Lucky Number 13
Lucky Number 13
Romans 12:9-13
Unlucky number 13. Many hotels and hospitals refuse to label a 13th floor, jumping instead from 12 to 14 on the elevator. Some airlines will not label row 13 on their planes. Why has 13 gotten such a bad reputation? It goes all the way back to the First Century. Judas Iscariot, the Betrayer, was the 13th person to arrive at the Last Supper. Judas went on to hand over Jesus to the authorities for just 30 pieces of silver. The shame and guilt from his betrayal led him to despair and a self-inflicted death. During the Middle Ages, Norse mythology popularized a similar story about a dinner with the gods at which the 13th guest, Loki, the god of mischief, caused the world to plunge into darkness.
Historically, 13 has been one of the unluckiest numbers in the world. That is, until 13 got a new spokesperson by the name of Taylor Swift, who is not afraid of 13 at all and claims it’s her lucky number. She said in one interview,
I was born on the 13th, I turned 13 on Friday the 13th, my first album went gold in 13 weeks. Also, my first song that ever went number 1, it had a 13 second intro, I didn't even do that on purpose! And every time I've ever won an award at an award show, I've either been seated in the 13th row, or row M, which is the 13th letter.
Taylor Swift has definitely given 13 an upgrade. Thousands of young women across the world now claim 13 as their favorite number.
But long beforeTaylor Swift, we have the Apostle Paul who, in Romans 12:9-13, gives 13 exhortations on how to live for Jesus Christ. Thirteen ways Christians can present their bodies as living sacrifices to God for His glory. Thirteen ways to fight sin. Thirteen ways to not be conformed to the world. Thirteen ways to be transformed by the renewal of the mind and demonstrate the will of God. It is my hope that, today, you will see the number 13 in a new light.
Paul lays out these 13 exhortations without any specific structure. Many scholars refer to this as a “parenesis”, a string of general ethical content. Paul is probably writing with his mind on two things: the church in Rome and the specific exhortations they may need to hear and all Christians who need to heed these commands. Some scholars believe that the first command, “Let love be genuine,” is the main topic of the paragraph, and the next 12 exhortations are actions that prove whether or not love is genuine. Although this is possible, I believe that all 13 are functions to be categorized under Romans 12:1-2. They are all ways that Christians present their bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord.
These 13 exhortations can serve as CliffsNotes for the Christian life. When we ask “What is God calling us to do in the church?”, the answer can be found in Romans 12:9-13. I pray that our church would excel in these 13 ways and, who knows, maybe 13 will become your favorite number as well.
One, let love be genuine. Love is the foundation of life. In Matthew 22:36, Jesus was asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” He replied,
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 22:37-40
Knowing the first, Paul is probably emphasizing the second in Romans 12. Love should be real and authentic. In the First Century, the main form of entertainment was plays where the actors would put on masks to show their emotions. After the play, they would remove their masks and go back to their normal lives. Christians, cannot wear masks. Our love must be authentic; we must love God and His people from our hearts. We cannot act one way in public and at our gatherings and then act another way in private. We must be the same when we are together and when we are alone.
Our love must reflect the genuine love of Jesus Christ, but we cannot do any of these 13 commands unless we have been born again.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11
God loved us by sending Jesus to die for us. Jesus died and was raised for us. Because we were so loved by God through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can now love one another genuinely. Jesus demonstrated genuine love, and He has given us the ability to have genuine love. Is your love genuine? If not, you may not know God. Are you just pretending to love God and others? Are you faking it? Are you wearing a mask?
Two, abhor what is evil. “Abhor” is a strong word that means to hate exceedingly. Do you exceedingly hate evil? Do you exceedingly hate any form of sin? Do you exceedingly hate lies so you would never speak them? Do you exceedingly hate lust so you would never objectify another person? Do you exceedingly hate ungratefulness so you would never complain?
Cynthia Gamble loved all animals, but she especially loved tigers and had a pet Bengal tiger. She kept it caged in her backyard and loved and nurtured it. Until one day, the cage broke, and her pet tiger mauled her to death. This is how we often treat sin. We keep it close. We think it's safe because it is caged. But, in reality, it is waiting to maul us to death. Beloved, do not coddle sin; put it to death. Abhor what is evil.
Three, hold fast to what is good. We abhor and avoid evil by clinging to what is good. How do we know what is good? We know because the Word of God tells us. The idea of the phrase “hold fast” is gluing yourself to what is good. We should desire to tether ourselves tightly to what is good. It is the same phrase used to describe the sexual union of a husband and a wife. Like a toddler clinging to his mother’s leg on the first day of school, we should wrap our lives around what is good. Is your life tethered tightly to good and godly things?
