The church in Rome was under persecution.
Once the Jews in Rome decided they needed to
separate themselves from the Christians, the
Roman authorities became irritated with both the
Jews and the Christians. Paul was worried about
the Roman church-he had never visited them and
he was on his way to deliver financial aid for the
Jerusalem church. He had to send Rome some
word of encouragement and instruction.
I imagine Paul pacing the floor as a secretary
works frantically to write down what he is
saying. Maybe Paul is holding letters in his hand
that he has received from members of the Rome
church and others. Possibly he stops and looks at
these to remind him of what he needs to address.
It likely never occurred to him that this letter
would become a part of some holy scripture.
Because he was addressing issues that are
universal they have lasting value. There is a bit
of randomness to this letter-like you might find
in a long conversation with a friend or with me.
It’s like hearing one side of a phone
conversation. It can be confusing to follow. Paul
is pacing and pouring out his heart and speaking
within a stream of consciousness. Sometimes he
doesn’t finish a sentence or a thought. And, there
is value in this letter.
The members of the church in Rome had taken
up their crosses and Paul wanted to express to
them how this brings about an internal change
that transforms the way Christians deal with one
another, with their families and with
nonbelievers. So it is a Pauline list.
Love must be completely sincere. Barclay talks
of “cupboard love” which gives affection with
one eye on the gain that may result. There is
selfish love that expects to get more in return
than is given. Christian love is cleansed of self
and is a pure outgoing of the heart for others.
This kind of love is why Paul’s letters are so
powerful: He was pouring out not only his heart
but also himself for the churches. He turns as he
approaches the wall to pace some more.
Hate that which is evil and cling to what is good.
Our one security against sin lies in our being
shocked by it. No virtue is safe without passion.
We must hate evil, not its consequences. We
can’t be good just to avoid jail or hell. We must
love honor as the way to goodness.
Be affectionate to one another in family love.
Members of a church are members of one
family. The congregation at St. John’s, Kirkland
was like that. Children would wander about the
parish hall and everyone watched out for them.
It was sometimes hard to tell which adults went
with which children. Jim and I raised our
children in that church family and we received
great spiritual support and encouragement there.
Paul continues to pace.
Give each other priority in honor. Many
conflicts in Christian community are about
rights, privileges, and prestige. Someone doesn’t
get their place or was neglected or not thanked.
Paul is speaking of humility here. Barclay tells a
story of a person who walked into a gathering.
When he appeared, the group broke into
applause. His first thought was that they were
honoring the person behind him so he stepped
aside and began applauding himself. It didn’t
occur to him that the applause was for him.
Individual rights are important and sometimes
we can set these aside if it is only about
recognition.
Do not be sluggish in zeal. Each day can be a
struggle between good and evil-especially on
social media. We must always be ready to do
battle and we can also pick our fights. A
Christian might burn out but she must not rust.
Keep your spirit at boiling point. Apathy has no
place in Christian life.
Seize your opportunities. In the text it says
“Serve the Lord”. This might be due to
shorthand. Commonly used words were often
written without the vowels. The scribe is trying
to follow what Paul is saying as he is pacing. Is
the word kairos (time) or is it kurios (Lord)?
Serve the time would mean seize the
opportunity. Don’t be a waste of time or time
wasted. Paul wanted the church members to use
their time to God’s advantage. We have all kinds
of opportunities every day. We can learn new
things. We can speak a word of encouragement.
We can help or comfort. The tragedy is missing
an opportunity or not even watching for them.
Paul paces.
Rejoice in hope. Be an optimist. The best is yet
to be. This can be hard in these times and, yet, I
have heard more than one expert express hope
for the future. That the arc of history will bend
toward justice.
Paul says, “Meet tribulation with triumphant
fortitude.” Nebuchadnezzar cast Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace and he
was amazed they were not harmed. And, he
wondered why a fourth man who looked like the
son of the gods was in there with them. In Christ
we can meet anything.
Be persevering in prayer. There are times when
we allow too much time to pass without
speaking to God. When we stop praying we
remove the strength of God from our lives. I
know this from experience. If I resort only to
arrow prayers, my existence becomes flat and I
think others find me harder to endure. If we
insist on living alone, we should not be surprised
when our lives fall apart.
Share what you have to help the needs of God’s
dedicated people. While others are determined to
accumulate, Christians are determined to give.
All of these rules of ethics are about love. I am
sometimes overwhelmed by the folks who speak
of Jim and how much he helped them with
something and how often he called them just to
chat. He shared his time and his knowledge.
Paul continues to pace and he moves to
Christian duty outside the church community.
Extend hospitality to strangers. Tyndale said a
Christian should have a harborous disposition. A
home can’t be happy when it is selfish.
Christianity is an open hand, an open heart and
an open door.
Paul told the Roman church that taking up a
cross to follow Jesus makes us a changed
people. We feel the call to look at each situation
and evaluate how Jesus would react.
Bless those who persecute you; bless them and
do not curse them. Pray for those who persecute
you. It is hard to pray for someone and not think
about why they do the things they do.
Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with
those who weep. Sometimes it is easier to
commiserate over calamity. And, we must
remember that we don’t have to put a positive
spin on a tragedy-sometimes we just need to sit
with it. Rejoicing can sometimes be hard but a
noble soul doesn’t envy another person’s success
or feel the gain should be hers. When we follow
Jesus, we can share both joys and sorrows as if
they were our own.
Live in harmony with one another. If there is
peace, kindness and goodwill the group is
healthy. If there is strife, any ability to do good
work is gone.
Keep your thoughts from pride; never refuse to
associate with humble people. In the early
church, slave and master sat together. God has
no respect of persons.
Don’t become conceitedly wise in your own
estimation. As my dad used to say, “Don’t break
your arm patting yourself on the back.”
Never return evil for evil. No plans for revenge.
Take thought to make your conduct fair for all to
see. I think Paul is saying, “Be a hypocrite for
Christ.” Maybe? Be good but look good. We can
present Christianity in a hard and unlovely way.
Real Christianity is something fair for all to see.
Paul does temper his admonition to live at peace
with all men. He says, “If it is possible.”
Sometimes courtesy must bow to principle. We
don’t have to be easy-going and close our eyes
to injustice. The other qualifier is, “as far as you
can.” Sometimes it is difficult being good. This
should keep us from criticizing those who have
to work harder for peaceful living.
And, do not take revenged-I thought this was
covered in no evil for evil. I hear the phrase,
“living rent-free in his head” and this can take a
lot of energy from productive living. Allowing
someone to take up space in our lives because of
a perceived wrong is not good. Paul has these
reasons for not going there: God is the one who
avenges evil, if we treat someone with kindness
it is a way to move their heart, and if we stoop to
vengeance, we will be conquered by evil. Which
brings us back to praying for our enemies.
And, we should always return to prayer.