Romans 13:8-10 *
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
“You owe
$145,000. And the bill is rising every
day. That’s how much it would cost every
American man, woman and child to pay the tab for the long-term promises the
This was the first paragraph of an article that appeared in
the business section of last Sunday’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The story’s headline, “U.S. Debt Could Cost
Americans,” suggests that our staggering debt (both national and personal)
poses a serious threat to our nation’s economic future.
If you need to be convinced, consider the following
statistics. Americans spend $1.9 billion
more a day on imported clothing and cars and gadgets than the rest of the world
spends on all of its goods and services combined. Credit card debt averages
$7,200 per household in the
Ironically this spending epidemic has led to the explosion
of a new industry, debt reduction.
Perhaps you have seen the commercial in which a man seems to have
everything, a new car, a nice house, a country club membership. When asked how he was able to accumulate all
this stuff, he says with a blank look on his face: “I’m in debt up to my
eyeballs.” This ad and others like it
promote agencies that promise to help people consolidate and eliminate their
debts.
If you want to do it yourself, there is no shortage of
self-help books on the subject. Titles
include “How To Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously,” “The
Idiot’s Guide To Living on a Budget,” and “Credit Card Debt: Reducing Your
Financial Burden In Three Easy Steps.”
The apostle Paul wasn’t a financial planner. He didn’t have a degree in economics. Truth be told, he wasn’t all that concerned
about his bottom line. In fact, there
were times when he refused to be paid for his missionary work so that the
people he served wouldn’t question his motives.
Paul didn’t care about money, but he did care about
people. He knew that every soul was
precious in the eyes of God. He knew
that the blood of Jesus is more precious than silver or gold.
And Paul wants us to know that when it comes to our
relationship with God, when it comes to our relationships with other people,
debt isn’t always a bad thing. There are
even times when debt can be a good thing.
And in the text for today Paul gives us an example. Let’s call it…
PAUL’S ONE STEP PLAN FOR STAYING IN DEBT
These verses taken from Romans 13 are included in the
practical part of Paul’s letter. And as
Paul writes, he assumes that the reader has an understanding of the
foundational spiritual principles that he explained in great detail in the
first twelve chapters.
Let’s briefly review them. Principle #1: All people are
helplessly and completely sinful by nature.
#2: Because of our sinfulness, we deserve to be eternally
condemned. #3: God has rescued us from
hell by his grace which he has revealed to us in Jesus Christ. #4: God promises to strengthen us and protect
us from those who seek to destroy our faith.
#5: While we look forward to eternal life in heaven, Christians live
lives of service on earth to thank God for the salvation He has won for
us.
In Romans 13 Paul provides a practical example of how
Christians can turn their thanksgiving into “thanksliving.” If you want to do more than just say “thank
you” to God, if you want to express your thanks in a tangible way, obey your
leaders. Obey them because God has
established them. Obey them because it
is God’s desire to bless you through them.
And then Paul encourages God’s people to give God’s leaders
their due: “”Give everyone what you owe
him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then
respect; if honor, then honor” (7). In
other words, don’t get into debt. Ever. No
exceptions. Except
one.
“Let
no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another”
(8a). Paul’s one step plan for staying in debt
can be summarized in a single word, love.
Love is a bill that will never be marked, “paid in full.” Love is not an item to be checked off a
“to-do” list. Every day you will be able
to find new ways to live a love-filled life.
It is abundantly clear that God wants us to love, but whom
does he want us to love? Who is to be
included in the somewhat open ended phrase, “love one another?” Is this
love limited to our families? Should we
set the boundary at the church door? Or
does God want our love to extend beyond the Christian community?
Paul says: “He who
loves his fellow man (literally “He who loves the other”) has fulfilled the
law” (8b). He doesn’t say: “Love
your wife.” There is no specific
directive to love our parents or our children.
He doesn’t quote Jesus’ command to love our enemies (Matthew
Paul simply tells us to love other people. Since no one is singled out, no one should be
left out. Love the members of your
family. Love the members of your
Christian family. Love those who love
you. Love those who hate you. This kind of unconditional, unprejudicial
love fulfills God’s law.
