Brick and Mortar

Read:

Romans 13:8-14

Debt can be a terrible thing. Now, there are many kinds of debt but when I say the word “debt” I think most of us think of the same thing. We think of credit cards, home loans, student loans, car loans, business loans, or such types. Some of us might think of the money we owe a friend or family member. Some us might think of the money someone else owes us. We might consider the damage that we did with our first credit card and the lessons we learned with that little devil (no pun intended). Maybe it has nothing to do with money. Perhaps there is a debt you owe a friend for doing a great favor. Perhaps someone owes you a debt that can’t be paid with money; it can only be paid the same way that it was made. Perhaps you have incurred debt because of something someone else has done. You might have used or heard the phrase, “You owe me because of what (he/she) has done.” Or, “I owe you because of what (he/she) has done.” At any rate, I think we all have some kind of understanding of debt. 

The early Christ followers in Rome knew a very similar debt as we do, but Paul challenged it. Paul flipped it over and made it something very different. The Roman church was quite different from some of the other Christian groups. Before Paul’s great reversal of life with Christ, he was an employ of Rome and he was very familiar with them. He knew the way they lived and the influence of sin that hovered over this city. It was very Hellenized, meaning that it was immersed in Greek culture. There was a large influence of pagan worship. The use of gymnasiums and public bathing houses were very common in Rome. This was a contrast to the Jewish lifestyle but many Jews were being influenced by this Greek way of living. Criminal activity was common by both sides of poor peasant criminals and systematic criminals. This was the environment of the church in Rome and it was the environment that Paul presented his letter. This letter was an urge to protest against the evil influences of the Roman people. Despite what the empire was offering, Paul was trying to quietly influence the people that had dedicated themselves to a Christ-like lifestyle. 

Among this culture, debt was very common. It was a weapon commonly used for oppression. It was a tool for the Romans and the Jewish aristocracy to manipulate and enslave the lives of the poor. Much of the sin that Jesus preached against can be contributed back to debt collection and high interest rates. Much of the oppression that Jesus preached against can be contributed back to debt collection. Many of the authorities, including the Roman and the religious governments, would use debt collection to control much of the poor population. Doesn’t that sound suspiciously familiar? There are so many well-known organizations in this world today that use debt to enslave people. The primary source of income for major credit companies does not come from the fees they charge for businesses to use their machines. It comes from the interest rates and over limit fees they charge cardholders. I digress. Jesus preached against this and Paul echoes the Lord’s sentiments. But, he uses this form of evil to teach his listeners in Rome about one of the greatest contrasts to evil. He uses their knowledge about debt and its oppressing aptitudes to teach his listeners about love. Now, if you are thinking what I am thinking, you are saying to yourself, “This oughta be good.” 

When Paul mentions debt to these Christ followers in Rome, the thoughts that come to mind are tools of oppression. Debt was like a plague. But he says, “Do not hold debt over people and do not accumulate debt with others. The only debt you should owe or ask of people is love. The only thing you should owe people and the only thing people should owe you is love.” Whoa... For the people in this culture, this was completely upside down. How would love make anyone any money? It doesn’t. At least it does not allow people to accumulate riches. Christ presented the idea of not accumulating riches but the wealthy class providing for the poor class with love. What a radical idea. Paul wanted this radical idea to resonate with the church in Rome. He wanted them to simply love one another selflessly. Paul preached this message because his people in Rome were not living up to a love standard. They were showing false love for one another. This false love was culminating hate. These people were trying to live up to the Jewish commandments but in the process, they were not considering the one commandment all of the others were summed up with, the commandment to love your neighbor as you would yourself. These people lived by the Law in the Torah but Paul teaches that love is the essential ethic in the Torah. This ethic must be very carefully and critically applied to the life of the Christ follower. 

Paul follows up this lesson on love with encouragement for his listeners. He tells them that the time has come to make Christ apparent. These people were citizens of Rome. They were people that were influenced by Hellenistic culture. They were known to stay drunk all the time, sleep around, obsess over each other, treat each other badly, fighting and bullying one another, and the influence of the sovereign God was not very present. He tells them to not partake in these common Hellenistic activities. But rather, partake in the activities that present Christ. He instructs them to find, show, invite, introduce, present, and be an ambassador for Christ and do this with selfless love for one another. 

I think it is safe to say that we, as Christ followers, are familiar with the instructions to love one another without biases and selfishness. If you have heard or read only a few of my sermons (and you are still listening) you should know that by now. But, I think we sometimes don’t consider what it means to love your neighbor as you would yourself. Do we actually consider those implications? Or, do we just carry on with our lives thinking, “Oh yeah yeah, I do enough of that.” If you think you do enough of it, you might be missing something. That would imply that there is an end to it; this love has no end. The love that Paul is urging these Christ followers is the same kind of love that we can use to present Christ to one another. That is the ultimate mission: to present Christ with our lives. We do that with this radical type of love. This type of love is far more than just an emotional state. This love is active all the time and promotes the good of someone else. It illuminates the good in other people. It works to present the good in a person and to never harm them. It is present for the good and well-being of a community of people. It is completely selfless. It holds people together and it doesn’t separate people. To quote Pink Floyd, “All in all we are all just bricks in the wall.” Love is the mortar or the cement that holds us all together. If there is no mortar we will fall apart. If the wall is weak it will fall down. But if our love is strong and we all stick together, there is no wind, storm, evil, hate, or catastrophe that will pull us apart. 

Another way that you can identify this type of love is that it is difficult and challenging. It is a no brainer that I love my family, church, and my friends. But, loving the people that have betrayed me is difficult. Loving the people that have shown a reflection of hate in the world is challenging. This type of love takes time and patience to develop. This kind of love loves what the world might call “unlovable”. But, that is the kind of debt that Paul is talking about. It is a debt that is hard to pay. It is a love debt. I am sure there are times that God has a hard time loving the world, even loving you and me. But, we are left with the reminder that God so loved the world that God made a very significant sacrifice.

Since we are Christ followers, we all owe a certain kind of debt to one another and to people that are different from us. We owe them selfless love. Why? Because that is part of the life we live; that is what God commands of us. But, the more we show disgust or hate for each other, the more we force ourselves into debt, the more love we owe. 

We strive to live by God’s commandments. Of course, God’s commandments can be manipulated and used against people or to hurt people. This has been done for centuries. For ages church-going Christians have used God’s commandments to force people away from God. This is one thing about our faith that hurts my inner being. Our bible has been used to separate and destroy communities. It has been used to kill millions of people. It has been used as a tool for self-righteousness. It has been used to make money. It has even been used to justify hate. So, one might ask the question, if this thing has been used to say one thing by one person but something completely different by another, how do I determine what is right or wrong? There is one way to determine if our bible, God’s commandments, and the gospel message are being used correctly. We can find this written throughout the text. Paul recites it in our text today. Love God with everything you have. Then, love your neighbor as you would want to be love. All of God's commandments can be summed up with those two. If something is in opposition of those two commandments, it is not God’s will.  

We are the bricks in this world and love is the mortar that holds us together. How can you strengthen the love between us all? How can you show the world with your selfless love that God is here with us, holding us together?