Exodus 12:1-14 Psalm 149 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20 Today we hear Paul’s words from Romans: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for whoever loves another has fulfilled the law.” In that single sentence, Paul gives us both a command and a vision.
Love is not an optional kindness, nor a feeling we offer only when convenient. It is the holy obligation that keeps us turned towards God and towards one another. We may settle accounts, repay favours, balance budgets, and clear obligations, but love remains. Love is the continuing debt we never finish paying.
Delivered Together, Remembered Together
That is why today’s readings belong together. In Exodus 12:1–14, Israel is told to remember the night of deliverance. The meal is shared in households, and where one household is too small, neighbours are drawn in. God’s saving act creates a people, not merely a collection of rescued individuals.
Freedom is received together, remembered together, and practiced together. The Passover meal becomes a sign that God forms a community shaped by trust, gratitude, and shared responsibility. For us, this points to the Lord’s Supper — Communion — where we are gathered at one table by the grace of God.
Love as the Fulfilment of the Law
In Romans 13:8–14, Paul carries this same truth into the life of the church. The commandments, he says, are summed up in this word: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” A neighbour is not only a person living next door. A neighbour may be family, a stranger, a co-worker, someone in the church, or anyone in need.
Agape love is the kind of love Paul speaks of here. It is not mainly about feelings, attraction, or simply liking someone.
It is love chosen in action: seeking another person’s good because that is how God has loved us. Agape love chooses the good of another person even when it is hard, inconvenient, or undeserved. It is not soft sentiment; it is holy commitment.
We see this love in ordinary, practical ways:
- In the family: Agape love is being patient with someone at home when you are tired, instead of speaking harshly.
- In the church: It is going directly to someone when there is hurt or misunderstanding, rather than gossiping about them.
- With a neighbour in the community: It is helping someone in need, even if there is no reward or recognition.
- In conflict: It is telling the truth with humility, not to win an argument, but to restore the relationship.
- With difficult people: It is praying for, forgiving, or showing kindness to someone who has disappointed or offended you.
- In daily honesty: It is refusing to cheat, lie, steal, or harm others because love does no wrong to a neighbour.
Agape Love refuses to wrong a neighbour. It restrains the tongue when anger wants to wound. It chooses honesty when selfishness would take. It honours the dignity of another person when pride is tempted to dismiss them. Agape Love fulfils the law because agape love seeks the good God desires for every person.
Practicing Love in Community
In Matthew 18:15–20, Jesus speaks very practically about life in community. He knows that even among disciples there will be hurt, misunderstanding, and sin.
The church is not held together by pretending nothing has gone wrong. Nor is it held together by gossiping from a distance, storing up offence, or turning disagreement into division.
Jesus teaches a harder and holier way: practice agape love. Go to the person. Speak truthfully. Seek restoration. Involve others, only as agape love requires. The goal is not victory over another person; the goal is the regaining of a brother or sister.
This is where the debt of love becomes most demanding. It is often easy to love people in general, and much harder to love the particular neighbour who has disappointed us, challenged us, ignored us, or offended us.
Yet Christ calls us to love there too: not with a love that avoids truth, but with agape love that tells the truth humbly; not with a love that excuses harm, but with agape love that seeks healing rather than revenge; not with a love that keeps score, but with agape love that remembers how much mercy we ourselves have received.
And I believe if we are truly honest with ourselves, the benchmark to how much this kind of agape, love we are prepared to share around is dependent on how much mercy we ourselves have received.
Putting on the Amour of Light
Paul says, “You know what time it is.” The night is far gone; the day is near. Christian love is urgent because the world is already too practiced in division, suspicion, and retaliation. As God’s people, we are called to resist that way of living. We are called to put on the amour of light: to become, in our words and actions, signs of the coming day of Christ.
I have made the following statement, on more than one occasion; we have had the Christ is coming age, His birth, Christ will Rise again age, The Resurrection, and now we live in the “Christ will Come again age.” Christs promised return. This promise is clearly outlined in John 14 verse 1-4.
14 ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.’
So, each, time we choose reconciliation over resentment, generosity over self-protection, and patient truth over careless judgement, we bear witness that Christ is in us and that God’s kingdom is near. Christ will return.
Many Gifts, One Table
The Collect reminds us that God has made us “not in one mould, but in many.” Diversity is not a problem to be managed; it is a gift to be received. But diversity becomes a blessing only when it is held in the unity of Christ.
That unity is not sameness. It is the shared life of people who keep returning to the one Lord, the one table — the Lord’s Table — the one mercy, and the one commandment of love.
A Question for This Week
So today we might ask: whom do I owe, love this week? Where is Christ calling me to seek peace, make the first approach, listen more carefully, speak more honestly, or forgive more deeply?
The answer may not be dramatic. It may begin in a household, a parish conversation, a strained friendship, a workplace, or a quiet prayer for someone we find difficult.
Wherever love is practiced, the law is fulfilled, the light of Christ is put on, and the presence of Jesus is made known among us. For where two or three are gathered in his name, Christ is among us. May he make us a people who do not merely speak of love, but live it — in truth, in courage, in patience, and in joy. Amen