Tag Archives: Romans 13

Living in community

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Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments… are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.

(Rom 13.8-10)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

(Heb 10.19-25)

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

(Eph 4.1-6)

No family is perfect, because it is made up of human beings, who are not perfect.  We may be tempted to think that it would be easy to be perfectly patient, generous and forgiving, if only we had  different people around us! But the truth is that it is in our reactions to one another that our true nature is revealed… and when we join God’s family, the same things will happen. We will disagree, irritate and hurt one another, and find reasons to put distance between ourselves and others. We are saved, forgiven and destined for glory.. but we still mess up.

In spite of this, the bible knows nothing of solitary believers, it is always the community, the body of Christ and its corporate life which is being commended to us. Our life as part of the body is our life; even though we are unique individuals, we exist in relation to and for others.  Deliberate withdrawal from our christian family deprives others of our love and service, as well as their opportunity to serve us. Refusal to submit to our community’s loving watchfulness exposes us to the risks of indulging wrong-teaching, laziness and apathy – we become ripe for attack by the enemy of our souls, even as a straying sheep is targeted by the wolves. In love, we listen to older and wiser saints, respecting and treasuring them and through them receiving God’s help for each day. In love, we bring our disagreements into the open, willing to live with difference and humbly recognising our own limitations.

We have confidence that the Spirit lives in us, enabling us more and more to live in love – Christ-like. His Spirit spurs us on to emulate Christ’s love and good works, but also to lovingly spur on one another – not in some judgemental or competitive way, but through encouragement, and in love. We answer to Christ, not to the standards of a world which does not know him, so we are free to love generously, to rejoice and to boast in our Saviour and to make his service our delight. And it is in loving his family that this begins.

As I recall times when God has used me all unexpectedly to bless total strangers, and to be blessed by them, I remember that the church is both a local body, but also the people of God around the world, and I never know where I will encounter them. I have confidence that the Spirit is working in and through me, and so I can expect that God can use me to love in his name in unexpected ways and situations, as well as in the normal pattern of my days. What a joyous and exciting prospect!

Heavenly Father, thank you that your people around the world are one family. Thank you that you bring us across one another’s paths to bless, guide, protect and inspire us – working through your human children to minister your love to us. 

Let us be inspired afresh to love in Jesus’ name, and by his Spirit to stir one another up to love and good works, sensitive to your leading in our conversations, and always ready to meet a new brother or sister along the way! In the name of our great elder brother and Lord, Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

A ready and generous affection

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..but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord…. the alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

(Lev 19.18&34)

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

(Jn 13.34&35)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing  debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellow-man has fulfilled the law…. Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law.

(Rom 13. 8&10)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…

(1 Cor 13.4-8)

Love is not proud, and how often pride is at the root of all our disobediences.. love is ready to leap to greet another, ready with a smile, a kind word, a hug. Love is not afraid to show emotion, to be vulnerable and allow others to show love; love is generous, not stingy and mean in measuring out affection. Jesus calls us to love, AS HE LOVES. We can’t say there is no model, but we can choose to justify our deviation from it – and what does that say about our hearts and our sense of how much we are freely, undeservedly, loved?

Last week, as I walked in a big city, I met an old friend who took one look at me, opened his arms and embraced me in the biggest hug. It was such comfort to my hurting heart – he didn’t know that, but our Lord knew that was what I needed, and so he sent me that generous, eager loving heart to greet me as Jesus greets all his children – ” My dear, it is so good to see you!”

That little miraculous moment left me wondering how often we manage to take our opportunities to love generously, to love like Jesus, with no thought of reward, or of what others are thinking?

We all respond differently to different expressions of love, and part of the wisdom of being like Jesus is learning how to say “I love you” to some who don’t like physical displays of affection – what can I do or say to let them know the divine love today? For me and for many of us perhaps, words are a powerful way to both build up and to undermine love. So today I want to think particularly about how Jesus used words and to challenge us all to be more aware of what damage we may be doing by careless talk…

Jesus does not make himself significant by putting others down, by using sarcasm or being patronizing, by mocking those weaker than himself. Jesus infallibly spoke to the women he encountered with an unheard of respect, honesty and as equally beloved to God – an attitude which led them to seek him out, to follow him with devotion and serve sacrificially. This man didn’t belittle or send them back to the kitchen or the nursery, he listened, reasoned and made them know their worth in God’s eyes… Sadly, his church has failed to effectively follow his example very well, but the principle and model are there for us to follow.

Jesus welcomed the children, those suffering from obnoxious diseases and disabilities, and spoke to them as the object of God’s – not patronizing pity- but transforming and empowering love. Jesus took care that his words fitted his hearers, and his divine love and wisdom shine through clearly to show us that it is entirely possible to live as those who choose never to destroy, but always to build up the body of Christ, always persevering and meeting harshness with love and respect.

What will you and I do with our words this week? Will we make excuses and hide behind our busy-schedules, behind particular health/family or employment stresses? I don’t think Jesus leaves us any room for taking out our troubles in our words on those whom we are called to love – He didn’t do it! Will we use the acid-biting sarcasm, the bewildering cryptic comments that leave our hearers feeling utterly stupid, the patronising comments that treat them like less than God’s dearly beloved image bearers?

Will we use words to say instead: “Hello my precious friend, loved and unique, how can I serve you today, how can I encourage you to know the utter security of God’s hold upon you and to have joy in knowing that love, and sharing it?”

I know which one I want to be, and to that end, I share these verses from an old hymn which beautifully expresses that desire to love in the Lord’s name.

I ask Thee for a thoughtful love, through constant watching wise, to meet the glad with joyful smiles, and wipe the weeping eyes, and a heart, at leisure from itself, to soothe and sympathise.

Wherever in this world I am, in whatso’er estate, I have a fellowship with hearts to keep and cultivate, and a work of lowly love to do the Lord on whom I wait.

(Anna L Waring, 1823-1910)