Scripture referenced 14 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Romans 12:1-2 described as the center of the bull's eye and start of the application section of Romans
1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
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Keep this verse
Romans 13:1
let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, used to show the scope extends to all people
1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.
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Romans 13:8
the main text for the sermon, owe nothing to anyone except to love one another
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
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Romans 13:9
lists commandments against adultery, murder, stealing, coveting, summed up in loving your neighbor as yourself
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
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Romans 13:10
love does no wrong to a neighbor, love is the fulfillment of the law
10 Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
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Matthew 5:42
Jesus says give to him who asks and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow
42 Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.
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Psalm 37:21
the wicked borrows and does not pay back but the righteous is gracious and gives
21 The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back, but the righteous give generously.
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Matthew 5:17
Jesus says he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them
17 “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill.
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Matthew 19:16-22
the rich young ruler asks what good thing he must do to obtain eternal life, Jesus cites the commandments
16 Behold, one came to him and said, “Good teacher, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”
17 He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 He said to him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not offer false testimony.’
19 ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
20 The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
22 But when the young man heard the saying, he went away sad, for he was one who had great possessions.
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Luke 10:25-37
an expert in the law asks what he must do to inherit eternal life, leading into the parable of the Good Samaritan
25 Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion,
34 came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’
36 Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”
37 He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
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Leviticus 19:18
you shall love your neighbor as yourself, cited as the Old Testament origin of the love command
18 “‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am Yahweh.
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1 Corinthians 13
the love chapter, read through to show that love fulfills the law
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;
6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
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Romans 12:9-21
the list describing love without hypocrisy, tied to what the Good Samaritan demonstrated
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.
10 In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another;
11 not lagging in diligence; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;
13 contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.
18 If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.
19 Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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Romans 12:14
used as the benediction, be blessing even those who are persecuting you and do not curse them
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray picked up Romans 13:8-10 and stayed on the ground he has been covering since chapter 12: what does it actually look like to present yourself as a living sacrifice? This week the answer was simple and demanding in equal measure. Love one another, and love does not stop there.
What was said
The verse opens with what sounds like financial advice: owe nothing to anyone. Pastor Ray worked through several translations to show that the point is not a prohibition on borrowing or lending. Jesus himself expected people to borrow and gave instructions about lending. The real emphasis is on the second half of the verse: the one debt you will never finish paying is the debt to love one another.
That phrase "one another" could sound like it only applies inside the church, but Paul had already said in chapter 13 that every soul is subject to the governing authorities, which makes clear the obligation extends outward. Loving the other, as the text literally puts it, has fulfilled the law. Not abolished it, fulfilled it, which is exactly what Jesus said he came to do.
To illustrate what that fulfillment looks like, Pastor Ray walked through the commandments Paul lists in verse 9. The six that govern how people treat each other are summed up in one line from Leviticus: love your neighbor as yourself. That is not a New Testament invention. Jesus picked it up from the Old Testament, and Paul picks it up from Jesus.
First Corinthians 13 then filled in the texture of what love actually requires moment to moment: patience, kindness, no record of wrongs kept, no rejoicing when someone else fails. Pastor Ray connected each quality back to the commandments, pointing out that if you are not being patient with someone you are not fulfilling the law, and that coveting shows up plainly as jealousy. He also read back through the list from Romans 12 and noted that the Good Samaritan had demonstrated nearly every item on it without being told to.
The parable itself got careful attention. Pastor Ray put the Jerusalem-to-Jericho road on the screen and compared its 3,000-foot descent over 23 miles to something the congregation knows: Teton Pass is roughly half that drop in half the distance. The road was genuinely dangerous, which explains why a traveler left beaten and naked on the side of it was in real trouble. The priest and the Levite, the religious insiders, walked past. The Samaritan, actively despised by the people Jesus was talking to, stopped, bandaged the man, paid for his care, and promised to cover anything further on his return.
The expert in the law who prompted the parable had asked "who is my neighbor?" as a way of finding the minimum requirement. Jesus answered by making the neighbor the one who showed mercy, regardless of background or obligation, and then said: go and do likewise. A neighbor is anyone you are in a position to be kind to.
Pastor Ray closed with a line he said had been rattling around in his head since high school: love your enemies, because everything else is just evil one-upmanship. He quoted a 1957 sermon in which Martin Luther King told a story about driving toward Chattanooga and his brother threatening to blind oncoming drivers who refused to dim their lights. The answer King gave his brother was the same answer the text gives: somebody somewhere has to have some sense, and the strong person is the one who can cut the chain rather than add another link to it.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Ray spent time with several different translations of 'owe nothing to anyone' and landed on the idea that the real point is not debt management but the second half of the verse, the continuing obligation to love others. What do you think it means that love is a debt you can never fully pay off?
- Pastor Ray walked through how Jesus expanded the definitions of the commandments, so that anger counts as murder and lust counts as adultery. How does that expansion change the way you read the commandments, and does it make the command to love feel harder or more freeing?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 9,215 words
0:00
Ready to sing? Sing them in. Sing them in. How about that? They're all out there still talking around, hanging around out in the vestibule.
0:07
Would you stand with me? And we'll sing out. In my heart, there rings a melody is hymn number 502. If you want to sing your part, if you want to sing the harmony to in my heart, there sings a rep melody. Look it up.
