Speaker 1: And men, what church. You can have a seat and
Speaker 1: you can grab your bibles.
Speaker 2: Please grab your bibles and start turning to Romans chapter
Speaker 2: thirteen this morning. Romans chapter thirteen. It's where we're gonna be.
Speaker 2: And if you need a bible or a bulletin or
Speaker 2: a pen, you see already the ushers. They are looking
Speaker 2: for your hands raised there, So raise your hand if
Speaker 2: you need one of those, and they'll get.
Speaker 1: You situated with that.
Speaker 2: And also, if you've yet to fill out a connection
Speaker 2: card this morning, I encourage you to interact with those
Speaker 2: QR codes and fill out a connection card. It's a
Speaker 2: helpful shepherding tool for us. We ask everybody to do
Speaker 2: that each week. And want to know that you're here
Speaker 2: by name and to be able to pray for you.
Speaker 2: So be sure to do that. Pastor Josh he's out
Speaker 2: this weekend. He's serving some extended family out of town.
Speaker 2: And so I'm Pastor Seth here with you this morning.
Speaker 2: And I turned forty six. Recently turned forty six. Is
Speaker 2: that a good age?
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Well, they they tell me that's middle aged, at least
Speaker 2: middle aged. I'm not quite sure when that started or
Speaker 2: when it finishes. I'm pretty sure though, that it does
Speaker 2: mean some things like I'm supposed to be relatively grown
Speaker 2: up by now, supposed to be matured.
Speaker 1: In life and in the faith.
Speaker 2: And yet it's also super clear to me that there's
Speaker 2: no real visible finish line to this process of maturing
Speaker 2: and growing up, especially when it comes to my lived
Speaker 2: out trust in the Lord.
Speaker 1: My maturity is a Christian.
Speaker 2: And even as I live each day, there's plenty of
Speaker 2: me that needs to die. You tracking with me on that,
Speaker 2: even as I live each day, there's still plenty of.
Speaker 1: Me that needs to die.
Speaker 2: And that's the paradox we actually read about at the
Speaker 2: beginning of Romans chapter twelve. This morning is this hinge
Speaker 2: point of Paul's Letter to the Roman Church that he
Speaker 2: wrote about twenty five years after Jesus died and resurrected.
Speaker 2: For the first eleven chapters of his letter, he largely
Speaker 2: addresses doctrines, great doctrines concerning God's righteousness, an offer of
Speaker 2: salvation for us these unrighteous people, now rescued, rescued ones
Speaker 2: needing instructions, so desperately needing instruction for faithful living. But
Speaker 2: it's faithful living as sacrifices we'll read here in a second,
Speaker 2: this living sacrifices language. He uses, I'm calling for us
Speaker 2: here this morning, life on the altar, Life on the altar.
Speaker 2: So let's read the chapter now, Romans, Chapter twelve.
Speaker 1: You can follow along with me.
Speaker 2: He says, I appeal to you there, for brothers, by
Speaker 2: the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a
Speaker 2: living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your
Speaker 2: spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but
Speaker 2: be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by
Speaker 2: testing you may discern what is the will of God,
Speaker 2: what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the
Speaker 2: grace given to me, I say to everyone among you
Speaker 2: not to think of himself more highly than he ought
Speaker 2: to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according
Speaker 2: to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For
Speaker 2: As in one body, we have many members, and the
Speaker 2: members do not all have the same functions.
Speaker 1: So we, though many.
Speaker 2: Are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another,
Speaker 2: having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,
Speaker 2: let us use them, if prophecy in proportion to our faith,
Speaker 2: if service in our serving the one who teaches in
Speaker 2: his teaching. The one who exhorts in his exhortation, the
Speaker 2: one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal,
Speaker 2: the does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine,
Speaker 2: Abhor what is evil, fast to what is good. Love
Speaker 2: one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Speaker 2: Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit,
Speaker 2: serve the Lord, Rejoice in hope, be patient and tribulation.
Speaker 1: Be constant in prayer.
Speaker 2: Contribute to the needs of the saints, and seek to
Speaker 2: show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do
Speaker 2: not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with
Speaker 2: those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do
Speaker 2: not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Speaker 1: Never be wise in your own sight.
Speaker 2: Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to
Speaker 2: do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible,
Speaker 2: so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with
Speaker 2: all beloved. Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the
Speaker 2: wrath of God. For it is written vengeance is mine.
Speaker 2: I will repay, says the Lord to the contrary If
Speaker 2: your enemy is hungry, feed him. If heels thirsty, give
Speaker 2: him something to drink. For by so doing you will
Speaker 2: heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome
Speaker 2: by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Speaker 1: This is God's word for us this morning.
