Commentary on Romans 12:9-21

Following the encouragement in Romans 12:1–8 to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, to choose to be transformed, to discern or test what is the will of God, and to exercise the gifts given for the ministry of Jesus Christ, Paul comes to a long list of “to do’s.” In many worship traditions, this litany is considered a “charge”—a charge to the congregation to go out from worship and do the works of God’s love and mercy: rejoice, be patient, contribute, be hospitable, bless, live in harmony, and more. While we may not enjoy every one of these dimensions of faithful living, we can make sense of them according to the gospel logic of love.  

It cannot be an accident that the list of gifts given to do the work, the ministry of Jesus Christ in verses 6–8, is followed by descriptions of the disposition with which we are called to exercise these gifts.   

• Minister, tend the flock with genuine love; do not tolerate evil.  
• Teach in love with mutual affection.  
• Exhort one another with honor; in fact, seek to go above and beyond in showing honor as you exhort one another.  
• Do not lag in zeal in your generosity.  
• Be passionate in spirit as you serve the Lord.  
• In your compassion, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.
• Prophesy without claiming to be wiser than you are.

To serve as an example, this is a random pairing of gifts for ministry with a disposition in which to do the ministry. It is not the case that there is one disposition to each gift. Rather, the list sounds like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Doing God’s work of love and mercy in the spirit of Jesus Christ according to the gift and faith given to us is what will enable us to test or discern what is the will of God. In the doing, we discern whether we are manifesting God’s love as shown to us in Jesus. 

The message is clear: Present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God; choose to be transformed; discern or test what is the will of God; exercise the gifts given for the ministry of Jesus Christ.  How do we do all this? Read the Sermon on the Mount.

We accede to the gospel logic of love until we get to verses 9–20. “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God.” If we must leave room for God’s vengeance, does that mean we allow ourselves a little vengeance? Still more, do we have a vengeful God? One would think the charge would be to not seek vengeance at all, because the Christian life is not about vengeance, and neither is our God. What are these verses doing here except to demonstrate the opposite of genuine love? And if God is the definition of love, why is vengeance mentioned at all? 

In fact, we are not allowed a little vengeance; rather, the opposite. Rather than vengeance, we are to feed our enemies and, if our enemies are thirsty, give them something to drink. In so doing, we heap burning coals upon their heads. Aha! That is the little bit of vengeance we are allowed. We get to heap burning coals upon their heads as a punishment. And yet, no. Heaping burning coals upon the heads of our enemies is not vengeance at all; rather, even this is an act of mercy. Quoting Proverbs 25:21–22 almost verbatim, Paul tells us how to treat our enemies: Feed them, give them water, and in truly ancient terms, enable their repentance.  

“Heaping burning coals upon an enemy’s head” in ancient context is not a punishment; it is to enable life. To sustain life, one must keep the hearth’s fire burning. If the fire goes out, it threatens the ability to prepare food and keep warm. If a fire did go out, one would go to a neighbor to ask for some burning coals and would typically carry them back home in a container upon their heads. So not only are we to feed our enemy and give them drink, but to enable life itself. Thus is the measure of God’s vengeance. Not to kill with kindness, but to rebut evil with good. It is a summation of what came before.

Preaching angles

What does this mean for our preaching ministry?

• Many wonder how to figure out the will of God and then how to do it. The tendency is to think the will of God is specific to the actions of everyday life; for example, whether to turn left or right at the intersection, or whether to stop for lunch on the way home, or even what school to choose, or which apartment to rent. It might well be the case that left or right, this school or that, lunch or not, one apartment or another is not the true nature of doing God’s will.
  Perhaps it is the case that no matter these choices, we can discern the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect—by exercising the gifts we are given for ministry with the disposition Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount. We can exercise these gifts in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. Our preaching can alleviate anxiety that the correct specific choice in such circumstances is what God is looking for, and that if we choose wrongly for left or right, we will miss doing God’s will.
• If the preacher chose Romans 12:1–8 the previous week and focused on the active verbs—present, choose, discern, exercise—preaching from this text can go into the attitude or disposition with which to exercise these gifts.
• Unlike the early believers in Corinth, the preacher’s congregation may not be competitive about their gifts. In fact, many congregations have trouble believing they have any gifts for ministry at all. A reversal from identifying the gift for ministry to the disposition with which to exercise the gift may be helpful. Identify the disposition in the congregation that manifests the love of Jesus: love, affection, honor, rejoicing with those who rejoice and weeping with those who weep, perseverance in prayer. It is likely these are present, but no one thinks they are gifts for ministry. Point these toward the work the people already do in encouragement and hospitality and leading children and singing in the choir and providing meals.