Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:21
“What counts for a Christian is how one lives. We are called by the gospel to live a different kind of life, to be engaged in the world and in the neighborhood in transformative ways. That is why Paul, after he makes his complex theological argument, ends in Romans 12 with a quite specific inventory of how Christians are to live in the world and in the neighborhood.
Paul says: Live in generosity as a giver. Paul knows that those who live in the gospel have been given an abundance of life, and they are to let that abundance from God spill over into the life of the neighborhood. That abundance among us is very often a material blessing, and it is to be shared. But it is also a generosity of spirit that reaches out, by its very openness, to let one’s presence and attitude be a blessing to others around.
Paul writes: Extend hospitality to strangers. The stranger is somewhat different for us now, as we are variously preoccupied with differences in ethnicity, in gender, in nationality, in religious passion, or even in class. It is easy enough to be suspicious of strangers and to stay with one’s own kind and exclude the others if we can. But Paul knows that in fact we are all strangers and aliens in the world, and we have been wrapped in God’s goodness that gives us freedom to practice hospitality to others, so that they may be welcome and make a home in our midst and be with us in the neighborhood of God.
Paul writes: Never avenge yourselves. He knows about trying to get even. He urges fellow Christians instead to break that vicious cycle of getting even, to transform the thirst for vengeance into acts of forgiveness, so that one no longer needs to get even. Such a transformative act impacts both parties in healing ways, the one forgiven and the one who forgives.
There is more that Paul highlights, but what a place to start: generosity, hospitality, forgiveness. When we resolve to live that way, the neighborhood is transformed.”
Walter Brueggemann in Celebrating Abundance: Devotions for Advent (Louisville: WJKP, 2017) 62-63.
When we get together in America over the holidays of Christmas and New Year’s Day, many people talk about various facets of life. Some speak about sports, politics, current events, or other topics. Often the focus of the conversations orbits around what needs to be done to change the world, solve systemic problems, or make things right in a broken world.
Interestingly, we have everything we need to sort every social ill in the Christ of Christmas. As we walk with Him we grasp abundant living and point the way for others. When we live and interact with our neighbors with generosity, hospitality, and forgiveness, we bless, welcome, and love in otherworldly ways. We show the world that Jesus is the transforming answer.
As we wrap up 2018 in looking at the theme of abundance, I have a question for you. Does your life reflect abundant living? After four rare days as a family of four, I write with gratitude to God that each member of my family is living this way. Today we disperse to live it out. What counts for all of us as Christians, as Brueggemann rightly notes, is how we live. How we live shows our neighbors what we believe.
What will your life reveal about what you believe in 2019? A good starting point is to lean into these three themes. Consider how God has resourced you to serve as a generous conduit of blessing. Think about something you can do to help a wanderer find a home with Christ. Reflect on what it means to forgive and love those around you. Over time, this will transform your life and your neighborhood!