Love That Is Genuine

Romans 12:9-21

The love that God has for you and me is not hidden away in his heart so that we have to wonder if it is real —it is not a mere emotion that can ebb and flow and change with the times—but God’s love for us is concrete and real and it looks like Jesus: caring for those around him—speaking words of comfort and concern—laying down his life as a sacrifice for the world. Jesus is what the love of God looks like.

And Jesus is what our love for others is to look like: caring for those around us—speaking words of comfort and concern—offering up our lives as living sacrifices in service to God and others.

Today in God’s Word, we hear the Apostle Paul tell us that our love for others is to be genuine—that it is not to be hidden away in our hearts or exist as a mere emotion—but our love for others is to take on a concrete shape: that of Jesus.

Paul goes on with an extensive list of what Christ’s love will look like as we interact with others--both friends and enemies. But there is no need to memorize all of those injunctions so long as we remember that our love for others—a love that is genuine—will look like Christ’s love for us. By the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote these words:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

In our world today, all kinds of hateful, terrible, sinful things are done in the name of love. The elderly, ill, and disabled are killed by family members who “love” them too much to let them go on as they are. Unborn babies are aborted by those who “love” them too much to bring them into a difficult situation or accept their handicaps. Couples “love” one another enough to engage in sexual sin but not enough to commit their lives to one another in marriage. Love is a word that is twisted out of shape by the godless culture in which we live.

But genuine love—love that is a reflection of Jesus Christ—love that is the mark of the Christian life--hates what is evil and has nothing to do with it-- and instead, lays hold of- and clings to -what is good. It is heartfelt and sincere and treats others as beloved family members. And far from being resigned to- and complacent about- the evils of our day, Christian love for others is active and energetic. The bible says:

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

The love that God has for us moved him to action, sending his Son in to the world to be our Savior--and so our love is active and energetic in its service to others.

Anyone who has ever taken that calling seriously and has stepped out in faith to actively, fervently show Christ’s love to others-- knows what a challenge it is. It is easy to get discouraged and impatient and give up when we see the enormity of God’s call to us to love others as Christ loved us.

To be about the vocation of love that is ours as Christians, the Bible says that we are to rejoice in hope—to have a view of the future that includes the Last Day and our Lord’s remembrance and commendation of even the small things we do in love. We are to be patient in tribulation—recognizing that it is not easy to love others—especially those who mistreat us. And to be constant in prayer—asking for God’s help for ourselves and others.

But the active, fervent love, that we are to have for others--a love that rejoices in hope and is patient in tribulation and constant in prayer –also recognizes that often times WE will be the answer to prayer.

Our financial resources will be needed to meet the needs of our fellow Christians. Open hearts of welcome and open doors of hospitality and open hands of generosity will be the invitation that others need to come and have a part in the life with God that we have through faith in Jesus. This active, fervent love that prays and gives and welcomes- extends to all people and meets them wherever they are in life. The Bible says:

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those
who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

How can we read these words and not see Jesus lovingly meeting the needs of people in whatever state he found them?!

We think about our Lord’s suffering and death upon the cross and how he blessed and forgave those who cursed him and caused his death. We think about our Lord attending the wedding of a young couple and how he added to the joy of that day. We think about our Lord standing at the graveside of Lazarus and how the grief of Mary and Martha moved him to tears. We think about our Lord meeting and interacting with the high and low-rich and poor-men and women.

The love of Jesus did not keep people at arm’s length but he met them in their need and took them as they came—and people were drawn to him because of it—they recognized that there was a place for them within God’s family through Jesus.

So it is with us and our love for others. There are going to be people who are opposed to us—but they need our blessing rather than our anger. There are going to be people that want us to be glad for them in their joys and there are going to be people that need our comfort in their sorrows.

The call to Christian love is a call to meet people where they are- and take them as they come. It’s a call to empathy—of being able to put ourselves in the place of others and see things from their perspective. That takes humility—a willingness to set aside what’s important to us so that we can really understand and value what it important to others.

This is a challenge in all our relationships- but it’s especially a challenge when it comes to loving those who don’t love us in return- and instead oppose us and misuse us. The Bible says:

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

When someone hurts us—we want to hurt them back. When someone insults us—we want to think of something worse to say to them. Even the smallest child defends hitting their siblings by saying: “They hit me first”!

The desire for vengeance is as close to us as our old sinful nature and it causes a constant cycle of violence and hatred in the human family. But genuine Christian love turns aside from vengeance because Christ turned aside from vengeance.

Throughout his earthly ministry and all the way up to last moments of his life upon the cross—Jesus was hated and ridiculed and treated with contempt—but not one time did he return the hatred and ridicule and contempt. Instead, he was always ready to bless and forgive those who mistreated him and misused him.

This was the life of Christ-- and this is the life of the Christian—that of a peacemaker who lets the cycle of hatred and bitterness that is directed towards them--end with them.

The Christian is able to do this—not only because we have before us the example of our Lord—but we are able to do this because we know that there will be a day of reckoning when no injustice or act of violence will escape the judgment of God and his righteous wrath will call to a strict accounting all of those who have misused and mistreated others. The Lord promises us that he will deliver us from the hand of wicked and redeem us from the grasp of the ruthless.

Sometimes that day of reckoning happens in time as the wrath of God is executed by the civil authorities—sometimes it will have to wait the last day and the final judgment—but no matter when it happens, the example of Christ’s forgiveness and the promise of God’s wrath allows us to forgo vengeance, forgive our enemies, and leave justice in the hands of Almighty God where it belongs.

When we do this, it is a powerful witness to the world about the forgiveness and love that we have in Christ.

The whole world took notice when Corrie Ten Boom forgave the Nazis who put her family to death. Our entire nation took notice when the Amish forgave the madman who killed their children at school. When Christians forgive those who mistreat them it is a powerful witness that in Jesus Christ, good is able to overcome evil through the concrete love and care and concern we have even for our enemies. The Bible says that:

…“if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is so very easy, when we have been mistreated by others, to be overcome by evil—not because we have had to suffer in some way (that is simply a part of the Christian’s cross). But we are overcome by evil because we in turn act hatefully towards those who have hurt us.

It is particularly sinister thing that Satan does in tempting us to let that pain and anger fester in our hearts through our lack of forgiveness for those who have wounded us. The devil has done his work when he has overcome and conquered, not only the one who sinned against us—but us too-- because we will not obey our Lord and forgive our enemies. Jesus says that there is no profit in gaining the whole world and forfeiting eternal life and there is certainly no profit in being right in some argument at the expense of our soul.

It is a terrible, terrible spiritual tragedy when Christians are overcome by evil by letting the sins of others against them become more powerful in their lives than the forgiveness of Jesus Christ because they refuse follow him in blessing, helping, loving and forgiving those who have wounded them.

To make sure that we are not overcome by evil- and instead overcome evil- we love even our enemies and do good to those who hurt us. When we act in concrete, loving ways to our enemies—we heap burning coals on their head. In other words, we make it painfully obvious to them that they are the ones who have done wrong and we are the ones who have followed Christ in forgiveness and love.

You see, Christ loves them too and wants them to understand what they have done wrong so that they can repent of it and be forgiven for it and have a life with him and we have an important part to play in their understanding what the love of Christ is really all about when we treat them with care and concern.

Today God calls us to live lives of genuine love-- and to accomplish that in our lives he directs our attention back to the cross where we see what real love is: a love that is not only words and emotions—but a sacrifice that cost Jesus everything. Amen.