WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.000 I am honored really to be here. 00:00:02.080 --> 00:00:02.720 I love Justin. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:03.439 I love Megan. 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:04.559 I love their family. 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.679 I'm excited to be here with you and everybody who's watching online. 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:10.080 We have a long history as he's shared. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:11.519 I'm definitely not going to repeat that. 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:14.240 We have gone way back and we've done a lot. 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:18.640 I was a pastor in Canton for 10 years, and we partnered with his stance and a lot of stuff with you guys. 00:00:18.879 --> 00:00:25.280 So I'm really, really, really honored and feel very privileged to be here filling in for Justin. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.239 I promise I wouldn't share any really bad negative stories. 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:36.000 So if you want to come back later and ask me about Charlie Brown or when he played the uh William Cupbert and the nerd, uh, let me say that correctly. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:37.359 Um we could talk about that. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:41.439 Anyway, he did say I could go as long as I want, and since I haven't preached the year, I've got 14 points. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:42.399 So everybody hold on. 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:43.359 We're gonna be good. 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:45.920 Um sometimes sounds like some people are nervous. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:46.799 No, I actually have one. 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.520 I only have one real main point for today, and that is this. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:56.479 I'm gonna give it to you now, because I want this to sort of inform everything that we're going to read in the book of Romans. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.280 And this is it, lead with love. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:00.799 That's it. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:02.159 That's that's the main idea, right? 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:03.359 That's the main point. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:05.120 Lead with love. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:11.920 In fact, as you're taking your Bibles out, if you've got your phone or device or whatever you're using online, turn to Romans 12. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:13.680 You guys have been in Romans for a while. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:28.879 We're gonna pick up kind of where you've left off and and and look at several verses that one of my favorite passages in all the Bible because it it provides this gauge to check whether or not your heart is truly truly changed. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:32.480 And I love it because Paul is consistent. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:34.480 It's not something he just wrote in this one letter. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:40.799 He writes it in Galatians 5, he writes similar in Ephesians 4 and 5 and Philippians 2 and 1 Corinthians. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:56.159 We see this this pattern of Paul trying to explain what love really looks like and how we're supposed to lead with love and our response to everyone around us, including the people who are hostile against us. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:00.799 Now, I don't know if you take notes, I don't know if you have a way to jot stuff down. 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:04.879 If you do, I would encourage you to write some things down. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:11.360 We're gonna go through uh a fair chunk of this, uh really through the end of the chapter, so verses 9 through through 21. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:22.639 And I'm going to give you some insight or try to provide for you some explanation as to what is being said, all wrapped around the idea of leading with love. 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:33.680 But you can, if you if you write, write this stuff down, as you if you go verse by verse or or even break it down uh in the way that we'll kind of break it down, you could almost use it like a like a checklist. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.159 You could almost use it like an assessment, so to speak. 00:02:36.319 --> 00:03:00.639 You could write it down, you could go back and say, how how well am I doing at this or or that or or this one, and go through, and then and then even at the end, we as we look back and and and respond to what it what it really looks like to lead with love, we can say, okay, well, I can see very clearly from Paul's letters and and and what's right in front of me of where I might need to immediately focus some some attention. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:01.039 All right? 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:01.680 We good? 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.199 So we're gonna jump right in. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:13.039 Uh I'm just we're the the scripture, it teaches itself, so go to Romans 12, go to verse 9, and we're gonna start right there. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:37.919 I want because I know that uh that you you've been in Romans for a while and and you've been studying this for a good while, and I and when I think about what we're about to read, and I think about the fact that Paul writing this to citizens, even in prison, writing this to people who are being persecuted by by the government and and and writing to them, telling them to lead with love. 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:45.759 This is a this is a gentleman who is is is imprisoned, he he's beaten, he's tortured, he's ultimately murdered by the Roman government. 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:54.639 He's he's writing this letter to tell these people like this is what the gospel looks like, and ultimately, this is what the gospel it looks like lived out in you. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:04:02.479 That if you truly want to overthrow, like if you truly want to beat the system, right, if you want to fix what is broken, this is how you do it. 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:08.560 This is the blueprint, the roadmap to make it all work the way it's supposed to work. 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:12.960 So at the start of the chapter, when it says, by God's mercy is right, that's that's the title of the series. