Romans 12:9-16

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position. [a] Do not be conceited.

Dear Congregation,

Paul was a highly educated man. He knew all about Greek philosophy. He knew everything about Jewish holy scriptures. Today he would most probably have been a professor. Some of the sentences he wrote, especially in his letter to the Romans, have no ending.

I will give you an example of one such sentence. “For as sin reigned to death, so grace also will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ.”

Such sentences are difficult to understand. They kept the highly educated people of the world busy for over 2000 years. The educated then wrote books that are just as difficult to understand.

Theology - for some it is wonderful: to meditate and penetrate the meaning of the words. They study every letter and examine the meaning of it. For some this method gives life to the gospels. They compare the different holy scriptures and creeds and confessions.

Martin Luther loved this. He was a professor through and through.

I also love this theological, scientific thinking and reflecting.

But I also know that that is not the case for everybody.

I like it very much that Paul made this promise at the beginning of his letter to the Romans: it is my duty to bring the gospel to all people in Rome: Greeks and others, educated and uneducated.

This preliminary remark is important. He regards everything he writes in this letter as gospel: the complicated thoughts as well as the clear practical indications.

In our text for today the most important thing is not to put into practice the complicated thoughts that he was thinking. No. Paul puts the thoughts of highly educated people on the same level as the actions of the uneducated.

Both of them make up the preaching of the gospel.

I want to underline both of them and hold on to them. In a congregation the study of the scripture, and the drinking of coffee after the service, both are part of the preaching of the gospel. The one is not more important than the other.

That was quite a revolutionary thought in Rome. Of course the educated people thought that they were more important than the uneducated. Paul found a problem in Rome: the temptation to rank the people in some or the other way. To rank us! From top to bottom. Important people and unimportant people.

Paul sidestepped this problem right from the beginning. For him it was important. When he was in a discussion with an educated person, he talked like an educated man. When he talked to an uneducated person he acted like an uneducated. He regarded both at the same level. Let us look at it from a practical point of view. It is not acatalogue of commandments to look good before God. No. It is all about helping our fellow man to get to know God. It is about making evident the meaning of Jesus Christ in our lives. It is not about fulfilling the catalogue. It is about the others, our fellow men , our brothers and sisters, to keep them in our eyes. I must look away from myself; keep my eye on others. That is what the gospel is about. My faith has already saved me. I have received the greatest gift already. God is already in my life.

In this text there are 21 recommendations that this congregation can do to bring others to God. Paul's ideas are like that of a missionary: he is always thinking of others. There is something to say about each of these recommendations. It is a practical instruction to live our faith so that others can see it. I do not want to discuss every one of the recommendations. But I want to emphasize one of them: Practice hospitality. There are a few Greek words that I think all Christians should know. I do not think that knowing Greek makes you a better Pastor. But there is one Greek word that I believe in. Hospitality. In Greek it is Philoxenia. It means ”Love for what is foreign. Love for something or someone who is unknown.“ It is the opposite of Xenophobia. Which means fear of what is foreign. Philoxenia is pure gospel.

Because whoever is given such openness, such love, has overcome one of the greatest and most dangerous fears: the fear of what we do not know and the fear of those we do not know. It distinguishes a Christian society right from the beginning: this openness. A Christian society does not welcome only one group. It is not a society that refuses other groups. On the contrary it is a new society where we do not cut ourselves off from the rest, but we invite others. We will not stop doing this. If we do stop then we have lost our faith. Always protect our hospitality! Stay open! Hospitality in a congregation shows in different ways. It is a theological decision. Must someone first accomplish something to be accepted in our society? Do we refuse someone who has a different lifestyle? How far must it go for us to refuse someone into our society? A difficult question? Not at all.

Are there levels of hospitality? May someone have tea with us but not an evening meal? Is it justified to refuse someone? Paul encourages us to be hospitable. To love something or someone strange is encouraged.

Each and everyone will answer the question in his own way. Some love the unknown, and the stranger the country and the people there the more they want to travel there.

It is an important spiritual exercise to get to know yourself. How far does my love for the unknown go? Where are my boundaries and why do I have boundaries? Are they justified? Do I challenge myself? The love for other people, for strangers, Philoxenia, that we translates as hospitality, brings us to the essential point where we have to admit that we, ourselves are guests and are strangers in this world. I am a stranger and will stay a stranger. To feel at home in this strange world, hospitality is essential.

God himself is the host. That is his most important and most graceful role. God hosts us in this unknown world. If we think back: when we serve tea in the Treffpunkt it is a service to God and is not less important than the sermon from the pulpit.

That is what Paul writes in his letter to the Romans. Philoxenia recognizes differences and opens ways to overcome them.

It remains a life task for all of us. For each and every Christian. How we treat the unknown and strangers in life needs time and space; far and near; change and security; trust and mistrust; new and known. Hospitality is not naivety and innocence. It is the art of living and faith.

Our host is God. For Paul that is the centre of the educated and the uneducated.

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen