The Message, August 30, 2026: "How to 'Christian,'" Romans 12:9-21
Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
September 01, 2026
“How To ‘Christian’”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Romans 12:9-21
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.
Bless
those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice
with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
Live
in harmony with one another; do not be arrogant, but associate with the lowly;
do
not claim to be wiser than you are.
Do
not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight
of all.
If
it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Beloved,
never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is
written, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
Instead,
“if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them
something to drink, for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their
heads.”
Do
not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Some editions and translations of
the Bible insert headings or titles for certain passages of scripture. One
translation of the Bible that I looked at this week refers to this passage as:
“Marks of the True Christian.”
So, gathering of good Christians,
how did you do? If this is Paul’s bullet point list of what makes for a “True”
Christian, how many checkmarks were you able to give yourself? Should I go
through the list a little slower this time so that you can check your score?
As we listen to that list, some of
you may have been able to say, “Great! I did great. A, plus, plus!” But my
guess is that many or us, or most of us, would be able to practice the virtue
that Jesus lifted up time and time again … humility. “I try, O God … I try …
but it can be so hard to be so good.” And the reality is that this list of
instructions that Paul included here is not even an exhaustive list.
Now, far be it from me to criticize
those who put together the readings for the lectionary, because that would be a
violation of Paul’s list. However, if they had asked me, I would have suggested
that they include the eight verses that open Chapter 12.
“I
appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is
your reasonable act of worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be
transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the
will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
“For
by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself
more highly than you ought to think but to think with sober judgment, each
according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one
body we have many members and not all the members have the same
function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we
are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the
grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in
ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the encourager, in encouragement;
the giver, in sincerity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in
cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:1-8)
In my mind … for what it is worth …
the inclusion of the opening verses helps us understand our passage for this
morning. We know that Paul was writing to the church in Rome and as we hear, he
is giving instructions for living within the Body of Christ, and also how the
Body of Christ can live within the community at large.
Now, let me provide just a little
context here. When Paul wrote this letter, the church in Rome had been in
existence for somewhere between ten and twenty years. (The exact date of its
founding is not known. It was somewhere in the 30s or 40s AD.) But we do know
that it existed in a somewhat hostile environment. That congregation also had
to deal with what is known as “The Roman Exile.” In the year 49 BCE, Emperor
Claudius ordered ALL Jews, including Jewish Christians, to leave the city of
Rome, presumably because of the issue of the messiahship of Jesus. That ban was
lifted in 54 BCE after Claudius died and the Jewish Christians were allowed to
return. So, one of the dynamics that was at play within that still very young
church was the reassimilation of the Jewish Christians when they returned.
While there was likely joy and
celebration at the return of their brothers and sisters in Christ, we can also imagine
that their return may have created some tension as well. It is clear that Paul
was very careful in this letter not to take sides. And while he did not address
any specific issues or problems in the letter, he did present some general
principles or paradigms for Christian life and behavior. He made it clear in
those opening verses. “We are one body, and this body is made up by many unique
and varied parts. Each of those parts possesses its own gifts and every one of
those gifts is important and useful. All of them contribute to the good of the
body.”
As we sit here this morning, as we
consider Paul’s bullet point list for living together as Christians and for
living in the world as Christians, we realize, as we often do, that this
instruction is just as relevant today as it was nearly two thousand years ago.
This planet is populated by human beings that really have not changed all that
much in twenty centuries. We still live in a hostile environment. We still
struggle with basic earthly passions, desires and appetites. We still live next
door to people with whom we vehemently disagree. We are still struggling to
build God’s beloved community and at times it feels as though we are not making
any progress at all.
We are faced with the reality that
the mission of the beloved community and the tasks of the church involve hard
work. We remember that Jesus told us up from that the way before us would not
be easy. In this letter to the church in Rome, Paul gives us some “roll up your
sleeves and get to work” instructions.
Have any of you ever worked on a
Habitat for Humanity house build? If you are not a skilled carpenter or
experienced house builder, you have to wait for the site supervisor to give you
your job assignment for the day. And even if you ARE an experienced carpenter
or builder, you still need to wait for instructions so that the efforts are all
coordinated and organized. Volunteers cannot just grab a hammer or a saw and
start wailing away wherever they feel like it.
