Don't Be Owing Nothing to Nobody

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray preached from Romans 13:8-10, the next step in the congregation's ongoing study of Romans. The passage lands in the application section of the letter, and its center of gravity is a simple but demanding claim: love is the fulfillment of the law. He traced that claim through scripture, through story, and into the practical question of what it actually looks like to be a neighbor. The...

Read together

1. Psalm 105 opening call to worship, 'Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim his greatness'
2. Colossians 3:1-4 read before the offering, about being raised with Christ and setting hearts on things above
3. John 6:35 read before the offering, Jesus as the bread of life who satisfies hunger and thirst
4. Romans 12:1-2 presenting bodies as living sacrifices, described as the center of the bull's eye in the Romans application section
5. Romans 13:8-10 the primary sermon text, on owing nothing except love and love fulfilling the law
6. Matthew 5:42 cited to show lending and borrowing are not forbidden, Jesus instructs not to turn away one who wants to borrow
7. Psalm 37:21 cited to show the Bible expects obligations to be repaid; the wicked borrows and does not pay back
8. Matthew 19:16-22 a man asks Jesus what to do to obtain eternal life; Jesus lists commandments including loving neighbor as self; the man goes away grieving
9. Exodus 20 source of the commandments listed in Romans 13:9, you shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, covet
10. Deuteronomy second statement of the law repeating the same commandments: not murder, adultery, steal, covet
11. Leviticus source of 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself', also noting the eye for an eye passage in context
12. Luke 10:25-37 the Good Samaritan parable, prompted by 'love does no wrong to a neighbor' and the question of who is my neighbor
13. 1 Corinthians 13 read aloud as a description of what love is: patient, kind, not jealous, not arrogant, bears all things, never fails
14. Romans 12:9-12 love without hypocrisy described through a list of demonstrable loving actions
15. Romans 12:14 used as the benediction, be blessing even those who persecute, do not curse them

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray spent time in several different translations of Romans 13:8, from 'owe nothing to anyone' to his brother Toby's 'don't be owing nothing to nobody.' What did working through those different wordings open up for you about what Paul is actually saying?
2. Pastor Ray described love as a 'continuing debt' you can never fully pay off, contrasted with financial debt that you should be actively paying down. How does thinking of love as an ongoing obligation rather than a feeling change the way you approach people in your daily life?
3. The Good Samaritan story came up in connection with the question 'who is my neighbor?' Pastor Ray pointed out that the Samaritan not only helped on the road but stayed involved, paying the innkeeper and promising to return. Where in your own life is it easier to offer a one-time act of help than to stay committed to someone's ongoing need?
4. Pastor Ray read through the love described in 1 Corinthians 13 and then the list from Romans 12, and said he plans to start using Romans 12 in wedding ceremonies because it is just as clear a picture of love. Looking at that Romans 12 list, which item on it is hardest for you personally to live out, and why?
5. Pastor Ray quoted Martin Luther King's 1957 sermon 'Love Your Enemies' and summarized the alternative to love as 'evil one-upmanship,' just waiting for your chance to get someone back. Where do you see that cycle at work in your own relationships or in the broader culture, and what would it actually cost you to be the one who cuts the chain?