Pentecost 14 - Contemporary

Romans 12 starts with the encouragement to “put our gifts to use” in response to God’s great mercy.  Our reading for today continues with a list of 30 instructions, for example: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another . . . be fervent in spirit . . . rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” and that’s only a small portion of the first three verses.  This will feel overwhelming if we make it about “us”, but this was written to people facing persecution as they lived in the heart of the Roman Empire.  Paul’s words are really a description of how different our lives are when we truly live by the power of the Holy Spirit as a member of the Kingdom of God.