A Kingdom Of Peace: Rom 14:1-19
Advent #2 Dec 10, 2006
Intro:
Ten Commandments for Christmas:
I. You shall not leave "Christ" out of Christmas.
II. You shall not value your gifts by the cost, for many shall signify love that is more blessed and beautiful than sliver and gold.
III. You shall give yourself with your gifts: your love, your personality, and your service shall increase the value of your gifts a hundred fold and they who receive them shall treasure them forever.
IV. You shall not let Santa Claus take the place of Christ, lest Christmas become a fairy tale, rather than a sublime reality in the spiritual realm.
V. You shall not burden your servants, the sales girl, the mail carrier and the merchant.
VI. You shall not neglect the church. Its Christmas services are planned to help spiritualize the Christmas season for you, your family, and your friends.
VII. You shall not neglect the needy. Let your bountiful blessings be shared with the many who will go hungry and cold unless you are generous at Christmas.
VIII. You shall be as a little child. Christmas is the day of the Christ child; not until you have become, in spirit, as a little child are you ready to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
IX. You shall prepare your soul for Christmas. Most of us spend much time and money getting gifts ready, but few seconds in preparing our souls.
X. You shall give your heart to Christ. Let your Christmas list have "Christ in my heart" at the top as your gift to Him this Christmas.
Peace:
In preparing to celebrate the arrival of God in human flesh, this second week of advent focuses us on the theme of peace. There are many different directions we could go in talking about peace: we could talk about world peace, and God’s desire for wars to end and for those conflicts to be replaced by justice and peace. We could talk about each of us having peace with God, as our sins are forgiven and we are adopted into God’s family. We could talk about inner peace – that sense of calm and assurance in each of us that comes as we let go of hurts and expectations.
But since we are in a series centered around the theme of the Kingdom of God, I want instead to look at what it means to live at peace with one another – interpersonal peace. You see, living in the Kingdom of God now means living side by side with other people, and God’s Word has a lot to say about how we must live with one another.
Background:
There was a big fight going on in a particular church. Christians were divided against one another – feelings were hurt, harmful things were said, groups formed and spent time attacking one another on the places they disagreed. Each firmly believed that they were right, that God was on their side, because after all, their opinions were backed up by Scripture, and those other people just didn’t get it. The others obviously were not as spiritual as they were: they were narrow and enslaved; or else they were undisciplined and abused freedom. And as the conflict persisted, the groups got more and more entrenched, and further and further from the point of the Kingdom of God: that love for God and love for one another is more important than any other consideration.
What was the issue? It could have been the color of the carpet. It could have been how to raise kids. It could have been how to allocate the church budget. It could have been whether to focus on the needs of people outside the church or of people inside the church. It could have been what type of music to have in the service. But in this particular church, it was none of those. The issues were these: what kind of food was ok to eat, and what day should be set aside to worship. The church was the New Testament church in Rome, and the Apostle Paul wrote to them to set them straight. I can sum up his response with this verse: “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Let’s read Romans 14:1-19.
Rom 14:1-19 (NLT)
1 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. 2 For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. 3 Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord’s help, they will do what is right and will receive his approval.
5 In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable. 6 Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God. 7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.
10 So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.’” 12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.
14 I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong. 15 And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died. 16 Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good. 17 For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. 19 So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.
The Main Point:
After reading a lengthily passage like that, I like to come right to the point: The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of peace – meaning that all of us who claim to be a part of the Kingdom of God must put peace with one another as a higher priority than forcing our personal convictions on others.
As we step through the passage, we are going to see that there is a higher value in the Kingdom of God – love. That has very specific implications for how we treat one another, how we exercise our own personal freedoms, and also on our attitudes towards one another.