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:16.160 In light of all of this, we're gonna lead with love. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:21.920 That is our living sacrifice, that is our act of worship, loving God as he first loved us. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:23.360 So we go, verse nine. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:27.199 Let love be genuine. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:30.000 Let love be genuine. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:40.800 And that that word, which in the Greek is ani pokritas, it means it means sincere, it means unhypocritical. 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:46.000 It means to love the way that love is intended. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:46.480 Right? 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:53.920 And you can read 1 Corinthians 13 and see where Paul said, love is patient, love is kind, it doesn't boast, right? 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:57.360 It never fails, it keeps no record of wrong. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:14.720 You can go through that list where Paul talks about love specifically, and you can bring it back and see what it looks that ultimately Paul is saying it to love rightly, to love genuinely, to love unhypocritically, it is to mirror God, because God is love, right? 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:17.360 That's 1 John 4, 8. 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:23.199 And in fact, John tells us that if you don't know God, you don't know love. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:27.600 And the reverse is true, that if you don't know love, you don't know God. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.839 So it is on us to love genuinely. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:39.920 So let's be honest for a second, because we got to know that there's a difference between loving pizza, loving your wife, right? 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:41.839 That can't be the same kind of love, right? 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:44.240 It should, it shouldn't be. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:45.920 Okay, I'm just gonna say that. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:55.839 That there's something deeper here, and we and the the the Greeks had several words for love, right? 00:05:55.920 --> 00:06:01.120 We're gonna see Phileo love, that brotherly love, that community love here in a minute. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:06.720 But it means that a smile isn't gonna cut it. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:17.279 It means that a little bit of generosity, some transactional platitudes, that's not what we're talking about. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:35.199 That to have a pleasant persona portrayed for all to see, while on the inside there is bitterness and contempt, that is not genuine love. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:36.560 Right? 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:43.519 Love must look like God. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.360 Now, I'll go ahead and warn you, I'm gonna say love a lot. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:50.399 We're gonna see it over and over again. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:07:02.879 And I'm saying that because we need to get a picture of the kind of love that God has shown us because he is love, and what it ultimately looks like for us to mirror that kind of love. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:11.680 And so when we see what God has done for us in the person of Jesus and what he did all the way to the cross, is that he loved us in a very sacrificial way. 00:07:11.839 --> 00:07:16.879 There was action, there was intention, there was authenticity. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:24.399 It wasn't just speak, it wasn't just words, it was it was it was action. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:33.199 So to mirror God, to to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.040 That's the greatest commandment, right? 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:37.600 To love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:52.240 And then when it says love your neighbor as yourself, that is that is taking an understanding, a grasp of the kind of love that God deserves because of the kind of love that He first showed us, and then demonstrating that same kind of love to others. 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:56.079 That's bearing the image of God, that's that is mirroring God. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:08:03.839 Because here's the deal if on the outside we pretend and on the inside we hate, that's mirroring the enemy. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:06.399 And that's not genuine love. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:16.000 And it's fitting that Paul starts with this because it sets the precedent, it's it sets the stage, the foundation for everything else he's gonna talk about. 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:17.040 So let's keep going. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:24.959 The second half of that verse, verse 9b, the second half there, it says, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:35.759 Now you could cherry pick that verse without any context of what was first said, and you go, There, there's there's a good excuse to finger point, right? 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.840 Because I want to hate what is evil. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:52.080 And that's where people will step in and say, Hey, you're doing something that's evil, and my you know, it's not as evil, so I'll classify it as good, and so I'll finger point, and that's not what's being said here. 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:58.000 In fact, what he's talking about is how far love is willing to go. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:02.080 But love isn't just saying it, right? 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:11.600 It isn't just feeling it on the inside because of that action that's oriented, that also means that you're going to have to confront people with truth that you don't want to confront. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:27.200 You're going to have to deal with hard challenges to say something to someone or to love someone that you don't want to love to give them the truth that they need to hear. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:33.840 Now, I I don't know about you when I when I was growing up, my I got I got I got uh I got spanked. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:34.240 Can I say that? 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:34.879 Anybody else? 