Speaker 2: Anybody feel a little overwhelmed by all we are being
Speaker 2: called to in this chapter?
Speaker 1: It's very much the same for me. With that.
Speaker 2: You know, every sentence feels like it could use a
Speaker 2: sermon and a playbook as we read through it.
Speaker 1: How do we do this thing?
Speaker 2: You might also be wondering about the whole life on
Speaker 2: the altar phrase that I used before our reading, since
Speaker 2: you didn't hear any mention of altars in this passage, right,
Speaker 2: But hopefully it's a quick connection that we can make
Speaker 2: here together. From the time that we see Noah departing
Speaker 2: from the arc in Genesis eight, and then throughout the
Speaker 2: Old Testament we see these altars, these raised platforms of
Speaker 2: earth stone and wood used for worship and often sacrifices,
Speaker 2: a place where the blood of animals was shed to
Speaker 2: make atonement for sin. And reading about altars, you read.
Speaker 1: About a lot of death.
Speaker 2: So Paul, in a way he picks up this imagery
Speaker 2: and adds a twist when he says in verse one,
Speaker 2: to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, a living sacrifice, right.
Speaker 2: It's a call to ongoing, complete surrender in a life
Speaker 2: of worshipful service. It's sort of like saying, we now live,
Speaker 2: We now live as those putting to death every ungodly
Speaker 2: way in us. Jesus he gives a related teaching when
Speaker 2: he says, what we have recorded in John twelve, twenty
Speaker 2: five and twenty six, whoever loves his life loses it,
Speaker 2: and whoever hates his life in this world will keep
Speaker 2: it for eternal life. If anyone, sir, he must follow me.
Speaker 2: Jesus said, it's this call to complete, wholehearted, all of
Speaker 2: life devotion. So now what Romans twelve gives us is
Speaker 2: initial instruction for this kind of life, This Jesus following
Speaker 2: life on the Altar.
Speaker 1: It's a pretty hefty concept. So where do we start?
Speaker 1: Where do we dive into this thing?
Speaker 2: What we might begin our exploration by stating life on
Speaker 2: the altar requires we get sorted.
Speaker 1: Get sorted.
Speaker 2: That's your first blank if you're taking notes here this morning.
Speaker 2: Before considering all the good things we might do in
Speaker 2: relating to others. We're first called to look close to home,
Speaker 2: as close as our own minds, our very thinking, to
Speaker 2: get all sorted out by God according to Godliness.
Speaker 1: See.
Speaker 2: Without proper attention and high intentionality. With this, you and
Speaker 2: I will tend to to cozy into the forms the
Speaker 2: molds the world has for us, the shapings that celebrate
Speaker 2: earthly success, a parent winning and supposed arrival in life,
Speaker 2: and that, at whatever expense, taking on an identity that
Speaker 2: proves contrary to the priorities for citizens of God's kingdom.
Speaker 2: So Paul tells us to be transformed out of that,
Speaker 2: transformed out of that, and into a new place of
Speaker 2: knowing God's will bill knowing it not so much as
Speaker 2: in figuring out his future plan for you or for me,
Speaker 2: but getting clear on what's good, acceptable, and perfect. It's
Speaker 2: about really getting God's mind for the proper evaluation of
Speaker 2: yourself and your ways. Now there are new opportunities to
Speaker 2: learn this at every phase of endpoint in life. I've noticed,
Speaker 2: just have to look around for just a moment, always
Speaker 2: fresh ways I find I must get personally sorted out
Speaker 2: and further transformed in my thinking. There's the whole middle
Speaker 2: aged thing that I'll have you consider with me again.
Speaker 2: I mean as simple as how should I even think
Speaker 2: about things like this body of mine, this physique? How
Speaker 2: am I supposed to think about this as a forty
Speaker 2: six year old man? You know, I've got to consider
Speaker 2: this because well, we were might have been even watching
Speaker 2: the Spurs game. I'm sorry to bring that up right now.
Speaker 2: I know, I know, I know, I know, but my
Speaker 2: family was laughing I think during that time at a
Speaker 2: commercial that we saw. I think it was like for
Speaker 2: testosterone supplements or something of the like. It features this guy,
Speaker 2: perhaps you know, my age, a little bit older, and
Speaker 2: you see him doing sleeveless pushups, and you see his
Speaker 2: slow mow run through the neighborhood, you know, getting the
Speaker 2: attention of the ladies, maybe the forty six year old
Speaker 2: ladies that are out there in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1: It's chuckle worthy.
