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Love must be sincere\u2026 Share with the Lord\u2019s people who are in need. Practice hospitality (Romans 12:9a, 13)

If you belong to a church, how would you know if someone is in need? Our text for today says, \u201cShare with the Lord\u2019s people who are in need.\u201d When it says, \u2018the Lord\u2019s people\u2019, this does not mean \u2018the Lord\u2019s people\u2019 somewhere far away, but \u2018the Lord\u2019s people\u2019 right here in the same congregation to which we belong. Thus, the question, how would you know if someone in your congregation is in need?

You are probably asking, \u201cIs it really my responsibility to find out if someone is in need? Isn\u2019t it their responsibility to call one of the deacons and say, \u2018I need help!\u2019\u201d The way that the apostle Paul writes our text, suggests that it is not the person in need who should be sticking up their hand to ask for help. Rather, it is those with resources to share who should be looking for someone to share with.

This text implies that Christians in their nature are generous. Early in Acts we read that the members of the church \u2018had everything in common\u2019 (Acts 2:44; 4:32-35). Christians voluntarily shared their stuff with those more in need then themselves. The leaders did not need to make an appeal for the \u2018benevolence fund\u2019; it was always full.

We have been considering different aspects of the central command, \u201cLove must be sincere.\u201d This Christian love is not a feeling, even though feelings ought to be part of it, this love is an attitude of the mind. It is a choice we make to love others in practical ways; to love in the same way that God loves us. This love is an action which flows out of us naturally.

In today\u2019s snippet, we are told that sincere love includes looking for people to share with. When we are among members of our church, we are on the lookout for those we are able to share with. This may be the most difficult aspect of love yet. I\u2019ll make this confession. I don\u2019t go to a church gathering with this kind of attitude. It\u2019s more likely that when someone has a need, they need to beg for help. And I make excuses. Here are a few I remember making: I don\u2019t have time for this, I\u2019ve got a sermon to preach; or I don\u2019t have resources for this, I live on a preacher\u2019s salary after all; or I don\u2019t know how to help this person, their needs are too complicated. And if I can\u2019t find any excuses, I move on to blame: you should work harder or did you squander your resources?

All feeble excuses, to be sure. Yet, I have made them. These are not the attitude of a heart that pulsates with God\u2019s love. I think it is fair to say that many Christian have become stingy. We have given over the ministries of mercy to agencies. There is wisdom in that. However, it has given us permission to hold tightly onto the rest of our resources.

Love that is sincere is not stingy. It freely shares whatever it has. Such love sees our resources not as things we own, but as gifts that God has given us for the wellbeing of ourselves and others. Our text uses the word koinonia, frequently used as a word for church. It means more than just sharing one\u2019s abundance with someone in need. This has shared suffering in mind. Love gives even when it hurts. It shares money freely even when money is tight. And when the contributions have run out, love continues to share in the need of another.

Such love is not rooted in what we have, but in God who has given us what we have. We have been given the full and free mercy of God. Out of that abundance we are called to share with those in need.

What if we always carried some money in our wallets that we intended to give away? How would the world change? How would the perception of Christians change? Remember the question we began with, \u2018How would you know if someone is in need?\u2019

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