Paul says, “Weep with those who weep.”

Harmonious. Paul says literally, “Think the same thing” or “Be of the same mind.” He is not calling us to total conformity in the way we think about everything. You may have a certain opinion about an issue before the national, state, county, or city government and the person next to you the opposite opinion. We can disagree about such things. What is important is that we are of one mind about Christ and the Gospel and that we do not allow our differences outside the life of the church to disturb our harmony.

When we come to our Lord’s Table, he says to us, “You are my people. I have redeemed you with my body and blood. Here I give you all the benefits of my death.” And we respond, “Lord, you have bought us, and we are yours. Strengthen our faith and give us grace to live like Christians.”