Passionate Rightful Love
Notes
Transcript
Luke 11:14–28; Romans 12:9–21
Can you think of a house that is divided? It shouldn’t be hard at this point. It is displayed for the whole world to see.
The United States has a motto: E pluribus unum. It means, “Out of many, one.” Yet it seems that instead, it ought to be, “E pluribus chaos”.
There is little that appears orderly at this time. While the US looks first to itself, and other countries, too. Even the countries that ridicule the current US situation have their own divisions to deal with.
Within our states, cities, and even homes, the division has increased. Unity seems further away and harder to grasp. Regardless of which person wins the presidency in 2020, they will have the unenviable (and likely impossible) task of trying to reunite a divided nation.
The church is not any better at this point. The church is divided, too. An even harder task will be the church trying to be united after it is over.
What will happen? Only God knows. What will the church do to reunite?
The church has forgotten, in many ways, what it means to be the church. Jesus is first. Earth (and its powers) are maybe second. Perhaps second is rating it too high.
Romans 12:9 starts out with “love unhypocritically” or “love without dissimulation”. At this point, the people of the church are not doing this very well. Political allegiances or motives come before loving one’s brothers and sisters in Christ.
So-called “Christian” Republicans and Democrats espouse love of fellow man and yet castigate one another in hatred. Perhaps it’s not “real” hate, but the hardening of hearts is undeniable.
Let us call on one another to have a Romans 12:9–21 political season. Imagine what would happen if the world saw that.
—prayer—
Lord, your follower Paul gave us wisdom from long ago. Help us to apply to all we meet and especially all with whom we disagree. May your love flow more strongly from us than our worldly beliefs. Amen.
—questions—
1) If you don’t know the word, look up dissimulation. How might dissimulated love be different than hypocritical love? How are they the same?
2) How does following the guidance in Romans change how you will interact with others?
3) How does following the guidance in Romans show the world Jesus? Is that important to you?