16^th Sunday after Pentecost – October 2, 2011

God doesn’t make suggestions, he gives commands. You see, the very word “suggest” means to offer some thought for consideration without commanding or requesting it being done. In other words, “suggest” means “Think about it, but you don’t necessarily have to do it.” That isn’t what God does! He doesn’t suggest, he commands!

And he has every right to give us commands! Why? Simple - because he made us. He is the one who gave us our eyes and ears, our bodies and souls, our minds and abilities. If not for him, we wouldn’t exist. We are his creation. Therefore he has every right to give us commands. Yet, not only did he create us, but everything we have and everything we use in this life is from him. It is his hand that blesses us with family and friends, possessions and recreation. If not for him, we would have nothing. Naturally then, he has every right to command us how to use those possession and how to treat the people we meet in life. Finally, we could add one more thing. He alone has saved us. Our sins separate us from God. Because of the guilt we inherit from our parents, we are born as God’s enemies. The fiery flames in the eternal torment of the blackness of hell was our only destination. And there is nothing we can say or do to get back into the good graces of our God. So God took care of it, and he sent his Son, our Savior, to take upon himself our sin and pay the penalty for our guilt. If not for him, we would have no forgiveness. Therefore, God has the right to give us commands, and now we have the motivation to obey.

So, as we read the words of our text this morning, please remember, this is not a suggestion. This is not an opinion. God is not setting before you an option. This is a command. Hear the words of our Lord recorded by the Apostle Paul in Romans 13. This morning, we read them from the Translation known as the New American Standard Bible.

Romans 13:8-10 - 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (New American Standard Bible Translation)

Romans 13:8-10 - ⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (New International Version)

Have you ever had a debt? No doubt, many of us have. After all, we take out loans to buy houses, cars, boats, and to pay for school. And if you have ever had a debt, you also know how good it feels when that debt is paid off. And as Christians we will want to see to it that, if at all possible, all loans are paid when payment is due – for being good citizens of God’s kingdom also means being a good citizen of this world.

Interestingly enough though, in our lesson this morning Paul tells us there is one debt that we Christians will never fully pay. In fact, it is a debt that we Christians will never want to even think that we have fully paid. That doesn’t mean we get to miss any payment. The payments are still due every day. No one else can pay them for us. So, what debt is Paul talking about, the continuing debt to love one other. That is the command that God gives us today, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.”

Now, in reality, that should be sufficient for you and me. We should be able to end our sermon right here with this command (wouldn’t that make you happy). After all, remember, God has the right to give us this command, and at the very same time, every right to expect us to go out and keep it. It doesn’t get much clearer – love one another. Or to say it another way that reflects the tense of the Greek verb – “always keep on loving one another.”

But we won’t stop here (I know, much to your dismay). And we won’t stop here because we are snarky people. We are weasels. We are people who try to find loopholes to escape from or evade a situation or obligation. We manipulate what God says in an effort to get out of doing what God commands. We won’t stop here because we are rebellious people. We are people who often know what we are to do, but in a sinful act of defiance thumb our nose at God’s commands. For these reasons it is proper for us to take a deeper look at these words of our Lord.

“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.” It is so simple, so straightforward, yet as master manipulators what do we often do? We try to limit who we need to love; we ask, “Just who is my neighbor?” But the very fact that we would entertain such a question goes to show how far we are from understanding these words. If you recall, a teacher in the law once asked Jesus that question and Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan. There, Jesus’ taught us that the question isn’t who is my neighbor, but to whom can I be a neighbor. There is no limit; no stipulation. Love one another.

But, but…we protest, there have to be some guidelines! So that’s what we weasels do. 1) Love the ones who love us in return – check. 2) Love the one who is most like us – check. 3) Love the one who demands the least of us – check. But love the one that doesn’t deserve it – how could I! Love the one who has committed such an indecent act of hostility and hatred toward me – no way! Love the one that society has labeled an outcast – never! You couldn’t possibly mean that Lord…could you?