Paragraph 1 (vs 1-4):
The first paragraph teaches that acceptance of one another is more important than theological arguments. And that acceptance of one another must be true and deep, not a condescending attitude, not “looking down on” others who have not, in your opinion, “arrived” at the correct place (vs 3). Rather, it commands a true acceptance, which is rooted in the fact that God has accepted them, God loves them, and it is up to God to be responsible for them and judge them and help them do what is right.
Paragraph 2 (vs 5-9):
In this second paragraph, I think the main point is the emphasis on what we have in common –namely that “Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.” The reminder is that we who are in the Kingdom of God have the same goal – to honor, please, and give thanks to God. We might have different ideas about how to honor and please and give thanks to God, but we can and should have unity and peace with one another when we recognize that we are all striving for the same thing; we are all working towards the same goal, we are all serving the same King.
Paragraph 3 (vs 10-13):
Verses 10-12 we see that we are all equal before God – there is no hierarchy but rather we all will stand before God, we all will kneel before God, and we will each give an account of our lives – what we have done and not done, and our attitudes towards one another.
I find this a good, but sobering reminder. I will not be held accountable for what you have done; but I will be held accountable for my response to what you have done – if I have failed to teach or model, and so led others away from the Kingdom of God, or if I have failed to warn or confront sin, or failed to forgive and accept after confession, I will be held accountable. If any of us have looked at others and felt that we were better or holier or more mature, we have “looked down on” them, and we will be held accountable.
The better way is instructed: “Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.” In other words, put others first, do nothing that would make their journey more difficult, but rather strive to make sure that our lives build others up, lead them towards God, and demonstrate love and selflessness.
Paragraph 4 (vs 14-19)
This last paragraph makes that very clear. There is a higher value in the Kingdom of God – love: vs 15 says, “if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it.” The translation is that love for others is more important than anything else, including the exercise of personal freedom. Love means putting relationships ahead of every other consideration. It might be fine to exercise our own views and opinions about certain things, but if it discourages others instead of encouraging, if it brings down instead of building up, if it distresses instead of bringing joy, then it is wrong.
What is surprising for us is that this applies, even if the other person is wrong. On the issue of what to eat, Paul is clear in vs 14 that “no food is wrong to eat.” Can you imagine the “eat meat” camp getting excited as their point is affirmed? But Paul’s whole point is that even if they are right on the issue, they are wrong in putting that ahead of love and unity. I find that surprising, perhaps revolutionary; and I think it is at the heart of the Kingdom of God: love for others is more important than being right – about how to worship, what to participate in, indeed in all the ways we live out our Christian lives.
We often take a different approach, don’t we? When we believe we are right and others wrong, we feel the need to convince, to teach, even to encourage. When we believe we have learned something or experienced something and others around us are lacking that thing, we feel like they are less mature, or spiritual, than we are, and that if only we could get them to see things our way, or experience them like we did, then they would be mature and spiritual like us. This passage turns that on its head. It says, leave that to God. It says that if we feel more spiritual than others and we look down on them, we are sinning. It says, more important than being right is being in right relationships with one another.
“the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.”
Application:
So how do we apply this passage to our lives? The passage makes it pretty clear: “So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.”
I have a challenge for us. Based on this passage, based on the truth that God’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of Peace, based on the idea of preparing for Christmas and the truth that making peace with one another is a crucial pre-requisite for worship (see Matt 5:23-24), here is my challenge:
who can you “build up”? Maybe you have “looked down” on someone else, maybe you have even been hurt by them, and maybe you were even in the right all along but that “rightness” came at the cost of relationship and unity. I’m not asking you to re-open the old issue, wade through the mess again, but I am saying let us “try to build each other up.” How might you bring them a bit of goodness, a bit of peace, a bit of joy in the Holy Spirit? Is it through a card or a prayer? Is it through a tangible gift expressing genuine acceptance? Is it through you choosing to forgive, and let go of hurts?
These, I think, are harder than gifts to those we love and with whom we are in good relationship. But these reflect the heart of the Kingdom of God – a Kingdom of peace with one another.
