The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 28: Symptoms of a Gospel Infected Life

Episode Date: July 29, 2018

A life offered to the Lord as a living sacrifice is a life marked by loving one another. The gospel calls us to treat others as Christ has treated us.

Amen and amen. If you would please stand for the reading of God's word. We are in the 28th week of the book of Romans. I will be reading Romans chapter 12, verses 9 through 21. God's word says this. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast what is good.

Love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 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. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. May God add blessing to the reading and the hearing of His word.

Amen, and you may be seated. So we are diving into what some people say now, finally, in Romans, we're getting to the practical part. And I've heard people say before, honestly, not very many of 11-20 tours, but I've heard people say something to the effect of, well, I'm not really into theology. I'm into practicality, which I would say, well, all good theology is practical. and any practice without right theology will lead to malpractice. And so far, we've got 11 chapters of right theology that lead us to right doxology. In other words, our response to glorify God.

And what Paul is laying out here is not a to-do list. This is very, very important to understand. In fact, the longer you've been in church, the more likely you will see these 30 exhortations as a list of things that you better get to work on. And if you do that, you really miss all of Romans, especially Romans chapter 1 through 8. You see, what Paul gives us here in these 30 exhortations is not necessarily an exhaustive list,

but it is an extensive list of what I would call the symptoms of a gospel-infected life. You see, it's a continuation of Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. And what he's saying here is that when the gospel gets on the inside of you, then we are transformed from the inside out. And these 30 exhortations are symptoms of that gospel-infected life. So if you were to go to the doctor and you say, hey, doc, I think I have the flu. They would begin to check your symptoms.

They would say, well, do you have a fever? No, I don't have a fever. Do you have a headache? No. Do you feel sick? I really don't. Are you achy? Uh-uh.

And if you don't have any of the symptoms, then new. news flash, you might not have the flu. And so what Paul is saying here is when the gospel gets in here, here are some of the things. Here's 30 things that should begin to work itself out in the way we live with one another and treat one another. You see, in my Bible, there's a big space between verse 8 and verse 9, but I don't really think there's a space there in the way Paul is seeing this. The 30 exhortations that we'll go through beginning in verse 9 really is the application and the implication of chapter 12 versus 1 and 2. You'll remember this. It's like three weeks ago.

Paul says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God. You might want to underline that. Back up in your Romans journal, two pages or however far it is, and underline that. By the mercies of God. That's where this all starts. The implications of the gospel in your life. start with the gospel by the mercies of God if God's mercy has landed on you in the gospel then here's what we do to respond to present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God

which is your spiritual literally that word spiritual there means logical worship he says don't be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. And so he says, basically, by the mercies of God, because of God's mercy towards us, present your body, be transformed. And then you remember, he started with a change in mindset. This is what we talked about last week. That we have to have a renewal of the mind three times and two verses.

He says, you've got to change the way you think. And then the first thing that he went after was pride. You've got to change the way you think about yourself. Don't think too highly of yourself because the fundamental problem with most of us is we think too much about ourselves. Whether you have a high self-esteem or a low self-esteem, the problem is that you esteem yourself. And I got news for you. God is for you. It just ain't all about you. And the moment you can grab on to that reality, you can take a breath and live in this world.

Not for yourself, but for the glory of God. And then he says one of the best ways to live in humility is to live in community. is what we talked about last week, that he calls us into community, to connect to the body, to be committed to the body. By the way, last Sunday, we had 96 people show up to our covenant membership class. So way to go, you 96. To about, appreciate you 96 clapping for yourself. Everybody else is like, I ain't going, all right?

Get over yourself. I told you. To about 80 of you 96, it's about time. You should have been a member like two years ago, all right? and then if you missed it today at 1 o'clock, then come back for a covenant membership class. But a part of the way that we fight pride is we live in humility, in community, that we connect with one another, we commit to one another, and we serve one another. And then I think he just keeps going.

Verse 9 is just a continuation of what it looks like to live in gospel community. And so he starts this way in verse 9. Let love be genuine. Now here's what you have to understand about the church in Rome. You see, the Church of 1122 is a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And as God continues to grow the all people part of what it means to be a movement for all people, the church in Rome was an all people kind of place. You see, before Al Gore invented the World Wide Web, Rome had it.

Except it wasn't an internet. It was a system of road. And all roads led to Rome, which meant the Roman society was full of all kinds of different people. Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, bond servants and masters. There were all kind of different ethnicities and socioeconomic groups and customs and festivals and music. And the crazy thing is when they would all get together at church, all of those differences begin to rub against one another. And so Paul is saying, hey, when you're sitting at church with a whole bunch of people that don't look like you and think like you and have the same customs as you do, let your love be genuine. You see, the crazy thing about the church in Rome is that one family's custom would be offensive to another family.

