A Living Sacrifice To God
Part 4
Scriptures: Rom. 12:10; John 15:9-12; Col. 3:12-14; 1 John 4:20-21
This is part four of my series “A Living Sacrifice to God.” If you recall from verse one, Paul begged the Christians in Rome to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God. He then asked that they not be conformed to this world but to renew their minds and thus prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God is. Having said that, the rest of the chapter is spent informing them what the evidence of their mind renewal (their Christianity) would look like. The evidence would show up in how they treated one another, especially those of the faith. He first talked about the gifts within the body and how no one is greater than the next person based on their gifts. He ensured that the people knew that they needed each other. From there he begins to narrow his focus on how we are to put our Christianity into action. Last week we looked at verse nine where he talked about how we are to genuinely love one another without being hypocritical. Verse nine ended with Paul stressing our need to abhor evil and cleave to that which is good. This morning we will continue with verse ten.
Romans 12:10 says, “Be tender loving one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” When we first moved to Kansas, we visited several Churches before we found a new Church home. People were generally friendly to us but there was one family who really sort of encircled us and made us a part of their family. I remember that first Sunday when we visited that Church Cynthia looked down from the choir as we were introducing ourselves as visitors and she gave us a huge smile. When the service was over, she made her way to us and introduced herself and then we met Willis. Shortly thereafter we were invited to their home which led to our friendship for the last nineteen years. I do not know how many of you have ever moved somewhere where you did not know anyone except maybe a few people that you worked with, but that can be traumatic. When you move to a new location you must begin to establish new relationships and for some people this can be a difficult process. We had great friends and family in Arkansas and Tennessee, but moving twice in less than two years made it difficult to connect with other people and develop new friendships. However, we were able to create new friends and family here primarily because the Fulks in particular opened their doors to us. They offered us brotherly love and made sacrifices to help us develop relationships in Kansas. We are forever grateful to you guys Willis and Cynthia!
While we were able to experience this when we moved here, unfortunately that is not the case in every Christian community. I shared with you previously about the time we visited a Church in St. Louis shortly after we moved there and no one in the Church greeted us or welcomed us. We were strangers and were treated as such. In Churches today it is not uncommon for people to attend a Church service week after week and never connect with anyone else in the Church. They are a member of the Church but not a member of the Christian family worshipping in that building. No one knows them. No one calls to check on them when they have been missing for weeks. If they stopped coming, no one would reach out to see how they were doing. This is the modern day Church relationship in some places and some people prefer these types of relationships. In general, life has become so busy with natural concerns that we do not have the time to foster the sustaining relationships with other believers that will get us through difficult times. We are okay having a superficial relationship where we never have to share deep personal thoughts, feelings and beliefs. And, when we are around others, we can fake it because we really do not want other people in our business. This was never God’s plan for the local Church, for He designed it to be a place where people’s lives could be built together as living stones. His plan was and still is to have a people who demonstrate His covenant nature of love in their relationship with one another and there is no better place to do this than within His body of believers.
In Romans chapter twelve, Paul talks about these types of covenant relationships. In verse ten he says, “Be tender loving one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” (Romans 12:10). I want you to think about the Christian brothers and sisters that you love deeply, so deeply that there are times when you will put their needs before your own. The phrase “be tender loving” and “brotherly love” are key to understanding the level of relationship that God intends for us to have with all of our Christian brothers and sisters, even if you attend different Churches. The term “Be tender loving” comes from a Greek word that expresses the idea of a love between friends that is authentic, sincere, tender and warm. Remember what Paul said in verse nine about love without hypocrisy? This verse follows that with the love we are to express to one another. The Greek word for this phrase is actually the compound of two of the words I shared with you last week. The Greek word is “Philostorgos” and is the compound of the words phileo and stergo. Phileo is the Greek word for friendship and stergo is the Greek word for that depicts the tender love that should exist between the members of a family. Because this word is compounded, it represents two or more friends who love each other just as deeply as if they were members of the same family.
To make his point even stronger, Paul added that they be tender and loving to one another “with brotherly love.” He said that Christians should have a brotherly love between themselves. Have you ever thought about why we call one another Brother or Sister in Church? This is not a title per se, but a statement of relationship. Members of the Christian faith are our brothers and sisters in Christ. This does not change just because we may disagree with their stance on a particular issue. This does not change because one person is a Republican and another a Democrat! The words “brotherly love” are translated from the Greek word Philadelphia which means to love dearly like a brother. When Paul said “Be tender loving one to another with brotherly love…” he was telling us that our relationships in the Body of Christ should carry the authenticity of family. We should indeed love one another as if we were family, blood brothers and sisters. Let me give you an example.
