2020906 Yonsei University Church, The Continuing Debt to Love

Exodus 12:3-4, 11-14, Romans 13 : 7 – 14, Matthew 18: 18-20

The Scripture we read today is from Exodus, Matthew, and Romans. Today's sermon is prepared based on the text of Romans. What is the topic that comes naturally to us while reading the text today? It's love. From verse 7 to 10, the text is about love. In verse 10, it is concluded that love is the completion of the law.

Some people focus on not being in debt to anyone, and they argue that the Bible forbids us taking debt. Of course, it would be better not to owe anything. But you cannot live without debt. When Paul says it's a debt, he doesn't mean just borrowing money because he needs money.

In verse 7, it says, <Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.>, which includes taxes, tariffs, and even obedience and respect for legitimate authorities. Such a responsibility is inevitable for anyone in social life. When there are such things, Paul's counsel is to immediately pay off the debt without delaying it. It is a general wisdom of life that does not need to be specifically biblical. If you have anything to pay, pay it off as soon as possible. If you have a bill, pay it off quickly. Living in debt is not a comfortable life. However, there is an exception to this universal truth of life, which is love.

It is a debt of love. In verse 8, it reads, <Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law> Joint translation translates this verse like this. <Do your duty to others. However, there is one duty that cannot be fulfilled. It is the duty of love>

To have a debt of love does not mean to borrow love and pile up a lot of love that you have to repay. It does not mean to go around and be indebted to a lot of people. The meaning of this is to repay all the responsibilities you have in your social life as soon as you have the opportunity to not be a burden on other people's lives. But keep in mind that the debt of love will remain, right? There is a responsibility that we cannot fulfill no matter how much we do, which is love. It is to give love, as if we were in debt, as if paying debts to those who need love, in other words, as if it were natural. The bill of love doesn't disappear when you pay, it's that a new bill comes right back.

If we misinterpret this verse, it can be understood as always asking us to live under a sense of debt, a sense of duty, a sense of guilt, and a sense of qualification. But it is not like that. It is to live with preparations to always love. By the way, is that possible? Is that easy? What's the secret to doing that? Let's find the answer.

In Matthew chapter 18, there is a <parable of the unmerciful servant>. In this parable, there is a story of a servant who owes ten thousand bags of gold to the master, and the master pityed him and canceled the debt. It is said that ten thousand bags of gold is the amount a worker has worked for 16 years without spending any wages. However, that enormous debt was eliminated at once. However, when the servant went out and met a fellow servant who owed him a hundred silver coins, he grabbed his power and pushed him to pay the debt. For reference, the denarius is equivalent to a worker's daily wage. Even if the fellow servant prayed and threw him into prison without mercy. You all know the following story.

Now where does the debt of love appear in this parable? In fact, when the servant who owed 10,000 talents was forgiven of that enormous debt, he should have been filled with gratitude that he owed a great debt of love in his heart, right? But how did he behave?

He may have wanted to make this excuse. <I was really grateful that the master had forgiven such a large debt. I was always thinking that if I was told to give up my life, I would have to pay back the grace so that I would give up my life. But doesn't that friend, who owes me one hundred denarius, have nothing to do with the grace of the master? I have never forsaken the master’s grace. I was trying to pay the maximum amount of debt the king had forgiven when the opportunity came.> Doesn't that make sense? However, it was other servant who accused the master of this servant's conduct. From common sense, the servant’s behavior was ungrateful and heinous. So, in the end, he was put in prison and lived his whole life.

Does this parable explain fully the meaning of <Don't owe anyone but love>? The love we have received from God is so great that if there is someone around us who wants love, sympathy, help, comfort, whether he is a family member, friend, colleague, or stranger, we have to help that person as if we owed a great debt to that person.

What's the secret to doing that? It is the realization that I first received great love. To accept that I have been forgiven of my great debts without price, without merit, without labor, without conditions. It is important to believe that God loves us this way. And we have to accept that God loves not only me, but the neighbors next to me, the people we meet for the first time, and the people we have never met. We must believe that God loved the world so much that He sent His only begotten Son. And when the people of the world need help, we must not forget that God is expecting us to be His hands and feet to help them.

A church decided to use the donation to love neighbors instead of giving an offering to the church on that day. Just in case, I'll tell you first, but I don't think this is always good. Anyway, on that Sunday, members of the church will have to carry donations and worry about how to use this money for love for their neighbors, looking around and living hard. If you see a person begging, you will happily run and give some money, and if you see a charity raising money on TV, you will say that it is right here too and donate there as well, and you will eagerly search for someone to show your love. We will not be comfortable until we used up the donation, so we will look around hard. Isn't it a kind of love-bearing attitude, whether it's time or not, to be anxious to practice love?

In the second half of today's text, another important topic other than love appears, and that is time. In verse 11, it says, < The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.> Here, the Greek word kairos is used, and it has a special meaning. The word compared to Kairos is Chronos. Chronos refers to simple time, that is, physical time, such as hours and years. But rather than that, Kairos emphasizes the qualitative aspect of time, not just the quantitative aspect of time, such as <Time, Opportunity>. According to today's text, what time (time) does the Bible say is now? It is said that when it is time to wake up, salvation is near. When Jesus began his ministry, the first content he preached was "Repent, the kingdom of God is near." It is important in faith to know what time it is.

These words sound to us today as a means not to put off the practice of love. Love is noble and beautiful. But love that is not put into practice can be an excuse, self-admiration, and self-deception. We are told to stop pursuing the desires of the flesh, put on an armor of love of Jesus Christ, and live a new life. Doesn't it mean that we have to live a life of love?

To live as if you owe a debt of love means to love diligently as if you want to pay off your debt as soon as possible, to love now, to love specifically. Nevertheless, the debt of love can never be paid in full. It is the debt of love that you still owe even if you pay it all. So, are we going to lead miserable lives of eternal debtors? It's not like that. Even Sunday school students know that love springs up as you use it and grows as you share it. If love is not given, however, will rot and deteriorate.

Finally, how should our lives be changed as we read today's Bible Scripture? In today's Bible, it tells us to love each other, love others, and love our neighbors.

First, let's love each other. Jesus said that if we love each other, the people of the world will know that we are Jesus' disciples. If there is hate in my heart, I have to turn it into love. The biggest victim of hate is myself. Why do you fill the beautiful soul that God has made with hatred? If I hate someone, it is very likely that the person in question will also hate me. They are in debt to “love one another.” That debt must be paid off to each other now. Can I do it later? When is now? You have to pay it right now. Let's remember. We are like the ones who have been forgiven of ten thousand bags of gold.

Second, let's love others. Loving others has a slightly different meaning than loving each other. Loving people who have no previous relationship with us, people with different languages and cultures, and strangers is the fulfillment of the law. It is the love of the good Samaritan. Jesus even said to love your enemies. There may be a child on the other side of the globe who needs our love. There are many people who come to Korea to live, but are always bullied like foreigners. It is important to show interest and love to these people.

Third, let's love our neighbors. Neighbors are our villagers. They are the people we meet all the time in our daily lives. People meet at stops, elevators, restaurants, and markets. They may have different religions and different ideas, but they must live together. We should not treat them indifferent, but with warmer kindness and love. In verse 10 it is written, <Love does not harm neighbors>. How many people are harming our neighbors these days? Did you ignore, discriminate, and hate people because of prejudice and pride? All such things are dark conduct. You have to act modestly as you do during the day. Loving the village and striving to make a better village is also loving our neighbors.

Let me conclude the sermon with 1 John 4:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.