Devotional Messages

DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE

Romans 12:9-13 -  Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers. (NRSV)

I know Pastor Rebecca recently concluded the Roman Holiday sermon series - and I must confess, I have never seen the movie. I still don't know what it's about other than what was in the sermons. (I'm sure I will watch it one day!) However, I must make another confession: this is one of my favorite passages in the Christian scriptures. On the surface level, these verses seem easy to understand, but not so easy to put into practice. It also provides specifics within the realm of expansive possibilities.

We are asked to love without a hidden agenda, which is funny if we know humans. Honestly, though, we are asked to take seriously loving and caring for one another and for people we don't know. That word for pursue can be translated as "aggressively chase." Genuine love and outdoing one another in honor should lead us to use those skills and tools to provide hospitality to those we know as strangers. All the work we do in caring for another fuels the engine to go out into the world and do the same thing to people we don’t know - yet!

Take it seriously and be open to the Spirit's movement within our hearts to determine what genuine love and holding fast to good looks for one another in our context. It may look different within different seasons or times within our congregation; may our zeal, patience, and perseverance continue to contribute to the needs of one another and pursue hospitality to the stranger.