Speaker 2: But but there's part of me that kind of wants
Speaker 2: to buy into that idea of holding on to youth,
Speaker 2: to vitality, to attractiveness, to sex appeal. There's an appeal
Speaker 2: to that. Or what about the car adds? So many
Speaker 2: car ads demonstrating vehicles that oh, they're just the perfect
Speaker 2: combination of sporty, roomy, classy, luxurious.
Speaker 1: Right. You've seen some of those so slick, Right.
Speaker 2: They feature a lot of people my age too, communicating
Speaker 2: that this stage of life means this level of financial
Speaker 2: success demonstrated through.
Speaker 1: These kinds of wheels.
Speaker 2: Right, I'm being invited to think and step with their
Speaker 2: value system and then do whatever I must to get
Speaker 2: their sacrificing what or who that might require, instead of
Speaker 2: giving myself to God as a living sacrifice.
Speaker 1: It's the truth is behind the flashy ads. Right.
Speaker 2: Of course, longing for nice bodies or fancy rides may
Speaker 2: not be everyone's worldly mind trap here this morning, But
Speaker 2: you've got your own phase of life and groups of
Speaker 2: peers and targeted ads all aimed at molding you into
Speaker 2: something contrary to the way of a living sacrifice, holy
Speaker 2: and acceptable to God, where you build values and make
Speaker 2: choices that line.
Speaker 1: Up with His kingdom.
Speaker 2: You know what helped me sort out a little bit,
Speaker 2: sort out my own mind and renew my thoughts this
Speaker 2: last week and add nothing to do with my own
Speaker 2: age or life situation. I'll get off of the whole
Speaker 2: middle life thing. It was read everything leading up to
Speaker 2: Romans twelve simple as that, and then to the end
Speaker 2: of the letter a little bit more after that, I
Speaker 2: got to think God's thoughts through that exercise in a
Speaker 2: way that so helped me to press out other empty longings,
Speaker 2: replacing them with glorious truths of things good, acceptable, and perfect.
Speaker 2: That was just so richly reorienting for me. But can
Speaker 2: I level with you here this morning, I don't want
Speaker 2: you to hear me say that if you read Romans
Speaker 2: this week, everything is going to be great.
Speaker 1: And you'll be in.
Speaker 2: The perfect headspace for the summer. It'd be so awesome.
Speaker 2: I think it was maybe Monday when I read through it,
Speaker 2: And then part of my birthday celebration on Tuesday included
Speaker 2: us sitting as a family and scrolling through our Google
Speaker 2: photos on our TV from the last year, and then
Speaker 2: Jen and I giving thanks for God's blessings right before
Speaker 2: going to sleep, and then and then me waking up
Speaker 2: the next morning in such in irritable funk, Oh my goodness,
Speaker 2: such a funk. The next morning, weary in body and soul.
Speaker 2: Where did that come from? But in that state where
Speaker 2: I didn't want to serve nothing and nobody but myself.
Speaker 2: With my next bits of Bible to read for that morning.
Speaker 2: As I stumbled into it with a heavy and distracted mind.
Speaker 2: I read the account in John thirteen of Jesus washing
Speaker 2: his disciple bull's feet as an example for them of
Speaker 2: the humble service they also were to walk in. And
Speaker 2: then you know what I did. I read it a
Speaker 2: second time. You know why, because I didn't remember a
Speaker 2: lick of what my eyes had just passed over.
Speaker 1: I don't even know if I could have told you
Speaker 1: what account it was.
Speaker 2: I had to read it a second time, and then,
Speaker 2: through that battle of gaining something here, grabbed a few
Speaker 2: verses of instruction from it, confessed my cold heart in
Speaker 2: regard to things like serving all of you through preparing
Speaker 2: this sermon.
Speaker 1: Prayed for His help, and I was.
Speaker 2: Gradually slowly yet yet steadily well revived to fight forward
Speaker 2: in faithfulness. Guys, that's an that's a normal Tuesday or
Speaker 2: Wednesday or Thursday for this guy. I share that with
Speaker 2: you because it's important for you to understand something of
Speaker 2: my basic weakness as I also try to live life
Speaker 2: on the altar as a living sacrifice before God as
Speaker 2: He sorts me out in this daily battle for Christian
Speaker 2: renewal and hope in the Lord, and push against desires
Speaker 2: for selfish ease and escape.
Speaker 1: And simply my own way.
