Bible Text: Romans 12:14-21 | Pastor: Eric Danielson | Series: Romans 12-15 | God wants to use our lives to point people to Jesus and one of the ways he does that is by calling us to treat people in our community in a way that stands in contrast to normal human behavior. Is your life any different than the people around you?

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Shining in Your Community

Romans 12:14-21

As we’ve been going through this sermon series, Paul has been giving us guidance for how to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord so that we represent Jesus well to the people around us. God uses our lives to point people to Jesus so that they might turn to him in faith. And one of the ways we can be even more effective in this is by living in a way that is noticeably different than others around us. The world we live in is filled with sin and spiritual darkness and God wants our lives to be a contrast to that darkness so that we point people to him, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today.

Contrast is a very important aspect of art and artists use it to make their artwork more appealing or to draw attention to certain things. As I was thinking of an example of this a famous picture kept coming to mind – it’s a simple black and white picture as you can see here… (show picture) Do you recognize this picture?

Well an artist added some contrast to it to draw attention to one thing in particular… (show picture) Now do you recognize it? This is the picture used in all the advertising for the movie Schindler’s List. The movie is in black and white and one of the only colored objects is this red coat. Because of the contrast, it causes it to really stand out from everything else in this picture and in the movie.

We live in a world (you could say it’s a black and white world) where there’s a lot of darkness from sin. And the darkness often shows through in the ways that people act toward one another. Unfortunately, it is normal for people to be selfish and insensitive, and not care about anyone outside of their friends and family. It’s normal for people to be impatient and angry – I was looking for a place to turn around out in the country this week, so I was driving slow and then used my blinker kind of late and the person that was following me made sure to lay on their horn out of anger when they drove past. It’s normal for people to argue and yell and try to get their own way. Its normal to grumble and complain about this that and the other thing. This kind of behavior reflects the darkness and hopelessness that people have inside them and it permeates our society.

But this darkness provides us with a distinct opportunity to demonstrate the beauty of Jesus more clearly – oftentimes without even using words. Jesus leads us in living a way that will stand in stark contrast to the world around us – like a red coat against a black and white background. With him as our hope and life, we can be different. And in our passage for today, Paul teaches us how to live that out. It’s a way of life that you will see is very counter-cultural, and goes against our natural human impulses, but because of the contrast, it stands out and points people to Christ, which is exactly what God wants our lives to do.

So last week we looked at how to treat one another in the church family, this week we look at how to treat people in our community. We’re going to see all kinds of things in our passage that that have to do with how people treat one another. We will see the natural human responses, which are part of the darkness around us, and then there are the responses that Christ calls us to, which stand in contrast. Some of them sound so different that they might even seem a little crazy. But sometimes Christ calls us to do crazy things so that people will see the light. Right away Paul writes about something crazy…

Read Romans 12:14.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 

“Bless” means to speak well of and “persecute” is when someone intentionally tries to cause you harm. So when someone intentionally tries to cause you harm, you’re supposed to bless them. That’s crazy… When someone lies about you, slanders you, accuses you, yells at you, etc., you’re supposed to speak well of them in return!… I don’t know about you, but that’s the last thing I want to do. I don’t want to bless them; I want to curse them – I want to speak evil about them and condemn them for their behavior. But Paul says, “No. If you want to be like Jesus and show him to the world, you can’t be like everyone else. You have to be different. You have to bless those who persecute you.” God blesses us even though we persecuted and sinned against him, and he wants us to show others what he’s like by doing the same.

How have you been responding to that person at work or at school who’s been on your case? How have you been treating your neighbor that’s causing a stink? What are you doing about that client or customer that seems to have it out for you? “Bless those who persecute you; [speak well of them] and do not curse them.”

The next two verses are a little crazy as well. Normal human behavior is when you care only about yourself and close friends and family members. Other people in the community are on their own. But Paul points us in a different direction…

Read Romans 12:15-16.

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.”

I think we’re to understand these commands in the context of how we treat people in our community. The general theme is about being involved and showing empathy and kindness, especially when people are going through a tough time. Rather than ignoring people and letting them fend for themselves while you focus on your own life, you come alongside them in their struggles. We are to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” We are to be in harmony with the people around us, especially when they’re struggling. Paul says rather than ignoring or thinking you’re above them, you ought to associate with them.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan the first two people who came upon the suffering person on the road thought of themselves as above him and just walked by. But the Good Samaritan didn’t – he stopped. He associated with the lowly and cared for him. When people are struggling, God wants us to give them support and let them know we care because that’s the same thing God does with us.

God gave me a couple opportunities to do that recently. I came upon two different accidents the past two weeks. One involved a family of 5, with 3 small children – they had a high-speed collision and their vehicle landed upside down in the ditch. I came up to it right after it happened. I ran over and helped get a little girl out of her car seat and then just held her near the parents while they were taking care of the other two kids. I didn’t say much; I just stayed with them for about 20 minutes. I could have left after helping the little girl, but I felt compelled to stay and it meant a lot to them. They took notice. The dad kept telling me how much he appreciated me being there. I didn’t do anything extraordinary – I just stayed there with them, but by doing that they saw something different. They saw a small picture of what God is like.

The other accident involved an older man on a motorized scooter. He came around a corner, hit some loose gravel and went down hard. He didn’t have a helmet on, so he split the skin open on his head and got a concussion. His brother and another family member were following him on their own scooters and got there first, then Sophia and I drove up. They guy who crashed was laying on the ground, so I went over to him and just started praying. Then I stayed with him and reassured him that help was on the way. At one point, even though he was still confused, he said, “I can tell that you care.” When the EMT’s arrived I went over to his other two family members and noticed they were crying, so I just prayed for them and they too were very grateful. Again, I didn’t do anything extraordinary, but rather than just standing back and watching, I entered in and cared for them and it made a difference. It demonstrated what Jesus is like in a way that stood out to them.

When we’re kind and compassionate to people in need besides our close family and friends our life stands in contrast to the darkness around us and people notice. By God’s grace they will see beyond us to the God to cares deeply about them. Paul continues to call us to some crazy stuff in the next two verses…

Read Romans 12:17-18.

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

This ties back to the idea in verse 14 of how we are to respond to people when they mistreat us. When someone does something mean to you, don’t respond in the same way, as tempting as it is – don’t repay evil for evil. People are watching and we need to respond in a way that is honorable. It might mean simply walking away rather than fighting back. It might mean keeping your calm and being respectful. Or it might be showing kindness in return for evil. Jesus responded to his enemies in these ways and if we’re going to glorify him, we need to learn to do the same.

When we respond like that, we are doing our part to live peaceably like Paul writes in verse 18. We’re supposed to do whatever we can to live at peace with the people around us because when we do we glorify Jesus who is the great peacemaker. We shouldn’t be difficult to be around. We shouldn’t be troublemakers. When people think of us they should have the impression that we’re cooperative and helpful. If someone is upset, it should be because of their own attitude, not because we’ve been difficult. Now there are some situations where no matter what you do, you just can’t be at peace. That’s ok. You can’t control the other person, you can only do what God calls you to do and leave the rest up to him.

The last three verses go along the same lines…

Read Romans 12:19-21.

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

When someone does something wrong to you, your first instinct is probably to get even. But Paul says we should not react that way. We need to leave vengeance to God because only he can bring perfect justice. Instead, we are to show kindness to our enemies. God shows kindness to his enemies and wants us to do the same for the glory of Christ.

By doing so we will “heap burning coals on their heads.” This is a quote from Proverbs 25 and according to the Reformation Study Bible it means that by showing kindness in return for evil, you bring a burning sense of shame upon them that will hopefully lead them to repentance. So again, it’s about doing things very different than what people normally do so that people notice and are drawn to Christ.

To summarize, Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” So many people are overcome by evil, but we are to resist that temptation. We are to overcome evil with good. “Overcome” carries the idea of conquering something. So rather than allowing evil to conquer us, by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we are to conquer evil with good.

You can probably see that almost all of the instructions in this passage are for us to behave in ways that are so different than normal human behavior they seem crazy. That’s the point. God wants us to treat people in a way that stands in contrast to what’s normal. He wants our light to permeate the darkness so that people will get a taste of what Jesus is like and they will be drawn to him.

Maybe you’re in a situation right now where you know you need to move forward in one of these ways. That means it’s going to be difficult. But God has given you his Spirit inside you to empower you to love and good deeds. So while we sing and take Communion together, I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord for the power to do what he’s calling you to do. I also encourage you to ask other people to hold you up in prayer as you step out in faith. God is faithful to equip us with everything we need to do what he’s called us to do. So you can trust that he will give you the strength you need for your situation.