Pay Your Love-Debt!

16th Sunday after Pentecost, 9/28/14
Romans 13:8-10


Pay Your Love-Debt!
I. Because of Christ
II. To lead others to Christ


An article from last May in the Wall Street Journal reports good news and bad news regarding the personal debt of US citizens. On the one hand, the amount of home mortgage debt and auto loans rose. Those stats indicate there are fewer home foreclosures taking place and more vehicles being purchased. Credit card debt fell to the lowest level since 2002. The figures suggest Americans are still playing it safe when it comes to borrowing money.

That sounds like good news. And in many respects it is. But the weak demand for credit and the slow growth of wages could mean less consumer spending, which will hurt our country’s economic recovery.

So, is being in debt a bad thing or a good thing? There are so many factors that play into the answer to that question. Decades ago people attempted to pay off their debts as soon as possible. For young adults today—especially those with student loans—being in debt is a way of life.

Our Lord Jesus uses the Apostle Paul to speak to us this morning about debt. Not the monetary kind. The Christian kind. He speaks to us about what we owe to other people, the continuing debt to love one another.

That’s a debt we need to pay. That’s a debt we should be paying each day of our lives as God’s people. We live in a world that is cold and cruel, a world filled with selfishness and greed, a world in which hatred motivates unspeakable atrocities. What our world desperately needs is the love of Christ. And who better to show that love than people who have been touched by the love of our God—you and me? So please accept your Lord’s encouragement to do just that. Pay your love-debt! May our Lord’s words to us this morning instruct us and empower us to pay it.

Part I.

“Let no debt remain outstanding.” Some Christians have used that verse to state that God forbids being in debt. But that can’t be the case. In the Old Testament God established laws for his people about the terms of debts. He limited it to seven years and then the debt should be forgiven. In the New Testament Jesus spoke about acts of charity and one of them was to lend freely to those in need.

So what is Paul telling us here? Recall what he said in the verses just before where our text begins, verses that we heard in today’s second lesson. Paul stated, “Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” Although he’s referring especially to what we owe our governing authorities, as Christians we should be doubly sure to pay whatever we owe to others until that debt is paid in full and no longer exists.

But, spiritually speaking, there is a debt that we always owe, that’s never paid in full, that’s never liquidated. Paul refers to it as “the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” He then goes on to state that the 7 Commandments dealing with my neighbor “are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” I’m sure that’s not the first time you heard or read those words. And it would be easy for us to claim that’s what we do.

Especially when your neighbor has done something for you. Then we feel the debt of returning the favor. And usually we’re only too happy to do it. You’ve done something nice for me; I will grab the next opportunity to do something nice for you. But our Lord doesn’t limit loving our neighbor to those who’ve done something nice for us.

Nor does he limit loving our neighbor to the people we know and love. Again, that should be easy for us to do. He or she is a wonderful person. Of course we’ll show our love for them by what we do for them. They may even be family members. Who wouldn’t do something loving for a family member? That’s expected. But Jesus doesn’t limit loving our neighbor to such people.

So, just who is my neighbor? That’s a good question, one which an expert in Jewish law—including the Ten Commandments—asked none other than Jesus himself. You see, he was sure he could and did keep the command to love his neighbor. But he wanted to put limits on the definition of who his neighbor is. Jesus showed him there is no limit and do you recall how he did it? He told the Parable of the Good Samaritan. A Jewish man was robbed, beaten and left for dead. Along comes a Jewish priest and he avoided him. Next comes a Levite—a temple worker—and he avoids him as well. But then a Samaritan comes upon the man. Now Jews and Samaritans hated each other and took great pains to avoid one another. But it’s the Samaritan who cleans up the man’s wounds, puts him on his donkey and takes him to an inn. He even pays for the man’s stay for as long as he needs.

You see, we’ll pay our love-debt to people who love us and respect us, but our natural sinful condition reserves the right to withhold our love from those who’ve mistreated us, maligned us, made life difficult for us, or lead openly sinful lives. But Jesus stated in his Sermon on the Mount, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt. 5:44). He wants us to pay our love-debt even to our enemies.

The people to whom Paul originally wrote these words would get that opportunity to love their enemies sooner than they realized. Paul wrote this letter in the late 50s. In 64 Rome burned and Nero blamed the Christians. Their heathen Roman neighbors maligned them and charged them with treason for refusing to join in emperor worship. Some of them may have even been spectators in the stands cheering wildly as Christians were thrown to the lions. And the Roman Christians should pay their love-debt?!? How could they?

There’s only one way. There’s only one reason. There’s only one motivation. Jesus Christ. Jesus loved his enemies. He prayed for their forgiveness. He loved us and won our forgiveness even though we deserve his punishment. He still loves us more than anyone else. And your all-loving Savior tells you and me, “Pay your love-debt. Pay it because of me.”

Would you blame the family of John Crawford III if they hated the officers responsible for his death? Would you blame them for maligning the people in the justice system? Not if the same thing had happened to you. It’s hard to love your neighbor in cases like that. We know how hard it is. We also know how easy it is to feel spite and hatred for others. We know how easy it is to vent our disgust for someone else, to fly off the handle when we’ve been wronged. Imagine if that had been the response of Jesus—only loving the people who loved him and berating anyone who opposed him. Then we’d be forever lost. We’d never be sure of our forgiveness or his love for us. But he paid our debt of sin in full, a payment he made with his blood on Calvary’s cross. And there’s our motivation to pay our love-debt. Pay it because of Christ.

Part II.

One of the most frequently cited characteristics of the early Christians was how much they loved one another. In fact, non-Christians quickly noticed that Christians didn’t limit their love to their own kind. Their acts of charity toward all were well-known. It’s one of the reasons that Christianity spread so quickly.

Christian lifestyle is a powerful witness to others. They way we live our lives speaks volumes about what we believe. If someone can’t see Christ in us, they aren’t going to listen to a word we say about Christ. But if they see that you have a spiritual peace and strength and comfort and hope that they don’t, if they see that you have love even for your enemies, if they see that you aren’t immersed in this world, but that you’re living for the world to come, then you have an opportunity to tell them what makes you different, who has made you different, and why you’re different—Jesus Christ.

Again, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke these familiar words, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:16). And one of the greatest of those good deeds is not being full of spite when you’ve been wronged, not seeking to get even, but instead, forgiving others and showing them the love of Christ.

We have the most powerful reason in the world to do just that. St John wrote, “We love because he first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). Our God loved us first when he sent and sacrificed his Son for us. His love for me is far greater than my love for him. And that love motivates us to love others and lead them to Christ.

Pay your love-debt to lead others to Christ.

In this morning’s gospel, Jesus speaks about a difficult way of showing love to someone else—calling on them in a loving way to repent of their sin. Jesus calls on us to do that in order to lead that person to him as their Savior. The truth is that it’s easier for us overlook sin, to excuse it, to refuse the responsibility that Jesus gives us. The truth is there are far too many times when our words and actions have not shown love to others and have actually led people away from Christ. Lord, forgive us for failing to pay our love-debt. Renew us and empower us with your love so that we daily see not our obligation but our privilege of paying our love-debt solely because you loved us. Amen.