The Art of Love
Romans 12:9-18
Rev. Ken Gregson
The Art of Love
A Message based on Romans 12:9-18
Rev. Ken Gregson (DOC)
Paul has a great way of making the gospel real.
To bring it to life, to show its human side.
He recognizes and affirms the great diversity of humanity yet focuses on unity and harmony.
We need this lesson in today’s world.
Even within this network of beliefs and relationships, we call Christianity,
just as the church in Rome needed it back then.
Right before the passage we read, Paul encouraged the believers in Rome to be transformed by the renewing of their minds.
In our reading, Paul instructs them on what this means for their everyday lives.
The essence of love as an instrument that opens the door of hospitality and faith.
The combination of those two things guided Abraham and his family as God worked to establish a covenant with humanity.
Hospitality is an embodiment of love.
Where there is hospitality and love we find the development of faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
The harmony of the Trinity is our guide for unity with diversity.
· Love is the essence of God.
· Love should be what drives and builds a fellowship of believers.
· Love is the radiant orbit on which the life of Jesus is centered;
and God calls on everyone to accept and share the same love.
Reading this passage from Paul, along with others he wrote like 1 Corinthians 13, I can hear Paul interpreting Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Bringing all those blessings into actions the people of these churches Paul shepherded should live out.
Summoning them, and us, to live out the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven rather than “religious” ideals.
Using love as a basis and center of Christian living, the Apostle Paul encourages Christians to cultivate love as a virtue for both social and holy life.
Genuine love, as Paul calls it, is not a one-time achievement, but a sought-after virtue enacted through daily practice and prayer.
We may also say that love is an art, as one can learn, grow, and be taught to love.
I know this from personal experience.
In my youth and young adult years, I did not know how to love others.
I was very bad at it, even after I came to know Jesus Christ, I was pretty self-centered.
It wasn’t until God, over and over again, gave me opportunities to see genuine love in the people around me and learn more and more about divine love through reading the scripture and conversations in prayer, that I eventually got better at loving others.
I still miss the mark Paul was teaching us to shoot for.
Just like any artist, we get better at it with practice.
There are techniques and skills we can learn to improve the tapestry of our love.
However, in many Christian circles, love is a lost art that needs to be relearned.
Ironically, some churches, and families have lost the art of teaching about love, in both its nature and character.
In an interesting and funny side note, as I was doing some research on this idea of the art of love, I ran across a book of that name written in 2 A.D. by a Roman poet named OVID, alive at the same time as Jesus.
He wrote a trilogy of books called Ars Amatoria. The Art of Love.
· Book one was written to show a man how to find a woman.
· In book two, Ovid shows men how to keep her.
· The third book gives women advice on how to win and keep the love of a man.
The first two books, aimed at men, contain sections which cover such topics as 'not forgetting her birthday', 'letting her miss you - but not for long' and 'not asking about her age'.
The third gives similar advice to women, sample themes include: 'making up, but in private', 'being wary of false lovers' and 'trying young and older lovers.'
Although the book was finished around 2 A.D., much of the advice he gives is applicable to any day and age.
In connection with the revelation that “the theatre is a good place to meet girls,” for instance, Ovid, the classically educated trickster, refers to the story of ‘the rape of the Sabine women,’ a classical Roman myth.
As an example of what not to do.
It has been argued that this passage in his book represents a radical attempt to redefine relationships between men and women in Roman society, advocating a move away from paradigms of force and possession, towards
concepts of mutual fulfilment.
Even then, those with creative minds knew that the misogynistic culture that was prevalent in Rome at the time, was not the right thing to do.
While in that secular world, an influential Roman poet was trying to radically shift what love meant between a man and a woman,
the Jew, Saul of Tarsus, who Christ had changed into the Apostle Paul,
was trying to radically shift what love meant between God and humanity as well as for interpersonal relationships within humanity itself.
One true picture of love between humans is capture well by a South African cleric, Desmond Tutu.
He was the Archbishop of Cape Town working alongside Nelson Mandela as they tried to heal their nation for decades of apartheid.
His work to help end apartheid was recognized when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.
Theologically, he adapted the southern African philosophy of Ubuntu, which is often translated as ‘humanity towards others’ or as “I am because we are.”
Ubuntu understands that we are all connected and need each other, even to say that we don’t exist apart from one another.
He teaches that forgiveness is an act of love
The truth of Ubuntu, that we need each other, that God created us that way.