Speaker 2: So that's something of a picture of how life on
Speaker 2: the Altar starts as each of us we each learn
Speaker 2: to be living sacrifices surrendered to God by getting sorted
Speaker 2: out in our minds and our thinking. But life on
Speaker 2: the altar doesn't end there. It also requires, as we
Speaker 2: saw in this chapter, it requires we get moving it
Speaker 2: we get moving, and that's our next point of focus
Speaker 2: as we drive further into this chapter. Looking specifically at
Speaker 2: Versus three through thirteen, which might be slightly different than
Speaker 2: the non inspired but often helpful headings that you have
Speaker 2: in your bibles in front of you. Look specifically here
Speaker 2: now at Versus three through thirteen. In this section, these
Speaker 2: next two paragraphs, we see how our right thinking needs
Speaker 2: to move us into right actions, specifically when it comes
Speaker 2: to our serving one another. Only even as we step
Speaker 2: into this where this call is for us to get moving,
Speaker 2: it's as if Paul tells us, hold on, hold on,
Speaker 2: wait a minute, I still need you to engage your
Speaker 2: brains here with some right thinking, specifically when it comes
Speaker 2: to this serving, and that will be best done with
Speaker 2: a mirror in your hand, where you'll do some honest
Speaker 2: self assessment and evaluation.
Speaker 1: Did you hear that? Look again at.
Speaker 2: Verse three, he says, for by the grace given to me,
Speaker 2: I say to everyone among you not to think of
Speaker 2: himself more highly than he ought to think, but to
Speaker 2: think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of
Speaker 2: faith that God has assigned. So, in other words, think
Speaker 2: soberly about yourself as you take a look at yourself
Speaker 2: before using the gifts you've been given to serve one another.
Speaker 1: Make sure you understand.
Speaker 2: Your humble service is not about your prominence. It's not
Speaker 2: about your personal fulfillment, but something you're doing as an
Speaker 2: outworking of the faith that God has provided. Then, yes,
Speaker 2: then get to it. Use those gifts you see there
Speaker 2: in verse six, Let us use them.
Speaker 1: Let us use these gifts.
Speaker 2: Now, maybe yours is listed here in Romans twelve, but
Speaker 2: maybe it's not. But covering every possible gift isn't the
Speaker 2: point here in this list or in other lists in
Speaker 2: the scriptures. Stepping into opportunities sometimes to even discover what
Speaker 2: God has equipped you with according to your faith in
Speaker 2: Him and strengths he's providing.
Speaker 1: Is all we may have to go on at first.
Speaker 2: So let's try to flesh this out a little bit
Speaker 2: as we think about it here together, because there are
Speaker 2: a few things I think are helpful to address as
Speaker 2: we talk about using our gifts to benefit the body.
Speaker 1: The first one is simply this, be patient. Be patient.
Speaker 2: I don't mean to the extent that you fail to
Speaker 2: seize upon opportunities there in front of you. I just
Speaker 2: mean that most often good things we learn how to
Speaker 2: do well are built over time and in sequence with
Speaker 2: other things going on in the body. It's just the
Speaker 2: way it tends to work according to God's design. For instance,
Speaker 2: you see there in verse seven the gift of teaching
Speaker 2: is mentioned.
Speaker 1: But but for.
Speaker 2: Various reasons, you know, you plug into the church here
Speaker 2: and you end up serving somewhere more in the mix
Speaker 2: of Sunday morning hospitality. That could have been because of
Speaker 2: the needs of the church at that moment when you
Speaker 2: were plugging in, or because you were at that time
Speaker 2: not thinking much about the possibility of teaching within the body.
Speaker 1: But then there comes up.
Speaker 2: An opportunity later to teach in we'll say children's ministry,
Speaker 2: and you step into that opportunity. Ruthanna our children's ministry
Speaker 2: director was just sharing recently about such a situation, and
Speaker 2: now she says she cannot get enough of that person
Speaker 2: teaching because of the amazing capabilities that she observes there.
Speaker 2: So that's the first encouragement. Trust in God's timetable here
Speaker 2: for things right. Be patient, Be patient. But the second
Speaker 2: one is this, The second encouragement I'd give for you
Speaker 2: is this, don't flatten the command. Don't flatten the command
Speaker 2: to use your gifts. So what I mean by that is,
Speaker 2: don't see established church ministry teams or even small groups
Speaker 2: as your only opportunity to serve others with the gifts
Speaker 2: and the strengths that go Odd has given you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, be faithful. Be faithful in.