How is that? How can
the simple act of loving another person do all that? Paul explains: “The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not
steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed
up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (9).
The Ten Commandments can be divided into two parts. The first three have to do with our
relationship with God. Commandments 4-10
address our relationships with other people.
Since Paul is talking here about love for others, he makes reference to
several commandments found in the second table of the law.
Luther recognized the importance of the commandments. He dedicated the first part of his catechism
to a study of the commandments. And when
he composed explanations for the commandments, it is very possible that these
words of Paul were in the back of his mind.
Do you remember how each explanation begins? “We should fear and love God that we…”
Luther agreed with Paul that every commandment begins and
ends with love. It could be a command to
honor our parents. It could be a command
to not steal or kill. It could even be a
command that forbids us from having sinful thoughts. The proper motivation, the only God-pleasing
motivation for keeping God’s law is love.
This is what all the commandments have in common. This is how the commandments, “Do not commit
adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet” can be summarized in
this one rule: “Love your neighbor as
yourself.”
“Love your neighbor
as yourself.” These words didn’t
originate with Paul. He borrowed them
from Jesus (Luke
God knows that we are by nature selfish. We think of ourselves first. We look out for our own interests. We seek to satisfy our own desires. What God wants is for us to dedicate the same
amount of time and attention to someone besides ourselves. As Paul said in his letter
to the Philippians: “Each of you should
look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others”
(2:4).
Love for God leads us to trust in Him above all things. Love for God’s representatives compels us to
honor our parents and others in authority.
Love for our neighbor motivates us defend him, speak well of him and
take his words and actions in the kindest possible way. Love allows us to be content with what God
has given us and happy about what God has given to others.
Love is more than a feeling.
Love is not just an emotion. We
show our love by what we do, and also by what we don’t do. A loving
heart doesn’t have room for anger or jealousy.
Love doesn’t tear others down.
Love doesn’t beat others up. “Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the
fulfillment of the law” (10).
If you want to follow Paul’s one step plan to stay in debt,
if you want to live a God-pleasing life, if you want to keep the Ten
Commandments perfectly, all you have to do is love. Love the Lord with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love and everything else will fall into
place. It’s that simple. It’s that simple, but it’s not that easy.
Paul wrote these words to encourage the Christians living in
And if it could happen among that group of Christians, it
could happen just as easily among this group of Christians. Paul’s words are meant to encourage us, but
they also remind us how unloving we can be.
If the universe is heliocentric, why do we seem to think
that everything revolves around us? What
about me? What about my needs? What about my feelings? What about my hopes and dreams? We haven’t kept the commandments Paul
mentioned. We haven’t kept any of the
commandments, but perhaps our greatest transgression is against the first commandment
because we put ourselves before everyone else including God.
And God doesn’t like it.
In fact, God hates it. God hates
sin. He demands that a heavy price be
paid for sin. That is bad debt because
it is a debt that we will never be able to pay.
This is the worst kind of debt because it has eternal consequences.
There is no quick fix, there is no three step program, there
is absolutely nothing we can do to make up for our sins, but our debt has been
paid in full. Jesus owed us nothing, but
he gave up everything. Jesus paid the
price that God demanded. While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
Jesus’ love is perfect love.
The love of Jesus forgives. That
love of Jesus saves. That kind of love
motivates us to put God first in our lives.
That kind of love motivates us to put others before ourselves. That kind of love allows us
to rejoice in the fact that our debt of love will never be paid.
Even though the school year has already begun, many people
still view Labor Day weekend as the unofficial end of summer. And so it is for us today. This sermon marks the end of our “Summer in
For the past two and a half months it has been our privilege
to study Paul’s marvelous letter. And it
is my prayer that our time in Romans has had the same effect as a summer
vacation. I pray that your faith has
been refreshed. I pray that your spiritual batteries have been recharged. And I
pray that you have a renewed desire to serve the Lord in everything you do.
Amen.