I mean, you show up to a birthday party and they got a pig on the spit. And then a Jewish brother would be like, are you even being serious right now? And this other family is like, you mean you don't like bacon? You know Jesus died so we could eat bacon. It's not the only reason, but it is a part of the blood covenant that all things, I mean, come on, man, give me a break. Bacon? It is a good and perfect gift from above. And so Paul is looking at these two families arguing over the BLT and says, let your love be genuine.

That word genuine in Greek is unhypochritis, not hypocritical is what that means. He says, let your love not be hypocritical. Hey, listen, we say it around here this way all the time. The fake you is doing just fine. And let's be honest, I've never seen people fake it more anywhere else on the planet than at church. Now, I think this church does a pretty good job as compared to other churches. Church people will fake it like crazy, right? This is why sometimes it's so refreshing just to sit at a bar.

Is it not? Because at least that guy next to you will tell you the truth. How you doing, buddy? Not that good. Not good. That's why I'm here. All right. It's four, and I'm here.

They'll even tell you as it changes throughout the day. I love you, man. 30 minutes later, I'm going to fight you, man. Whatever it is, they'll just tell you. The church people will lie to you. Walk up here on a Sunday morning. How you doing, brother? I'm just blessed and highly favored.

Really? Because your Twitter feed looks like a dump. fire. So you sure are you okay? So Paul's like, hey man, don't just quit faking it. You don't have to fake it. You know why? Because because the crux of the gospel is that you need a savior. Do you know why I don't feel like I have to fake it for you? It's because my life will show you evidence that I need, not need Ed, that I currently need a savior. That's why Jesus died. That every single one of us are jacked up. That's why we call this thing a big dysfunctional family.

So if you think you've got some issues, congratulations, you will fit right in. The only person that has a hard time here is the person that thinks they have it all together. In fact, you're the worst among us, but we'll let you into. Just get over yourself for a second and let your love be non-hypocrical, be genuine. And then he tells us how to love one another genuinely. He says, abhor what is evil. That word really means to be disgusted by what is evil, to be angry at what is evil. Abhorre what is evil.

Hold fast to what is good. You see, the reality is that you cannot love someone and overlook evil. You just can't. You can't love someone without holding fast to what is good. And what is good is what God has for us. no greater good in our lives than what God has for us. And we live in a world that teaches that we're not supposed to love one another. We're supposed to just tolerate one another. I mean, our current culture's highest value is tolerance. And tolerance is not a biblical value. It's not. Because you

cannot tolerate evil and love somebody. I can't truly and genuinely love you and watch you destroy yourself and call that love. You see, actually, our highest value and tolerance really is just, I don't want to offend you. And what ends up being the greatest value there is really self-comfort. You see, the Bible calls us to love the friend more than we love the friendship. But what most of us worship is our own self-comfort. Listen, we were not created to coexist. You know what you coexist with?

The possum that lives in your backyard. You'd be like, okay, you stay over there, I'll stay in here, and we will coexist. Love calls us to serve one another, to appreciate one another, to make their deal a bigger deal than our deal. And there is no way that you can love someone and just overlook evil for the sake of your own comfort because nothing is more destructive to the human heart than living in rebellion against the ruling reign of God. So may we be a church that doesn't just tolerate this world and coexist with this world, but may we be the kind of church that, like Jesus, serves this world and loves this world,

even if the world doesn't love us, even and especially with people that we don't agree with. This is what genuine love is. And so he goes on to say, in verse 10, love one another. with a brotherly affection. Now there's a little play on words here. It's kind of tough to translate in English, but he says love one another. This is the word Philadelphia.

We know this word. We don't like the Eagles, but this is a good name of a town, all right? Philadelphia means the city of brotherly love. But then he throws in this other little thing with brotherly affection. The Greek word is Philistorgay. What this means is that,

well, maybe you've heard this phrase before by a well-meaning Christian who was all the way wrong. You don't have to like people. people to love people. Well, the Bible says, well, in Christian community, you should actually do both. As you are loving people, then you should grow to like them also. That's what Philistorgay means. It's the kind of affection that you would have for like a, I don't know, an old recliner. Like when you think about that thing, you kind of get it like, oh, I love that thing. Or like a favorite hoodie sweatshirt or like a dog, you know, that kind of warm. Now, it doesn't work for a cat

because it's got to be reciprocal. And you might love your cat, but your cat, but your cat if she thought she could get away with it, she would kill you in the night, okay? She just would. So it doesn't work. But we are to love one another with a brotherly affection. Let me tell you what you and I should be doing for the people that we don't really like to love very much. You want to change that? Here's the best way to change that.