It’s so embedded in our human nature, that many cultures around the world through the centuries recognize it.
Paul reinforces what Jesus taught that the character and nature of love is both vertical and horizontal; this love is indeed both godly and social.
On the social side, Paul also teaches that it’s not just for fellow believers.
Just like Jesus, he encourages them to extend hospitality to strangers and to bless those who persecute them.
We’ve seen some awe-inspiring examples of that as some family members and victims of injustice forgive their oppressors, even to the point of forgiving those who murdered their children.
The art of love among the body of Christ has always been needed.
Even more so in the world in which we live today.
In order to cherish diversity as the breeding ground of love, a transformed and renewed mind should be the center of genuine love;
without this spiritually gifted new life, human beings will always fall short of godly love.
We get that new life by following the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit within us.
Jesus’ brother James says famously that, “faith without works is dead.”
Paul teaches that faith without love yields nothing.
Faith without love in action risks the continued decline of the influence of the church on our society, and consequently, the death of the local and global church.
Love does not get lived out in perfect environments.
These verses encourage us to love in times of conflict, disagreements, and persecution as part of the Christian identity.
The upcoming election and current culture of extreme partisanship is just such a time.
As each side demonizes and persecutes the other, including Christians on both sides.
It’s all too easy to forget the words of Jesus to love our enemies and bless those who persecute us.
Paul’s call to “live in harmony with one another”
and “if it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
As this election gets closer, tensions and rhetoric are only going to get more divisive.
No matter who wins, there is likely to be massive protests in the streets, strong disagreements within friends and family and the church.
Perhaps even within this one.
We had better get to work improving our art of love now.
It’s so common to hear people say, “I love you.”
Christians say it to each other all the time.
We often repeat Jesus’ teaching to “love our neighbor as ourselves,”
with the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus taught us that our neighbor includes strangers and people we’re not supposed to like.
Paul reinforces that teaching in verse 13; “Contribute to the needs of the saints and extend hospitality to strangers.”
The 21st-century church is called to live and serve within the context of these passages.
However, much of the church today struggles to live the gospel way; as a result, it has struggled to be consistent in its message and example to the world.
The love being preached from many pulpits is not the kind of love God teaches and demonstrates in the Bible.
Sadly, many seem to be uncomfortable with the nature and character of love being stressed in Romans 12.
A revival of spiritual love and unity is urgently needed in today’s global church.
The love we are called to live out is not an emotional one,
but one that comes from the transforming and spiritual rebirth of our minds, souls, and hearts.
It is practical love in that it is experienced by both the self and the other;
it is love lived out in ways that always cherishes others.
This love seeks justice, forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace.
This comes from listening and seeking first to understand before trying to make yourself understood.
I just failed in this the other day.
A friend of mine, a Christian Brother, posted a Facebook meme showing one of the protesters who was shot.
The meme basically said because of his past, the protester deserved it.
This Christian friend of mine was okay with this misguided murder.
Sadly, my reaction was just to unfollow my friend so I wouldn’t have to look at those types of posts anymore.
Avoiding the conversations is not the right answer.
Where there is no discussion, there is no healing, there is no love.
There is no peace.
In researching Desmond Tutu, I found a few of his teachings that apply:
· “Peace comes when you talk to the person you most hate.”
· “Without forgiveness there is no future.”
· “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that can change the world.”
We can continue to demonize those fellow humans and fellow Christians who believe differently from us or we can choose to have a conversation and try to understand one another.
To listen and learn how to love each other and appreciate the diversity of thought within God’s creation.
We need to do this to prepare for the aftermath of this upcoming election, no matter who wins.
The church will be needed to lead the healing.
If we don’t lead the healing of this divided nation, we are irrelevant, and we might as well stop saying we are working toward spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and helping to bring about the Kingdom of God.
Because those two things are exactly what is needed right now.
We need to be the peacemakers.
Amen.
References:
· Kamudzandu, I. Commentary on Romans 12:9-21. (2020) Workingpreacher.com. accessed 8/27/24 http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4566
· Schade, L. Preaching in the Purple Zone; Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide. (2019). London. The Roman and Littlefield Publishing Group.
· TuTu, D. Ubuntu: The essence of Being Human. (2013) Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. YouTube.com accessed 8/27/24 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44xbZ8MN1uk
· Wikipedia. Ars Amatoria. Accessed 8/28/24 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ars_Amatoria