Speaker 2: Those official areas of teams and groups as they are
Speaker 2: serving unique purposes to ensure that church functions like this
Speaker 2: are able to happen well, and more importantly, that people
Speaker 2: don't fall through the cracks. You're a part of people
Speaker 2: not falling through the cracks by being an active part
Speaker 2: of your small group. Be steady, be reliable in those areas.
Speaker 2: But you need to know that the leadership of this
Speaker 2: church loves when organic, healthy things grow here as people are.
Speaker 1: Caring for one another. We love that. We love that.
Speaker 2: A lady with some gifts of administration, probably among other
Speaker 2: gifts too, a few years ago saw an opportunity to
Speaker 2: help the women of the church stick to a plan
Speaker 2: of read their Bibles over the summer. And there's an
Speaker 2: active chat thread now for it that's ramped up once
Speaker 2: again for this summer. So I see my wife engaging
Speaker 2: with that, even while she's not neglecting our small group ladies.
Speaker 2: She's participating even in a summer book study with them.
Speaker 2: And I can say, I can look at all of
Speaker 2: these things and say, praise God. Praise God for using
Speaker 2: his people to grow healthy ministry in all kinds of
Speaker 2: corners that benefit the body.
Speaker 1: Praise the Lord. We love that. Or maybe men, you
Speaker 1: see written that the one who has a gift to
Speaker 1: lead should do so with zeal.
Speaker 2: There in verse eight, you caught that nobody has perhaps
Speaker 2: invited you into a formal leadership role in the church
Speaker 2: up to this point.
Speaker 1: But you could start.
Speaker 2: You could start with calling a couple guys in your
Speaker 2: small group to summer of accountability of some sort.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't have to be with reading.
Speaker 2: Your bibles necessarily but maybe you've seen this theme among
Speaker 2: the other guys of anger or relational coldness. You've seen
Speaker 2: that come up as you guys have talked and prayed
Speaker 2: together at the end of your meetings confessing these things.
Speaker 2: They very well might need your leadership in establishing some
Speaker 2: basic weekly check ins over the next six weeks to
Speaker 2: see how you can spur one another on and faithfulness
Speaker 2: in this.
Speaker 1: Leadership.
Speaker 2: Opportunities abound, So don't flatten the command viewing it in
Speaker 2: some very narrow.
Speaker 1: Sort of way.
Speaker 2: Look up, bend around a bit, and take initiative where
Speaker 2: you can. But here's one more also, a third help
Speaker 2: in this, and using our gifts serve the body. Be
Speaker 2: graciously persistent. Be graciously persistent. If the members of the
Speaker 2: body don't respond the way you would want them to
Speaker 2: the first time you try to use your gifts to
Speaker 2: serve them, don't give up. Take another swing later, or
Speaker 2: try a different avenue or angle. It's a little bit
Speaker 2: like putting up window flower boxes.
Speaker 1: Right, just me, just me, okay, Well, here's the thing.
Speaker 2: Jenn had mentioned some time ago that she liked the
Speaker 2: look of window flower boxes on other houses that she
Speaker 2: had seen, and so I kind of filed that away
Speaker 2: over the last couple of years, and I needed a
Speaker 2: plan for Mother's Day last month, and so here we go.
Speaker 2: We've got the plan. So I worked together with the
Speaker 2: the kids on getting that as a gift for her.
Speaker 2: I ordered a set of two of these flower boxes
Speaker 2: and worked with the kids to go out and get
Speaker 2: a few little potted flowers, which they did just a
Speaker 2: bang up job on and I picked up some soil,
Speaker 2: and then the night before Mother's Day had them helped
Speaker 2: me get one of these situated right outside our bedroom
Speaker 2: window where Jen sits in the mornings with her Bible
Speaker 2: and her coffee for that initial start to the day.
Speaker 2: So got all that set up and she got to
Speaker 2: see it the next morning, and she liked it.
Speaker 1: It was a good gift, she said.
Speaker 2: But here's the here's the deal. There's a major issue
Speaker 2: with my plan and all of this. The soil that
Speaker 2: I got was of the sort that drained too quickly
Speaker 2: for the type of box or basket material that surrounded
Speaker 2: the flowers. We left for vacation, we came back to dirt.
Speaker 1: Isn't that fun.
Speaker 2: It's a good idea that needed some execution work right,
Speaker 2: and really truly frustrating because of time spent and even
Speaker 2: the fact that my kid's investment took a hit. I mean,
Speaker 2: brought my kids into this and it becomes their failure
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: But guess what.
