How does my life matter?

Last week we heard Paul explain that the value of our lives is not because we earn anything by them.

But that because God is unconditionally in a good mood with us, and has freely forgiven us, so what we do matters and has value simply because he chooses to find pleasure in us as he looks at Jesus.

The idea of law, of quid pro quo, of getting something by doing something is so ingrained in us, that by nature it seems impossible to see value unless we’re getting a reward.

When I talk to my atheist and muslim friends, they’re constantly misquoting the gospel as saying that God rewards people for believing in him.

And, that misunderstanding is not a surprise, because all the time on Facebook, I see that false idea even being presented by Christians.

Why do good? It’s not to get anything: no blessings, no qudos.

In Christ, God has removed all coercion and all compensation. We do good purely because we find we want to.

And today that spills over into how Christians do good. Here in Romas 12:6-16, Paul gives a list of actions we do that matter in the lives of other people.

But, he heads his list by affirming explicitly, that we don’t do anything to gain rewards, v. 6:

⁶ According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts:

Because God loves you, he makes you useful in loving others. This is HOW your life matters. This is what it looks like.

First, all of us somehow help the proclamation of the Word

Paul continues in v. 6:

If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith;

Micaiah was a prophet in the time of Ahab king of Israel. But Ahab hated him. Around 853 BC, Ahab asked 400 prophets if he should go to war. They prophesied what was inside their own mind, what they heard from each other, and what they could see pleased the king.

But when the king of Judah, insisted on calling Micaiah, the messenger who called him and said to the prophet:

¹³ “Look, the words of the prophets are unanimously favourable for the king. So let your words be like theirs, and speak favourably.” ¹⁴ But Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, I will say whatever the LORD says to me.”

Micaiah prophesied a warning. So other prophet, Zedekiah, slapped Micaiah in the face saying “Did the Spirit of the LORD leave me to speak to you?”

Ahab was killed in the battle—he should have listened to Micaiah. Micaiah had tried to help him—to serve him—by only speaking God’s external Word.

But Zedekiah had spoken what was in his own mind, what made sense given everything he could see, and what would please the king—and by doing this only served himself.

When people teach the Bible today, either at the front of church, or over the table chatting at church, there’s the same temptation:

To say things that will make people like me; to say things that make me fit in, get me accepted.

But, those who truly serve others when teaching the Bible… …are limited—bounded—only by faith …by what God has revealed in his external Word.

Like Micaiah: this not good for them personally: they can expect to be hated and to suffer for it.

But when a teacher limits themself purely to what the Bible says, this teacher is serving others, not themself.

Everything else in vv. 7-8 is about how we all contribute together to this ministry of the Word:

⁷ if service, use it in service;

There’s so many tasks in church to enable the teaching of the Word but so often many people just want to teach, when they don’t have understanding.

The first five years of my service in the church was cleaning toilets, mopping floors and helping kids.

if teaching, in teaching; ⁸ if exhorting, in exhortation;

Paul’s point is: don’t use these things for yourself, use them for the reason they’re given: to serve others.

giving, with generosity;

This is giving to support the minister of the Word. The point is not to give self-righteously, to get something in return. But, to give without strings attached, so that the ministers of the Word can teach the Word.

leading, with diligence;

So many leaders fail to lead diligently, because they’re diligently sorting out their own interests first

But as Luther explains: “he who rules must do so in diligence, that is, in negligence of his own interests.”

showing mercy, with cheerfulness.

This is giving, but not to ministers of the Word—to the poor.

When you give to the poor self-righteously, there’s no way you can get something from them in return. So, the self-righteous person gives grudgingly.

Give to the poor cheerfully, Paul says.

But, regardless of your and my failures to live up to these standards Jesus lived up to them for you:

As a prophet: Jesus preached the cross, then died on the cross.

As a servant: Jesus nailed his personal ambition to that tree.

As a teacher: The more he taught, the more he was hated. Because he used his gift—consistently—to serve you.

As a giver: he gave his life for you, with no strings, no catches.

As a leader he did everything diligently for your interests: giving up wife, home, security, friendship.

And in acts of mercy: You were poor, destitute, in infinite debt. But Christ cheerfully gave you the riches of God.

He didn’t do any of this on the condition that you do any of these things well.

In Him, God has removed all coercion and all compensation. We do good purely because we find we want to: Paul is just describing what that looks like.

