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The
message can be summed up as:
1.
Obey
English Law (including paying taxes)
2.
Love your
neighbour as yourself
3.
Wake
up and put on Jesus
The
key to Romans 12-15 is
Romans 12:1-2
So
we are continuing to examine how to be a living sacrifice and how to not
conform.
Not
conforming seems to suggest that this world is not my home, I am a citizen of
heaven, and therefore I do not conform to state law. The early Christians had a
further set of problems. They had broken out of the Jewish state where God’s
Laws underlay the state law and so were they meant to observe laws constructed
without regard to the “I am”? The second issue was that the Roman State was
rapidly turning against them and persecuting them. Do you fight, refuse to
co-operate or what?
The
‘story-keepers’ children’s video is based on this sort of situation, about 20
years later. And how about the fact that Jews were not expected to do ‘National
Service’ but the Gentiles would have?
In many senses we have had it easy on
this issue. English law and government, largely, has been based on sound
biblical principles. But those principles are now disregarded and the resulting
changes in the law have all sorts of implications. And as other voices than
Christians have there say, we will feel less inclined to support the system.
But Jesus and Paul have the same message: Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and
to God what is God’s.
You might be saying to yourself – “I
did not expect to get a dose of National Curriculum citizenship at church. I
thought we were going to be taught religious things.” Well, you were wrong for
one vital reason. Jesus came to save you lock, stock and barrel. That means he
wants to change every part of your life, even your attitude and response to
Tony Blair!
I do not see that what Paul is saying
should stifle debate in a democratic country. It’s not that we have to accept
the government and not participate in the democratic process. The church and
individual Christians have a democratic right and duty to express their views.
It will always be an issue for Christians how far we should be involved in
politics. I fear for a church which is hand in hand with government. History
suggests that the church always compromises on the truth in those
circumstances. The English church suffered particularly from this over the
years. On the other hand evil triumphs when good men do nothing. So pick your
way through the issues and be forgiving of those who come up with a different
view to your, especially if they end up voting Liberal Democrat!
So, Paul sees the State as part of
God’s world. But he jumps from that to owe no one anything but to love one
another. Is this Paul jumping around in his thinking? No. Paul is going through
the Christian’s role and having filled in your tax return and the electoral
role letter and paid your road tax, driven within the law, and so on, let’s
turn our attention to our neighbours. Being a good citizen is not everything.
The trouble is we hardly know our nieghbours!
However,
this passage closely reflects the teaching of Jesus.
34 "A
new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love
one another. 35 By this all men will
know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (NIV)
Matthew 6:12
12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven
our debtors. (NIV)
Deuteronomy 15:3
3 You may
require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother
owes you. (NIV)
Luke
6:32-36
32 "If
you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love
those who love them. 33 And if you do good to
those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34 And if you
lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even
'sinners' lend to 'sinners', expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love
your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (NIV)
Confused? Well, what lies at the heart
of this is the biblical view in Deuteronomy. Christians, therefore, do not
charge each other interest on loans to each other. So Paul’s remark starts with
a reference to money because, more often than not, it is in the matter of money
that we discover our own true feelings. It is particularly difficult for us to
recognise that money is a servant not a God. We live in a society that holds
money as the chief control and motivator. So the idea that you lend someone
money and are surprised they pay it back is as far fetched as lending money and
not even getting inflation! But you may be thinking, Paul says owe nothing, so
therefore, lend nothing! I think not. He has been talking about paying tax as
it is an obligation owed to the government. Now he goes on to say, don’t be
under any obligation except to love. And it is clearly the exception that is on
his mind.
Let’s
be clear, Paul is talking about agape love. This is living
sacrifice love. Not ‘give everyone in church a big hug, wish them well’ and not
take any interest in them the rest of the week. What marks out you as a Christian is that you know the God. And
God is love. A God whose love was conveyed to you by action. And you are called
to love your neighbour as yourself.