Start praying for those people. Not praying about. You know the difference between praying for and praying about? We all pray about people all the time. There's a guy that you work with and you hate that guy. And you pray for him all the time. But basically, you pray about him. You don't really pray for him.

Dear God, would you just do something to Ted? Because I hate him. Make it more like me so I can like him better. Hey, Ted, I've been praying for you. That's not what we're talking about. Praying for is that you would ask God to bless them, that you would ask God to move in their life, that you would ask God to give them the promotion,

that you would ask God to bless their family. And I promise you, when you begin to pour your heart out for other people, God will begin to pour love in your heart that you didn't know was there. Oftentimes, what prayer does not necessarily change the situation, but change us in the situation. And there's people that you were commanded to love, but you kind of have a hard time, you will begin to actually love because you will begin to see them the way God sees them.

Yeah, we're not just called to love one another, but we're called to love one another with a, a brotherly affection. You know, in every single one of these exhortations, there's 30 exhortations here. Every one of them could start with this, by the mercies of God, love one another with a brotherly affection. Because think about it. The only reason that we can love people and grow to like people is by the mercy of God.

Because think about it this way. You don't think you get on God's nerves. I mean, think about the same questions. You keep asking over and over and over. And if I was God, I'd be like, you know I wrote it in a book and you hadn't read it since Jobi reads it every week. That's your one Bible reading. You know, I answered this all in here. You're going to ask me the same kind of stuff?

Or Jesus tells us about the kind of patient love the Father has for us. Jesus says, in prayer, our prayers should be a constant knocking, a constant asking. Jesus says, when we pray, just ask again. Ask again. Ask again. In my house, if I use the words, ask me again, they don't mean what Jesus is talking about. When I say ask me again, it goes quiet for about 30 minutes. Won't you ask me not again?

That's how that goes. And then the father goes, ask me again. You see, the only reason you don't get on God's nerves is by the mercy of God. because Jesus has the propitiation for our sin. He's the payment that satisfies. So God's not dissatisfied in you. Therefore, we should love people like God has loved us. He says, love one another with a brotherly affection.

And I don't know if I can explain this very well, but I don't care. I need to say it. 1122, I love you. I mean, I really do. I have this affection in my heart for the people that make. up the movement 1122. I mean, when I'm driving around town and I see a sticker, I always pull up and just look and be like, who are you? Hey, hey. And the look back and it's like, oh my God. Or when we meet people like kind of out and about, really all over the place now.

But it is never an interruption. It is really not. Don't you ever apologize. We're family. Family should say hey to each other. Just the other Monday night, Gretchen and I went to a restaurant. And as we walked in, we sat down, one of the servers. I could see it in her eyes. She had that look, like, I think you're my pastor look, you know? And here she comes. And she gets there. And you can always tell if somebody goes to one of the campuses because they start with,

huh, thought you'd be taller. But anyway. And I've never met this lady before in my life, man. She's got a little girl. She's been coming to 1122 since January. And then she's just trying to say the words we go to church together. Right in the middle of the restaurant, the tears just start. are flowing. I've never met this girl in my life. And yet in that very moment, because God has

joined us together, Gretchen and I have a brotherly affection for this member of 1122. You see, that's how we're supposed to love one another with brotherly affection. And then he's going to give a little commentary on how we do this. He says, outdo one another with honor. outdo one another in showing honor that as a church we're supposed to play a game and the game is I'm going to try to out honor you and you see you want to talk about being countercultural because in our culture we have traded honor for cynicism

and we are worse off for it and I'm telling you social media is not helping us at all all we do man is just bash people and cut people down and tear people down and we're cynical and we're critical. I mean, give me a break, man. There's no such thing as even news anymore. I mean, where do you get news?

There are just these channels, and all they do, people tune in to what makes them feel better about themselves by bashing the things that they are against. And even the news organizations don't even necessarily believe the news they put on the news, but they just do that to make more money. And they sell it to us as truth. And it's a joke.