Paul says, “Start here. Build and
strengthen your community. Recognize your shared relationship. You are all
gifted and all of your gifts are important. Now that we have that as our
foundation … love. We always start with love. We love in all that we do. And
not phony, or fake, or hypocritical love. Genuine, authentic love.”
[I will pause here for a moment and
assure you that I am not going to do a deep dive or explanation for all of
Paul’s bullet points. After all, he did not do that either.]
But I will begin with love, because
this can actually be a stumbling block for us. This whole “Love” thing can be
difficult. “If I do NOT like someone, how can I possibly LOVE them?” Or … “If I
ACT as if I love that certain someone, does that make me a hypocrite?”
According to Paul, “love” is more
about what someone DOES rather than about how someone FEELS. In the early
church, “loving” someone typically had more to do with helping someone in their
time of need, rather than possessing warm feelings for them. So, yes, as
Christians we can actually help someone in their time of need whether or not we
are particularly fond of them.
However, do not get too excited. Do
not breathe a sigh of relief. If we are to be what the heading of this passage
says … “TRUE” Christians … we cannot offer love, or an act of kindness in a
cold, or sarcastic, or patronizing way. We have to offer that love and kindness
in a genuine way. Because, when we do so, we open ourselves up to empathy. When
we practice love and kindness in that way we may find that we do in fact have
concern … or learn to have concern … for that other individual’s care and
well-being.
Everything that we do should be
concerned with building connections. We may not always succeed. We may not be
especially skilled at every one of those bullet points on Paul’s list, some of
them may require more effort or more practice, but we have to be willing to
make the effort.
The
emphasis of this final section of Paul’s letter is the saving power of grace.
Grace is not an invitation to an “anything goes” permissiveness. Rather, the
practice of grace does have a structure or a paradigm. The practice of grace
does give us the power to reshape or reframe our lives, and the ways that our
lives interact with other lives under and within the reign of God.
And
it is the practice of grace that is the basis for Paul’s instruction regarding
how members of God’s beloved community can interact with the wider community,
the community that can at times be extremely hostile. The goal is peace. Paul
offers us instruction that enables us to live and act in ways that conform to
the way of grace. However, as we heard in those opening verses, that peace is
not to be purchased at the price of conformity to “this world.” We do not “go
along in order to get along.” The Christian community is called to a new
reality that is often at odds with the world in which we live. And there will
be times when we must say, “No. Not that.”
Paul’s
intention is to help Christians differentiate between the powers of our
personal desires that will try to dictate how we think and act, from what grace
will ask of us. And Paul used the very juicy example of vengeance and revenge.
Vengeance and revenge are so human. They are such a base human desire. As you
well know, we humans are prone to identify those people who displease us as
God’s enemies as well. Our call, or our task as Christians is to embody God’s
grace when it comes to those that we identify as our “enemies.” That can be a
tall order. But it is through the offer and practice of grace that
reconciliation and peace might be achieved.
The
offer of peace to our “enemies,” the offer of peace to those who persecute us
is one way to bring about repentance. And when Paul speaks about caring for the
needs of our “enemies” as a way to “heap burning coals upon their heads,” he
was NOT referring to a better way to get revenge. He was actually citing
Proverbs 25:21-22.
“If
your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to
drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and
the Lord will reward you.”
He
is saying that offering care in response to persecution, caring for another’s
needs rather than our need for vengeance or a ‘pound of flesh,’ is a way that
might change enmity to friendship. He is saying that gracious deeds burn away
the hate within. Consider the Call of Isaiah (Isaiah 6) The burning coal that
was taken from the altar and applied to Isaiah’s lips was an act of
purification. “Your guilt is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.” Earlier in
this same letter, Paul implied that the image of burning coals was a way to
overcome evil.” (Romans 12:2)
Treating
those with whom we struggle, those who persecute us, with kindness changes the
dynamic of the relationship. An act of kindness in response to anger or hatred
may move the other to a place of kinship or perhaps even repentance. Responding
with kindness and care may cause them to stop and consider what they are doing
and why they are doing it. Refusing to pursue vengeance does not allow the evil
to win. Evil will never be conquered by evil. Darkness will never be broken by
more darkness. If hatred is met by hatred, all we have is more hatred.
The
goal is peace.
The
goal is harmony.
The
goal is deep and meaningful connections with one another.
The
goal is a community in which grace abounds.
It
begins with authentic love. It begins with genuinely caring for the other.
It
begins with us.
Amen.
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