Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore,
brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so
that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and
perfect. 3
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of
yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in
one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5 so we, who
are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of
another. 6
We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy,
in proportion to faith; 7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;
8 the
exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence;
the compassionate, in cheerfulness. 9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold
fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo
one another in showing honour. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit,
serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering,
persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend
hospitality to strangers. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do
not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with
those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be
haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. 17 Do not
repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of
all. 18
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
19
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God;
for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 20 No,
"if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them
something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their
heads." 21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Paul
writes to the Jesus-followers of Rome, who are struggling with the thorny issue
of culture. Most of them come from a Jewish background, but as non-Jewish
people choose to follow Jesus, the Jewish-originated Christians became become uncomfortable
with people who have different cultural practices. Paul points out that all
culture is subservient to the call to follow Jesus: “Do not be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may
discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
We who live in South Africa embrace eleven
different languages, and at least as many different cultural practices. While there is no
denying the value of culture in providing identity and affirming a sense of
community, all culture is temporary, and constantly in flux. The one constant
is that which is offered by Jesus: an unwavering commitment to overcome evil
with good. Paul offers many different examples of how this might be done,
ranging from blessing those who persecute you and weeping with the sorrowful,
to living peaceably with all people. And the kind of moral characteristics
required to achieve this include humility, patience, love, and compassion.
All
of these run counter to our prevailing human nature. Human culture is self-preserving,
other-denying, defensive of the resources of the culture and unwilling to share
anything with people of other cultures – unless there is benefit in it. For this
reason we who follow Jesus aspire to more than cultural-preservation. We long instead
for a Christ-transformed world of justice and love.
Challenge:
ask the Holy Spirit to transform your cultural habits that are selfish and
cruel.
Song:
What
shall our greeting be:
sign
of our unity?
‘Jesus
is Lord!’
May
we no more defend
barriers
he died to end:
give
me your hand, my friend –
one
church, one Lord.
Frederick Pratt Green 1903-
© Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Life Together
The Scripture passage for
the day is drawn from Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck, A Guide to Prayer
for Ministers and other Servants, (Nashville, The Upper Room 1983), 178.
This reflection is from my own
devotional exercises for the day.
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