Somehow, in our culture, we have traded the salute for sarcasm. And we think it's our right. And people will say this. Well, it's my right, and it's my opinion, and it's true. Well, in all honesty, it just makes you look small and weak and insecure. And I'm telling you, if you're in my generation and younger, We're to blame. We're to blame. We are worse off for it. And again, people will say, well, how in the world can I show honor to somebody like that? That man does not deserve honor. There's a big difference between honor and respect. Respect is earned and honor is just given. You see, this is why, by the way, this is a movement for all people. And that doesn't just mean races and ethnicities. It also means all age groups, because let me tell you this. If you're in the 45 and under crowd, it would do you really, really, really, really good to hang out with the 65 and up crowd, because they could teach us a whole

lot about what it looks like to honor. This is why I get nervous anytime I see a disciple group, but it's just all 20-year-olds. I think, oh, no, the concentration of ignorance and that Panera scares me to death, man. But like, I'm 22. Let me tell you some stuff. Oh, you might want to just hush a minute, Scooter, and sit down under the teaching of an actual elder in the church and learn a few things. You see, and what a lot of us will do is be like, oh, I tell you what, I'll honor him as soon as he starts to honor me. Hold on, man, you missed the whole gospel. By the mercy of God, that God honored you when we had done nothing in the world to deserve to be honored. I mean, the king of glory steps out of heaven and dies on a cross for the forgiveness of our sin.

For anyone who would believe in Jesus, he would make him a co-hear and resurrection. us to sit at the right hand of God the Father, the seat of honor in heaven, and we did nothing to deserve it. And he bestows that upon you. So why are you withholding honor from somebody? I can tell you one reason, because we're honor hogs. Why in the world would I show you honor when I'm trying to get all the honor I can get? It's why every time you see a picture, who do you look for first? You don't look at everybody about. Look at everybody. Look at so good. You determine a group photo. Is this a good group photo or a bad group photo? There's only one face that counts when we side. This is not a good picture. Did you look at anybody else? Shut up. I ain't talking about

nobody else. This is about me. I mean, we are the generation that has created the selfie. Are you kidding me? The selfie? Listen, and some of you don't even take it right. Okay? Ladies, you can stop this. We don't need that. All right? That's not. Mm-mm. Gentlemen, if you're going to take a selfie, okay, here's what you do. You get your phone out, extend your arm, but not here. You put it a little bit lower, bit lower and then you put it away because you're a grown man stop taking selfies because we're consumed with ourself and when you honor someone else it takes your eyes off of yourself and so the bible commands us to outdo one another in showing honor like jesus honored you by making your deal a bigger deal than his deal he stepped off the throne of glory and in humility considered equality

with God not to be grasped. He emptied himself. Verse 11, do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervid in spirit. Serve the Lord. Do not be slawful in zeal. You ever get tired of being a Christian? Or does your Christian life,

it's like a roller coaster at Universal. Like you get really pumped up, it's saturated, and you're ready to go, attack hell with a water gun. And it lasts till like Wednesday. And then you're like, well, I guess I'll wait on Christmas Eve. And then Christmas Eve gets here and you get all pumped up and then, then you go on a mission trip and you're there. And then a few weeks later, it kind of dries up again. Paul is saying, while there are seasons in any kind of relationship, don't be soft.

Don't be lazy in your excitement for the Lord. You see, we also have a culture that has traded perseverance for passion. Perseverance. Perseverance is a biblical value. steady plotting in one direction for a long time with little or no acclaim. And we've traded that for passion. Well, I'm just not passionate about that. Do you know that's not even what that word means?

That word is Latin for suffering. The church has used it historically describe the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and we use it to describe shoes. I'm just passionate for shoes. Shut up. No, you're not. You're just a selfish honor hog and what's in it for you. And so we'll do this at church.

Instead of showing up to say, how can I serve? A whole bunch of people show up and be like, well, I'm not passionate about the parking lot. I would really, I can serve over here. And what you really mean is, here's how the church can serve me by giving me an opportunity to do what I want. Let me tell you, you serve you long enough, you will lose your zeal because you make a terrible God to serve.

And you will live in dissatisfaction and discomfort and disappointment. Because when you set you and your own passions on the throne to be, worshiped, I'm telling you, whatever you idolize when it lets you down, you will demonize. And if you sit you up there, it's coming fast. And you will wear yourself out trying to serve you. And so Paul says, don't be, don't be slothful and zeal, but be fervent in spirit. How Paul, here's how, serve the Lord. Serve the Lord.

You want to stay on fire for God? Continuously be on the front lines of ministry. where it's not about you being served, it's about you serving. And as you were on the front lines of ministry, and I don't mean you've got to work at church. I'm talking about live a life on mission that makes disciples, and you will consistently find yourself in a place where you were utterly dependent on God.

You'll look at this relationship that God has you in, whether you're serving or doing Bible study or whatever it is, and you will constantly be looking to the Lord saying, God, if you don't come through on this one, I'm in trouble. And you live your life there, I'm telling you nothing will deepen your relationship with Jesus, like being utterly dependent on him for living out his mission for his glory. And so Paul says, listen, Christian, don't be slow.

