9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 
13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
— Romans 12:9-13, ESV

The Super Bowl has furnished us with many entertaining commercials, and this year was no exception.  Budweiser may or may not be the king of beers, but they are the king of Super Bowl ads.  This year’s featured a small Clydesdale delivering a fallen keg to a local bar, all to the tune of The Bellamy Brothers.

“Let Your Love Flow” was the Brother’s biggest hit, which is not to be confused with their second best seller, “If I Said You Have a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me,” which are words one should not say in church.  So I’ll stick with the first song and let love flow into the fabric of this sermon.

“Love” flowing from God to and through His people is a major theme in Holy Scripture.  Some form of the English word “love” appears about 700 times and is found in almost every single book of the Bible (minus 2 Kings and 3 of the minor prophets).  Read the 16 chapters of Romans and you will find a verse per chapter mentioning the precious word, “love.”

We must let our love flow, from God to us, from God through us.  God’s love through us goes to our fellow Christians first (12:9-13), then on to non-Christians (12:14-21).  Let’s look first at letting our love flow to our fellow followers of Jesus Christ.  

Love God

In our translation “love” is “genuine” (ESV).  In other English versions love is “without dissimulation” (KJV),  “without hypocrisy” (NASB), and “sincere” (NIV).  As usual, the closest to the original Greek is the NASB.  But, even they do not get the grammar exactly right.  

Paul used no verb in the first sentence.  He simply begins with the definite article, a noun, and an adjective, “The love un-hypocritical.”  It is a statement kind of like the one the great jazz saxophonist John Coltrane made with “A Love Supreme.”  Paul intends to put Christian love on display for us to look at, then make sure we are letting it flow to all members of the body of Christ.  

What we are about to see is what love looks like when it is real.  The word Paul actually chose for “love” is “agapē,” the deepest and highest form of sacrificial, unconditional, everlasting love.  When one has truly received it from God, love flows in certain ways, providing a sort of litmus test of Christian assurance.

Since the dawn of Christendom, there has been real faith and fake faith, and some people can fake it well.  Perhaps the true test is love.  Love can be faked, too, I suppose, but we have a paragraph of Scripture before us to help us delineate the true from the false.  

Make sure your love is a reflection of real Christianity.  Make sure it is Christianity without hypocrisy.  If it is, here is what love looks like and what love does:

Love the Word of God 

We’ve already alluded to the biblical meaning of agapē, which encompasses what it means to be loved by God and to love in Jesus’ name.  Such love is given by the gospel, but it is cultivated with the Bible.

Paul’s first lesson in love in this paragraph is to “abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.”  Abhorrence is actually a form of hate; therefore, hate is a form of love.  What the language indicates here is we are to avoid what God hates and get glued to what God loves.  

By loving and learning the word of God, we develop godly attitudes that lead to godly actions, while refraining from ungodly actions, in order to let God’s love flow through us to our fellow Christians.  Murder, adultery, theft, lying, and coveting are not loving things to share with others.  We should abhor them, and other sins.  Real, biblical love brings only good and godly things into the lives of others, beginning in our own household of faith, our local church.

Love the People of God

Real Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and a corporate relationship with Christ’s Church.  We become Christians by receiving God’s love through Jesus, and we prove Christianity by our loving involvement with His church.  This is what Paul means when he says, “Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor.”  

“Philadelphia,” brotherly love, family love, must be your destination if you are determined to let your love flow.  It begins God’s family first, and your Christian family is your first priority.  The first church understood this well, and the when the last church is gathered above with the Lord, we will understand it perfectly.  But we struggle with this in modern times.

Once again the love being described here is our litmus test.  People today claim to have Jesus as their Lord but break His commandments, not the least of which is Hebrews 10:25.  When you forsake your church, you are forsaking brotherly love.  

Now let’s not be legalistic about it.  Taking a vacation away from your church is no sin by no means.  Neither are providential hindrances which make you miss a Sunday now and then.  But ask yourself a question, whose family is the most important family in my life?  It ought to be God’s, and God’s family is the church.  The church, the true church, is the only family you are going to spend eternity with.  So, “honor” your church, seize the initiative to share with your church, the tangible loves of your time, talents, and treasure.  

Love with Action

It has been said faith is love in action.  This is a very good saying.  Paul says, “Be not slothful in zeal, but fervent in spirit.”  Slothful (now there’s a Super Bowl commercial that did not work) is spiritual laziness, while zeal and fervent is an active spiritual life.  

In the same sentence Paul adds the stark statement, “Serve the Lord.”  The ESV “serve” is actually a participle form of “bondservant,” Paul’s favorite description of himself and a term that defines a true Christian.  A true Christian serves the Lord, in worship and devotion, then serves the Lord by serving the brothers and sisters in Christ, actively.  

An active spiritual life not only gets up and goes to the house of God on Sundays, but it reaches out to the people of God every day of the week.  As a Pastor I’m with you on Sundays.  On other days, I am praying for you.  As I pray, I always ask the Lord to show me something I can do for someone that day.  It may be a call or text, a brief visit, perhaps sharing a meal, or some other tangible thing.  This is love flowing into action.  And, you don’t have to be a Pastor to do it.

So, don’t let the extent of your Christianity be occupying a pew for an hour a week.  Or, Paul would say you are simply a slothful Christian.  But, if you can complete a list, short or long, of things to actually do for your church family during the week, you are letting your love fervently flow.  Try it, others will like it.  

Love with Presence

Then, are times you can love others without necessarily saying or doing much of anything.  You just show up.  Sometimes your presence is a loving present.  

Combining “rejoice in hope” and “patient in tribulation” reflects real highs and lows in life.  There are times in life that call for pure joy, celebration, commemoration of hope received, like birthdays and anniversaries, milestones and memories.  There are times in life that are pure misery, tribulation, like sickness and death.  

In the middle ground of life we walk on level ground.  But the highs and lows, the mountain tops and valleys, are tough to navigate in different ways for different reasons.  It is on these occasions that we show love by showing up.

This is why we go to parties, celebrations, hospitals, and funerals.  Words are wonderful.  But presence is powerful.  Then, there are other presents we can give to one another which speak of love.

Love with Presents

Paul now closes his case for letting love flow from believer to believers.  He points out three things, three gifts, we can lovingly give to one another.  These presents are “prayer,” “contribut[ions],” and “hospitality.”  

Prayer is free and should be freely given.  Your Pastor prays for you and I know many return the favor.  A old Pastor friend of mine started praying for our church every Sunday about four years ago.  Since then the spirit and even the size of our church have improved.  Amen.  

To contribute is costly.  The word Paul chose for this gift is actually the familiar Greek word koinonia.  It is often translated fellowship, here contribute.  Most accurately it is sharing, sharing love in tangible ways with one another.  Sometimes l-o-v-e is spelled c-a-s-h.  Direct and secret giving and great gifts of love.    

Hospitality is one of my favorite gifts to give and receive.  There is nothing I enjoy more than a good dinner party with my Christian family and friends.  If I ever want the lottery, we’re adding a big wing onto our house which will be nothing more than a huge kitchen and dining room, and were going to throw a big dinner party every weekend.  And, so Andrea won’t have a heart attack, I’ll hire a full-time cook and cleaner to do the work.  

In a way, the Apostle Paul has just elaborated on one of the most important sayings of Jesus recorded by the Apostle John:

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
— John 13:35

Such love is a gift.  Such love is a commandment.  Such is a litmus test of our Christian faith.  Let your love flow, first to the church, then to the world.