A Study of the Book of Romans
Romans # 27
“Living As Trophies of Grace”
Romans 12:9-21
Last week we talked about spiritual gifts. We learned
that if you are a Christian you have one or more spiritual gifts that are to be used to
serve the Lord in and through the local church. Tonight we learn that we not only have a
responsibility to exercise our gifts but we are to exercise grace.
FIRST, LOVE MUST BE SINCERE (12:9a)
“Let love be without
hypocrisy.”
Paul begins with an important statement about
the quality of love that should be in the Church. The New International Version translates
this verse “Love must be sincere.”
The
word sincere comes to us from two Latin words “sine
cere” which means literally “no wax.”
Back in
ancient times unscrupulous potters would sometimes take wax and fill in the gaps and the
holes in broken or cracked pottery. Then they would paint over the wax and sell it. The
only problem is, once you bought it and put something hot in that pot that had wax on it,
guess what is going to happen? It is going to crack apart. So these potters started
selling their pottery, and they made this claim. They would say “sine cere,” no
wax, this is pure pottery. So sincere was good. When it talks about our love, there should
be no cracks, no wax, no phony love.
The Greek word (hupocritos) translated “hypocrite”
literally meant “no mask.”
In the days before elaborate scenery, actors often mere changed masks to change the parts
they were playing. So hypocrisy is hiding behind a mask or acting a part in a play.
SECONDLY, LOVE IN RELATION TO OTHER BELIEVERS
(12:9b-16)
“… Abhor what is evil.
Cling to what is good. (10) Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in
honor giving preference to one another; (11) not
lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; (12) rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,
continuing steadfastly in prayer; (13) distributing to the needs of the saints, given to
hospitality. (14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (15) Rejoice with
those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. (16) Be of the same mind toward one
another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be
wise in your own opinion.”
Reject
Sin But Not the Sinner (9b)
“…Abhor what is evil.
Cling to what is good.”
Remember
To Be Devoted To One Another In Brotherly Love (10a) “Be
kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love…”
Regard
Others As More Deserving Than Ourselves (10b) “…
in honor
giving preference to one another;”
The Philips Translation of this verse is
“Be willing to let other men have the credit.”
It has been point out, “There is no limit to the good a man can do, if
he doesn’t care who gets the credit.
Retain
Your Enthusiasm (11)
“ not lagging in diligence,
fervent in spirit, serving the Lord”
Some people seem to think that the more
spiritual you are the sadder you must look. In fact just the opposite is true. Because
interestingly enough the word “enthusiasm” goes from the combination of two
Greek words “en-theos” –
“theos” means God.
Rejoice
in Hope (12)
“rejoicing in hope, patient in
tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;”
Respond
To Need (13a)
“ distributing to the needs of
the saints,…”
Pursue
Opportunities for Hospitality (13b) - “… given to hospitality”
Let me share with you what the Life
Application Commentary says about Hospitality. “Hospitality
means being friendly to strangers, not
just having friends over. Christian hospitality differs from social entertaining.
Entertaining focuses on the host – the house has to be spotless; the food must be
well prepared and abundant; the host must appear relaxed and good-natured.. Hospitality,
in contrast, focuses on the guest. Their needs – whether for a place to stay,
nourishing food, a listening ear, or acceptance – are the primary concern.
Hospitality can happen in a messy home. It can happen around a dinner table where the main
dish is canned soup. It can even happen when the host and the guest are doing chores
together. Believers should not hesitate to offer hospitality just because they are too
tired, too busy or not wealth enough to entertain.” [Life Application
Commentary p. 246]
But opening up you home is not the only form
of hospitality, any practical act of kindness to a stranger was considered hospitality.
Let me give you a few examples of what may be other types of hospitality. When we are out
the road, we can allow another motorist into
the flow of traffic, rather than staying on top of the next car’s bumper so that
other drivers cannot get in front of us. This is being kind to strangers. At workplaces, we can help out a fellow employees if
they need it, even if it is not our job. When we are in the supermarket, we can allow a
hurried shopper to get in front of us at the checkout line. When we drive past our
neighbors house and see that dogs have got into his trash can by the side of the street,
we can pick up the neighbor’s trash can when it is in the roadway, instead of driving
around it. In the worship service, we go out of our way to welcome and talk with the
newcomers and visitors, rather than allowing the same few people to do it every week,
while others gather in holy huddles to greet and talk to their friends. Be kind, be
friendly, and be hospitable.