Speaker 2: I learned something from that got the better soil and
Speaker 2: a few more flowers, and then installed both the boxes,
Speaker 2: which are looking pretty good last time I checked. I
Speaker 2: needed a little more persistent and some different methodology to
Speaker 2: best serve my wife through my still developing modest, modest,
Speaker 2: modest gift of gardening. Right, So, let's creative prayerfully persistent
Speaker 2: in serving one another, ensuring that brotherly affection for one
Speaker 2: another in service to the Lord is the manner.
Speaker 1: That we employ.
Speaker 2: It seems to be what the Holy Spirit through Paul
Speaker 2: would have for us here, especially in that final paragraph
Speaker 2: of this section in verses nine through thirteen. So look
Speaker 2: at it again, verses nine through thirteen, and note they're
Speaker 2: the focus on love and honor and fervency and resilience
Speaker 2: and welcoming, all ultimately in service to God. So we've
Speaker 2: seen how this living sacrifice Christianity includes being sorted out
Speaker 2: by God who calls us also to get moving in
Speaker 2: our service. But here's a final requirement of life on
Speaker 2: the altar, there's the uncomfortable call to thirdly, get meek,
Speaker 2: Get meek. This is the requirement of humility in our
Speaker 2: relationships that is spoken of throughout this chapter, but especially
Speaker 2: emphasized beginning in verse fourteen to the end. So let's
Speaker 2: read this section again together. Starting in verse fourteen, says,
Speaker 2: Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them.
Speaker 2: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Speaker 2: Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty,
Speaker 2: but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your
Speaker 2: own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give
Speaker 2: thought to do what is on in the sight of all,
Speaker 2: if possible, so far as it depends on you, live
Speaker 2: peaceably with all beloved. Never avenge yourselves, but leave it
Speaker 2: to the wrath of God. For it has written vengeance
Speaker 2: is mine. I will repay, says the Lord to the contrary.
Speaker 2: If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty,
Speaker 2: to give him something to drink, for by so doing
Speaker 2: you will heat burning coals on his head. Do not
Speaker 2: be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Well.
Speaker 1: This paragraph covers the territory.
Speaker 2: I believe of many types of relationships so that it
Speaker 2: can be applied in our wider communities, in the church,
Speaker 2: in our homes. But what's especially clear is that Paul
Speaker 2: has in mind, through many of these words, the hard relationships,
Speaker 2: the hard relationships, or at least those that are in
Speaker 2: a season of extra challenge. He speaks of matters like
Speaker 2: blessing persecutors, slowing down enough to meet and mirror people
Speaker 2: in the moment, giving ourselves to associate with stations that
Speaker 2: might feel below us, only acting in ways that would
Speaker 2: look honorable to others and would make for peace, taking
Speaker 2: the loss instead of taking vengeance, satisfying the needs of
Speaker 2: an enemy, and as a kind of summary, wielding only
Speaker 2: the weapon of goodness in our relationships to gain victory
Speaker 2: over evil.
Speaker 1: Do you get discouraged by.
Speaker 2: Or even bristle a bit against any of these directives
Speaker 2: if you've been stung by someone, especially if it's happened repeatedly,
Speaker 2: And these instructions can seem quite unreasonable. And I tell
Speaker 2: you I have grieved with many of you over some
Speaker 2: of those hurts that you've endured at the hands of employers,
Speaker 2: of friends, of parents, of children, of siblings.
Speaker 1: And of spouses.
Speaker 2: And isn't it true that some of the last and
Speaker 2: relationally closest ones that I just mentioned in that list
Speaker 2: or the contexts for some of the deepest pains that
Speaker 2: you've endured, And I certainly don't have any words that
Speaker 2: can magically make those wounds disappear.
Speaker 1: Doesn't work that way.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, I believe this paragraph throbs
Speaker 2: with some of the richest gospel application that we have
Speaker 2: in all of Scripture. What portion of these words do
Speaker 2: we not see exemplified through the life and cross of
Speaker 2: Christ too, in his final breaths received the greatest evil,
Speaker 2: and overcame it with the profound good of giving his
Speaker 2: life for us, a sacrifice unto death, that we might
Speaker 2: now walk as these living sacrifices, having received His mercy
Speaker 2: and grace that we now get to extend to others,
Speaker 2: mercy and grace we've received, that we get to extend
Speaker 2: to others. Who comes to mind for you? When I
Speaker 2: speak of offering horizontally the mercy and grace you've received.
Speaker 1: From God, who comes to mind this morning, I'm.