Don't get lazy. Be fervent in spirit. How Paul, here's how serve the Lord. Verse 12, he continues in how to not lose your zeal for God. And he gives us three things back to back to back. He says this. Number one, rejoice in hope. Rejoice in hope.

Here's what this means. The word rejoice. It just comes from two words. Joy is the root word and re means do it again. In other words, remind yourself of the joy that you have in Jesus. That happiness is based on happenings. Joy is found in Jesus. And so to rejoice is to remind yourself of the hope that you have in Christ.

In Psalm chapter 51 in a very, very dark time in David's life, he says this, remind me of the joy of my salvation. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation. Part of the way to keep our zeal for the Lord is to not put our hope in our hopeless circumstances that we see, but to lift our eyes up to Jesus, our Savior, and be filled with that kind of hope. You see, no matter how bad it is in your life right now, if you were in Christ, if you're and in Christ, this is as bad as it's ever going to be.

Because our hope is in Him, our Savior. Our hope is not in our circumstances. So rejoice in that. Remind yourself of what Christ has done for you by the mercies of God. Did you know the word rejoice is most used in the book of Philippians where Paul writes it from a jail cell? Rejoicing the Lord always. And again, I say it, rejoice.

While Paul is in prison, he reminds himself that this isn't it for him, that he has a hope that God's got a purpose and a plan for his life he's got a hope and a future and that's not just getting out of jail that's walking in freedom for eternity face to face

with the almighty God rejoice in hope secondly be patient in tribulation you see it may not be going your way right now but I've got good news in your tribulation one your circumstances do not get the final word They don't. No matter how bad your tribulation is, if you are in Christ, you will outlast this tribulation.

It may be by going to glory, but even if that's it, even if from this day to the day you die, you live in tribulation, somehow by the glory and mercy of God, when you get to heaven and now we see in part, but then we will see in full, you will look back on the pain that you have been in now, and you will look at the glory of God and go worth it. worth it. Your situation does not have the final word. It doesn't. What the doctor told you isn't the final word. Your marital status is not the final word. Your bank account is not the final word on your life. Jesus is the final word on your life. And he says, I'm the alpha of the omega, the beginning of the end. And in heaven, we hear this. God says, God says, I am your God and you are my children and I will be with you forever. And that is the final word. So we are.

patient in tribulation. We rejoice in hope. We're patient in tribulation. Why? Secondly, because if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. You get this? No matter how bad the tribulation, if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. I can tell you, the disciples, when Jesus died, they thought, well, this is impossible. And then three days later, the stone is rolled away. They see an empty tomb and a man who was dead three days before walking around in Jerusalem. And they go, oh, if the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. And this is practical theology. I met a couple last weekend. And they said one year ago, our marriage was dead, dead. And we looked at you, they're 11-22ers. They weren't a lot of like brotherly love and affection going on there. And they looked at one another and they held hands and

they just said this. They said the one phrase they clung to was this. If the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. And just like Christ breathes new life into us, Over time, not necessarily overnight, but miraculously, God breathed new life into this couple. And today they are still married and loving one another. Why? Because their circumstances and situations do not have the last word, but Jesus gets the last word. So he says, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer. You can't separate these three things.

Because nothing drives you to prayer like pain. Amen? Amen? Nothing drives you to pray. And the crazy thing is, in the sovereign hand of God, sometimes he loves you so much that he will drag you through the most painful times in your life so that you will cling to him because he knows the thing that you need more than anything is him. You see, I don't know about you, but at my house, at some point every day, we have about 10 devices. iPhones, iPads, I everything. I paid, I promise you that.

But we have these devices, and they all need to be charged. You ever there? And everybody's looking around. And I don't know about you, but at my house, somehow, I've got a million of those little cubes, and I got a ton of devices, and I can't find a cord anywhere. Drives me, some cord thief comes to my house and throws them away. I don't know where it is, all right?

And we're looking around, and I just need a cord, man. I can see the power source, and I can see the need, And I just got to make a connection. That's all I need is a connection. That's what prayer is. That's what prayer is. The almighty, infinite source of all things good and powerful and lovely is always available to us. And he has invited us at all times just to plug into him.

We call that thing prayer. That's how to not lose your zeal for the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be content. stood in prayer. Verse 13, he keeps going. Again, by the mercies of God, contribute to the needs of the saints. You're going to stay connected to God. Take your eyes off yourself for a minute.

