“Holding Fast” Orange Congregational Church UCC, August 30, 2026, (Romans 12:9-21) Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Today we are contemplating some enduring instructions from the apostle Paul about living with one another in harmony.  In these chaotic and divisive times in which we are living, peaceful and cooperative existence might seem too lofty of an idea at the outset.  Just this week we could read national news stories about U.S. and Canadian tariffs and the war with Iran and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine (among other stories of strife).  The cynical side of us may wonder if harmonious living is even possible given what we see and experience. 

This text from Romans Chapter 12 is sometimes entitled “Marks of the True Christian” or “Transformed relationships” which can certainly give us pause.  Sometimes my eternally optimist idea is that if hurt people can hurt people, then healed people can heal people.  Moreover it is worth remembering that Paul lived during complex times.  It is not as if Paul was living in some peaceful utopia when he was going about his ministry.  Sometimes Paul even wrote letters urging the Christian community to persevere as he himself was in jail.  The letter of Paul to the Romans was written to the followers of Christ in Rome who were both Jews and gentiles.  The community also had a significant number of women as well as enslaved persons and immigrants to Rome.  This was a diverse community of believers from vastly different backgrounds. 

Maybe it matters even more that Paul was attempting to warn against hypocrisy and arrogance and encourage faithful, harmonious living as a faith community.  As we will start to see Paul is challenging cultural ideas about how to live one’s life as a follower of Jesus the Christ.  Throughout the letter Paul explains the implications for gentiles in Christ.  He explains how Jews fit into God’s bigger plan and warns against gentile arrogance.  And then he explains how we all live ethically while we wait for God’s realm to be fully realized.[1]

We might recognize some of Paul’s words because clergy sometimes offer a version of Romans 12 (as found in the United Church of Christ Book of Worship for instance) as a commission and benediction.  “Go out into the world to serve God with gladness.  Be of good faith.  Hold fast to all that is true.  Render to no one evil for evil.  Love and serve God, rejoicing in the Lord always.”  These words can serve as a reminder that worship has ended, but the real service now begins.  Because Paul wrote, “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.  Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord.  Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer.  Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.”[2] 

Paul is emphasizing hospitable living, what living in harmony with one another in Christian community looks like on the ground day in and day out through our loving actions.  Yes, this is about the transformation of relationships.  Love each other with mutual affection.  Show honor to one another.  Go a step further even, outdo one another in showing honor.  Serve God.  Rejoice in hope.  When we face affliction, try to be patient and persevere in prayer.  When it comes to how we relate to one another, contribute to the needs of the saints.  Support one another.  When it comes to the strangers among us, pursue hospitality.  Be sure that all are truly welcome.  This is humility in action—holding fast to what is good.

Father Richard Rohr once wrote about wisdom based on humility in one of his daily devotionals from the Center for Action and Contemplation.  Richard Rohr argued that wisdom should be grounded in reality.  He reflected, “It is very clear that Jesus was able to heal, touch, teach, and transform people, and there were no prerequisites.  They didn’t need to have any formal education.  His wisdom was not based on any scholastic philosophy or theology, in spite of Catholic fascination with medieval scholasticism.  Jesus, as a teacher, largely talked about what was real and what was unreal, what was temporary and what would last—and therefore how we should live inside of reality.  It required humility and honesty much more than education.  In a thousand ways, he was saying that God comes to us disguised as our life.”[3] 

God comes to us disguised as our life.  Paul is outlining practices of genuine love in our text today.  This includes goodness and peacemaking, ways for the community to put their faith into action.  Sometimes Paul will refer to this harmonious living or unhypocritical love as the “fruits of the Spirit.”  It’s worth remembering that these practices were not just meant to be lived within the community but practiced out in the world that God loved into being.  As the CEB Study Bible notes, “The body of believers is a family in which the Roman quest for surpassing others in acquiring honor is transformed into a quest for giving honor to others.”[4]  Even today we might have those moments of questioning what we value and what gives our lives meaning.  Are we focusing on acquiring honor and accolades to the detriment of others or even our own mental health?

These instructions from Paul on harmonious living reminded me of a traditional story told about holding fast to what is good and what living ethically in Christ looks like in a community.  The story (originally adapted by Margaret Silf) goes that there was once a village that had fallen on hard times.  At one time, the villagers were happy.  The community had been famous all around for their friendliness and hospitality shown to loved ones and strangers alike.  It was a great place to live and a great place to visit. 

Though something had gone wrong somewhere along the way.  People began to bicker with one another.  Fights began breaking out for no apparent reason.  Rivalries came to the surface among neighbors, yet friendship and trust had once been common.

The chief of the village was so sad about all of this.  The chief knew that the people of the village could not be truly happy under these circumstances.  Though he was at a loss as to how to make things better.  Nothing he did or said restored the peace and harmony that had once existed in the village.  The truth is that strangers no longer even wanted to visit.  The people who lived there stopped taking pride in their village and it was falling into disrepair and ruin unfortunately.

Though one fateful day a stranger came to town.  This stranger approached as if he was on a mission.  He approached as if he knew already what he would find there.  The village chief met the stranger, and they recognized sad expressions in one another’s eyes.  The two began to talk with one another about things that matter in our lives.  The chief confided in the stranger about his feelings of despair and his fears that soon the village would be lost to all this hostility and hopelessness.  

The stranger listened with compassion and told the chief that he might know of a way for this lost village to be redeemed.  Maybe he could help restore the village to be a real community again with a sense of belonging and hospitality.  The village chief begged the stranger to tell him the secret.  The stranger said that the secret was simple—one of the villagers is actually the Messiah.

The village chief couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  But the stranger seemed like he knew what he was saying and had an authoritative way about him.  Eventually the stranger left and the chief couldn’t help but tell his best friend what the stranger had said.  Well, we know how these things go in small towns.  Pretty soon the rumor spread like wildfire throughout the village.  “Can you believe that one of us is the Messiah?” 

Deep down the villagers wanted their village to be loving and peaceful.  And the thought that the Messiah might be living among them made them see things differently.  People wondered to one another who it might be—the baker or the farmer or the teacher or the elderly lady who lived on the edge of town?

After the stranger’s visit, nothing was ever the same.  Because people began to treat one another not just with respect, but with reverence.  The people began to outdo one another in showing honor.  People lived as if they had a common purpose.  People lived as if they were seeking something precious together, not quite knowing whether the treasure was actually right in front of them.  Everyone was treated as if they were the Messiah.  And before long, visitors returned to the village just to be part of such a happy and holy place. 

Though the stranger?  He never came back.  Because he didn’t need to.[5]  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

[1] Jimmy Hoke, Introduction to The Letter of Paul to the Romans in The Westminster Study Bible with the Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal Books, NRSVUE, pgs. 1932-1933 New Testament.
[2] Romans 12:9-12, NRSVUE.
[3] Richard Rohr, “Grounded in Reality,” Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditations from the Center for Action and Contemplation, August 5, 2025.
[4] Footnote on Romans 12:10-11 in The CEB Study Bible, pg. 295 NT.
[5] “The Stranger’s Gift,” in One Hundred Wisdom Stories from around the World, compiled by Margaret Silf, pgs. 130-131.

Photo by Rev. Lauren Ostrout.