0:22
Five zero two.
0:24
I have a song that Jesus gave me it was sent from heaven in my heart there rings a melody there rings a melody with heaven's harmony in my heart there rings a melody there rings a melody of love I love the Christ who died on Calvary for he washed my sins away he put within my heart a melody and I know it's there to stay in my heart there rings a melody there rings a melody with heaven's harmony in my heart there rings a melody there rings a melody will be my endless theme and glory with the angels I will sing will be a song with glorious harmony when the courts of heaven in my heart there rings a melody there rings a a melody with heaven's harmony in my heart there rings a melody there rings a melody
2:06
Y'all sound like you mean it. That's good. Since Jesus came into my heart is right across the page, hymn number five zero three.
2:20
Wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart I have lied in my soul for which long I had sought since Jesus came into my heart since Jesus came in came into my heart since Jesus came into came into my heart floods of joy pour my soul like the sea billows since Jesus came into my heart I have seized from my wandering and going astray since Jesus came into my heart and my sins which were many are washed away since Jesus came into my heart since Jesus in came my heart floods of joy or my soul like the sea since Jesus came into my heart on the last verse I shall go there to dwell in that city I know since Jesus came into my heart and I'm happy so happy as onward I go since Jesus came into my heart since Jesus came in came into my heart since Jesus came in came into my heart floods of joy bore my soul like the sea since Jesus came into my heart
4:24
Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I've got a couple of actually, I've got a very quick set of announcements today. Brief announcements are this, welcome. Sometimes, I forget to say that.
4:36
Y'all are all welcome and it's shoulder season. So, most of us are home folks. If you look around, it looks like we're an undiluted bunch around town. You see everybody you know all over the place. Welcome.
4:47
I'm glad that you're here. All the weekly events that I know of are all happening at their normal times. Is there any ministry that I absolutely must announce right now? Grab a bulletin for all the other announcements. That's it.
5:03
Y'all can stand up and greet one another and we'll bring you back together with a peppy, peppy little song.
5:10
Have come into his house and gathered in his name to worship him we have come into his house and worship him we have come into his house and gathered in his name to worship Christ the Lord worship him let's forget about ourselves magnify his name and worship him let's forget about ourselves magnify his name and worship him let's forget about ourselves and magnify his name and worship Christ the Lord worship him Christ the Lord Amen.
6:25
And the next one is surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. Hymn number two nineteen, if you don't know
6:38
the presence of the Lord is in this place I can feel his mighty power and his grace I can hear the brush of angels wings I see glory on each face surely the presence of the Lord is in this place surely the presence of the Lord is in this place I can feel his mighty power and his grace I can hear the brush of angels wings I see myrrhea on each face surely the presence of the Lord is in this place
7:45
Amen. I'm going to invite the frontline team to come forward and the rest of y'all can have a seat. Would you pray with me? Lord, thank you for this beautiful, beautiful morning. For the home folks that are here in this valley, lord.
8:02
For those of us, we interact with them every single day. I just thank you for the for your presence. Surely, the presence of the Lord is in this valley. Lord, would you allow us to introduce people to you that don't know you? Would you show your glory on each face?
8:22
And that each family that's represented here this morning. God, as a an acknowledgement of all that you have given, every good and perfect gift, and trusting you with what you have given, we give back. Lord, would you spread your gospel, your good news to every soul in this valley. Lord, would you do that to extend beyond this valley to the surrounding area and to the uttermost parts, lord. I thank you for all that you've done to bless the members of this church and this church and this community.
9:00
God, would you use us as a as a light? Reflect yourselves off of us. We stand willing. Now, lord, would you accept these offerings and do your kingdom's work? In Jesus name, amen.
9:27
I know not why God's wondrous grace to me he hath made known nor why unworthy Christ in love redeemed me for his own but I know I believe it and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day him I know not how this saving faith to me nor how believing in his word brought peace within my heart but I know and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that know not when my lord may come at night or noonday fair nor if I walk the veil with him or meet him in the air but I know and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
11:31
I mean, I haven't heard that one in years but it was stuck in my head all week and that's the best way to get it out of there. I actually really really love it. It's Paul writing to Timothy said, I don't know everything but I do know that in whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed against that day. That's a great great line to know that even when we feel we can't, we can because he is the one that can keep it. Now, before I start preaching, I'm going to introduce Eric Wakub.
12:03
Most of y'all know Eric. He has served as chief elder for the past few years and this year, he's the moderator for First B.
12:11
Well, good morning. Good morning. I'm excited to be here this morning for a a good reason. We have something exciting to share with the congregation. The kitchen remodel, the fellowship hall remodel project is going to move forward.
12:31
And it's been a long time coming. We've been talking about it for a couple years now. All the way back in October 2014, we we started reaching out to the people of our congregation. Many of you were involved in that in a survey. And we asked what needs you thought the the church had.
12:53
And there were several important safety concerns that came out of that survey of people saying, oh, when you do things like put an egress window in the in the nursery downstairs, that's been completed. But nearly universally across all of those responses was that the kitchen is is vitally important to what we do as a church, And all of our various ministries make use of the kitchen and the fellowship hall. And we, as a church body, felt that it was it was it was lacking, that it had some real needs to it. There's some broken equipment. There's some some things, some fixtures, some furnishings in there that that are of concern and are are not gonna get better on their own.
