Daily Scripture: Romans 12:9 Don’t let love be a mere outward show. Recoil from what is evil, and cling to what is good. 10 Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect. 11 Don’t be lazy when hard work is needed, but serve the Lord with spiritual fervor. 12 Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer. 13 Share what you have with God’s people, and practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you — bless them, don’t curse them! 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be sensitive to each other’s needs — don’t think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends. Don’t be conceited. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but try to do what everyone regards as good. 18 If possible, and to the extent that it depends on you, live in peace with all people. 19 Never seek revenge, my friends; instead, leave that to God’s anger; for in the Tanakh it is written,
“Adonai says, ‘Vengeance is my responsibility; I will repay.’”[Romans 12:19 Deuteronomy 32:41]
20 On the contrary,
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For by doing this, you will heap
fiery coals [of shame] on his head.”[Romans 12:20 Proverbs 25:21–22]
21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
13:1 Everyone is to obey the governing authorities. For there is no authority that is not from God, and the existing authorities have been placed where they are by God.
Reflection Questions
First-century Rome was a lot like Washington, D.C.—obsessed with political maneuvers and intrigue. So it was especially striking that, in his letter to Christians in Rome, the apostle Paul virtually ignored human power struggles (Nero was probably emperor when Paul wrote). Instead, he called the Christians to live as Jesus, their true king, did. They were to seek peace, to overcome evil with good, to live as citizens of God’s invisible yet supreme kingdom.- These verses can be hard to live into even in everyday settings: “Be the best at showing honor to each other….If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people” (verses 10, 18). What inner fears and drives make it hard for you to honor and live at peace with people who are different from you? How can God’s eternal love for you provide a foundation on which you can set aside the need to climb above others?
- Romans 13 reflected ideas common in Paul’s day, and no doubt the facts of life in an empire that did not allow dissent from the emperor’s rule. But it went deeper. Paul later urged behavior the emperor couldn’t monitor: “Pray for kings and everyone who is in authority….This is right and it pleases God our savior” (1 Timothy 2:2-3). Right now, ask God to bless a candidate you do not plan to vote for this year. How hard did you find that? Consider continuing to do that throughout this election year.
Lord God, I like being right. It’s hard to accept that good people can reach different conclusions. Keep teaching me how, in your spirit, to live at peace with all people. Amen.
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Insights from Darren Lippe
Darren Lippe helps facilitate Journey 101 “Loving God” classes, guides a 7th-grade Sunday school class, is a member of a small group & a men’s group, and serves on the Curriculum team.Traditional conversational rules have always stated that one should never talk about religion, sex, or politics; Miss Manners has since updated the list to include ailments & bodily functions – the latter, sadly, severely limits conversations with teen-aged boys.
Last spring our family visited the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma. Born in 1879 to a prominent Cherokee family, Rogers’ had an amazing life. His mother, a devout Methodist, died when Will was only 10-years-old. His father, a Senator of the Cherokee Nation & signatory of Oklahoma’s state constitution, was a stern taskmaster & hopeful that Will would become a serious student & successful businessman. However, Will, interested in cowboys & horses, didn’t “take to school” saying, “I studied the 4th Reader for 10 years.”
Rogers left Oklahoma & got his start as a trick-roper with traveling western-themed circuses. As he did his rope tricks, he would share stories or various thoughts that were on his mind. He then moved onto vaudeville & burlesque shows & eventually Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway. His audiences loved his common-man view of life & of politics. As he famously said, “I don’t make jokes. I watch the government & report the facts.”
Rogers, a life-long Democrat, once quipped, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” (In the interest of bipartisanship he also said, “I’m old enough to remember when a liberal was generous with his own money.”)
Rogers’ audience grew as he worked in other mediums. He appeared in 71 movies, was a national radio star with he own weekly show, authored 6 best-selling books, & wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns. (I can still recall reading reprints of his columns in the Clay Center Dispatch when visiting my grandparents as a kid.)
