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14th Sunday after Pentecost-August 30, 2026
Let Love Be Genuine”
Jeremiah 15: 15-21 Romans 12: 9-21
On this weekend before Labor Day, we have these passages to consider from
the Prophet Jeremiah and the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Church in Rome.
Jeremiah after the preliminary verses about his relationship with God, in
verse 19 he begins to tell the nation of Israel what God the Lord is saying. He
tells the Israelites that if they repent of their sins that God will restore them
and that God will protect them from the wicked and he will redeem them from
their cruel enemies.
In our reading from Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote to those early Christians
in Rome to “Let love be genuine” and he told them to “Hate what is evil and
to hold onto what is good and to love one another, to extend hospitality with
honor. Paul said that they should be genuine in serving the Lord and they
should be patient, joyful and should contribute to the unity of the church.
In the first eleven chapters of his letter Paul has been telling the Roman
Christians that they can not earn their salvation through good deeds or good
works. He emphatically states that they have been saved by Christ through
God’s gift of salvation and that they are saved by grace.
Paul’s message to the Church was simple and consistent that the Roman
Christians and all of us are not saved by the law of Moses or by any law it has
happen through Jesus Christ by God’s grace.
There is a story from the 1947 baseball season that shows how love needs to be
genuine and booing and shouting racial invective at Jacki caring. As most of
know, 1947 was the season when Jackie Robinson became the first Black
player to join a major league team. During one of the early season games, the
opposing players and fans were shouting racial slurs at Jackie and even some
of the redneck players on his own team were protesting Robinson’s presence.
But during one game while this harassment was going on against Jack, Pee
Wee Reese the Dodgers shortstop who was a southerner from Kentucky called
time and walked over to Jackie, put is arm around him and began talking
with him quietly. After the game, Pee Wee told the reporters I went over
because Jackie is my teammate and friend and should not be booed or
harassed. Robinson commented that this gesture by Reese changed the
attitudes of others towards him. Pee Wee showed genuine love, which is what
Paul has been saying in his letter. Those who opposed Reese’s actions accused
him of having lax morals.
Looking at further comments concerning this part of the Letter to the
Romans. Karl Barth, the German Theologian, in his commentary of this letter
says that “Christianity is essentially about grace, but our human religion
always seems to forget that truth and begins to attach conditions like God will
love you if you do this or hat and God will save if you do good deeds. Barth
says that salvation is a pure gift based on Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
This gift of salvation has not come cheap; it cost God the life of his only Son.
Barth understood, it is to give your own life away in joyful gratitude for God’s
gift. It is to live in a whole new wat, not to persuade God to love you, but
precisely because you know and experience God’s love in Jesus Christ.
Throughout the world today, in every nation, every city, town and village,
Christian folks are coming to our Lord to remember his gift of salvation
through grace. It is up to everyone of us who are following Jesus Christ to
make sure we show that God’s love is genuine and that our love for our
families, neighbors, co-workers, and strangers is real love for them. May
Christ’s love give us the courage to fulfil God’s promise that salvation is for
every human being. A-men.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, help us to live so that we can show that your love for each of us is
genuine and that our love for our sisters and brothers of this world is true and
sincere and that your love within us stays inside our hearts and is reflected out
to everyone. A-men.