13:40
So we have we are going to be starting this fall and in a moment or two Kevin's gonna explain in more detail. But we're gonna begin fundraising for that project and in the spring, we'll we'll see it go to construction. But I wanted to leave you with a couple of ideas. The first is that as a as a church leadership board, the board of elders, the board of trustees, and the various ministry heads that have been involved in kind of planning and and thinking and especially praying about this project for two years now are excited about it. We're strongly unified about it.
14:18
We think this is a really necessary way for us to complete our mission as a church of of reaching people for Christ and of sharing God's love with others. So we we think it's very important and we're excited to get this finally started. The couple of questions you might have is, why this project and why now? And the as I mentioned, the the church body has has been bringing this to our attention and and for a long time. So it's it's been it's been through committees.
14:53
It's been through prayer. It's been it's been considered various ways and and we're excited to actually now move forward with it. And and why now? Because it's been long enough, honestly. So we're we're really excited.
15:08
And Kevin, if you wanna come on up, this is Kevin Olson. And he's gonna be heading up the both the capital campaign and also then helping us through the the project itself. So without further ado, Kevin Olson.
15:25
Thank you, Eric. Good morning, First B. And I'll say, why me? Well, missed a meeting and so they appointed me as the capital campaign coordinator. So that's why me, why now?
15:36
So we're gonna take just a couple minutes and walk you through our Family Fellowship Faith Capital fundraising campaign to raise $250,000 to carry out the project that Eric just mentioned. So we have to start where we end and where we begin, and that is the mission of First Baptist Church. For those of you who may not be familiar with it, our mission is with all we are, loving God and loving people through Christ. And that unifies us in everything that we do here, the programming that we put out there, the activities that we do, the goals and objectives we have at the Board of Trustees level, and more importantly, what it does, it unifies as our church body. And if you haven't been aware of some of the stats, we have a great and growing church body.
16:35
We have over four fifteen weekly attendees that attend any combination of our 9AM, our 11:00, our Monday night service, and our Spanish service. And when you consider those attendees and also the two twenty plus members that we have of the church, we have a formidable body to go up against an ambitious goal of raising this money so we can make these renovations happen. And when you look at the mission and how unified we are as a church body, we have to consider what our calling is in Jackson Hole. And that is not to just do all these things for our own personal edification. That's certainly one thing to help us grow in our faith.
17:16
But the emphasis of growing in our faith needs to be to go outside these walls and bring people in. And so this project goes a long way towards that end. Those of you who are maybe not familiar with our ministries, and this brings the fellowship aspect of our campaign into view. The ministries that you see listed here span a number of different areas. A lot of us are very familiar with worship.
17:41
That's our services that we attend on Sundays and Mondays. The outreach is the missions committee, and that's the good work that Steve Landis and his crew do not only to take missions active here in our hometown, but also in The United States and our foreign missionaries that we support worldwide. Our connect ministry, those are the people that greet us with smiling faces. They pass the plates around. They get things ready in the connect hour, and they host events that we have of many organizations that use our church facility for their events.
18:17
The growing aspect of our ministry is our men's and women's groups, the youth groups, the small groups that meet periodically and much, much more that goes on behind the scenes that we're not aware of. And then lastly, our service ministry. These are the folks that volunteer in the nursery that create our bereavement programs, welcome new members, and help our congregation in times of need through the Bridges ministry. And so as Eric alluded to, why now? It is right now our highest priority to move this project forward.
18:53
And we'll do this because it takes money beyond what we have in our church budget to do it. As you know, we operate very responsibly as stewards of the money that we're given from all of you. Also serve as the volunteer treasurer for the church, And we don't have excess funds to be able to tap in order to take on a project of this magnitude. However, being stewards of the church's money, we take opportunities to operate as lean and mean as possible. One quick example I'll give to you is many of you know that we have the parsonage in Rafter J.
19:33
And it had been a few years that any of us had looked at the mortgage on that parsonage. And at the suggestion of one of our congregation members, we took a look at it, found a way to refinance it in a much shorter period of time and create a savings to our church body of over $200,000 by refinancing that loan. And so when we take a look at how tight we operate, the opportunities we have to constrict our expenses, we're confident that with your help, we'll be able to make this project happen. And as Eric alluded to, with over well, with about two years of prayer going into this, it's with unanimous support of your church leadership that we want to proceed. So to give you just a broad brush glimpse of the project, this project is not about expanding buildings.
20:26
It's not about making things prettier. It's about equipping our church for ministry in a greater fashion. So we are talking about a complete upgrade and remodel to our kitchen. Some of these improvements will include a commercial grade appliance set throughout the entire kitchen, an expanded pantry, new cabinetry counter surfaces and storage, a meal preparation counter, a double sided buffet line so that you no longer have to wait minutes and minutes and minutes in line to get your food, New flooring and also a coffee and beverage station that's adjacent to the kitchen area. We'll include a full upgrade to the fellowship hall as well.