It looks like, first, all of us helping the ministry of the Word.

But, secondly, it means all of us live out lives of love.

Look at v. 9:

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy.

In 2 Samuel 20, Joab was approached by his cousin Amasa, and as the prophet explains:

⁸ Joab was wearing his uniform and over it was a belt around his waist with a sword in its sheath. As he approached, the sword fell out. ⁹ Joab asked Amasa, “Are you well, my brother?” Then with his right hand Joab grabbed Amasa by the beard to kiss him. ¹⁰  Amasa was not on guard against the sword in Joab’s hand, and Joab stabbed him in the stomach with it and spilled his intestines out on the ground. Joab did not stab him again, and Amasa died.

What’s worse that being stabbed in the back? Being stabbed in the front.

In a certain context, I had to deal with a man, who would always smile, always sound positive, always—on the surface—sound gentle.

But, his actions and words were anything but. He consistently stonewalled when he was needed most, consistently undermined and raised unfounded doubts, consistently held on to a grudge and acted in light of it.

But, because he did so with a smile, he would always claim to be loving.

Let love be without hypocrisy, Paul says, because love should be about building others up, not building ourselves up.

You may think you’re a loving person, you may put on all the apparent clothing of love… …but that doesn’t make your words and actions love. Love is objective: it is about other people, not yourself.

An Paul goes on: Detest evil; cling to what is good.

If our words serve ourselves, then we say things to curate people’s opinions of us, not to help them.

Speak Law and Gospel to one another.

Detest evil in ourselves and others: keep reminding one another of how bad we are.

And cling to what is good: keep reminding one another of God’s grace to you in Christ.

And so, v. 10:

¹⁰ Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honouring one another.

Pride is self-righteous. It honours others who have honoured us. It glorifies those who may glorify us.

Let’s glorify one another, not for our sake, for theirs.

Jesus doesn’t come to you with a sword hidden in the appearance of love.

Jesus comes to you having taken a sword motivated by love.

God hasn’t honoured you on condition that you honour him. Every day we fail to love properly. But God is pleased with you, because he sees you in Jesus.

And so completely apart from any idea of earning anything, your life has value for others, because all of us live out lives of love.

Then, third: we suffer for the sake of others.

In one way or another, vv. 11-14 are all about suffering.

v. 11: Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord.

That part of me that is self-righteous, wants to give up when I’m suffering, because my efforts to earn things aren’t working.

v. 12: Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.

Hope, patience, and prayer are the responses to suffering that rely on Christ, rather than relying on our own ability to find solutions.

v. 13: Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.

The temptation that comes when I suffer is to be drawn into myself become consumed in what I deserve or don’t deserve, and to stop serving and thinking of others.

v. 14: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

King Saul was jealous of David. That turned into anger, then bitterness, then hostility. He made it his mission to destroy David’s life.

Until, one day, he goes into a cave to relieve himself. Where, of all things, David was hiding, sword in hand, ready and able to kill him and get his revenge.

But, David stayed his hand, spared Saul, and instead said this:

“May the LORD be judge and decide between you and me. May he take notice and plead my case and deliver me from you.”

If David was thinking in self-righteous terms, then surely he deserves to take his revenge, doesn’t he?

And not simply out of spite, but to protect himself for the future. But, David doesn’t think in self-righteous terms.

David recognises that God is Father Almighty. David doesn’t assert his own rights, or defend his own interests. He leaves that to the judge of all. He trusts the God who loves him.

And so, being justified by faith alone, David can embrace his own suffering in service of Saul, the very one causing his suffering.

Even when we are being attacked by others.

Even when we are being persecuted, targeted, falsely accused. God is in a good mood with you. And your life matters, not because you do anything. But simply because of Jesus.

We suffer for the sake of others.

So, finally, focus on others. Look at vv. 15-16:

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

God hasn’t placed any of us here in Manchester Lutheran Church for our own sake.

He’s placed us here for each other. So, let’s centre our lives not on ourselves, but on each other.

Because we don’t live our lives to get anything.

Our lives have value because God chooses to value them.

In Christ, God has removed all coercion and all compensation.

Therefore: How does my life matter?

It matters in the way we live for the sake of each other.

Help the ministry of the Word: speak, give, help make it happen.

Live out lives of love. Suffer for the sake of others.

And focus on others.

You have nothing to prove, so stop trying and live your life of love.