Speak
Well of Persecutors (14)
“Bless those who persecute
you; bless and do not curse.”
The word “persecute” means any kind
of repeated intent to harm, whether it is physical, emotional or financial.
“Former Boston Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs used to hate going to
Yankee Stadium. Not because of the Yankees--they never gave him that much trouble--but
because of a fan. That’s right: one fan.
The guy had a
box seat close to the field and when the Red Sox were in town he would torment Boggs by
shouting obscenities and insults. It’s hard to imagine one fan getting under a player’s
skin, but apparently this guy had the recipe.
One day before
the game, as Boggs was warming up, the "fan" began his typical routine, yelling
"Boggs, you stink" and variations on that theme. Boggs decided he’d had
enough. He walked directly over to the man, who was sitting in the stands with his
friends, and said, "Hey fella, are you the guy who’s always yelling at me?"
The man said, "Yeah, it’s me. What are you going to do about it?"
Wade took a new
baseball out of his pocket, autographed it, tossed it to the man, and went back to the
field to continue his pre-game routine.
The man never
yelled at Boggs again; in fact, he became one of Wades’ biggest fans at Yankee
Stadium.
Other players
have been known to deal with antagonistic fans by returning obscenities, or spitting on
them, or even, on occasion, punching them in the nose. Boggs dealt with his tormentor by
doing good to him.
You may find
yourself in Wade’s shoes someday. For no discernable reason, someone may decide not
to like you. Maybe it’s something you did, maybe it’s something you didn’t
do, maybe it’s something you can’t help--but suddenly you find yourself in
hostile territory. Our natural inclination is to fight back, but there is a better way to
handle the situation. As Christians, we are to do good and not evil to those who have
repeatedly hurt us.”
Adjust
To the Mood of Others (15)
“Rejoice with those who
rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
Show No
Partiality (16)
“Be of the same mind toward
one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be
wise in your own opinion.”
THIRD, LOVE IN RELATION TO UNBELIEVERS (12:17-21)
“ Repay no one evil for evil.
Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. (18) If it is possible, as much as
depends on you, live peaceably with all men. (19) Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but
rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”
says the Lord. (20) Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in
so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” (21) Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.”
There Is A Call To Peace
(vv. 17-18)
“Repay no one evil for evil.
Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. (18) If it is possible, as much as
depends on you, live peaceably with all men”
The principle is do not repay evil with evil.
A good example is the story that Ray Stedman tells coming out of the Korean War.
“I remember hearing of some
officers during the Korean War who rented a house for themselves and hired a Korean
houseboy to work for them. He was a cheerful, happy soul, and they were young and had a
lot of fun playing tricks on him. They would nail his shoes to the floor, and they would
put water up over the door so that when he pushed it open the bucket would fall on him.
They played all kinds of tricks, but he always took them in such a beautiful, good humor
that they finally became ashamed for themselves. They called him in one day and said,
"We've been doing all these mean things to you and you have taken it so beautifully.
We just want to apologize to you and tell you that we are never going to do those things
again." He said, "You mean no more nail shoes to floor?" They said,
"No more." He said, "You mean no more water on door?" They said,
"No more." "Okay then," he said, "no more spit in soup!"
That is the kind of revenge that we naturally
would be inclined towards.
The Phrase “…have
regard for good things in the sight of all men” means don’t give anyone a
reason to treat you unkindly.
There Is A Warning Against Revenge (vv.19-21)
The believer is given three reasons to avoid
revenge.
· Because
Revenge Belongs To God (19)
“Beloved, do not avenge
yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I
will repay,” says the Lord.”
· Because
There Is A Better Way To Get Even (20)
“Therefore “If your enemy
is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will
heap coals of fire on his head.”