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:40.000 All right, I had my dad had a my dad had a paddle, it was uh it was streamlined, had holes drilled in it. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:46.080 I think he used like tennis wrap on the handle, he held it up uh on the wall, had a sign above it that said the punisher. 00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:46.799 You know what I'm talking about? 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:49.200 Like that's the kind of thing that's not really true. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:50.639 That's just how I remember it, right? 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:56.720 Because my dad would, you know, when he would spank me, he would say this phrase, we could all probably say it together, right? 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:59.519 Like, I'm I'm doing this because I love you, right? 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:05.360 And I'm going, I don't know what kind of love you're trying to teach me, but this is not a lesson I feel like I need to learn. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:06.240 Like, this is not good. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:07.519 And then something happened. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:09.120 I had children, okay? 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:17.919 And I and I remember my two-year-old, my who's now much older than that, my two-year-old who can barely form his words, is is messing with stuff that he doesn't mean. 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.559 I'm like, hey, stop, don't, don't touch that. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:24.080 And he's just standing there looking at me, and he's just like, like, I know that. 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:27.519 Like, okay, there has to be a consequence somewhere. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:35.039 Like, I became a parent, and all of a sudden, it's like, okay, because I love him, I don't want him to put his hand in the fire, right? 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:39.519 Because I love him, I don't want him to play in the street with with with uh with busy cars. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:48.240 In fact, it would be completely unloving for me to say, no, I let my son play with the alligators because he wanted to, and I didn't want him to love me. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:53.600 And so, this is how, you know, this I hope that he'll love me by doing no, no parent would do that. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:11:00.080 No one who actually loves someone would let someone do something they know is gonna harm them without saying, yo, this is gonna harm you. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:09.120 Because love is willing to lose someone if it will help them. 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:10.799 Right? 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:16.480 So when Paul says abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good, he's not saying point a finger. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.600 He's saying that love is not afraid to confront. 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:22.639 And if it is afraid to confront, it's not love. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:30.159 In fact, loving the feeling of love is selfish. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.159 That's self-centered, not selfless. 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:36.960 So let's keep going. 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:38.399 Verse 10. 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:43.519 Love one another with brotherly affection. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:50.799 Now, Paul's saying that you've got to love your neighbors, you've got to love the people around you, like their family. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:55.679 Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time loving my family, right? 00:11:56.480 --> 00:12:00.559 And I also know that there are people not in my family that I have an even harder time loving, right? 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:02.240 That it's tough. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:10.320 So to hear this command from Paul, love one another with brotherly affection, it's it there's a little pushback, like, okay, well, how far? 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:11.360 How far do I need to go? 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:30.960 Well, he actually, it's it's really interesting to me because in the Greek, the love one another, your your your translation may say be devoted to, is uh Philostorgos, which which is a a type of communal love, a connection, and then and then when it says brotherly affection, it's the Greek word is Philadelphia, right? 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:32.639 The city of brotherly love. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:42.720 He's saying that if you're going to truly love like a like a brother would, then you have to love them like they're an actual brother. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:48.879 You're going to have to bring them into your community and your family. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.919 And then I ask the question, because I read it, it's like, but that how? 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:55.679 How, God? 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:57.039 How do you expect me to do that? 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.639 You you do realize that my sister can be obnoxious. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:06.960 You do realize that I've got neighbors that complain about me, my watering my yard, getting too close to their yard. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:08.480 I mean, you know that these people are crazy, right? 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.480 God, how am I supposed to love them? 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:19.279 It's hypocritical to act loving if you just despise someone on the inside, right? 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:24.639 It's also unrealistic to insist on heart change before loving. 00:13:25.759 --> 00:13:27.679 So, what's really being said here? 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:30.000 How we do it? 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:32.720 We look to the gospel. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:36.080 We look to what God has already done for us. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:40.159 We are not loved because we are worthy of love. 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.399 We are loved despite our loveliness. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:45.840 That's Romans 5.8, right? 