Dear Caldwell,
I pray this finds you knowing how loved you are by our Lord – and by our church.
So much of scripture – this library of 66 books that guides our steps – is an effort at answering one central question: What matters the most? Followers of God and Christ, from across the widest range of experience and perspectives, gave us scripture to express their answer to that question. And, every day, across all sorts of media, we hear contemporary voices doing the same. For some today, that answer is the simple cry of “law and order,” meant to convey entire political ideologies that are so often sorely lacking in empathy. But it’s never that simple, something the apostle Paul understood as he ministered across all kinds of cultures and contexts as to who Jesus was and how we follow His ways.
As Gail told us Sunday, the New Testament Epistle to the Romans was Paul’s version of saying what matters most to God – love. That’s right, one word. Love. when all else fails, love. As with the fire alarm boxes that hang on the wall, “In case of emergency …”, Love.
Our day-to-day living, of course, complicates Paul’s simple rule. WE complicate it in all sorts of ways. We forget to love. We think we are loving another when we really aren’t. We rationalize all sorts of self-serving behaviors and ways of treating people as “love” without every stopping to ask if they feel loved by our actions, policies, rules and regulations.
Perhaps that’s why Romans 13:8-14 reads a bit like Paul’s version of the KISS rule; you know that one, right? Keep It Simple Saints (although usually we don’t say “saints”).
Tonight on the Preachers’ Porch, we take a look at that passage alongside Psalm 119:33-40. Can it be as simple as Paul seems to say?
Grab something cool to drink, invite a friend and join in. Use the link in the email just sent.
In Christ,
John