All of you know that Nikki and I have two daughters whom we love dearly. By definition, they are our blood family in every sense of the word even though one was through adoption. Nikki and I also have other sons and daughters who are not related to us by blood but by connection. I refer to Jean, Jarell and Justin as my sons. This reference does not in any form take away from the relationship they have with their natural birth fathers. However, this term of endearment is about a connection that grew through years of our spending time with each other. Our bond has grown to the point where one of them, I will not call Justin’s name, often tells me what he wants me to leave him in my will when I die – like my truck. I think he said he would accept money if the truck was designated to Victoria since she asked first. These three young men are the ones that I generally lean on when I need male help. I am blessed that when I call they always answer and they are not the only ones. I have seldom asked Tabari, Dominque and Dane for help and they were not available. They too are like my sons even though they have not asked to be in my will. My point is that I truly love these young men (and boys) as if they were my own sons. Our relationship was born out of being “tender loving one to another with brotherly love.” Many of you also have similar relationships with people you have in your circle of very close friends.
Now look at what he says at the end of this verse. He says that we should love one another so profoundly that we hold one another in honor. This is expressed in the second part of verse ten when he says, “in honor preferring one another.” The words “in honor” in the Greek express the idea of being appraised very highly and considered as very valuable or very precious. It gives the idea of an appreciation so great that you would prefer to see the person you love succeed even more than your own success. You truly desire the very best for this person because you love him/her so deeply. Do you know anyone like this? Do you know anyone that would prefer that you succeed more than them? They desire for you to have more than they have; for you to be promoted and financially more successful than them? These people are not many in the body of Christ because we have not spent a lot of time teaching people that this is how God desires things to be.
When the King James Version of the Bible used the word “preferring” it is actually the Greek word proegeomai. This word means to esteem, to admire, to highly respect, to consider, and to value very highly. It represents the attitude of a person who values a friend so highly that he deeply desires the very best to come to pass for his friend, even if it means that his friend is blessed at his own expense. This means there is no room for jealousy or competition where this kind of love abounds. This is the type of love that should be prevalent within the body of Christ and yet as I stand here before you we all know that that is not the case. So let me borrow a phrase from Sis. Jackie. If your blessing was dependent on how much you genuinely loved your fellowman, what blessing would you have waiting for you? Oh, and just so you know, our blessings are tied to our love of others. If you need proof of this, read what Paul wrote to the Corinthians in First Corinthians chapter thirteen. This love thing is serious. God’s plan for the local Church is to be a place of covenant relationship. He wants it to be a place of love so that when people interact with us they feel the love of God radiating from us. If love is present within a place healing can take place; praise can take place; and needs can be filled because of God’s love being present. And my friends, this does not happen by chance!
I want to share a few additional Scriptures so you understand how important this verse is to our Christian walk and our relationship to God. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you: continue you in My love. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:9-12) Did you notice that Jesus tied our joy being full to our ability to love like we have been loved by Him? All of us have days when it seems like we are carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, that is a part of life. But, the joy that we have did not come from the world, it came through Christ and therefore it’s not attached to what is happening in our lives. If we are walking in this type of love we have it regardless of what we are experiencing in our lives at any given point in time. Our joy can be full when we walk in and share the love that Christ have given us.
Paul to the Colossians to “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do you. And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” (Colossians 3:12-14) Did you see what he said in verse fourteen? “And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.” He is talking about a love that gives and expects nothing in return. You don’t love someone because they love you back; you love them because the God you serve is a God of love. That term “put on love” denotes the act of putting on a garment or a piece of clothing. It is a choice. Think about it, if you are going to dress appropriately for the day you choose your clothing based on the situation. You do not wear shorts and flip flops when it 20 degrees outside and snowing. No you bundle up so that you protect your body. You deliberately choose the clothing you’re going to wear for the occasion and this is what Paul told the Colossians as it relates to love. He told them to put love on! This love is the love I talked about on last Sunday, the agape love. He said that this love is the “bond of perfection.” When you go shopping for clothes what do you do before your purchase them? You try them on to make sure they fit. Why? Because you want the clothes to fit right! Your clothes should bond (or fit on your body) perfectly so as to compliment your overall look. Now imagine a Christian walking around with very little love on. They are always angry, very little patience for others and are generally in a foul mood most of the time. Now imagine a Christian walking around full of love for everyone. They smile easily and always have something encouraging to say to others. They see the good and not the bad and you feel good when you are in their presence. Which one seems to be dressed appropriately as a Christian? This is what Paul was telling the Colossians, to dress themselves appropriately in love that will bond to them perfectly and will help them bond to others perfectly.
My last reference for this morning comes from the book of First John. John told his readers in First John 4:20-21, “If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him, ‘That he who loves God love his brother also.” (1 John 4:20-21)
The Church is not the building it’s the people. The sole function of any Church is to reach the world for Christ through genuinely love that we have for others. In order to do this within every Church people must be taught the Word so that they are able to share the Word with others. We must teach people what genuine love is. So we reach one; we teach that one; then, when the one is ready and able, the one goes forth and reaches another one. In order for a Church to complete what God has called them to do they must go outside of the four walls of their physical building. They must go out and gather those that are lost and hurting. Those seeking Christ but do not know He is the One they are seeking. To go outside and reach others we must have love and we must understand how that love reaches others. We all should be walking vessels of love overflowing with the love of God so that anyone who interacts with us will feel the love of God radiating from us. Are you a walking vessel of love? Paul told the Christians in Rome, “Be tender loving one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” This is our new starting point! We will continue in two weeks.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