21:09
We'll take out the existing carpet. We'll put down carpet squares so that when somebody bumps into you and you spill your coffee and we can't clean it up, we can pop that square out and replace it with a new square. The most exciting part is we're gonna expand the western part of the fellowship hall with a large deck that's going to push our fellowship area and our hanging out area out onto that West lawn. And so literally, there'll be patio doors that open up onto an expansive deck so that we can enjoy, you know, the great summers and the great conversation we can have not only on Sunday mornings, but during the week. There'll be new storage on the southern end of the fellowship hall so that we no longer have to bob and weave around the chairs that are stacked up there.
21:53
And then lastly, a safety standpoint, we'll be able to put our egress windows in the library area and also in the nursery area so that in the event of emergency when we're in those quadrants of the building, we'll be able to escape quickly. And that's a sorely needed aspect of our entire safety package we wanted to tackle. A quick rendering for you. Now these don't come through totally clear here, but I would invite you after the service, you probably saw the boards as you walked in. I'll be out back to answer your questions.
22:23
But these are renderings at this stage of the game that show conceptually how the kitchen will transform itself into all the various things that I just mentioned. And these plans are still fluid. We'll be working with general contractors and experts in cabinetry and commercial appliances to make sure we've got the absolute best fit for our needs. From a budgetary standpoint, this gives you an overview of how we arrived at $250,000 One of the most challenging things as a remodel is once you start opening things up, you don't know what you're gonna get. And so because of that fact, we do have a fairly reasonable extra set of dollars in here, contingency fund cushion in here just to foresee any problems there.
23:17
But this represents as best we can tell what the expenses of the project will be. And John Heisey, who has a background in contracting and is also the facilities volunteer for our board of trustees, is the gentleman that'll be leading the construction part of the project forward. So now it comes down to faith. We've talked about the family, the enhancements to fellowship and this is where we put what's in our heart in motion with what we personally can do together as a church family. So an ambitious timeline, we hope to work through the next nine weeks and get our pledges and contributions totaling 250,000 so that we can move forward.
24:01
As a church leadership team, we've challenged ourselves to put our money where our mouth is. And not only has the church taken money out of its savings account, so to speak, the leadership of our church has matched that amount and it totals $50,000 So we're not walking out of the gate, we're striding out of the gate in a great way. The timeline that we're working on, Those of you who find it easier or more realistic to contribute in cash, we hope to have those cash donations in by December 31. Those of you who would prefer to pledge, we would like to have all the pledges wrapped up by June 30. And then our construction timeline is going to be April through July.
24:51
A little bit of contingency in there in case the project spills over a little bit, but we will be without the kitchen and the fellowship hall during that construction timeframe. So that gives you an overview of, know, kind of the macro side of the project and now it's the micro. It's how do we make it happen? And that's really a combination of us and you and me and we coming together. The timing of this project is great because many of you consider how you can contribute towards the year end of our church.
25:24
And I guess we've been blessed this year to have very healthy finances. Last year at this time, we had a shortfall going in toward the conclusion of our church budget year. This year, we have a surplus, thank God. And so as some of you think about your year end giving, we would encourage you to consider this capital campaign for that. As you leave today, our elders will have pledge forms.
25:48
So please, as you depart, take one of those, come alongside us, prayerfully consider how you can contribute to this program. If you do contributions by check, if you'll note the building fund, all of that money we receive will go right into this project. Over the next nine weeks, we will give you updates. We'll have different vignettes from the ministry leaders who use these facilities to enhance what they do. And most importantly, let us know how we can help you.
26:20
I'm serving as kind of the coordinator for the project and you can reach me through the church office. But you may be in the trades and you may wanna contribute in kind to lower our cost basis for the project by donating some of your materials and service. I joked earlier this morning that you may have a passion for pancakes or a belly for bacon, and you may want to help offset the cost of the range that we put into the project. So we certainly wanna know how you can be involved and how you wanna be involved in this project, and I'll work with you to do that. In closing, I will be out back near the stands if I can help answer any questions, but I'm certainly not the only person.
27:01
I'm one of about six on our board of trustees who have worked really hard researching and developing this plan, and we're excited to roll it out to you today. Thanks for coming alongside us to help out.
27:25
Thank you, Kevin and Eric and Eric, the elder, was here for the first service. It looks like rather than stand at the backdoor, he's handing those out right now. Thank you for doing that. We are up to Romans thirteen eight in our study. Romans thirteen eight.
27:43
So, last week, I started out with this bull's eye illustration where for the last couple of chapters that we've been in since twelve one and two of Romans, we have been kind of getting further and further out from the center of the bull's eye. The center of the bull's eye being the first couple of verses chapter 12 which is the application section of Romans actually. The first eight chapters is all theology and just saying how things are but from 12 through the end of the book, it's really application every Sunday. If I just present exactly what it says, it will be an application sermon. So, 12 started that and it says that we should be presenting ourselves as living sacrifices and if we are presenting ourselves as living sacrifices, holy acceptable to God, that is our reasonable service.
28:34
So, if we're shooting for that mark, being living our lives as living sacrifices, then, we will be serving the church in the next few verses and then it spills over beyond the bounds of just the church, how you serve the church but how you interact with and serve outsiders from 14 through 21 of chapter 12 and then it spills over and last week, I covered government. The civil authorities that are in authority over you or governing over you. So, this week, we're kind of starting back from that edge and going back inward towards the center and we'll talk about outsiders. Also, the church some today too but it's kinda going from the government. Just think, it went from living sacrifices to serve if you've got these gifts serving this way.