Remind yourself. It's not all about me. Get your eyes out of the mirror for a second and look around in this world because there is great, great, great need. And remind yourself of all the blessings that God has laid upon you. Things in your life starting to dry up with the Lord. I dare you at all of our locations. When you walk out towards your car today, stop by the needs board and just take a look at some of the needs that exist among the saints right here at our church.

And Paul says, contribute to those. You think God gave you everything you have for you? No way, man. Maybe God gave us more than we need so that other people could get exactly what they need. And that's why we created the needs board. There's nowhere in the Bible that says the church should have. a program to meet the needs. No, it says that the church meaning the people that we should serve one another. And what it does, and what it does is it reminds us, when God uses you to

meet somebody's needs, it reminds you of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because God Almighty check the needs board of your own life. And guess what? You and I needed a savior. And God said, I can do that. And he sends Jesus to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. And then the church is supposed to model the gospel towards one another by meeting physical needs as a picture of the needs that God meets in our lives. So he says, contribute to the needs of the saints. And seek to show hospitality. In other words, we've got to take care of the insiders and take care of the outsiders.

The word hospitality in Greek is this. Philo, that means to love, Zena. That means the outsider or the alien. That we are to love the outsiders. Now let's be honest. Do you even know your neighbors? Or do you just consistently hang out with the people that you already know and you're really serving yourself because it makes you so comfortable?

The gift of hospitality in the Bible doesn't mean you know where to put the doilies and what send the candles to get this month. That's not what that means. It just means that we get really good at loving the people that God puts around us. and especially loving people that don't look like us. And then it takes a turn. Verse 14. He says, bless those who persecute you.

Bless and do not curse them. And you look at this and you're like, hold on, how am I supposed to do that? You mean, I'm going to bless people that persecute me? I'm supposed to take care of my enemies. There's only one way this makes sense. It's only one way this makes sense in view of God mercy. because when you and I were an enemy against God, what did he do? Wait until we treated him well to take care of us?

No, he did the exact opposite. That God demonstrated his love for us in this while we were still sinners, enemies of God, that Christ died for us, and this is how we are to treat people that are persecuting you. Verse 15. He says, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Now the implications of this verse are much greater than just the words listed here. Again, I want to remind us of the makeup of the church in Rome.

There were Jews and there were Gentiles. There were all kinds of different ethnic groups. And the only thing that brought them together was Jesus. And the church in Rome was united by Christ and they did not let their differences divide them. You see, one of our great hopes at the Church of 1122 is that we would be a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And all means all. All means all ethnicities. All means all kind of backgrounds.

All means all ages. All means all parts of wherever you come from. All means all. And in our fallen human nature, we love to surround ourselves. with people that look like us. It's just where we go. And as we continue to move closer and closer to what God has called us to be as a church, our hope and our prayer is that every single weekend and all throughout the week,

that this church, this church is just the pregame for what heaven will be like. Every tongue, every tribe, every nation. And I think what Paul is talking about here when he says, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep is the only way to get there, the only way to be unified in Christ and to be able to appreciate each other's differences, the only way to get there is in relationship.

You see, because the reality is, in a segregated society, the further you are distant from a situation, the simpler the solution seems. The further you are from a situation, than the simpler the solution seems. Especially if the only people you know look like you and think like you and vote like you.

And the way it plays out, I mean, you look at, you know, the news cycle happens every week, and there's always a new story. And currently, most of the stories that dominate our news cycles are the way that different groups of people in America are divided from one another. And I'm telling you, the further you are away from the situation, the simpler the solution seems. Whether it's about police officers and minorities or if it's what's happening at the border, whatever it is. I'm telling you, if further you are away from being in personal relationship

with this, we will find ourselves saying these kind of phrases. Well, why don't they just, in the moment you say that, I'm telling you, no matter what side of the aisle your own, well, why don't they just, here's where it hit me the hardest. I was about to lead a trip to to Israel, and I was talking to somebody about the safe, is it safe? And I'm like, man, it's like going to Disney World. There's people there from everywhere, all right? The most dangerous place you'll be is at the JFK airport. All right. We'll be all right. And by the way, don't you believe in the sovereignty of God? Get over. So, anyway, somebody was asking me a question about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said this. Well, why don't they just stop fighting?

I thought, huh, it's a little more complicated than that. Now, from Jacksonville, that sounds like a perfectly logical thing to say. But if you lived in Palestine, if you lived in Jerusalem, it would be a little more complex than that. And what Paul is saying here is the only way to get out of our minds, just these kind of simple solutions, is to live in context with one another. And so what God calls us to do in community is by rubbing up against people that have different life experience than you, you begin to appreciate and understand and empathize with people instead of just trying to stand up for what you think you ought to do. Do you see the difference?