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.480 That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:14:03.919 While we were steeped in our mud and muck and grime and grossness, God still said it's worth it to save them. 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:09.919 And then what does he do? 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:18.240 We come to him in faith, and he adopts us into his family. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:23.600 He makes us heirs to all that is his. 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.200 The kind of bunch up. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:03.840 No, I'm sorry. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:04.799 Verse 10b. 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:05.600 I skipped one. 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:07.600 The second half of verse 10. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:10.879 Outdo one another in showing honor. 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:14.720 Now, this is connected to the love one another with brotherly affection. 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:19.440 I'm separating it because it's it's still more action-oriented. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:25.600 I can I can feel love and I can have compassion towards someone that's hard to love. 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.639 But now he says, outdo one another in showing honor. 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:33.200 And we had a motto in Canton that fits this perfectly, and that's prove God's love. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:36.720 And I love this idea because it almost creates like a competition. 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:52.639 Where, in fact, I remember there was a there was a guy that uh uh taught a seminar and he made this uh uh this I can't remember what it was exactly, but he just told people that when you respond to an email, you should always be the last person to like you should always be the last person to a letter. 00:15:52.799 --> 00:15:53.360 This is a while ago. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:54.720 I'm dazed myself up. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:15:57.840 When you respond to someone, you should always basically write back. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:15:59.840 So you're always the last person to respond. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:05.759 And I remember hearing that, and and I I remember my my father uh took it, took, just wanted to see if the guy was legit. 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:11.039 And so every time that he would send something, my father would write something back and send it back to him, and my father would get something back in the mail. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:12.080 And they exchanged this. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:17.840 I mean, it was just like, thank you, you know, you know, peace out, like the very short, but it was always this back and forth, back and forth. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:21.919 Just just seeing if if one of them would quit, right? 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:23.679 Just seeing if one of them would stop. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:27.759 Because he what he did was living by what he what I think my father was the one who actually stopped. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.519 It's like he's legit, he's legit. 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:30.879 Could you imagine? 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:31.600 Right? 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:35.519 Could you imagine if if that is how we we showed love? 00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:41.679 It was just not as a competition trying to one-up each other, but it was just, oh, you did, well, I'm gonna do something else bigger. 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:45.519 And then someone did something bigger for you, and it's like, well, now let's let's go. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:56.559 I'm I'm trying to, not even, not a boastful sense, but just out of a zeal to honor God, we outdo one another and how we love and serve each other. 00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:12.160 What if every Christian, every believer saw every other person as infinitely important and valuable? 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:22.880 What if all of us, what if just, what if just in this room, what if just the center section, like what if just a few roads today said, you know what? 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:29.440 I am for the rest of my life going to view every single person as infinitely precious and important. 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.400 What would happen? 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:47.599 There'd be more listening, there'd be more serving, there'd be more learning from, empathy, there'd be more compassion, help, shared needs, resources. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.359 We'd be doing exactly what we're talking about here. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:57.599 Because real love is not selfish, it is selfless. 00:17:59.759 --> 00:18:01.359 Now let's get to verse 11. 00:18:01.680 --> 00:18:02.559 Verse 11. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:05.279 Lumping verse 11 and 12 together. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:17.039 Be not do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:21.039 I mean, you could take any one of these things, and I mean there's like 14 points in here, really. 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:26.000 And Justin, Justin, if you're watching, you can have you could make 14 whole other sermons and just point to each one of these. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.440 And these right here could be broken up and be focused on all by themselves. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:35.039 But together, when I read that, Paul is saying, look, we're talking about how important this is. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:39.519 And now I'm telling you that there needs to be some level of commitment. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.960 Be faithful in your love. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:50.319 Now, on the surface, when you read that, again, if you're if you're pulling this out by itself, do not be slothful in zeal. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:51.279 We just sang a song about it. 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:55.680 Be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:59.920 It's like, yeah, okay, I'm gonna be faithful in my devotion, my commitment to God. 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:05.279 But in the context of what is, he's talking about other people before this, he's talking about other people after this. 