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Be extending a very loving embrace of the community that you're in and the outsiders and then obey the government. Pay attention to that and now we're going back in. So, I mentioned this last week and it comes up a lot. Whether y'all see this slide or not, this is what my goal is every week. What does it say?
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What does it mean? That's why I spend so much time with grammar and with the original language stuff. What does it say? What does it mean? And then, application, how are we or am I going to be obedient to it?
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So, that keep that in mind today too as we go through. So, Romans thirteen eight in the New American Standard Version of the Bible which is what I've been using for this whole study. The New American Standard, I like because it's the way that Americans speak but with a great emphasis on actually what it says in Greek. So, I like it because I really think we get we don't need to throw that out just to be able to, you know, read easier. So, this one, I really like.
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That's what I've been using for almost the whole study of Romans. The New American Standard says, owe nothing to anyone. Well, that kind of goes along with our little campaign here because we're raising the money first but the next version I've got up here is the new revised standard version. New revised standard says, oh, no one, anything. So, it's owe nothing to anyone, owe no one anything.
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Both of those are good translations of exactly what the Greek says. Without the verb tense but but anyway, it's it's good translation. If you see these two though, oh nothing to anyone and oh no one anything, it leads to this question, is it wrong to lend or is it wrong to borrow? So, y'all tell me, is it wrong to lend or is it wrong to borrow? Said the guy who's living in a mortgaged house.
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It's not wrong to lend and it's not wrong to borrow and we can see that biblically here. Matthew five forty two from the lips Jesus. He says, give to him who asks of you and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. So, Jesus expects that there will be times in life when you need to have more cash than you have on hand and there's an obligation there and I that says that that's alright. Psalm thirty seven twenty one says, the wicked borrows and does not pay back but the righteous is gracious and gives.
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I did not plan this to be on the Sunday where Kevin asked for money, okay? But it it did hit on it anyway. I'd I'm not going to deny it. This is the does not pay back part. The wicked borrows and does not pay back.
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So, the emphasis here is about paying your bills, paying them on time but it's still not the emphasis of the sentence. If if we look at the New International Version of the Bible and here it is up here, let no debt remain outstanding. Now, that's owe nothing to anyone or owe no one anything. Let no debt remain outstanding. It's kind of poetic, isn't it?
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It's a, it's not exactly what it says in the Greek but it does have the sense with the verb tense included to let not a debt remain outstanding. So, pay your bills on time. Does that make sense? If you owe somebody something and you say you'll pay it back by a certain time, do your best that you can do to pay it back by that certain time. Let no debt remain outstanding.
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That's a pretty good translation but as I look at it, y'all know I do the R McD version sometimes. It's the Ray McDaniel version. It's almost always when there's a second person plural command to y'all because I like to put the y'all in there so you can see it. So, that's usually when I do the R McD version. Today, I'm going to do the T McD version and it's not Tanya.
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I have a younger brother. We grew up in the same house. Somehow, I came out sounding like this which is really neutral, okay? Trust me. For where I'm from, this is neutral.
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My brother sounds more like Jerry Clower, like a southern comedian. So this guy, Toby McDaniel, this is the way that he would say this. Don't be owing nothing to nobody. And that is exactly what it says in Greek, okay? A double negative intensifies things and I put the exclamation point for that but that's the way my brother would say this.
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Don't be owing nothing to nobody. The rest of the verse though is where the emphasis lies. So, I've read lots of commentaries this weekend. You could go Larry Burkett Financial Ministries, Crown Financial Services, all these different places, Christian based organizations about how to deal with debt and that'd be wonderful but the main focus of the verse is the second half of this verse. Don't be owing nothing to nobody but except to love one another.
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It's about loving one another. So, he's picking back up. So, we went from God, church, outsiders, government. Now, we're going back in and he's saying one another. Now, normally, when Paul says, loving one another, he's talking about Christians within the family of God, love one another because you're the ones with the capacity for godly love.
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So, be loving one another as a way of drawing people in. Love one another. Take care of one another. Serve one another. Romans thirteen eight in the New American says, owe nothing to anyone except to love one another.
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The new revised, except to love one another. That's exactly what it says. The NIV, again, poetic and that's not usually the case for the NIV. My my main complaint with NIV is not that it's a bad translation. It's just a little bit bland but I like this verse a whole lot.
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Let no debt remain outstanding. Pay your bills on time. Except for the continuing debt to love one another. What he's saying is, you're never going to get this one paid off. You're never going to love enough to say, okay, that's it.
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I've loved you enough. Get out. Okay? I don't have to love you anymore. I extended as far as I'm willing to extend.
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Get out. No, it's a continuing debt to love one another. So, it's not just It's not just the family of God. It is beyond that. Loving the other makes it absolutely clear.
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If thirteen one had not made it absolutely clear, he says, let every soul be subject to the authorities governing it. So, it's already said every soul just a few verses back and then when we get down here, it says, indeed, oh this is still the Toby McDaniel. Sorry. Don't be owing nothing to nobody but set to love one another. Indeed, he loves the word indeed.