He gained recognition as a humorist-philosopher, good-naturedly roasting presidents, politicians, & societal elites. He downplayed his own views saying, “Everybody is ignorant; only on different subjects.” He mocked political campaigns saying, “There are people running for office who wouldn’t even be allowed to play with matches.” He teased government saying, “The only difference between death & taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” And Rogers was skeptical of campaign promises noting, “If we got 1/10 of what was promised in election speeches, there wouldn’t be any inducement to go to heaven.”
Will Rogers died in a small plane crash in Alaska in 1935. His death was mourned by millions of Americans & theaters across the United States dimmed their lights for 2 minutes to commemorate his passing. During one of his shows he had said, “When I die, my epitaph is going to read: I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I didn’t like.”
So what if we took a cue from Will Rogers & strived to have a more genial spirit as we talked about politics? Perhaps today’s Scripture can give us some tips. Using The Message translation, Paul urges us to:
Me: Is this appropriate for the dinner table?
Jacob: (Thinking.) I’ll tell you later, Matthew.
Me: Sigh.
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Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Darren Lippe helps facilitate Journey 101 “Loving God” classes, guides a 7th-grade Sunday school class, is a member of a small group & a men’s group, and serves on the Curriculum team.Traditional conversational rules have always stated that one should never talk about religion, sex, or politics; Miss Manners has since updated the list to include ailments & bodily functions – the latter, sadly, severely limits conversations with teen-aged boys.
Last spring our family visited the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma. Born in 1879 to a prominent Cherokee family, Rogers’ had an amazing life. His mother, a devout Methodist, died when Will was only 10-years-old. His father, a Senator of the Cherokee Nation & signatory of Oklahoma’s state constitution, was a stern taskmaster & hopeful that Will would become a serious student & successful businessman. However, Will, interested in cowboys & horses, didn’t “take to school” saying, “I studied the 4th Reader for 10 years.”
Rogers left Oklahoma & got his start as a trick-roper with traveling western-themed circuses. As he did his rope tricks, he would share stories or various thoughts that were on his mind. He then moved onto vaudeville & burlesque shows & eventually Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway. His audiences loved his common-man view of life & of politics. As he famously said, “I don’t make jokes. I watch the government & report the facts.”
Rogers, a life-long Democrat, once quipped, “I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” (In the interest of bipartisanship he also said, “I’m old enough to remember when a liberal was generous with his own money.”)
Rogers’ audience grew as he worked in other mediums. He appeared in 71 movies, was a national radio star with he own weekly show, authored 6 best-selling books, & wrote over 4,000 newspaper columns. (I can still recall reading reprints of his columns in the Clay Center Dispatch when visiting my grandparents as a kid.)
He gained recognition as a humorist-philosopher, good-naturedly roasting presidents, politicians, & societal elites. He downplayed his own views saying, “Everybody is ignorant; only on different subjects.” He mocked political campaigns saying, “There are people running for office who wouldn’t even be allowed to play with matches.” He teased government saying, “The only difference between death & taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” And Rogers was skeptical of campaign promises noting, “If we got 1/10 of what was promised in election speeches, there wouldn’t be any inducement to go to heaven.”
Will Rogers died in a small plane crash in Alaska in 1935. His death was mourned by millions of Americans & theaters across the United States dimmed their lights for 2 minutes to commemorate his passing. During one of his shows he had said, “When I die, my epitaph is going to read: I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I didn’t like.”
So what if we took a cue from Will Rogers & strived to have a more genial spirit as we talked about politics? Perhaps today’s Scripture can give us some tips. Using The Message translation, Paul urges us to:
- Be cheerfully expectant.
- Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath
- Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.
- Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone.
- If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody.
- Don’t insist on getting even
- Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.So, maybe just maybe, we can strive to tactfully include even politics in our future conversations. As for the other discouraged topics? Well…
Me: Is this appropriate for the dinner table?
Jacob: (Thinking.) I’ll tell you later, Matthew.
Me: Sigh.
---------------------
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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