Romans 13:8-10.

Picture a small(ish) cohort of believers who are getting on with Paul’s injunction from Romans 12:18 – that says, ‘if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone’.

Here in chapter 13 verses 8 to 10 Paul gives that community – and us, a two-point strategy to ensure that peaceful living ensues.

And both prongs of this strategy have to do with obligations.

One is a financial obligation.

The other is a relational obligation.

In the context of respecting government and fiduciary entities Paul says to his readers, “let no debt remain outstanding”.

That means we have an obligation to pay back – in a timely manner – our debts.

Seems obvious, right?

Rather than engaging in schemes and obfuscation, Christians are to pay their taxes, their mortgages, their credit card bills, their speeding tickets, their council rates, their strata fees, their various insurances when they fall due, or when other arrangements can be made.

That is part of what Paul means when he says, “live in harmony with one another” – Romans 12:16.

Harmonious relationships with institutions, with government, with trades-people and the like, through paying debts in a prompt and timely manner, is his point.

And this debt repayment deal is not a new one. 

Thousands of years ago King David advised his people thus:  Psalm 37:21, “The wicked person borrows and does not repay, but the righteous one is gracious and giving.” 

How we deal with finances and with people is also a part of our witness to Christ. 

To the church in Colossae Paul wrote these words, “be wise in the way you act towards outsiders, make the most of every opportunity”. Colossians 4:5.

Wisely witnessing to ‘outsiders’ will mean, among other things, taking our financial obligations seriously – in particular, as St. Paul urged that little church in Rome, “let no debt remain outstanding”.

And then, second, Paul engages in a clever word play when he reminds his friends of their relational obligations.

Here is the vernacular ‘Message’ version of verses 8-10.

^8-10 Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you don’t have, and any other “don’t” you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.

Love.

We owe a debt of love.

St. John puts it this way: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, as God so loved us, we also are to love one another. I John 4:10.

The ‘love’ on view is the kind of self-sacrificing love that Jesus exemplified in his ministry to us; he put us right with God, by bearing the debt of sin that we had ‘racked up’.

And as we know, privilege leads to responsibility: we are ‘obligated’, as it were, to be Christlike in our relationships with others – not so that we will merit or earn forgiveness or friendship with God, but in gratitude that we are God’s precious children, through faith in Jesus.

Hence, we will not pursue relationships that destroy families, and wreck communities, and bring dishonour to Jesus. An all too familiar list is referenced by St. Paul: adultery, murder, covetousness, theft.

The whole aim of Gods law – the ten commandments, the ‘law of Moses’ – which Jesus kept perfectly – and his perfect law keeping has been credited to our account Romans 5:1, is that we might love our neighbours as ourselves; to seek after the very best for those in our purview…even if it means making choices that don’t always appear to be in our interests; choices that are often inconvenient and costly.

Do you know, in this past week alone, I’ve seen this church do exactly that…serving and loving neighbours selflessly and sacrificially.

• There’s the person who visited and prayed with another parishioner in prison.
• The person who spent hours and hours assisting an ‘aging-in-place’ agency put the right plan together for a parishioner with dementia – and that dear parishioner has no idea of the time and sacrifices their friend is making to make them safe and comfortable.
• The person has been meeting with and praying for their friend in a child custody matter where no clear outcomes are presenting.
• The person whose driveway was blocked by a distressed parent unable to find a space to safely drop a child off to school – who sweetly smiled and greeted the harried driver with, ‘I understand, take your time…’.
• The person assisting a family of refugees with relocation, housing, education, and employment.
• The person caring for a friend whose marriage is in tatters and whose kids have gone ‘feral’, by dropping in hot cappuccinos and groceries, and by sending encouraging texts.
• The person who lives in the retirement village who prays for neighbours and friends each day, and who invites them to afternoon tea, and to special events where they can hear of God’s love for them in Christ.
• The person in the checkout line – who instead of being furious with the cashier for a massive overcharge, patiently points out the error, and then graciously wishes the cashier all the best for the day ahead.

That’s neighbourly love.

And you dear friends are exemplars of such love – and in so doing you are, through Christ, fulfilling God’s law and our church Vision to be the Light for the City and Refreshment for the Soul.

Well done.

In the name of Christ.

Amen.