How We Look to Others – July 27, 2025
Micah 6:6-8, Romans 12:1-2, 9-21
July 27, 2025
“How we look to others.” That is the obsession of our age! Isn’t it? People are always concerned about their appearance. Think about it. We spend all kinds of money in our society on the endless products and services that help us to “look our best.” And that’s great! Each of us is a beautiful creation of God! But do people go overboard with this?
Of course the down side of that is that there are many people don’t like their appearance. They don’t like how they look. They’re not the model man or woman. And for some, that causes anxiety and even depression. But of course there are endless products and services for that, too!
Our culture is obsessed with outward appearance, but Scripture shifts our focus. In writing to the Romans, Paul reminds us that “how we look to others” is important, but, not in terms of fashion or appearance. It’s important in the way we reflect our faith through our lives. That’s what I want us to think about today.
I played around with the title of this sermon for a while. And I finally settled on “How We Look to Others.” And I like that phrase, because it actually has two meanings. Now follow me on this! The first meaning of “How we look to others” has to do with how we “look to the needs and interests of others.” In other words, “We should ‘look to others.’ This is how we do it.” Does that makes sense?
Looking to and loving others is an important part of “how we live our faith,” isn’t it? As God’s people we should be “others focused.” I’ll never forget the children’s sermon our Parish assistant, Howard Frame, gave a long time ago. He held up the word “JOY” on a big card in front of them – actually three separate cards. And he told all of us “kids” that, if you want to have JOY in your life, you put “Jesus” first, “Others” second, “and then “Yourself” last. Isn’t that great? That’s one of those things you never forget. Though you may forget to do it!
So, “How we look to others” is about how we look to the interests and the needs of others. Including their sense of self-worth. So, it’s about how we treat others.
Well, the other meaning of the phrase is, of course, “How we appear to others.” And as I said, people in our world are obsessed with how they look. They want to look younger, thinner – with less wrinkles. But this has to do with how we look as God’s people. Or we might say, “What are the outward signs of our inner faith.”
I Like those two meanings of this phrase, because I think we need both of those things. We need to ask ourselves, do we look to the interests and needs of others, or are we only concerned about how we look to others? Are we only “demonstrating our faith” to them.
Now, you might ask, “Does all of this fly in the face of Jesus’ words, when he said, ‘Beware of practicing your piety before men?’” We talked about that a few weeks ago. Does this fly in the face of that? Are we not talking about practicing piety? And do we worry that living and showing our faith may “put people off,” because we’re somehow showing that we’re better than them? That is a worry, isn’t it?
Well, I believe the answer to that question is, no! Because we have to remember the last part of Jesus’ statement. He said, “Beware of practicing your piety before men, in order to be seen by them.” In other words, if we’re practicing our piety in order to call attention to ourselves, to make ourselves out to be better than others, well then, as Jesus said, “we have our reward.” We’ve gotten the attention we were seeking. But we’ve missed the point! Jesus did not mean that we shouldn’t be pious, he did not mean that we shouldn’t be godly. He would say that we should be aware of “how we look to others.” How we live our faith is important. We are the “city set on the hill.” And how we live shows who we are. As the old song says, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
Well, Paul tells us how to do all of this. We read from Romans. And Romans has been described as being a “Systematic Theology” of the Christian Faith. Especially the first 11 chapters! Up until chapter 12, he lays out point by point the doctrines and beliefs of Christianity. But then he changes gears and tells us how to live the Christian faith.
In the first verse of chapter 12 we find the word “therefore.” And as it’s has been said before, “When you see the word ‘therefore,’ you should give some thought to what it’s there for!” And in this case it’s a huge “therefore!” Paul is saying, “Since we believe all this stuff, here’s then how we should live.” He’s saying first and foremost, that what we believe should make a difference in our lives!
He starts “I appeal to you therefore – because of your beliefs – to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Then I love this next part. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)
We talked about that passage a few weeks ago. We said then that what we believe affects how we live. The physical life and the spiritual life cannot be separate. In fact, we live a Godly life because of what we believe. We “practice our piety before men,” as Jesus put it, because of what God has done for us.
So then Paul, who was a very practical person, tells the people – and us – how to do that. And this is where we jump ahead to verse 9. The part we skipped was about how we fit into the church, and how it all functions. But now gets very “practical” about how we live the faith. And this is all about “How we look to others.” And I love the paragraph heading in my Bible here. It says “Marks of a True Christian.”
I’m not going to go into each one of these now. (Or we’d be here all day!) I had Donna print them on the back of your bulletins. So turn to that now. And just look at this “machine gun” advice he gives here. “Let love be genuine. Hate what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag in zeal. Be aglow with the Spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints. Practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:9-13)
Wow! What a list! And what a challenge! And that’s only the first half! How many of them did you get? (Anybody get them all?) How many of them do you need to work on? (And does anybody need a second opinion?) How do you look to others? How do you look to the world?
I want you to think about that. And as you do, I want you to keep in mind that a big part of this, besides the image we are presenting to the world, is about being the peaceable people and living the peaceable life that God wants for us! We’re showing that to the world, too! And remember what I’ve said before, the world in general doesn’t have a good opinion of us. We’re fighting an uphill battle on this. At the very least they tolerate us, and they think, “That’s nice. But it’s not for me.” So, how do we show them a faith they would want for themselves?
Thinking back on Paul’s rapid-fire list of how to live our faith, it might feel a bit overwhelming. That’s why I love how the prophet Micah brings it back to the basics He boils it down to just three simple but powerful statements. He asks, “What does the Lord require of you?” And in this case, there are not a lot of requirements. There’s no long list. There are just three things. “What does the Lord require of you?” “To seek justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
So, how are you doing with that one? It is a much shorter list. But do you think it encompasses, or at least encourages all the others? And does it, too, make you think of “How we look to others?”
Prayer
Eternal God, we do seek your help in living the life you want for us. We seek your strength, your peace, and the guidance of your Holy Spirit. Help us to be the peaceable people you want us to be. Help us to know what brings us true peace. And help us to show your peace to the world. For we pray in the name of the Prince of Peace, Amen.