So let me confess and tell you a way that I have not led our church well as a movement for all people. There have been significant events in the life of our nation that affect different groups of people in different ways. And here's the thing. I don't know if you know this, okay, but I'm a white guy. And I mean I'm real white, right? Like I did an ancestry test and my heritage is Ireland, Scotland, and England. It's like the whitest whiteness of all white

got together with a polar bear and here I am. You understand? And then I was raised in the country with trucks and plaid and hunt. I mean, you got me. And when you live in the majority culture, you don't know that your culture is the majority culture. Like if you ask a fish how the water feels,

he'd be like, what do you mean water? Because that's just where he lives. And so I have a tendency to see things through my eyes only and we have things that happen in our culture that affect primarily minority groups in a really, really significant way. And one of the things I have not led our church well to do is to make room here at the church for all people, to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep. So I'm going to need your help on this.

As we go forward and things happen before you decide which side of the issue you're on and why don't they just, No, no, no, it's not why don't they just. It's we just hold the hands of our brothers and sisters no matter where you're from or the way you see an event, even if we may differ on the political outcome, and we just hold hands as brothers and sisters. And before we start talking about the facts, the Bible calls us to begin to feel with those who feel. Because that's what a body does. That's what a family does.

You see, and he keeps going with the same thing in mind. You see, with his same thought, he says this, live in harmony with one another. live in harmony. Harmony is not uniformity. You see, I don't know anything about music, so forgive me if I mess this up, but it's the differences in those notes that when they come together make it beautiful, not the uniformity of it. And so, though I don't think Romans chapter 12, I don't think the entire text is only about racial reconciliation and understanding, it is a significant part of it. And so, and again, anytime I talk about race, y'all hear how quiet it gets. All right, all the white people go like, are you being serious right now? Don't bring this up, especially the crazy stuff you talk.

You're going to be out of here, all right? So listen, so what we're going to do is in January, we're going to have a three-week class on Friday nights and invite anybody and everybody that would come to just talk about the gospel and race. And I'm going to bring some of my friends, some experts in so that we can open up the gospel and let the Bible read us in what it looks like to be a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And there will be no topic off limits. We'll dig in there.

And so then he keeps going. He says, all right, live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty. Millennials, that's haught, not haughty, okay, it's haughty. Do not be haughty, but associate with lowly, never be wise in your own sight. which is the problem in prejudice and racism and looking down on other people, that you cannot simultaneously look up at the cross and understand that I'm a sinner saved by grace and look down your nose at any other human being that is an image bearer of God.

If you ever do that, it's because you are wise in your own sight and your pride is ruling you. He goes on in verse 17 to say, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. Verse 18. This is so important. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Let me just jump right to it and say it as bluntly as I can. Sometimes it's not possible.

You did everything you could do. You did everything you could do. Very specifically, if you were in an abusive situation, get out. Get out. come tell us, we'll help you. I know you don't pay attention to like church news, but it's come out in the media recently that there have been some pastors of churches

that told abused wives that they need to stick it out for the sake of the gospel. I would say you're absolutely wrong. If you're being abused, you get out of there and you let us help. You let us help. Jesus took a beating for you. You don't have to.

You come let the church help. Amen. Amen. Sometimes the way you honor one another is you put them in jail. Straight up. Next week, we're talking Romans 13 about when the police show up because they are the sword of God.

We'll get to that next week. But if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. That all includes you too. That as you look at your relationships, no matter how hard they are, that you would be able to lay your head on the bed and say, I did everything I could do.

I did everything I could do so that you could live at peace with yourself. But to make sure that we've done everything that we can do. Verse 19, this is how he closes. He says, beloved. And I think that's the most important word in the rest of the text. I'll read it all and I'll come back to it. He says, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.

For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And you're like, are you being serious? I can't stand him. I've got to feed him. The whole point is, by the mercy is, God, what did he do for you when you needed something and you were an enemy?

He met your need. He says, if he's thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing you will keep burning coals on his head, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Here's the most important part I think is beloved, beloved. One time in the book of Romans does Paul call us beloved. Now he uses the word beloved as an adjective in some other places, but it's the the only time he looks at us and as a title calls us beloved. Now John, the Apostle John, who gave himself his own nickname, the one who Jesus loved,

he uses beloved all the time. All right, he's kind of ooey-gooey. I think when we get to heaven, he's going to give us that weird male-on-male front hug with no, like, fist in between. That's the Apostle John, all right? But Paul, Paul's a dude, he's going to get some stuff done. And yet here, after he goes through these 30 exhortations, understanding that Christians have a propensity to find a list and check off the list all their activities,

he first wants us to understand who we are before we get into what we ought to be doing. And here's who you are. You are beloved. Beloved. That's just who you are. You see, this means this, that your activity doesn't define you. That the way you were brought up doesn't define you. that your past doesn't define you, that your sin doesn't define you. There's the places where you screwed up on the list of exhortations does not get to tell you who you are.

