For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. (Romans 12:3-8)
…part of the Epistle for next Sunday. Paul is writing, probably from Corinth in Greece, to the infant church in Rome, people he has not yet met… he hopes to stay with them soon, on his way to Spain. Here, in the latter part of his towering letter, he is setting out the many ways in which faith in Christ is transforming us – Do not be conformed to this world, he writes, but be transformed -- the Greek word is metamorphosis -- by the renewing of your minds.
It is hard to imagine what life as a Christian in 1st century Rome, day by day, would have been like. But it would have borne some resemblances to life in Level 4 lockdown, possibly Level 3. And Paul is telling them they are different. They are being changed by Christ. This has implications in hardship, anxiety and adversity. They need not expect to think or react in the ways many others do. They should not be afraid of being different, of finding that they are not sharing some of the prevailing prejudices, fears and judgements. Even within the church, he points out, they all differ from each other… God has gifted each person differently, and Paul lists some of the gifts. He ends the list with the one that really caught my attention: compassion, he writes, in cheerfulness.
Well that’s interesting… cheerful compassion… indeed the Greek word is hilarity1. It is as though among the changes Christ may work in us is the readiness to laugh, a disinclination to take ourselves too seriously. We often talk about how the discipline of contemplative life and prayer tends to distance us from the ego and all its fears and requirements. It is a kind of freedom from self. We are, as Jesus put it, leaving self behind… painfully sometimes, and too slowly, but gladly. And Paul spells out some of the consequences in his next few sentences:
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 honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
[1]
From hilaros (ἱλαρος) – joyous, mirthful, merry. The word occurs in the title of one of the
most ancient Christian hymns, “Hail Gladdening Light”, Φῶς Ἱλαρόν (Phōs
Hilaron), sung at the lighting of the evening candles.
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