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:10.400 So I'm I'm betting, okay, that Paul is talking about other people here as well. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:15.039 He didn't just like all of a sudden write something and say, hey, be faithful and committed to God. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:30.480 Well, actually, it's it's both and, because the most faithful commitment to God you can give is, in context, seeing other people the way that God sees them, loving them the way that God loves them. 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:38.559 Our greatest service to the Lord is to have hope, to be patient, and to pray for those that we refuse to give up on. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:42.240 Okay, that should be everyone. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:52.880 Now, verses 13, 14, 15, and 16, again, could totally stand alone. 00:19:54.559 --> 00:20:04.000 But I read them as an extra support to this idea of being faithful in your love. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.640 Faithful in your commitment to love the way we're supposed to, to lead with love, right? 00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:15.359 So if you look at verse 13, it says, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:18.160 Love with your stuff. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.319 Put your money where your mouth is, put your money where your love is. 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:29.599 In fact, the word contribute, kononeo, means to partner, to become a shareholder. 00:20:30.640 --> 00:20:32.160 And this is hard. 00:20:33.599 --> 00:20:41.839 But Paul is actually giving something to us that we can do, that every one of us can do, that is within our power, immediately within our power. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:51.039 Might be uncomfortable, might be challenging, you know, we might want to think, okay, well, I don't have as much as so-and-so, so I can't give as much as so-and-so. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:51.920 No, no, no. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:58.000 Go back systematically through scripture and see how Jesus pointed to the ones who had very little and their sacrifice was so much greater. 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:09.920 Because you have clothes, you have food, you have a home, you have time, you have all of these things at your disposal. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:15.839 And if there is someone in front of you that is in need, there's someone that you know that needs love. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.759 Paul is saying that contribute. 00:21:24.480 --> 00:21:25.279 Buy in. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:29.200 Love with your stuff. 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:30.880 Look at verse 14. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:34.319 Bless those who persecute you. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.119 Bless those and do not curse them. 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:40.559 I love that it says bless twice because it's it's love doubly. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:42.400 Double the love. 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:55.440 Now, Jesus talks about it in Matthew 5 where he talks about that that when someone comes to you and asks for your code, give them your tuning too, right? 00:21:55.680 --> 00:21:57.519 Someone asks you to go one mile, go an extra mile. 00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:58.640 You've heard that before. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.640 And that's what he's really referring to here. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:04.480 Bless those that persecute you. 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:06.400 It's not an eye for eye. 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:15.039 In fact, here's what's interesting to me: the word for persecute, dioko, is the same word in verse 13 for show. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:26.880 And so it's as if Paul says first, contribute to the deeds of the saints and seek to show hospitality, and then bless those who don't show hospitality to you. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:33.119 So go show hospital with whatever you have. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:37.119 And those that don't return it, give them more of it. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:41.920 Go love like Jesus loved you. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:47.920 And when they're hostile towards you and they don't want anything to do with you, take it up to 11. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:50.799 Spinal tap? 00:22:50.880 --> 00:22:51.119 Anyone? 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:51.279 No? 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:51.680 Or whatever. 00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:52.240 Okay, let's go. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:53.119 Let's keep going. 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:56.640 Look at verse 15. 00:22:57.680 --> 00:22:59.200 Rejoice with those who rejoice. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.559 Weep with those who weep. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:01.920 Love with your time. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.039 And the truth is, you might be hearing this, you're like, you know, I'm good. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:14.880 I don't think my relationships are good, and I don't necessarily need to be loved right now. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:19.440 But one day, you might hit hard times. 00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:26.480 One day you might be dealing with frustration or doubt. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:41.599 And you're going to need a church community that loves genuinely, that leads with love, to come alongside you and encourage you and pray for you and contribute and weave with you as you're weeping. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:43.839 Or rejoice with you when you're rejoicing. 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:47.359 This is one of the greatest verses on empathy. 00:23:50.480 --> 00:23:55.759 We all want someone to love us like we want to be loved, right? 00:23:56.640 --> 00:23:58.000 Verse 16. 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:01.599 Live in harmony with one another. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:05.200 Do not be haughty, but associ but associate with the lowly. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:07.839 Never be wise in your own sight. 00:24:08.400 --> 00:24:10.160 Love like Jesus. 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:13.440 Love with your stuff, love doubly. 