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Indeed, loving the other has fulfilled the law and that is exactly what it says. That participle is the subject of that second part of the sentence right there. Or that sentence right there. Loving the other has fulfilled the law. Now, a lot of the other versions say, whoever loves or if you love but this is what it says, loving the other has fulfilled the law.
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And it reminds me of Jesus. From his lips, couple of different times that I'm aware of. This one, I think hits it in the shortest fashion. Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
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The law and the prophets. He came to fulfill what the law and the prophets had said before him. New American Standard. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. Amen.
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New revised. Oh, no one anything except to love one another for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Amen. NIV, poetic. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
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Now that I've used four different translations six different times, that's the main focus of the sermon today. It is about loving one another. It's about loving others, not just one another. Paul continues to illustrate his point from verse eight which is the main point of this little passage here with this. For this, you shall not commit adultery.
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You shall not murder. You shall not steal. You shall not covet. And if there's any other commandment, which is where are those from? Where are those four from?
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10 commandments, right? So, he says, and if there are any other commandments, which we know there are at least six more, it's summed up in this one saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I've said many many times and I'll say it many times more that all of Pauline theology, all of Paul's theology is grounded in Jesus's tradition, the medical tradition. So, he mentions those four and then that fifth one from somewhere else. I'm the Lord thy God.
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That's the grounding for the 10 commandments and then the first four have to deal with your relationship with God. You shall have no other gods before me. You should not make any graven image or idol. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
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Those are about our relationship with God. Why? Because God says, I am the Lord thy God. Now, these others are about how we get along with other people. Honor thy father and mother.
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That's a personal relationship. You shall not kill. That's a pretty personal relationship. You do not take life. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
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I don't know of another more personal commandment. Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, don't lie, and thou shalt not covet. Now, those six are all about how we deal with people and he gave us just a representative for and said and any others, okay? Now, look, they come from the Exodus, the book of Exodus is where the 10 commandments are located and there he picks him up. You should shall not murder, you should not commit adultery, you shall not steal, or covet.
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Deuteronomy, the word itself, Deuteronomas, means second law, second telling of the law. It's exactly the same as the first. It's just a retelling and they say, exactly the same thing in Deuteronomy five. Leviticus, you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Why?
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For I am the Lord. It's the same grounding as the 10 commandments. He's saying, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. So, that's where Jesus picks this up. It didn't start.
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Didn't start in the New Testament. This is an Old Testament concept. How did they get from love your neighbor as yourself to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? This one's longer but it's Matthew 19. I wanted you to see it's in the New Testament too.
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When someone came up to him and said, teacher, what good thing shall I do? Because we want to do something, right? What good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? And he said to him, why are you asking me about what's good? There's only one who is good but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.
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Then he said to him, which ones? Don't we want to know? And Jesus said, the same ones Paul did. Basically, you shall not commit murder or adultery, shall not steal, bear false witness. He added, honor your father and mother and love your neighbors yourself.
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From Leviticus and these, the young man said, all these things I have kept, what am I still lacking? Now, this is the story of the rich, young ruler. I wanted to share that he's asking, what shall I do? And Jesus is saying, the commandments are still enforced. These are still enforced.
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The commandments, the decalogue but I've told you time and again to the the decalogue, the 10 commandments. There's no mercy in there. What do you do when you can't live up to them? That's a tough statement. This guy is saying he's lived up to him his whole life.
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Romans 13, Paul picks it up again. Same exact thing. Word definition of of of to We're of people is murder. That's the way we define it. We're Jesus expands the definition to having hatred in your heart for your brother.
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To call him a fool. That's tough. That's a hard one. How about adultery? We all know what adultery is.
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But Jesus expands the definition to include lust in your heart. If you would, do it. If you would, in your mind. He expands all of the definitions and they they were already next to impossible to live up to even if this guy said that he had done em since his youth. He actually had several different places where people said, oh, I'm already doing that.
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So, the New American Standard thirteen ten, which is the closing verse for the passage today, says, love does no wrong to a neighbor, to a neighbor and when it says, neighbor, I always think of the same story and it's from Luke 10. Y'all probably know it. Luke 10, on one occasion, an expert in the law just like the other guy, the rich, young ruler had come up to him and asked. He says, teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? He wants to know the list.
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What's the list of things that I can do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus responds, what's written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered, well, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. He picked up the Leviticus verse and Jesus replied, you have answered correctly.
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Do this and you will live. Now, Jesus's definitions of those things, those commandments, were expanded but this love, the Lord your God, he said a little while ago, he said, our motto here at this church and it was long before I got here was with all we are loving God and loving people through Christ. You have answered correctly, Jesus said, do this and you will live but he wanted to justify himself. He wanted to know, no, I want to be justified myself. I want to do it myself.
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What must I do? And so, he asked Jesus, and who is my neighbor? So, what is the least I can get away with? Who is my neighbor? Is it just one house over?
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Is it two? Is it my neighborhood? Is it just my community? Who is my neighbor? And at this point, Jesus replied and said, a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
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How many of y'all been to Israel? A few raising hands. Just a few of you. Have you been from Jerusalem down to Jericho? You have.