You know who you are? I am who you say I am. That's what we're saying. I am who you say I am. Now, I've got all these kind of feelings. You know, I think my marital status defines me. I think my bank account defines me. I think the country I was born in defines me.

And Jesus goes, no, no, no, no, no, no. you are who I say you are and who he says we are is this, beloved. Beloved. Beloved. Not only does it tell us who we are, but it tells us whose we are. If you split this thing up, it's like this. He goes, listen, church, just, how about this? Just be loved.

That's what that word. Be loved. That the great I am, the great to be, God, his name is Yahweh. In Hebrew, that means I am that I am. that Yahweh loves you. In the moment where you're like, yeah, yeah, blah, blah, hold on, shut up, you don't even get to tell you who you are. He does.

And who you are, you are beloved. And the moment you begin to realize, by the mercies of God, I am loved by God. Not because I'm awesome, but because he's awesome. Not because what I have done, but because what he did on the cross. And for anyone, anyone that believes that when Jesus died on the cross, counted for you, then congratulations. You are beloved. And the moment you begin from the inside to begin to begin, transformed by this idea that the great I am loves you, that you are beloved.

Guess what, man? Just like hurt people, hurt people and abused people, abused people. Loved people, loved people. Of all kind of different races and ethnicities and backgrounds and cultures, all kind of different ages and all kind of different political thoughts that loved people, love people. And how do we know this? He says, don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. You know what the greatest evil of all time was? That the almighty sovereign God of the universe created us in his image. And we reject him to be our own God.

There is no greater evil than that. And God did not respond with evil, but he responded with the greatest good of all time. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to love us. to demonstrate his love for us and this did in the worst moments of our life and even the best moments of our life that Christ died for us. Beloved, that is what you are. And the moment you grab onto that, then from the inside out, God will begin by his mercy and his power and his Holy Spirit. He will begin to love other people through the conduit that is your life. All of these verses, these 30 exhortations, have wrapped up in a sentence or two is this.

A life offered to the Lord as a living sacrifice is a life marked by loving one another. The gospel calls us to treat others as Christ has treated us. Now, if I didn't step on a couple of toes here today, then I don't know what to tell you, all right? You might want to check your pulse if you consider yourself a believer. And if you've yet to be offended, come see me at the end, and I will find something personally to say about you, just to shake you up a little bit. Because there's 30 exhortations here, and none of us can pull them all off, which means we need a savior. And so maybe the way we need to respond today, is there some person in your life that you need to confess to and repent to? Jesus said, if you lose translation, do you find yourself at church when you get to the response time?

at the end. And you normally just like to sing and kind of just respond the way you want to, but you know there's a brother or sister that's got an issue with you and it's really your issue. Why don't you go first? Why don't you go first and let your love be genuine? And get things right on this level as you're getting things right on this one. You see, the two most often spoken sentences of the transformed Christian should be, I was wrong. and I am sorry. That's what love calls us to do. And there are the two, maybe the two least spoken sentences at church

because we go defensive and just try to rewrite the narrative. And so maybe, maybe right now the Spirit of God is laying on you what it looks like for you by the mercy of God to present your body as a living sacrifice, transform from the inside out. And there's some real work that needs to be done. And maybe there's somebody whether they're in one of the locations we're sitting at or they're sitting in the room with you right now

or you know they're coming to another service or they live three states away and you know what God is calling you to do is make the call send the text and say I was wrong and I am sorry and then watch what watch what God does in you would you please stand and pray with me our good and gracious heavenly Father God we love you because you love us first Lord I thank you and I praise you that you didn't wait until we got our actions together to love us, but love goes first. In Spirit of God, I pray that our love for one another would be genuine. God, that you would root out any hypocrisy that lives here every single day. God, that the gospel would free us to not have to fake it. The gospel would free us to be able to say the words over and over and over, I was wrong and I am sorry. In Spirit of God, I pray that you would

move. I pray that this church at all of our locations, God, that we would be a light and a dark world. God, we would be a city on a hill, that this entire city would look at us and they may say, I don't necessarily believe what they believe, but man, they sure do love one another, and they love this world. And God, we know that the only way we can do that is because your love lives in us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.