Romans Series # 51 August 14, 2002
Title: A Christian’s "To Do" List Part 3
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Introduction: Welcome to New Life in Christ. We are currently in Chapter 12 of Romans as we continue with message #51 of our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Romans.
Read Romans 12:13
Opening Prayer
During the past two weeks I have shared with you how Romans 12:9-21 is basically a Christian "To Do" list. This is a list of 15 practical things the Christian should be living out in their own lives. So far I have shared on 8 of the 15 things on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
1. Love others sincerely.
2. Hate what is evil.
3. Cling to what is good.
4. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
5. Honor one another above yourselves.
6. Serve the Lord with diligence and enthusiasm.
7. Trust in and depend on God, especially in difficult times.
8. Open your wallet for Christians in need.
Now let’s continue by looking at the ninth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
9. Make it a practice to be friendly with everyone.
This is the basic meaning of the Greek word translated as "hospitality." The word literally means to be friendly, kind, or loving toward strangers, i.e. those whom you do not know. This is what differentiates this exhortation from the previous one, which dealt primarily with how we treated fellow Christians. As Christians, our acts of kindness should extend beyond that of our own family and friends. It should also include those with whom we are unfamiliar. Practice hospitality.
9. Make it a practice to be friendly with everyone.
In, ancient times, hospitality was primarily practiced by providing food and shelter to travelers, who were in most cases, unknown to the host. Opening up your house was by no means the only way that hospitality was practice in New Testament times. Any practical act of kindness to a stranger was considered hospitality. With the advent of modern travel and accommodations, such as hotels, there are not a lot of opportunities to provide lodging for travelers, but we can still adhere to the principle of kindness to strangers in many other ways.
Let me give you a few examples of how we can make it a practice to be friendly with everyone. On the roadways, when we see a person whose car is broken down, we can stop and help, rather than ignoring them, which seems to be the more common response today. This is practicing hospitality. On the roadways, we can allow another motorist into the flow of traffic, rather than staying on top of the next car’s bumper so that other drivers cannot get in front of us. This is being kind to strangers. In our workplaces, we can help fellow employees if they need it, even if it is not our job. In the supermarket, we can allow a hurried shopper to get in front of us at the checkout line. In our neighborhoods, we can pick up the neighbor’s trash can when it is in the roadway, instead of driving around it. In the worship service, we go out of our way to welcome and talk with the newcomers and visitors, rather than allowing the same few people to do it every week, while others gather in holy huddles to greet and talk to their friends. Be kind, be friendly, and be hospitable. This is what the ninth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list is about.
9. Make it a practice to be friendly with everyone.
Now let’s look at the tenth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list, which is found in the next verse.
Read Romans 12:14
10. Do good and not evil to those who repeatedly hurt you.
The word "persecute" in this verse means to repeatedly attack or hurt someone. We generally use this word in referring to attacks that come because a person is a Christian, but the word means any kind of repeated intent to harm, whether physical, financial, verbal, and emotional, etc... It is the word Paul used to describe Ishmael’s antagonistic mocking of Isaac. (Galatians 4:29)
How are we to respond to those who hurt us, especially those who do so repeatedly? How are we to respond to the ex-spouse who repeatedly wrongs us, or the employer who treats unfairly? How should we respond to the neighbor who is purposely doing things that aggravate us, or to the co-worker who is not treating us right? How should you treat those who have lied to you, falsely accused you, deceived you, cheated or betrayed you, or even physically harmed you? Paul gives us the answer to these questions in verse 14, which is the tenth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
10. Do good and not evil to those who repeatedly hurt you.
The exhortation in verse 14 has two parts. It contains a positive and negative command. We’re to bless (positive) and not to curse (negative.) We are not to curse those who hurt us, which means we’re not to do evil to them in any way, whether verbal, physical, or otherwise. In other words, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil" as Paul says in verse 17. Many Christians are willing to do this, in that they are unresponsive to those who hurt them. They try to be neutral by not seeking revenge, and this is a good start, but the Bible doesn’t tell us not to respond at all to those who have hurt us. The Bible says to "bless" those who hurt you, i.e. do good to those who have hurt you. The word "bless" literally means "to speak well of someone", but the word is used in the sense of doing good to another person no matter what form it takes, whether verbal, financial, or otherwise. The tenth thing on the Christian’s "To Do” list is to. . .
10. Do good and not evil to those who repeatedly hurt you.
Before I move on, let me give you an example of this principle in practice.
Illustration: Former Boston Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs used to hate going to Yankee Stadium. Not because of the Yankees--they never gave him that much trouble--but because of a fan. That’s right: one fan.
The guy had a box seat close to the field and when the Red Sox were in town he would torment Boggs by shouting obscenities and insults. It’s hard to imagine one fan getting under a player’s skin, but apparently this guy had the recipe.
One day before the game, as Boggs was warming up, the "fan" began his typical routine, yelling "Boggs, you stink" and variations on that theme. Boggs decided he’d had enough. He walked directly over to the man, who was sitting in the stands with his friends, and said, "Hey fella, are you the guy who’s always yelling at me?" The man said, "Yeah, it’s me. What are you going to do about it?"
Wade took a new baseball out of his pocket, autographed it, tossed it to the man, and went back to the field to continue his pregame routine.
The man never yelled at Boggs again; in fact, he became one of Wades’ biggest fans at Yankee Stadium.
Other players have been known to deal with antagonistic fans by returning obscenities, or spitting on them, or even, on occasion, punching them in the nose. Boggs dealt with his tormentor by doing good to him.