What
we are challenged with this morning is whether we understand the gospel. Do we
understand that we have love enough from God to last eternity? Do we appreciate
that the Holy Spirit enables us to be in conversation with God himself?
In fact we show our love to
God by our love for our fellows. 1 John 4:19-21
19 We love
because he first loved us. 20 If anyone
says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone
who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has
not seen. 21 And he has given us
this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother. (NIV)
I
believe that we have a lot to learn about God’s love in action in our church
and reaching out into the community. Too often we love because we hope for a
return. Here are some challenges to test your thinking.
Do
you want people to be saved? What if
that means you having to be involved in long term support? Or are you hoping
that they will fill the gaps in the church so that you are not so stretched?
What
if talking to them about God’s love causes offence and you lose their
friendship? Is their spiritual welfare more important than you having their
friendship?
Would
you be willing to double your giving if God called you to? Or is your current
giving OK because it does not really affect your lifestyle? Sorry but I reckon
that your pocket is the most sensitive part of your soul!
This
passage tells us, again, that God’s law is merely guidance on how to love. In
circumstance where love seems to have more than one option, the 10 commandments
give signposts. Loving someone means that you do not take their lives. Loving
someone means that you do not have sex with them outside of marriage. Loving
someone means you do not lie to them or for them. You do not love someone by
stealing from them. If you covet their home, you create a barrier in your relationship
with them.
Of
course it is not always that simple. What is your thoughts on the parents of
the Siamese twins? Are they right or are the courts right? Is the life of one
more important than the life of the other? I cannot any clear guidance. What a
terrible dilemma they have. Pray for them but do not condemn them.
What
about the ‘Do not resuscitate’ issue? I have already said that love does not
take live. But given doctors can keep reviving and patching up our bodies, when
should we draw a line? Again, I do not think there is a clear answer. Pray for
those who make these decisions. Forgive as you have been forgiven when they get
it wrong.
Verse
11-12 is good rousing imagery. To read it is to think Paul thought that Jesus
was about to return. It echoes Jesus talking about servants being alert to his
return. But let us be honest with ourselves. Today is all we have. At best we
may live to 100 odd years. One or two, if any, are likely to see 2100. God only
knows whether we have the rest of the year. The gospel is ‘Lay up treasure in
heaven’ . We may have the best long term goal – heaven but we live as those who
have no time. Wake up and live today to God! Wake up each day and say to
yourself. I am nearer heaven than yesterday! In eternal terms, the light has
dawned, Jesus has come into the world , righteous and bringing salvation. So
the third part of our message this morning is to throw off bad behaviour like
pyjamas and get dressed for the day. Don’t wander around in your nightie! There
is work to be done! So leave behind revelling, drunken bouts, sexual
immorality, excesses, strife and jealousy. And unlike your night attire, don’t
put it under the pillowcase for the future!
But put on Jesus! You don not run on
empty that is a recipe for disaster. Be filled with the Holy Spirit , every
day. But how? Ask and you will receive. That’s it. We have to put on Jesus.
That is a conscious act. And it is not just an early morning event, it requires
a frequent decision during the day when you choose to obey God, to ask him, in
prayer for guidance and direction, when we simply turn our thoughts to him in
praise and adoration.
19 Do you not
know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you
have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were
bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body. (NIV)
As
an example of ‘putting on Jesus’ we are going to celebrate the Lord’s supper
this morning. The metaphor may be different, but the implication is the same.
You are invited to eat and drink Jesus this morning. To remember his death and
resurrection and remember that we receive our spiritual life and health from
him. So as this morning we come to this act of communion I am suggesting we put
aside the nightie and pyjamas of sin,
confess our sins and ask God to fill us once again with his Spirit that we may
live lives fitting for the day in which we live – the day of grace and peace
with God, the day which has no end and soon will turn from the lightening sky to
the real day when we die or Jesus returns.
So
there it is, God calls us to be good citizens not only in observing law and
being law-abiding citizens but also in owing love to each other as fulfilment
of God’s law. To do that we need to put off the night attire of sin and put on
the Jesus.