But what else could the Lord possibly mean! And that comes across crystal clear when we see what word Paul uses for love. It is the Greek word, αγαπαω. Now, for those of us who didn’t grow up in Greece, let us briefly review. The Greek language has three different words for love. One word depicts the flame of passion; another characterizes the feelings of warmth and friendship; the other talks about an attitude and the resulting action that is taken because of that attitude. It is a love that gives even when it doesn’t feel like it. It is a love that is committed to loving even when the other is being unlovable. It is a love not based on how the other treats you, but on your commitment to being loving to them. And guess which one is the definition of αγαπαω, the word Paul used in our text. If you guessed the last definition, you guessed right.

So God does mean love…with no stipulations! No conditions! No set of requirements first! He does mean a love that goes out of its way to do good to the other. He does mean a love that loves, even at the expense and danger and trouble to ourselves. He does mean a love that seeks, yes actively seeks, no ill and works no evil against any fellow citizen. He does mean a love to those who don’t love us in return. He does mean a love to those who aren’t like us. He does mean a love to all others, regardless of how unlovable we think they may be. Finally, in our gospel lesson this morning, Jesus makes it clear that this love for our fellowman will also move us to talk to them about their sin that they might be moved to godly sorrow that seeks God’s forgiveness and his help to keep from sinning. We are not to ignore them but make their spiritual welfare our personal concern. Only love, true love, can lead us to do that.

So now, let’s get to the nitty-gritty. When Jesus walks among us today - in our homes, in the school hallways, inside the church walls, out with our friends, in our dealings with the world - what does he find? Does he find this love? Honestly now, how are you doing? Does he find us helping the poor? Does he find us concerned about others? Does he find us lovingly pointing out sin to save the soul of another? Or, does he find snarky weasels who are more concerned about being well-liked? Does he find master manipulators exacting revenge and holding onto grudges? Does he find selfish hoarders who can’t bear the thought of being put out? Does he find self-righteous jerks who don’t think others are deserving of their love? Why is it that in places where there should be the greatest of love – between husband and wife, parents and child – there isn’t? Why is it that in places where love should abound – between member and member, pastor and parishioner – there isn’t?

How can this be dear Christian! Remember, this is a command! This is not some pious option he sets before us in the hopes that we put into practice every once in a while. This is a command - a command he has the right to give, a command he has the right to expect us to keep, and, if we don’t, he has the right to punish us for it. God will not be mocked. He will not sit idly by while his people run roughshod over his commands. “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,” (Deuteronomy 5:9) he tells us. With this threat he impresses on us that he is dead serious about wanting us to keep every one of his commandments. If we mindless disregard them, well the passages are plentiful. “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). “The soul who sins is the one that will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) – eternal death in hell.

God should cast us away from his presence forever. You and I have rightly earned it, because you and I know that when it comes to loving our neighbor as ourselves, we haven’t. Plain and simple! There’s no two ways about it! And it’s time for this sleepy indifference toward this command to be over. It’s time to wake up and realize that our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. It’s time to see sin - especially this one before us today of the failure to love our neighbor as ourselves – it’s time for us to see it for what it really is - an act of open rebellion against the God who made us. It’s time to repent and go back to the cross.

Dear friends, it’s our only hope. Only there, in Jesus’ innocent, precious blood will we find forgiveness for our sin of lovelessness. Only there, in the perfect Substitute, do we find God’s anger over our failure to obey his command turned aside. Only there, in Jesus the Son of God, will we find life. There we find the height of God’s love. One night a preacher was preaching on the love of God. As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the man lit a candle and carried it to the crucifix. First of all, he illumined the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the spear wound. In the hush that fell, he went to the Bible and slowly read, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Then he read, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Finally, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Then he blew out the candle, what more was there to say.

Yes, we need to go back to the empty tomb. There we are assured that what seems so unbelievable is indeed believable – God treated Jesus as our sins deserve and treats us the way his Son deserves. We are indeed forgiven. Now, now we can understand what αγαπh love is. It’s the love God has for us. It certainly is not because we are so lovable that he sent his Son! It certainly is not anything in us that moved Jesus to willingly endure all he did! No, it was all love on his part. His love did it all. It is this same love that continues to pour out his forgiveness to us even though we don’t deserve us. It is this love that moves him to say, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). It is this love that puts joy in our hearts and instills us with hope. It is this love that fills us with the fortitude to see God’s command to love one another as a debt we never want to stop paying. Amen.