You may find yourself in Wade’s shoes someday. For no discernable reason, someone may decide not to like you. Maybe it’s something you did, maybe it’s something you didn’t do, maybe it’s something you can’t help--but suddenly you find yourself in hostile territory. Our natural inclination is to fight back, but there is a better way to handle the situation. As Christians, we are to do good and not evil to those who have repeatedly hurt us.
Source: www.sermonnotes.com. Slightly modified by Larry Sarver for this message.
Now let’s look at the eleventh thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list, which is found in the next verse.
Read Romans 12:15
11. Personally identify with the joys and pains of others.
This is the basic point of verse 15. We should not be indifferent to what is going on in other people’s lives. Many times our attitude is so self-centered that we are unconcerned with anything that does not directly affect our lives. Our attitude should be like that which we saw in all of America after the 911 terrorist attacks. Even those not directly affected by the death and pain mourned with those who did, and at the same time Americans rejoiced at the people who were found alive, even though in most cases they were not personally known to us. This is the attitude Paul is calling Christian’s to have in every situation and matter.
11. Personally identify with the joys and pains of others.
This principle means we’re to be filled with joy at another person’s blessings, not jealous, indifferent, or resentful. This principle also means we’re not to be unconcerned or uncaring when others are going through a financial hardship, severe sickness, the loss of a loved one, or a divorce. We are to mourn with those who mourn. We are to care just like it was us going through the hurt, and therefore we pray for the hurting, encourage them, and support them in any way we can.
Illustration: You know, in the temple in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus they had an unusual custom. The temple was crowded with people much of the time... They made everybody walk in one door and out the other door, for the purpose of keeping order. During the time of Jesus in Herod’s temple, the worshipers would all enter the temple mount from the south, going up the steps of Solomon’s portico. Then they would do their business up on the temple mount and they would all exit usually out of the northeastern corner. That was one exception to that rule. Whenever there was a Jewish family in Jerusalem who had gone through a genuine time of heartache and sorrow, that family was allowed to walk totally against the flow of the people traffic. They would enter where everybody else was exiting and they would exit where everybody else was entering. You know why they did that? So that all the worshipers were forced to confront the faces of people who were hurting so they wouldn’t miss their pain.
Source: "Five Laws for Healthy Relationships" by David O. Dykes of Green Acres Baptist Church. www.gabc.org
This is what the Bible tells us to do here in Romans 12:15. Don’t ignore other people’s pain.
11. Personally identify with the joys and pains of others.
Now let’s move to the twelfth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list, which is found in the next verse.
Read Romans 12: 16
12. Live in peaceful harmony with other Christians.
This verse could apply to all situations, and people in general, but most Bible scholars believe that Paul was dealing with Christian relationships in particular. I agree that Paul’s main concern is that there is harmony or unity within the family of God. To live in harmony does not mean that everyone in the church has to be the same. It doesn’t mean that we have to like the same music, dress in the same styles, be the same age, or even believe exactly the same things. This is not unity, it is uniformity.
To be in unity means that the church functions as a unit, i.e. everyone working together in agreement and cooperation. In music, this is called being in harmony. It does not mean that everybody is doing or playing the exact same thing, but it does mean that every instrument and voice is working together to make a sweet sound, rather than doing their own thing. The harmony among Christians, that makes a sweet sound to God’s ears, is not something that just happens. We must work hard and give every effort to see that it happens. Many Bible verses attest to this fact.
Read Ephesians 4:2, 3
12. Live in peaceful harmony with other Christians.
Nearly every time the Bible speaks about unity or harmony in the church, it also speaks about another subject: pride. This is because the primary cause of disharmony is not differences or even disagreements. The cause of disharmony is pride or lack of humility. In Romans 12:16, Paul specifically said, "Do not be proud" right after he talked about living in harmony. He mentions two specific acts of pride, which are likely to cause disharmony. The first is spiritual snobbery, which he describes as "unwillingness to associate with people of low position."
In New Testament times, the rich were usually unwilling to concern themselves or even associate with the poor. The noble were unlikely to be pals with the average person. The free citizens were unlikely to be involved with slaves or even to sit with them. New Testament culture was in many ways like the culture at high school, where the cool kids will not sit with the less popular kids at lunch. The reason for this unwillingness to associate with one another was pride. Each person considered himself or his group more important than the other groups. It doesn’t take a genius to see how such prideful actions and attitudes will cause disharmony. After all, how can there be unity if people consider some groups more important than others; the ignored group will soon grow resentful and disharmony will result.
In the church, everyone is equal. (Galatians 3:28) This means that neither the elderly nor the youth should be given preference. This means that the rich and the poor are to be treated equally, without regard to the gifts that the rich may give to the church. This means that the season saints is not any more important than a brand new Christian. When we humbly associate and concern ourselves with one another, we are adhering to the twelfth thing on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
12. Live in peaceful harmony with other Christians.
Paul also gives another example of pride, which is likely to cause disharmony. He says in verse 16, "Do not be conceited." The literal translation of this verse would be, "Do not be wise in yourselves." This means, do not be a know-it-all. Don’t be the person who always insists on their way because they believe in their own hearts that they know best. This is nothing but pure conceit that comes from pride. This attitude will always cause disharmony and disunity within the church.
When we concern ourselves with everybody in the church, and do not think that our way is necessarily the best way, we are more likely to be able to obey the twelfth things on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
12. Live in peaceful harmony with other Christians.
Conclusion: Tonight we have covered verses 13-16, which contain four things on the Christian’s "To Do" list.
9. Make it a practice to be friendly with everyone.
10. Do good and not evil to those who repeatedly hurt you.
11. Personally identify with the joys and pains of others.
12. Live in peaceful harmony with other.
Next week we will complete this section and possibly get into the next.
Closing Prayer