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Cool. It's a it's a hill, isn't it? Pretty big hill. So, where we are in Jackson right now is about 11 and a half miles to the top of Teton Pass and it's 2,140 feet, I think. That's what best I can tell.
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It's about that. 2,000 something feet. From Jerusalem down to Jericho is 3,000 feet. Jericho is almost 800 feet below sea level. Jerusalem's a couple of thousand feet above.
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So, it's almost 3,000. So, it's time and a half Teton Pass with a little bit more than twice the distance. You got the picture of that. Actually, I'll show you a picture. That's 23 miles, three, zero foot elevation drop and it looks like this.
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Now, what what does that look like to y'all? Don't it look a lot like Teton Pass? To me, it does. It looks like right there where you howdy stranger. That that that view looks a lot like this.
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Well, this is going down from Jerusalem towards Jericho. The Wadi Kilt is a dry riverbed that when it does rain, it's right there. Goes into a little stream but it's usually dry. So, it's the Wadi Kilt and there it is again. This is the rocky road that goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
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Jerusalem being way up on that hill there. So, That's a rough and craggy spot. A lot of y'all are hikers. You have been hikers and you know, we have pretty good law and order around here and we don't fear to walk so much. We fear bears more than people.
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I do anyway. But as these folks are going down through there, it would be easy for a band of robbers to just be waiting around the Jerusalem to Jericho. It's a rough and craggy journey in the first century. When he had was attacked by robbers, they stripped him of his clothes. They beat him and they went away leaving him half dead.
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A priest happened to be going down the same road. It's religious guy, right? A priest happened to be going down the same road and he saw the man. Of course, he's a naked man so he probably immediately covered his eyes and walked on by. He passed by on the other side and so to a Levite, another religious guy, when he came by, to the place and saw him, he passed by on the other side but a Samaritan.
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Now, was there anybody more hated than a Samaritan at this time? The whole road up from Jericho to Jerusalem was traveled by the Jews so they did not have to walk through Samaria. So, from Galilee to Jerusalem, you should not have to go through Jericho. Does that make sense to you? They're going around their, we used to call it around my nose despite my face.
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I don't know. Is it something like that? They're going way out of the way out of the way but they were doing that to not have to go through Samaria because they hated the Samaritans. The Samaritans had just the first five books of the Bible and they didn't have anything else. So, they had the Samaritan Pentateuch and they treated him as half breeds.
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They were not cool. So, for Jesus to say, a Samaritan as he traveled came where the man was was a big deal especially when the guys asking him. Was a religious guy. He's already used two religious guys as the bad guys and then, the Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was and when he saw him, he took pity on him and he went to him and he bandaged his wounds. Pouring on oil and wine medicine.
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Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took out 2 denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after him, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have. Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? And the expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him.
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And Jesus told him, go and do likewise. Go and do likewise. A neighbor can be absolutely anybody that you can be kind to and show love to. Go and do likewise is what he said. Now, I thought of a couple of paintings, not this one but I like this one.
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This is the Good Samaritan by Amay Moro. My my French is terrible. How will you say that Frenchie? I may have moreau, something like that. In the eighteen eighties, it represents this man naked and beaten and unconscious.
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And this good Samaritan taking him, putting him on his donkey. It has all about the journey that we know from the story. Then Rembrandt, Rembrandt in the sixteen hundreds, 1630, he did this painting, oil painting. And this is the delivery to the innkeeper. He's talking to the innkeeper and he is delivering the guy on his horse.
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He's got other people standing around helping. Actually, sixteen thirty three, this may be easier to to see. This is an intaglio print. What's cool about this being an art guy? The painting he did and you know, the horse is looking this way and you see on this one, he's looking the other way.
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Well, he scratched through this little intaglio print, a zinc plate is what this is made on and then scratched through all of that and ink it and then when you print it obviously it's a reverse image. This one has a dog in it and it's got a few more details but this was a theme that he came back to several times, Rembrandt came back to several times was this guy not only did he pick him up and do the first responder thing with him, but he brought him down and he set up for continuing care. And he paid for it himself, though it was not his obligation because he loved. So that's the point of the story. And therefore, love does no wrong to a neighbor.
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We've already covered that. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. That's the NASB. Now, we still have rocky, craggy roads. This is that same road that Jesus was describing today.
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This guy's got a modern backpack and blue jeans and he's walking up it and we've got a rocky road around here, not just physically, but we've got a rocky road with people who are beaten and assailed by whatever problems that the world has thrown at them. And we can choose to love them, but we have to make that choice. We gotta do it. We gotta love them. I wanted to just briefly go through first Corinthians 13.
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This is the love chapter. You probably heard it at the last wedding you went to. I'm also gonna add to that part of chapter 12 about love that is without hypocrisy. I want you to just listen to this. If you want to close your eyes, you're welcome to but consider that love is patient and now love has fulfilled the law.
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Love has fulfilled the law. Love is fulfilling the law. If you are not being patient, you're not being loving, you're not fulfilling the law. Do you get that? I don't I don't say it for guilt.
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It's not a hard edge as thou shalt not commit. Jesus sums up those commandments by saying, caring about the other person, you won't do these things. Love one another. Love others. Love is patient.
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If you're not being patient with somebody, you're not being loving. Love is kind. If you're not being kind, you're not being loving. Love is not jealous. That's one about coveting, right?