Four, love one another with brotherly affection. The church should be a family. Normally, the closest relationships in our lives are those in our families. Paul is making the application that the church should have the same level of affection and, in many cases, even more. Lately, I have had several conversations lately with those who are dealing with difficult family situations, and I have been reminded of Jesus' words in Luke 18 after His conversation with the rich young ruler.
And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Luke 18:29–30
God has given the church to be a family for us. We have spiritual fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, spiritual sons and daughters to love and who love us. Do you think of the church as your family?
Five, outdo one another in showing honor. Christians should recognize and give credit to others over themselves.
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth;
a stranger, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2
As Christians, we should work hard to see the good in and show honor to others. When we would rather that others see us, we take our eyes off God. We do not want to be like the prodigal son’s older brother who thought only of himself,
“Look, these many years, I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.” Luke 15:29
Is your heart like the older brother who did not enter the joy of his father’s house? Are you obsessed with being recognized for what you’ve done? Husbands, are you embittered against your wife because she doesn’t recognize your work? Wives, are you embittered against your husband because he doesn’t see all that you’re doing? Young people, are you embittered against your parents because they don’t recognize your accomplishments or see your improvement?
When we clamor for the praise of our spouse or parents or boss, we are not outdoing one another in showing honor. We are conforming to a worldly way of thinking. We are seeking our own glory rather than the glory of Christ, our immaturity is apparent. Spiritual immaturity desires to be praised while spiritual maturity desires to praise others. Be quick to praise others and not yourself.
Sixth, do not be slothful in zeal. Simply put, this means don’t be lazy. We must continue in our zeal for the Lord and use our strength for His glory. Young people, God has given you strength and energy, do not squander it. Expend your youthful energy for the Lord. At the end of every day, you should hit your pillow exhausted. What is the cause of your laziness? TV? Sports? Social media? Whatever it is, remove it from your life, so you can use your strength to serve God.
Seventh, be fervent in spirit. Paul's next command is directly opposite of laziness: be fervent and zealous in spirit. By using the word “spirit” here, Paul is either referring to our human spirit or the Holy Spirit. It is hard to know for sure because the original language has no capitalization. I believe that Paul is encouraging Christians to be open to the Holy Spirit. The language refers to a “boiling of the spirit”. We should be like a boiling pot in our love for God’s glory. Paul has just mentioned using our gifts for God’s glory, and he clearly sees these as gifts from the Holy Spirit. He is exhorting the church to continue to live in the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 18, Apollos is an example of this.
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. Acts 18:24–25
Apollos was not lazy with his gifts. He was fervent in sharing about Jesus.
Eighth, serve the Lord. The goal of serving the Lord is not a spiritual frenzy but a diligent, disciplined service to God. Again, Paul has just highlighted using one’s spiritual gifts to build up the church. Here, he continues to encourage Christians to serve the church. This past week, I have been encouraged by how many of you have expressed a desire to serve the church in new ways, from those looking to serve in music, to special needs ministry, to prayer, to teaching children and youth, to serving seniors. The Christian life is a life of service. We should delight in serving the Lord by serving each other.
Nine, rejoice in hope. Christians are a people of hope because we have a living hope through Jesus’ resurrection to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. In Christ, we hope for the redemption of our bodies and the renewal of the world. We should not be going through life with sad faces but with an inexpressible joy because of the Gospel. We have been saved from our sins and promised eternity with Christ. Even on our worst days, we can and should rejoice in this hope we’ve been given.
Ten, be patient in tribulation. Because we have hope in the life to come, we can be patient during times of trouble. In Romans 5, we saw that hope and trials are connected.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:2–5
We know that God is with us. He will never leave us or forsake us, and He will use our trials and tribulations to build our character and strengthen our faith. Then, He will deliver us from every trial and bring us safely into His eternal kingdom. When trials come, and they will come, we should not be surprised but patient. God will work in the midst of our pain for His good pleasure.
Eleven, be constant in prayer. We endure our trials through prayer. We bring our pain to the Lord. We share our sorrows, and we lay our burdens at His feet because we know we can come to Him to receive grace and mercy in our time of need. When we are tempted to give up and despair in our trials, we remember Christ.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:15–16
Beloved, go to God in prayer constantly. He will always hear your cries. He is close to the brokenhearted and the contrite in spirit. He inclines His ear to the righteous.
Twelve, contribute to the needs of the saints - Generosity has always been a mark of the Christian church. Paul may have been thinking about his own needs and desire to go to Spain, or he may have been thinking about the needs of the saints in Jerusalem as he traveled through the world to collect resources for the struggling church there. Perhaps he was thinking about the needs in Rome where many Jews, who Claudius had previously kicked out of Rome, were now returning and would need help from the Gentile Christians. One of the marks of the early church was a willingness to share their resources with those in need.
Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them.
Acts 4:32–34a
The generosity of the early church was a sign of their unity, which was shown in their generosity. People gave out of their abundance so that no one among them would be in need. One reason the church had great power in the first century was the witness of a unified church. I pray that we would give out of our abundance, so it can be said of us, “there was not a needy person among them.”
Thirteen, seek to show hospitality. In Paul’s time, Christian travelers depended upon the generosity of other Christians because inns, or hotels, were dangerous places. Christians were called to open up their homes for those traveling. Paul writes that Christians should seek to show or pursue hospitality. We cannot be passive but must look to open our homes to others.
A few weeks ago, one of our members, Addie, was traveling to Kansas City with her sister to start a new job and attend seminary. On the way, a semi ran them off the road but, by God’s grace, they were not seriously injured. An older Christian couple saw the accident and pulled over to check on Addie and her sister. They stayed with them at the hospital and then invited them to stay in their home until they were ready to finish their trip. What an example of Christian hospitality!
Many of you have opened up your homes to visiting pastors or college students serving with us over the summer or to pastoral residents as they train for ministry. These are wonderful ways to use the resources God has given us to show hospitality to others.
We should also seek to show hospitality to those in our body. Hospitality comes from the word “philoxenia”, meaning “a lover of strangers” When we are hospitable and open our homes, we invite intimacy and deep fellowship. But hospitality doesn’t always happen in the home; it can take many different forms. It may be a picnic in the park or coffee and cookies after a service, or it may be a three- to four-hour meal so you can get to know others on a deeper level. One of the best ways our church can continue to grow is to open our homes to visitors and new members and welcome them into our community.
Recently, some have lamented to me that they do not feel a sense of deep community within our church and have not been invited to other’s homes. Hearing these comments tells me that this may be an area in which the Lord wants us to grow. Hospitality is a community project. I pray that we would be the kind of church that seeks to show hospitality to one another, to visitors, and to our neighbors. Hospitality is a key resource to build deep fellowship and lasting relationships within our body.
Thirteen exhortations. I hope you have been encouraged and challenged by them. Beloved, we are all works in progress. We want to have genuine love for God and others–not just one time but every day. We should commit these exhortations to memory and practice them as often as the Spirit brings them to mind. None of us will do all of them perfectly. Some of us will do some of them well. But all of us should desire to grow in all of these areas. Why? Because these are the ways that we offer our bodies as living sacrifices.
If you are a non-Christian visiting with us today, we are so thankful you are here. These 13 exhortations may make think that Christianity is a religion of works and high demands. But the essence of Christianity is not what we do, but what God has done for us. Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. He saved us from our sins. He sent the Spirit to renew our hearts and give us the hope of the resurrection. We don’t want to do these 13 commands out of duty but in joyful response to what God has done for us. Christianity is not a ‘do this’ religion but a ‘God has done’ religion.
Jesus obeyed every one of these 13 commands perfectly. He had genuine, authentic love. He hated evil exceedingly and clung to what was good. He loved us with a brotherly affection and was not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters. He emptied Himself to lift us up. He was not passive or lazy but gave Himself to the call of God. He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. For the joy set before Him, he endured the cross. He was patient to entrust Himself to God in the midst of extreme persecution. He was constant in prayer, not wanting His will but the will of the Father. He gave everything He had for us, and then He went to prepare a place for us so that we could live in His Father’s house. That is true hospitality: welcoming us when we do not deserve to be there.
Jesus has done so much for us, it is only fitting for us to give it all to Him. Friend, if you are not Christian, Jesus wants you to come to Him. He wants you to repent of your sins and trust in Him for salvation. Our need for salvation is clear, and the only solution is Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if you are the last guest to arrive, it just matters that you come to the table. Turn to Jesus Christ and live.
Beloved, Jesus laid down His life for us, so we should lay down our lives for one another. While I think it is wise to memorize these 13 exhortations, you really only need to look to Jesus. He perfectly fulfilled not only these 13 commands but every command in the Bible. If you look to Jesus, deny yourself, and follow Him, you will desire to follow these 13 commands and many others.
Thirteen may never be your favorite number, but I pray that Jesus will always be your favorite name, for there is salvation in no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.
Jesus, there’s just something about that name.
Let all heaven and earth proclaim,
Kings and kingdoms will pass away,
But there's something about that Name.
(There’s Something about that Name, Bill and Gloria Gaither, 1992)