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:15.119 Love with your time. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:17.680 Love like Jesus. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:23.519 Our faithfulness to others should look like his faithfulness to us. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:35.920 So as Paul says, to be faithful in love, we do so with all of our resources and all of our time and all of our motion. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:40.559 Again, it's the same pattern of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:45.759 Because if we if we get that, if we're doing that, then we're going to love what God loves the same way. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:52.480 And then we're bearing his image the way he intended. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:25:11.039 Now at this point, there's a shift from how we deal with people around us that maybe are in the community with us, or people that are neighbors, and people that maybe are hard to love, but now he's going to shift to people who make it almost impossible to love. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:16.480 People that are actively hostile or specifically against us. 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:20.160 How do we love people who are actively against us? 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:23.680 Anyone want to guess? 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:26.000 It's the same, just in case you're wondering. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:26.640 It's the same. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:28.160 That's right. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:29.440 It's not a that's right. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:31.839 There's not an exception, right? 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:34.799 Look at verse 17. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:42.000 Repay no evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.000 What does that look like? 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:45.279 Forgiveness? 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:47.599 Showing grace? 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:48.960 Being kind. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:53.839 It's not loving to be like they started it. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:01.440 It's not loving to be to be like uh I tried. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:05.359 I've been that as a pattern, I've been down that road. 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:07.839 I've done all I can do. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:16.720 It's not loving to look at adversaries and say, I just avoid them. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:25.920 Because avoidance really is just another way to avenge yourself. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:30.079 And look what he says next. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:34.559 Never avenge yourself. 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.519 I skipped another verse again. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:40.319 This is what happens when I'm reading too much because I got lost in my place. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:45.599 He says in verse 17, do what is honorable in the sight of all. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:50.400 In verse 18, he says, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 00:26:52.960 --> 00:27:05.680 And to avoid living peaceably, to avoid dealing with those that are hostile, is a version of revenge. 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:08.640 It's your way of just pushing it off. 00:27:09.440 --> 00:27:10.880 I don't need that. 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:13.519 Look at verse 19. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:15.279 Never avenge yourself. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:17.599 But leave it to the wrath of God. 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:20.000 And that's quoted, it's quoting Deuteronomy 32, 35. 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:24.400 He says, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:32.000 So Paul said ultimately, these people make you mad, they make you angry. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:45.680 Their political views, their habits, the words they use, the actions they take, it's so frustrating. 00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:56.880 But Paul is saying, and quoting from Deuteronomy, not to worry about it. 00:28:03.359 --> 00:28:08.559 See, I my wife sent me a quote the other day, she said that we like to lawyer up, right? 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:12.720 Or we we love to be the lawyer when we're dealing with our own mistakes. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:18.240 But we're quick to be the judge when it comes to other people's mistakes. 00:28:20.160 --> 00:28:25.920 We're looking at people that have offended us, that have hurt us, wounded us deeply. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.240 Paul is saying, you gotta let it go. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:38.960 You gotta, you, you, you gotta put, you've gotta lay that at the feet of Jesus and say, hey, I'm just gonna be bitter. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:42.720 I'm gonna have hatred in my heart if I don't if I don't give this up. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:44.240 So I need you to deal with it. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:45.599 And and God said he would. 00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:48.400 In fact, going back to Matthew 5, that's what Jesus said. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:51.759 He said, look, justice is coming. 00:28:53.279 --> 00:28:56.640 God will pour out his wrath on everyone who deserves it. 00:28:57.039 --> 00:29:02.559 If you read the Psalms, you get to some of these challenging Psalms where they're like, they're praying curses, right? 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:12.480 These purgatory, they're they're praying for their enemies to die, to have to have their crazy things happen to them. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:17.279 Strung up and beaten, wounded, swords to the throat, like crazy stuff. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:27.119 But almost every time that psalm is written at the end, the author's like, but I know God, it's on you, and I trust you, you can handle it. 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:30.960 Because what they're saying is, these people have made me mad. 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:33.440 And I'm just voicing my frustration. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:36.640 Because I want the same thing to happen to them to happen to me. 