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If you look at what someone else has and you want it so bad, you're willing to talk about em or willing to steal what they have. Love is not jealous. Love does not brag. Recognizing that all that we have has come from a gracious and merciful God. Love does not brag.
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Love is not arrogant, puffed up, overestimating self. Love is not arrogant. Love does not act unbecomingly. Love does not seek its own way. If you are trying your best to manipulate a situation, to get to have your own way, you are not being loving.
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Love is not easily provoked to anger. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered. I actually like the translation. Love keeps no record of wrongs because I think a lot of us carry around the list. Oh, she did this to me.
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He did that to me. My mother, blah. We have lots of lists that we carry of the record of wrongs, the reasons, and the people. We need to forgive those people. Love does not even keep a record of wrongs.
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Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness. Love rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, love hopes all things. The women's retreat was last weekend and they talked a lot about the hope of heaven. The hope of heaven changes everything.
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An eternal perspective is a good perspective to have as a believer. If you're depressed about your conditions here, you can always look forward to the hope of the there. Love hopes all things. Loves endures all things. Love never fails and from Romans 12, the list that is often translated as imperatives.
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I went through it a few weeks ago. Love without hypocrisy is people abhorring that which is evil. People clinging to the good. Love without hypocrisy is people being devoted to one another. People esteeming one another in honor.
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People not lagging in diligence. People being fervent in the spirit. People serving the Lord. People rejoicing in hope. Being patient in tribulation, being constant in prayer.
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Being people contributing to the needs of the saints and people practicing hospitality. All of these things, the Samaritan had demonstrated almost all of these things. It's people rejoicing with those who rejoice, people mourning with those who mourn, people being like minded towards one another, golden rule, right? People not being hardy minded, people willingly associating with the downtrodden, people not being wise in their own minds, people not repaying evil for evil, people preparing in advance to be good to all, People living in peace with others, people not avenging themselves, but trusting God to judge and to repay righteously. It's people feeding the hungry.
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It's people not being overcome by evil but people overcoming evil with good. That's from Romans 12. Those are straight out of scripture and that is what love is and that is what love does. So, how can we be fulfilling the law? Be loving people.
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It's that simple. Three verses, that's what everyone of em says. Just be loving people constantly. The people themselves. I have one more kind of quote here since I was speaking last week about the government and I did speak just briefly on civil disobedience.
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Non violently, as a baptist preacher from Georgia, he non violently disobeyed because there is a greater authority than the government and he was going with that one. He also was going by our documentation of our government and standing and speaking. In a sermon that he preached in 1957, I listened to his sermons every once in while. I had listened to two of em this week. One of em was from April 1957 and it was this one and in the middle, about twenty minutes in, he said this, I think the first reason that we must have love for our enemies is that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe.
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If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and then you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. There's no end. It just never ends. Somewhere, somebody must have a little sense and that's the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil, love because hate destroys the hater and the hated.
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So, I like that. He also told a story about his brother. He and his brother were driving from Atlanta up to Chattanooga. Atlanta, Chattanooga now is a wide, great road. Atlanta to Chattanooga in 1957 was a little bit more like the Wadi Kilt.
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So, heading up the mountains, he said that every car it seemed that came around the corners had their headlights on bright and his brother was fussing about it. He and he said and they were being discourteous. There are many of them come around the corners and they would not dim their lights and my brother said, next one comes around that corner like that. I'm just going blind him back. I'm going leave my lights on bright and Martin Luther King said, no, don't do that because if you, he blinds you and you blind him, then, we're doubly destroyed.
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Don't do that. You keep your eyes on the road as best you can no matter what he does and he said, somebody somewhere got to have some sense. That's the strong person he says here. I agree with that. So, this has been rattling around in my head since high school at least.
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Everything else, love your enemies because everything else is just evil one upmanship. I Googled it to make sure I didn't steal it from somebody. Love your enemies because everything else is just evil one upmanship. If if we keep on hitting back, it never ends. Somebody somewhere gotta have some sense.
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So, love your enemies. Would, Judy, would you come on back up? I think that's it. When I said the T McD version of the Bible where it said, loving others has fulfilled the law. Jesus had perfect love.
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He walked a perfect life and he lived a sacrificial death in your stead. He asked for you to believe. He asked for you to believe that and accept that gracious gift of eternal life by belief. It's not what you do. It's what you believe and who you know.
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So, would you stand up and we'll sing God be with you two thirty two. Y'all sing loud. Y'all sing loud because I don't know it. How about that? Would you go for it.
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His sheep securely again. One more time.
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Amen. Sorry about that. I didn't read that far ahead in the program. For the benediction today, this is a stained glass window from of the story, the Good Samaritan. Be blessing even those who are persecuting y'all.
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The Jews actively persecuted the Samaritans. Be blessing even those who are persecuting you all. Be blessing and do not be cursing them. That's from Romans twelve fourteen. God, would you shine your light?
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Would you hold us back when we begin to get angry? Would you give us the words to point out the foolishness and the stupidity without harming the individual that is so foolish and acting so stupid? God, in Jesus name, would you give us the love that we need that would overflow, and can we show them the love that they need? In Jesus name, would you equip us to love? Amen.
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