Speaker 2: Not speaking here, and neither is Paul of quietly submitting
Speaker 2: yourself to domestic abuse or endangering your family through giving
Speaker 2: criminals or their equivalent unrestrained presence in your life. In
Speaker 2: the very next chapter of this letter, Paul even speaks
Speaker 2: of the good gift of governing authorities who are God's
Speaker 2: servants for punishing wickedness and restraining evil. There are those
Speaker 2: of you who have needed to, or may need even now,
Speaker 2: to call upon such authorities without hesitation. It's a clarifier
Speaker 2: you need to receive this morning. But here's the common
Speaker 2: It's an ordinary challenge that many of us are facing
Speaker 2: on the day alien some of our closest relationships. We
Speaker 2: want the win. We want the win, but don't cherish
Speaker 2: Christian victory.
Speaker 1: We want the win, but we don't.
Speaker 2: Cherish Christian victory. Here's what I mean, markedly. Christian victory
Speaker 2: looks like verse nineteen, which ends with the quotation from
Speaker 2: Deuteronomy thirty two. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says
Speaker 2: the Lord. So Christian victory looks like trusting that God's
Speaker 2: vengeance is the only appropriate vengeance. And this is in
Speaker 2: fact very good news, because He's far better at it
Speaker 2: than we could ever be, and is not corrupted by
Speaker 2: executing it. Some thing that we can't claim for ourselves.
Speaker 2: When the temptation arises to get back at someone, we're
Speaker 2: faced with the opportunity to choose the posture of I
Speaker 2: can trust God with this and with this person. It's
Speaker 2: not mine to try to score retribution points here. I
Speaker 2: can trust God. But markedly Christian victory also looks like
Speaker 2: Versus twenty and twenty one before us this morning, which
Speaker 2: also isn't, by the way, only a New Testament call,
Speaker 2: but a partial quotation from Proverbs twenty five.
Speaker 1: It's showing a.
Speaker 2: Kindness to the one who has made your life uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: It's about that really irritating, potty mouthed co worker who
Speaker 2: leaves his dirty dishes in the breakroom, but.
Speaker 1: Has a birthday.
Speaker 2: Coming up, and you scour the depths of your brain
Speaker 2: to write in a card a sentence of kind encouragement.
Speaker 2: And it doesn't count if it's something like, I'm truly
Speaker 2: trusting God can help you be less of an idiot
Speaker 2: over the course of the next year, happiest of birthdays,
Speaker 2: your Christian enemy doing you good, Brad.
Speaker 1: Doesn't work?
Speaker 2: We laugh, and well we should, But isn't it our
Speaker 2: tendency Sometimes in our more subtle ways to try and
Speaker 2: still squeeze out fleshly wins in our interactions with difficult people,
Speaker 2: even at home, even with our spouses who can sometimes
Speaker 2: feel like enemies. Let me speak for a moment to
Speaker 2: us married people in the room, although the application can
Speaker 2: stretch farther than that for all of us. So for
Speaker 2: the marrieds, how meek, how meek, how humble are you
Speaker 2: willing to get with one another? Are you doing everything
Speaker 2: you can everything you can to live peaceably with your spouse?
Speaker 2: Are you seeking to do your husband your wife so
Speaker 2: much good that even if they've been acting a little
Speaker 2: bit more like an enemy lately, they won't know what
Speaker 2: to do with the surprising good that is essentially like
Speaker 2: a handful of burning coals on their head that they
Speaker 2: can't help but have their attention awakened. That's the picture
Speaker 2: here of the recipient of the good coming to the
Speaker 2: place of conviction, needing to assume God's hand at work
Speaker 2: through you, or at least to inquire of it, saying why.
Speaker 1: Are you being so good to me? Now? I know
Speaker 1: that sounds overly simplified.
Speaker 2: Don't hear me downplaying the depths of trouble you might
Speaker 2: be in over years of her in your marriage. Now
Speaker 2: there are speedy breakthrough moments that come sometimes, but new
Speaker 2: efforts for good. You know, often it looks more like
Speaker 2: little leaguers trying to figure out which direction to run
Speaker 2: around the bases. So let me give you two things
Speaker 2: that might help as you seek to grow in meekness
Speaker 2: in your marriage over the seasons. So first thing that
Speaker 2: I hope is helpful, stop trying to work in a
Speaker 2: fleshly win during your verbal and nonverbal exchanges. It's like
Speaker 2: the subtler form of the backhanded birthday card I mentioned earlier. Right,
Speaker 2: it's the I'm sorry I snapped, but you dot dot dot.
Speaker 1: It's the thought pattern.
Speaker 2: If I'm the one who makes the kind approach in
Speaker 2: this chilly air moment, she'll think I'm weak, So I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna None of those are the way of our master.