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:42.079 Because that's what seems fair, that's justice. 00:29:42.799 --> 00:29:48.960 And by the end, once they've got it out, once they've released it, they go, but it's not for me. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:50.400 That's for you, God. 00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:55.279 I'm just gonna trust that in your time, you're gonna deal with it rightly. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:57.039 Not have to worry about it. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:29:59.519 You know what happens when you can do that? 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.200 You can go love those people the way they need to be loved. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:21.519 And then verse 20 says, instead of trying to avenge yourself, he says, to the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.319 If your enemy is thirsty, give her something to drink. 00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:30.160 For by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:42.799 So instead of looking for revenge, instead of trying to avoid it, instead of running and throwing your hands up, being mad, yelling at the TV screen, whatever it is. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:53.039 On the contrary, go find them and go do something that blesses them. 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:56.960 And the Bible says they're not gonna know what to do with it. 00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:11.759 Now, sure, you can you can set up your protest on the other side of the street and try to counter protests, but you can also just go and talk and love and learn and bless in some way. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:20.079 And Paul is saying it's gonna frustrate them more than they'll know what to do with. 00:31:20.720 --> 00:31:24.160 Heat burning coals in their heads, like, why are they so loving? 00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:29.359 I'm doing all these things to make them mad. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:32.480 And they just keep blessing me. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:37.440 Right. 00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:42.640 Because we're gonna do what we're gonna do to others what God has already done to us. 00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:50.000 This this action of do the contrary is Paul saying, you don't get to sit back. 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:52.640 You love is not passive. 00:31:53.200 --> 00:31:53.519 Right? 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:57.759 You don't get to Monday morning quarterback at armchair quarterback, whatever the right idiom is. 00:31:57.839 --> 00:31:58.799 You don't get to do that. 00:31:59.039 --> 00:32:02.160 Because God moves towards, we move towards. 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:06.480 There's a great story, there's a great story, and I'll just do this really quickly. 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:09.440 Ananias uh is is is comes to God. 00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:11.200 If you remember, there's Ananias in Damascus. 00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:15.039 Paul is on his way to Damascus to arrest all these Christians. 00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:20.079 Like he's got legal documents, he's gonna arrest them, he's gonna uh uh they're gonna torture them, maybe kill them. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:29.200 And he goes, and so God shows up and God speaks to Ananias and says, Hey, there's there's this guy, uh, Saul of Tarsus, okay? 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:34.960 I've I've I've I've spoken to him, and he's blind at the moment, and I need you to go heal him. 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:38.160 I need you to go take care of him, I need to bring him into your house. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:47.119 I need you to put him up in your bed, I need you to feed him, I need you to take care of him, and I need you to do this until he is better. 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:51.759 Now, Ananias is like, come out. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:52.960 Uh, all right. 00:32:53.119 --> 00:33:07.359 I heard you say Saul of Tarsus because if I remember correctly, you know, and we don't have we don't have any good news sources in Damascus at the moment, but if I remember correctly, Saul of Tarsus is a terrorist towards believers. 00:33:07.519 --> 00:33:13.359 He is coming to round us up, to throw us into jail, to possibly kill us. 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:21.519 And you're telling me that what you want me to do is contrary to revenge or running away or avoiding it. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:23.759 You want me to take him into my house? 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:26.880 And God says, absolutely. 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:29.039 Because that's what I did for you. 00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:37.759 And you doing that is going to help him become something no one saw coming. 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:44.319 The last verse. 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:51.759 Do not overcome, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 00:33:54.640 --> 00:34:06.079 And I know that there are situations where you're around something that is abusive, you're around people that are the wounds, the hurt just keeps coming. 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:07.200 It doesn't stop. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:12.960 And here, Paul is telling us it's okay to create boundaries. 00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:13.360 Right? 00:34:13.440 --> 00:34:14.559 Go back to verse 9, right? 00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:15.599 Abhor what is evil. 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:19.760 The best good might be for you to stay away, right? 00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:27.920 Because you, if you're in an environment where you're trying to conquer evil with evil, you're just gonna, you're just gonna let evil win. 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:30.159 That's the that's the Lord of the rings, right? 00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:30.719 J.R.L. 00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:40.639 Tolkien, you guys remember, if you can't fight off, you can't take the ring because it if you even if you're good, it'll make you evil, and it'll defeat evil with evil, not just defeats the whole purpose, right? 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:44.239 You can't you can't beat evil with evil, evil still wins. 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:53.920