If you look up the origins of the word “sincere” you will find it comes from two Latin words sine and cera. Together they meant “without wax”. Centuries ago when a potter made a vase or a bowl he would put his own seal or stamp on it. If it had cracked in the baking process he would patch the bowl or vase by filling the crack with wax before glazing it over. Only if there was no flaw in the pottery could he also put on the stamp, sine cera, no wax, to say that the bowl or vase was perfect and flawless.
“Love must be sincere,” says Paul in Romans 12:9. Without flaws. No pretence or sham. Not half-hearted. But 100% genuine. Love must be sincere.
Paul is spelling out what it means to become living sacrifices, offering the whole of our lives in worship to God. And a big part of what that means is that our love must be sincere.
REASONS FOR LOVING (verses 4-8)
What is the basis for our Christian love? We looked at these verses last week.
We are one body
4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
We should love one another because we are joined to each other spiritually in the one Body of Christ.
So we belong to each other
Because we belong to Christ we also belong to each other. This means we have a responsibility to love other Christians in the same way as Christ as loved us. Each member belongs to ALL the others. No room for exceptions there. There is no get-out clause. No loophole. We ALL belong to each other and are commanded to love ALL our brothers and sisters. There is no space for feuds or grudges. But let’s also remember especially the folk who have come to the church more recently. We should love our new friends as well as our old friends.
We should use our gifts to build up the church and to bless each other.
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing to the needs of others, leadership, showing mercy.
We should all use our gifts, all our skills, all our talents for God’s glory. Whether it is prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing to the needs of others, leadership, showing mercy. If we aren’t using our gifts as we should then others aren’t blessed, God isn’t glorified, the body of Christ isn’t built up and as often as not somebody else ends up having to do the piece of service WE should have been doing, and that puts pressure on them which just isn’t fair. Using the gifts God has given us is one expression of love, but there is much more to love than that. So Paul goes on to explain
LOVING IN THEORY – what love should ideally look like
9 Love must be sincere.
The New Living Translation puts it, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.” The Message puts it, “Love from the centre of who you are; don’t fake it.”
We live in an age of superficiality, of outward appearances, of deceit, of faking it. You may know the film, “Liar, Liar” with Jim Carrey as a compulsive liar who for the purposes of the plot was condemned for a whole day to speak only the truth. Both in his profession as a lawyer and in his personal life he was so used to lying to get his own way that the results of him having to tell the truth are hilarious. Our love must be honest and true. Coca Cola used the slogan, “It’s the real thing.” Our love must be the real thing! Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Honesty and openness are essential. We must hate evil and run away from it because we know it will kill us. Mae West once said, “When I am given the choice between two evils, I choose the one I have never tried before.” Christians are to HATE what is evil! And we must cling to what is good, as we would cling on to a life jacket if we were drowning.
That means we must always be looking for the best in others. Remember 1 Corinthians 134 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Keeping no record of wrongs. No grudges. No feuds. Hating evil. Loving the good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
“Devotion” is devalued in today’s world. You hear of it in the context of faithful pets, “his devoted dog.” True devotion is not soppy sentimentality but an attitude of determination. Determined to seek the very best for the other person. Our brotherly love should be devoted.
Honor one another above yourselves.
An exaggerated sense of our own importance is a big barrier to loving other people sincerely.
A man who had a high opinion of himself stepped on a coin-operated scale that dispensed a card, giving his weight and comments about his personality. After reading the card, he handed it to his wife and said, “Here, look at this!” She took it and read aloud, “You are dynamic, a born leader, handsome, and much admired.” Giving it a second look, she added, “Hmmm, I see it’s got your weight wrong too!”
Honour one another above yourselves. Paul has already made this point.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
Honour one another above yourselves. It is so easy to look down on other people, and their weaknesses and failings, and forget that we ourselves are ten times worse! We need to see ourselves as we really are, scumbags every one of us! Then we will stop judging other people and start honouring them above ourselves.
There is what love should look like in theory. So now Paul moves on to
LOVING IN PRACTICE
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
It’s easy to start showing God’s love another person. The hard thing is to keep on loving them, day after week after month after year. If we are loving others in our own strength then that strength will run out. We need God’s strength. We need to stay on fire for God! The Message says, Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.
Our love should never be half-hearted or lazy. Never be lacking in zeal. “Zeal” is another word which has gone out of fashion today. It has become associated with extremists and terrorists. But Jesus Christ deserves every bit of enthusiasm and our passion and zeal any of us can offer. Keep your spiritual fervour – anything less is unworthy of Christ who died for us. 1 Corinthians 137 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Our Christian hope gives us joy. Affliction can leave us discouraged and impatient. But to know hope and patience, to keep on loving when it gets harder and harder to love, for that we need prayer. Faithful prayer. Enduring prayer.
Philippians 4 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
If we want to keep on loving we need to keep on praying.
13 Share with God’s people who are in need.
Our love has to be practical! Meeting needs and healing hurts. Note that we are not commanded to share what we have with the whole world. But we are commanded to help GOD’S PEOPLE who are in need.
James 2 14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
1 John 3 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
Our love has to be practical. It has to touch our wallets as well as our hearts.
Practice hospitality.
We should show our love by welcoming others into our homes. That is not just a bed for the night, but it can be as simple as a tea or a coffee or sharing Sunday lunch together. There are 101 opportunities for fellowship every week if we will only open our homes and share our lives with each other by practising hospitality.
Love must be sincere. Years ago now we were decorating the girls’ bedroom and as we were painting the ceiling the wallpaper cracked. What would we do? Would we replace the wallpaper, or just stick back the torn pieces and paint over the cracks and hope nobody would notice? There’s no place for just painting over the cracks in the life of the church. God loves us so much and we should love each other just as Christ has loved us. Love MUST BE sincere!
