Scripture: Romans 12:9-21
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 Instead, “if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Questions
- What does it mean to show honor to fellow believers?
- Why does Paul talk about God’s wrath and what does that phrase mean?
- Why does Paul talk about heaping burning coals on a person’s head when he is trying to remind Christians to love others, even those who persecute them?
Background
Related Scriptures: Proverbs 3:4; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 Timothy 3:2, 5:10
The term translated “Contribute” in verse 13 is a word used for a business partnership and reflects Paul’s desire that Christians treat the church as they would their business partnership.
Origen: It happens that we hate things we ought not to, just as we love things we ought not to. We are ordered to love our brothers, not to hate them. If you think that someone is ungodly, remember that “Christ died for the ungodly.” And if you think that because your brother is a sinner you do not have to love him, remember that “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners.” But if he is righteous, then he is much more worthy of love, for “God loves the righteous.”[1]
Chrysostom: Love by itself is not enough; there must be zeal as well. For zeal also comes out of loving and gives it warmth, so that the one confirms the other. For there are many who have love in their mind but who do not stretch out their hand. This is why Paul calls on every means he knows to build up love.[2]
Origen: The practice of hospitality does not simply mean that we should entertain those who come to us. It means also that we should go out and invite others to come in[3]
Reflection
One of the quotes that lives in my brain is Brennan Mannings:
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
Paul does not place Romans 12 is such evangelistic terms, rather he simply talks of the Christian life being one of genuine love. But I do think Manning’s quote can still help us see the importance of living out the genuine love that Paul addresses. Paul lists seven characteristics of this love in verses 9-13.
This list of admonitions was not given as a “checklist” of Christian duties, which are to be expressed in some legalistic fashion. Rather, these exhortations function as an explication of what it means to love genuinely (i.e., “without hypocrisy”) as one of God’s children. The focus of a Christian’s attention is not on some list of responsibilities or duties. The Christian’s focus must always be on the personal relationship with God that God himself has brought about through the person and work of Christ Jesus and the ministry of God’s Spirit—with all these seven listed matters flowing quite “naturally” (or, rather, “supernaturally”) from the relationship that God has established between himself and his people.[4]
The characteristic that first struck me is, “outdo one another in showing honor.” Read just about any book on the background to the New Testament and it will talk about how important honor and patronage were in the Roman world. Just like today, the wealthy would give money to projects just to gain the honor associated with having their name on the plaque at the base. Receiving honor was important in society as it helped gain clout. Doing favors for people meant you could expect them to praise you and give you honor in the community. Paul is turning this on its head. He wants slave owners to give honor to slaves, he wants the elite to give honor to the marginal. If there is going to be competition in the church it is to see who can raise others up the highest, not who can have their name attached to the most stuff. Paul clearly wants us to be other focused, that is looking out for how we can build each other up. He wants us to be generous and caring toward others, not vindictive or greedy. A loving mindset is one that wants to lift up the beloved, not rise above them.
And for Paul this should be done in joy and with passion. Connecting to God through prayer and seeing the accomplishments of our brothers and sisters should bring us joy and we should have a passion to see them succeed. This is because connecting to God should result in a desire to love what and who God loves. Showing the love of God should be energetic, it should be something that fills us with joy and demonstrates our joy to the world. Everything about spreading love in the community. Even when Paul uses the metaphor of “heap[ing] burning coals on their heads”, he is not saying we should get a kind of sick joy from this. Instead, the metaphor is about burning away impurities, it is saying that when we focus on building love, even when we are hated, despised and persecuted, we demonstrate who God is and hopefully will help burn away the evil in the other person’s heart. The goal then is to show God’s love in such a way that evil, which is the only thing we hate, is burned away from others and there is no need for God to take vengeance. The Christian life is this, to be so radically filled with God that we provide for others and compete with them to show them more honor, and even when we are hated we show God’s love because we are so attached to God’s person.
[1] Gerald Bray, ed., Romans (Revised), Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 304.
[2] Gerald Bray, ed., Romans (Revised), Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 304.
[3] Gerald Bray, ed., Romans (Revised), Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 305.
[4] Richard N. Longenecker, The Epistle to the Romans: A Commentary on the Greek Text, 937.
Squinting in the Light 
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