A Blueprint for a Caring Church

Let love be genuine.(B) Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10(C) Love one another with brotherly affection.(D) Outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not be slothful in zeal,(E) be fervent in spirit,[a](F) serve the Lord. 12(G) Rejoice in hope,(H) be patient in tribulation,(I) be constant in prayer. 13(J) Contribute to the needs of the saints and(K) seek to show hospitality.
14(L) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15(M) Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16(N) Live in harmony with one another.(O) Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.[b](P) Never be wise in your own sight. Romans 12: 9—21

St. Paul always wrote to congregations. Now maybe that’s self-evident to you, but it is worth thinking about nevertheless. St. Paul always wrote his letters, which we call epistles, to congregations—to groups of Christians living in the real world. These letters were never meant to be dry, academic exercises for the scholarly few. These letters are personal, pulsating with life and energy, written by someone with a vested interest in the church’s success. They were meant to be read in the public assembly of believers, which is to say, in worship. And so today let’s hear these words as if we were the Roman congregation that Paul was writing to. Let’s take stock of ourselves in light of the directives the Apostle gives here—which provide us with a blueprint for a caring church.
Paul begins this blueprint by saying: “Let love be genuine.” What a simple idea. I think it’s safe to say that more people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments or worship styles or special programs combined. A person will get up and get ready and drive all the way across town and past who knows how many other churches if he or she knows that they will experience love and true fellowship at the church they’re going to. Now, Paul’s not saying we ought to make a show out of it—hugging and kissing and backslapping if that’s not your thing—instead he writes, “Let love be genuine.” Let it be real. Let it be sincere. Let it be unique to who you are, and who Christ is making you. Don’t get the idea that Paul is saying, “try hard to love each other.” When a group of people see one another as fellow sinners, saved under the cross of Christ, there will be love for one another. As Jesus said in the gospel of John, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." So let it be genuine.
In verse ten, Paul continues, “Outdo one another in showing honor.” How are we doing when it comes to showing honor and respect to one another? According to the journal U.S. News and World Report, 89 % of Americans think that incivility, rudeness, and a general lack of respect is a serious problem. Now listen to these statistics. 73 % think mean-spirited political campaigns are to blame; 52% think talk radio is to blame; and 1% think their own behavior is uncivil. Something doesn’t quite add up.
The fact is, thanks to sin, it is not natural for me to think about someone else’s needs before my own. It is not natural for me to set aside my own desire to be honored; it may not be natural, but it is possible, through the forgiving power of Jesus. We must never forget that Jesus, second person of the majestic Trinity, came into this world to become a servant. The King of Creation became its slave. Our holy and perfectly just God was treated as a criminal and hung from a cross, punished for sins that were not his own. They were yours, and they were mine. His rising to life on the third day means many things—one of which is that his sacrifice was accepted by the Father, and now it counts for us all. And so we trust in Jesus’ servant actions. His servant actions save us from self-destruction and eternal punishment. And his servant actions show us who we become with Him inside us.
A story comes to us of a king who organized a great race within his kingdom. All the young men of the kingdom participated. A bag of gold was to be given to the winner, and the finish line was within the courtyard of the king’s palace. The race was run, and the runners were surprised to find in the middle of the road leading to the king’s palace a great pile of rocks and stones. But they managed to scramble over it or to run around it and eventually to come to the courtyard. Finally, all the runners had crossed the finish line except one. But still the king did not call the race off. After a while one lone runner came through the gate. He lifted a bleeding hand and said, "O King, I am sorry that I am so late. But you see, I found in the road a pile of rocks and stones, and it took me a while, and I wounded myself in removing them." Then he lifted the other hand, and in it was a bag. He said, "But, Great King, I found beneath the pile of rocks this bag of gold." The king said, "My son, you have won the race, for that one runs best who makes the way safer for those who follow."
There is great reward in serving, but it’s not a bag of gold. The reward in serving is simply being like Christ, who stooped down to serve us in love. The reward in serving is fulfillment, the sense that we are finally doing what we have always been meant to do. We’re being who we are: people in whom Jesus Christ has made a home.
That’s critical for us to remember as Paul continues to draw the blueprint for a caring church. He writes, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them,” and a few verses later, “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.” None of the things just mentioned come naturally to us. If someone pushes us, it’s human nature to push back. Human nature is concerned with self first and foremost. Living in harmony means I look outside myself. And human nature knows that there is nothing much to be gained from associating with the lowly. If you and I belonged only to the kingdom of the world—the kingdom occupied by sin, death and Satan—then these words would be a fairy tale. The idea of blessing those who persecute you would be foolishness. The thought of living in harmony would be discarded as idealistic, naïve, wishful thinking. Associating with the lowly would be seen as a waste of time. But you and I do not belong to the kingdom of the world. As Jesus himself said, you are in the world, but not of the world. You are not of the world because Jesus has chosen you to belong to Him. You were adopted by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Holy Baptism. All the benefits and blessings of Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead have been applied to you through baptism, even the faith to believe has been granted to you as a gift. The believing Christian is, to use Paul’s language, “In Christ” and Christ is in him or her. You are a person in whom Jesus Christ lives and works, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the faith he brings.
And that truly makes us different. “Jesus in us” makes us different from those ruled by the kingdom of this world. With Christ as our life, we can and do bless and pray for our enemies. With Christ as our life, we can and do seek to live in harmony with one another. With Christ as our life, we can and do associate with those who by worldly standards are lowly—because we know that as we serve them, we’re serving God. A caring Christian—and a caring Church—dares to be different than the world. Caring Christians and the caring churches they populate cannot help being different—as they show forgiveness; as they act in mercy; as they work in harmony; as they welcome and help the lowly; as they do all these things and more, it’s Jesus doing it, through them. It’s Jesus doing it through you. I can think of no stronger witness to the reality of Jesus Christ than just living out His different way of life for all people you to see. The difference Jesus makes confuses people, in a good way. The difference Jesus makes attracts people—it opens their eyes, it challenges them to think that there might be something to Christianity after all. Living out this difference is what you were put here for. Living out this difference is what St. Paul’s was put here for. But make no mistake—what St. Paul’s does as a congregation starts with you. Being a caring church starts with you—and your connection to Christ Jesus. The blueprint is right in front of us. Let’s get to work being who we are—people in whom Jesus has made a home. Amen.