This is one of the most unusual verses in the
New Testament. What does Paul mean when he talks about heaping hot coals on your enemy’s
head?
Paul is suggesting that we can win our enemies
to our side by deeds of love and kindness. You’ve heard of “killing ‘em with kindness.” That’s
what Paul is talking about here. Someone has said that the best way to get rid of an enemy
is to turn him into a friend.
What would qualify as “hot coals?” A kind word, a phone call, a brief
note, a flower, a meal, a small gift, a letter of recommendation, running an errand,
offering a ride, helping them complete a project, rewriting their report, stepping in to
save a project that was failing, putting in a good word with their superiors, helping them
clean the classroom, going bowling with them. The list is endless, because “hot coals”
refers to any act of kindness you do for an enemy.
Paul is quoting from the Book of Proverbs
(Proverbs 25:21-22) “If your enemy is hungry, give him
bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;(22) For so you will heap
coals of fire on his head, And the LORD will reward you.” This verse has three parts; a command, a
result and a reward.
Ray
Stedman points out, “This doesn't mean that you are going to
get even by another process -- burning his head. No, this refers to the ancient way of
lighting fires. They didn't have matches in those days, so if you wanted to light a fire
in your home, you couldn't go and borrow a match. But you could go and borrow some coals
from your neighbor. Of course, you took along an earthen jar that would not burn. Then you
would ask your neighbor if you could borrow some coals to light your own fire. Now, if he
was a good neighbor, he would fill the jar and you would carry the padded jar home on top
of your head. This became a picture of an ample, generous response to a neighbor's need.
Because of that, it became a metaphor for responding so generously to your neighbor that
it made him ashamed of himself for his attitude toward you.” [Ray Stedman. From Guilt to Glory -- Experienced –
“How to Hug” - Romans 12:9-21 (Discovery House,
1995) ]
· Because
Revenge Destroys You Not Your Enemy (21)
“Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.”
When Paul says, “do
not be overcome with evil…” what he means is “don’t let revenge destroy your life.”
There is a very practical reason behind Paul’s advice. You may win the battle,
you may even get the last word or strike the last blow, but in the end, you’ve
destroyed your own spiritual life.
As long as you try to get even, you’re
still living in the past. It may have happened years ago, but you’re still stewing
about your divorce or how unfairly your boss treated you, or how your children
disappointed you.
When you try to get even, evil destroys you
because the other person keeps on winning. He still controls your life as long as you want
revenge
Booker T. Washington, was the founder of the
world-famous Tuskegee Institute. As a black man growing up in the segregated South, he
knew more than his share about hatred, prejudice and unfair treatment. But as a Christian,
he also knew that a man is not judged by what he goes through, but by how he responds to
it. He expressed his creed in one powerful sentence: “I will
not let any man make me lower myself by hating him.”
The problem is that revenge is never adequate.
It never provides the relief that we seek. Max Lucado, in his book “The Grip of
Grace” , tells the story of a man name Kevin Tunell. Let me tell you that story
as Max relates in his book: "Each week Kevin Tunell is
required to mail a dollar to a family he’d rather forget. They sued him for $1.5
million but settled for $936, to be paid a dollar at a time. The family expects the
payment each Friday so Tunell won’t forget what happened on the first Friday of 1982.
That’s the day their daughter was killed. Tunell was convicted of manslaughter and
drunken driving. He was seventeen. She was eighteen. Tunell served a court sentence. He
also spent seven years campaigning against drunk driving, six years more than his sentence
required. But he keeps forgetting to send the dollar. The weekly restitution is to last
until the year 2000. Eighteen years. Tunell makes the check out to the victim, mails it to
her family, and the money is deposited in a scholarship fund. The family has taken him to
court four times for failure to comply. After the most recent appearance, Tunell spent
thirty days in jail. He insists he’s not defying the order but rather is haunted by
the girl’s death and tormented by the reminders. He offered the family two boxes of
checks covering the payments until the year 2001, one year more than required. They
refused, it’s not the money they seek, but penance. Quoting the mother, ’We want
to receive the check every week on time. He must understand we are going to pursue this
until August of the year 2000. We will go back to court every month if we have to.’"