Lewis Memorial UMC

We owe the Apostle Paul a great debt! Most of our New Testament was written by Paul and every day of our life we can read something Paul wrote thousands of years ago and still apply it to our life today. In these 9 or 10 verses we have read the past 3 weeks, in the letter he wrote to the Christians in Rome, Paul has reminded all of us what the marks of a true Christian are. Have you noticed how hard they are?

Let your love be genuine – love from the center of who you are! Outdo one another in showing love and honor! Run for your life from evil and hold on to that which is good! Put others and their needs in front of your own – play second fiddle! Don’t lag in zeal! Be ardent in spirit! Serve the Lord! Rejoice in hope! Be patient in suffering! Persevere in prayer! See to the needs of those in the church and be hospitable to strangers!

Some of these may be a little easier to do than others! Some of these are down right difficult! Some of these we do better than others! But Paul tells us that all of these are the marks of a true Christian. Some of these are done where everyone can see and some are done in private. But God knows where we are in each of these areas and if we are to do these things then we certainly need God’s help! Well, if you think some of these things are hard to do then wait until you look a little closer at the last 5 verses we read this morning! I don’t know about you, but I sure am glad that God is a God of 2nd chances! 3rd chances! 4th chances! I sure am glad that when the sun came up this morning and God blessed me with a new day, that I had yet another chance to love and honor others. I had a chance to run from evil and hold on to good, to be excited in the Lord and be ardent in spirit.

I thank God that this day I can serve Him, rejoice in hope, persevere in prayer, and be hospitable to those in need! Oh my friends, we should thank God today because no matter how poorly we have done these things that are the marks of a true Christian, God is giving us yet another chance to be all we can be for Him and do His will!

Now let’s look back at Paul’s words in Romans 12: 14-18. Like I said earlier, these 5 verses may the toughest for us. Paul wrote in verse 14 that we are to bless those who persecute us AND we are not suppose to curse them! WHAT?

O.K. I might be able to keep myself from cursing someone after they have persecuted me, but BLESS THEM?!?! If someone hurts you, spreads rumors about you, or is just down right ugly acting toward you then you might be able to hold your tongue. But are we really required to ask God to bless them? Well, as we saw all over the place – on t-shirts, bracelets, hats, bumper stickers – back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s – WWJD! What would Jesus do? Look with me at Matthew 5: 38-39. Jesus did have something to say about this matter and I believe this is where Paul got his inspiration to write what he wrote in Romans 12. Jesus said in Matt. 5: 38-39, “You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

Now look at verses 43 – 45a, “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

Paul is reiterating what our Lord and Savior already had said and if we are to be imitators of Christ then we need to be able to turn the other cheek and love our enemies! Jesus even said that if we are able to do these things then we will truly be children of our heavenly Father.

When was the last time you prayed for your enemies? Have you ever prayed for those who persecute you? Turning the other cheek and loving your enemies fall under the category of the God-given grace of forgiveness.

Unless you have love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness in your heart you will not be able to do as both Paul and Jesus said. I think that is why Paul didn’t just say that we are not to curse our enemies, but we are to bless them as well. In doing so our hearts and souls will also be blessed. Only by the love and grace of God, through Jesus Christ, can we show these marks of a true Christian. And the reason we can turn the other cheek and pray for our enemies is because we first were loved and forgiven by God.

The next part of Paul’s letter deals with what your momma probably told you years ago, “Be nice to one another! Be sweet to others! Play nice with other boys and girls!” Your mom and/or dad also probably told you something like, “To have a friend you must be a friend”

Paul says these same things in verses 15 and the first part of 16. He wrote, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another.” Eugene Peterson put it this way, “Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy and share tears when they are down. Get along with each other, don’t be stuck-up.”

One of my favorite hymns is Let There Be Peace on Earth because of the very beginning of that song – Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with ME! The world would obviously be a better place if everyone got along. But how can we expect there to be peace and love throughout the world if the followers of Jesus Christ don’t even get along! Remember, Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in the church in Rome! This letter was for the church goers and Paul had to tell THEM to live in harmony with one another.

You know, sometimes people just don’t see eye to eye because many times both sides think they are right. Paul wrote at the end of verse 16, “Do not claim to be wiser than you are.” When we let God’s wisdom rule our hearts and minds and mouths then we all have a better chance of living in harmony.

Paul felt led to write this part of his letter for some reason and we can safely assume it was to encourage the church folks to be more like Jesus. I know that God made everyone unique and once we are in heaven then everything will be perfect. But here on earth perfection is a dream. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamt of that perfect life here on earth and some of it has become a reality, but not nearly enough! Church historians and statisticians say that the most segregated hour of the week is Sunday morning at 11am. We hear of church feuds and families against families in churches all around the world. And people repaying evil with evil even in the church!

And do you know who loves every minute of this? Satan! He’s loving it! Even in the church people are not doing what Paul reminds us we are supposed to be doing as Christians. And this apparently is an age old problem. Now we can see some of the urgency and importance of this letter. I think Paul realized that these things he wrote about what a Christian is to be was pretty hard. Getting along with everyone was something to strive for, but even he saw that was not always going to happen.

In Romans 12: 18 Paul wrote, “If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Peterson translated this verse for us in today’s language by writing it this way, “If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody.”

Do you have it in you? Is putting others and their needs in front of your own a part of who and what you are? Is loving or getting along with others, or at least respecting their differences beyond your abilities? Or do you have it in you?

If God were to split the roof of this church open right now and tell us that we need to get up and go speak to our enemies and pray for them could you do it? Would God look down upon us and say, “Whom shall I send?”

When God needed someone to lead His people out of captivity in Egypt I wonder if He had to sit and think, “I wonder whom I should send to do this job for Me?” When Jesus died and told His disciples that it was up to them to spread the good news of the Gospel to all of the world I wonder if He thought, “Who is going to actually do it?”

My friends, it is up to each of us, as followers of Jesus Christ, as living, breathing, loving Christians, to leave our positive marks on others. It is up to us to love from the center of who are so others will see Christ in us. It is up to us to try our hardest to live in harmony and to get along with all of God’s children. Because we DO have it in us and we have been loved and forgiven and we have the marks of a true Christian upon our lives.

So I plead with you today for the sake of the world - after the example of Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul, leave your mark as a true Christian on the world around you starting today!