Community of love (Romans 12:9-13)

Community of love

[Romans 12:9-13]

What do you think of when you think of a community called church? When I think of “community,” I think of the early church community in the Book of Acts. And I think of the community of the Early Church as a community of love. At the same time, I often ask myself, 'How can our church be established as a community of love like the Early Church?' In doing so, I can't forget the 5 steps I get through studying the Book of Acts on how the Lord establishes the church, which is the body of the Lord: (1) About 120 people also gathered together and prayed holding onto the word of promise (Acts 1:14), (2) When they prayed in unison, they received the fullness of the Holy Spirit (Ch. 2), (3) When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they boldly proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ (4:31), (4) The Lord added people who are being saved daily to the church, which is the body of the Lord (2:47), (5) The Lord established the Early Church as a community of love (2:42-47; 4:32). So, when I think of our church now, one of the most important things is the first step, “prayer.” Of course, there are individual prayers, but the prayer I value here is corporate prayer. The whole church works hard to gather together, and cry out to God together by holding onto the word of promise given by the Lord to our church, “… I will build my church ...” (Mt. 16:18). Of course, I want to pray together during the Friday-Saturday 2-day prayer meeting on the first week of every month. I also want to pray together during the intercessory prayer time every week and also during the Wednesday prayer meeting. Especially at the early morning prayer meeting, I want to continue praying together for the church as the Lord sends 5 faithful men and women of prayers. Then, I believe that we will all receive the filling of the Holy Spirit and boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will also love each other with the love of God, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and be established as a community of love that is beautiful in the eyes of the Lord.

We have already meditated on Romans 12:3-8 in two ways under the heading ‘According to the grace given us’: (1) We learned that the community of the church is one body of Christ (the unity of the church), and that there are many members (the diversity of the church) in one body, but they do not all have the same function. (2) What we have learned is that in serving the community of the church, we must humbly and gratefully use the different gifts that the Lord has given us by grace, and join together in the work of the Lord who builds the church, the body of the Lord. So, we thought about the 7 gifts centered on Romans 12:6-8. As we pondered these seven different gifts, we asked ourselves this question: ‘What gift do you think you have received?’ We must use the gift that the Lord has given to each of us as a gift and dedicate ourselves to building a community of love for the church. Indeed, how should you and I be dedicated? How can we participate in the work of the Lord who builds a community of love? I hope and pray that we receive lessons from today's text about how to devote ourselves to building the church the Lord builds as a community of love, centered on the words of Romans 12:9-13, and put them into practice.

In order for us to participate in the work of the Lord who builds the church community, which is the body of the Lord, we must pursue sincere love.

Look at Romans 12:9 – “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” The sincere love that Paul is talking about here is, in one word, love without hypocrisy. What is hypocritical love? Saying ‘I love you’ with our lips, but hating with our heart, isn’t this hypocritical love? This was the case with the Israelites who turned to God. They said that they honored the Lord with their lips, but in their hearts they left the Lord and repeatedly committed the sin of idolatry. This is hypocritical love. At the morning prayer meeting last week, after proclaiming the word of God, centering on Leviticus 5:1, I meditated on the word again under the title, “I want to be truthful, sincerely.” I tried to write it down. While meditating on the word that as witnesses, not to state what we have seen and heard, and that our sins and faults will return to us, I ended my meditation on the word with the words, “Beware of lies and hypocrisy in the heart”. The reason for so little is that I don't want the lies and hypocrisy of my heart to come in. It is because I do not want to love God and love my neighbor with lies and hypocrisy rather than the truth without even knowing it. Also, I do not want to hurt and beautify all the hearts around me by living a life of inconsistent words and actions with lies and hypocrisy infiltrating my heart. Rather, it is because I want to show them the true life of Christ by living a life of consistency of speech and action. How can we truly love sincerely and without hypocrisy? It is to hate evil and cling to what is good. In other words, Christians who love God and love their neighbors with sincere love hate evil and pursue good. Christians who love each other with sincere love strive to do good without compromising with sin.

In order for us to participate in the Lord's work of building the church community, which is His body, we must love our brothers and sisters with sincere love (v. 10). Indeed, how are we to love our brothers and sisters in the church with God's love?

We must devote ourselves to one another (v. 10).

This word means that we, like a family, should be attracted to each other by a spiritual bond and love each other with a longing heart (Park). To do so, we must first keep in mind that the community we belong to is our spiritual family. When we know that we are spiritually one family and love each other with the Lord's love, our church will be established as a community of love more worthy of God's sight.

We must honor one another above ourselves (v. 10).

In 1 Timothy 5:17, Paul exhorts us: “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” From the point of view of the members, it is beautiful in God's eyes to honor and respect the pastors and elders of the church. And it is also beautiful in God's eyes to see our pastors and elders honoring and respecting the saints first. When we put our energy into honoring and respecting each other first, the church, which is the body of the Lord, can be established as a community of love. Rather than trying to get honor and respect first, we must be those who give honor and respect first.

We must serve the Lord with zeal and spiritual fervor.

Look at Romans 12:11 – “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” The community of love we dream of in the Lord is not a community just for each other, but in the end it is a community for the Lord we love. And the community of love for the Lord is expressed by serving people toward the Lord. All members of the church must serve the Lord with a humble and grateful heart, using the gifts bestowed upon them by grace. And while serving, we must serve the Lord with zeal and spiritual fervor (v. 11).

Even in tribulation, we must be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Look at Romans 12:12 – “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Even if there are tribulations that our community will have to go through in the future, we must persevere and move forward together while crying out together, looking at Jesus, our hope, with faith. Rather, the difficulties that come from the church level will be an opportunity for all church members to gather together and pray in unison. And when we pray and move forward together with one heart and one mind, the Lord of hope will not only make us persevere, but we will be able to rejoice in hope even in difficulties and adversity. I dream of such a community of love.

We must practice hospitality.

Look at Romans 12:13 – “Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Here, the word to ‘share’ what the saints need is the word to ‘lend and share in remain on good terms with one’s neighbor’ (Park). In other words, since the church is one body of Christ and we are members of each other, we should strive to live a shared community life. Those who strive to live a sharing life like this also strive to practice hospitality. This does not mean that we should strive to practice hospitality only because we have the gift of service. Whether or not there is a gift of service, this is the principle of life in the church community, and we must strive to keep it.

The community the Lord establishes is a community in which brothers and sisters love each other and love the Lord, who is the head of the church, with sincere love. I hope and pray that the Lord will establish us as a community that believes in being one spiritual family in the Lord, loves each other, and strives to honor and respect each other first. Also, I hope and pray that the Lord will build a community that prays together, endures, and rejoices together while looking to the Lord who is hoped for in the midst of tribulation with faith. I hope and pray that the Lord will establish our church as a community of love that strives to provide hospitality while putting into practice the life of sharing and supplying each other. And above all, I earnestly pray that the Lord will establish a community of love in which all church members serving the Lord together with zeal and spiritual fervor.