This is the third week since we have entered the practical part of the Roman letter beginning in chapter 12. The heart of that chapter told us:
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
Then, last week in chapter 13, after instructions on governing authority, we saw in the heart of that chapter:
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
What we are learning here is this:
Based on the love and mercy of God, we as Christians live our lives and give our lives to God and one another. Chapter 14 continues this instruction to the church on how to walk in that love. This is not optional. We are defined by this holy, heavenly standard and when the church fails to live by God’s word, the church falls into the judgment of God’s discipline. Our light to the world grows dim, our witness becomes weak. But when we diligently seek to please God and give ourselves to loving one another, the church shines brightly and God is glorified in us.
Today we come to the next section of Romans, chapters 14:1 - 15:7
This section of Romans could be entitled: The weak and the strong.
Those who are weak in this passage are encumbered, not with too few convictions about the Christian life but with too many!
Those who are strong are described as free from certain rules and regulations about days and diet, but perhaps have an attitude problem toward those who are not so free. They are not just irritated by them, they hold them in contempt.
What happens when you get a group together where some feel that let’s say, eating in the church building is wrong while others feel that it is no big deal. Or when some feel that the church money is never to be used to support outside institutions and others feel it is fine to send money from the Church collection
to support a Christian college let’s say. Or maybe some believe that having a bake sale or a car wash on the church property would be wrong while others believe it would be a fine way to raise money for some Christian work or function.
Do these kinds of differences ever occur among Christian people?
Not only do these (and many others like them) occur, but they have the potential to divide brothers and sisters in Christ into factions!
Paul has spent 12 chapters in this letter impressing us with what holds us together before mentioning these issues that so easily tear us apart.
In Chapter 16:17-19 He will issue a strong warning about people who play with issues and cause division.
If we were to pay close attention, we would see something surprising about God’s instructions. Much of what we chose to do or not to do as a church is shaped not by command of God but by our culture, practicality and time worn use. Whether or not to kneel for prayer, whether or not to read from a particular translation of the Bible, how we serve communion, whether or not to use wine or grape juice for the communion, the order of our worship, the times we meet for worship, these and many, many more things about us are largely governed by our opinions (hopefully informed by principles of scripture) and what makes sense for us here.
God has given specific instruction in what to do in several places, but more often we are left to decide how we will do it. We can search for a pattern of worship in the Bible all we want, but we will only find scant details of what they did... not much to describe how they did it. For instance, how much bread did they each eat for communion, and how big were the cups... or was it only one cup? How long was the sermon, and how many songs did they sing? Did they ever sing the second and third verses? How was their singing directed? How did they do prayers? Was it one man leading them or did several lead in prayer? Acts 4:24 sounds like all of them prayed out loud together. Did they have opening and closing prayers? Did they have announcements? When it comes to these kinds of specifics the Holy Spirit did not use much ink.
On the other hand, there is a vast amount of instruction in God’s word about how we are to relate to one another. Most of the volume of scripture is devoted to this great task. Teach us how to love each other, Lord! To the person who seeks for a pattern of “how to” for details regarding worship, he may be disappointed at the scant instruction, except this: Christians are to work and worship and live in harmony with one another above all else. God tells us who Jesus is and what he has taught and done and how we are to embrace him and relate to each other in him.
It is interesting to me that Paul seems to have written this letter to the Romans from Corinth. When we study the church at Corinth in the next letter of the New Testament, we will discover that their worship services were quite different than ours are today. And we can be glad about that. It is at Corinth that we find the fullest description of a Christian worship service with prayer, singing, instruction in the word, giving, communion and fellowship.
But getting back to our study in Romans 14...
The weak Christians of Romans 14 are those that require more than God requires, not less. The strong seem to realize that they have more freedoms and are not bound by the convictions of the weak. Paul warns the weak not to pass judgment on the strong and he warns the strong not to despise or have contempt for the weak. Those on the left and those on the right, meet in the middle and fight, fight, fight! To which God says, "Stop it, NOW!"
He reminds us that Jesus is Lord of the dead and the living. And he also reminds us that Jesus is going to judge us all.
He tells the strong to act in love and decide not to offend the weaker brother. The weak are not to pass judgment on those who disagree with their convictions.
He reminds us to seek the goal of peace and mutual edification. We are to remember that the Kingdom of God is a matter of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. When a church is characterized by these things – Wow! God is glorified and we are fulfilled. By pursuing these we can please God and be approved by men.
Chapter 15:5-7 sums it up well...
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus,
6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
Isn’t that a beautiful sight!
Jesus accepted you and me in our weakness and sinfulness, not because we were so good and easy to save, but because Jesus Christ is the love of God in human form. We need to be that for each other.
The unity we have is from the Spirit of God, not so much from our performance. Our performance can obstruct or enhance unity, but it is the Spirit of God who creates it. The strength we have is not based on how well we outwardly perform our services, but how much we show God’s love to one another, and our love to Him.
The weak and the strong have the same responsibility toward each other, and that is to love one another and accept each other.
One of the deadly and dangerous things that can happen in a group to destroy harmony and unity is for some to become upset by something and begin to gossip and talk down on others. Have you ever been guilty of this? Love doesn’t act like that. Can you imagine Jesus talking with Peter and John and complaining about the way Matthew and Simon never get there on time for meetings. Or (lets reverse that) Jesus talks to Matthew and Simon about how Peter and John always are so legalistic and time conscience. That is absurd! It is just as absurd for us to talk about one another that way.
Whenever the disciples bickered about anything, Jesus had to remind them of who they were. His final example before being betrayed was to wash their feet and tell them one more time that they are to love each other just as He had loved them.
Jesus said, "This is how others will know that you are my disciples... by your love for one another."
The hallmark of the Church is love. The message of the Church is grace. The principal of the church is faithfulness. The vision of the church is hope of glory. The way, the truth and the life of the church is Jesus Christ our Lord.
We as God’s people, sharing in God’s kingdom need the constant corrective of the cross to call us upward to loving and living in God’s merciful joy and peace with one another.