Speaker 2: Can you imagine him going to the cross with that
Speaker 2: ungodly attitude as he's being taken to death, even though
Speaker 2: we didn't deserve any better than and some of these
Speaker 2: kind of backhanded actions. If he had had that attitude,
Speaker 2: he would not have been the spotless lamb.
Speaker 1: We'd still be trapped in our sins.
Speaker 2: Unimaginable, right, and what do our little perceived wins achieve anyway,
Speaker 2: our imaginary top spot on our imaginary podium in our
Speaker 2: imaginary contest. Oh wow, what a great thing to have achieved.
Speaker 2: And it's silly, and we just stopped to think about
Speaker 2: it a little bit. I get the temptation, though, I've
Speaker 2: taken the bait, but it's a ridiculous fools errand to
Speaker 2: try and work out our fleshly wins in our marriages. Remember,
Speaker 2: fellow marriage struggler, and all of you, remember Ephesians six
Speaker 2: that we do not ultimately wrestle against flesh and blood,
Speaker 2: but against the devil and his forces who work to
Speaker 2: see our marriages fail.
Speaker 1: Let's not cooperate. Let's not cooperate with him. Stop trying
Speaker 1: to work for the fleshly win. That's one.
Speaker 2: But secondly, let me say, notice the efforts and tame
Speaker 2: your suspicion. Notice the efforts and tame your suspicion. Wife,
Speaker 2: If things haven't been going the best at home, and
Speaker 2: your husband says this week, with this passage in mind,
Speaker 2: I like the way you.
Speaker 1: Did your hair today.
Speaker 2: Don't roll your eyes and assume that the only thing
Speaker 2: he's trying to do is make up for something dumb
Speaker 2: he did before that, or that he simply got his
Speaker 2: eye on something else at bedtime.
Speaker 1: You don't know, You don't know.
Speaker 2: And and what if you are right to some extent
Speaker 2: if he is selfishly looking for his own fleshly gain
Speaker 2: in a kind of comment like that, trust the Lord
Speaker 2: with him, Trust the Lord with him. You do what's
Speaker 2: right in that moment, and say thank you. That's sweet
Speaker 2: of you to notice. And for either of us husbands
Speaker 2: or wives, as we see any opportunities to build up
Speaker 2: with our actions or words.
Speaker 1: Let's take that initiative.
Speaker 2: Don't sinfully withhold the good you can provide. You know
Speaker 2: if you're in bad patterns in your home, craftily looking
Speaker 2: for them win in ways like this, walking with suspicion,
Speaker 2: withholding good, you'll need practice out of it. Ask for
Speaker 2: help from the Lord in this very thing today and
Speaker 2: every day. Seek out married people who are more practiced
Speaker 2: at it than you are and are seeing some level
Speaker 2: of success. Set up a meeting with your spouse to
Speaker 2: pray together about it, asking forgiveness from one another, and
Speaker 2: humbly receive any loving, gentle constructive criticism that the other
Speaker 2: might offer, hear him out, hear her out with your
Speaker 2: mouth closed. And again, if you can't make progress, ask
Speaker 2: for help, starting with people preferably who already know you
Speaker 2: reasonably well. I know, I know the situations in marriage
Speaker 2: and in relationships in general. They are manifold and messy,
Speaker 2: aren't they. But before we try to explain the way
Speaker 2: in which we're the exception.
Speaker 1: And kind of do what we want.
Speaker 2: Before we start doing that, we've got to do the
Speaker 2: hard work of holding our own hearts up against this
Speaker 2: high call in Romans twelve to present our bodies as
Speaker 2: living sacrifices.
Speaker 1: One moment at a time.
Speaker 2: That's all we're given from the Lord right, one moment
Speaker 2: at a time, Our God of mercies is our help
Speaker 2: as we seek to practice this life on the altar,
Speaker 2: you stand and pray together with me. So, Lord, that's
Speaker 2: our great need. Our great need is for you to
Speaker 2: do your mighty work on us.
Speaker 1: Lord. We need to be sorted out. We need to
Speaker 1: think rightly. Father. We desperately need to get moving some
Speaker 1: of us and doing good to others. Lord.
Speaker 2: And oh you know our temptations toward pride. Lord, we
Speaker 2: need hearts of humility. Lord, make us meek, Lord God,
Speaker 2: we trust you with these things and pray for your
Speaker 2: help even in this coming week, as we try to
Speaker 2: try to take steps into faithfulness.
Speaker 1: We love you, Lord in Jesus name. Amen,