Pursue The Things That Make For Peace

Alba 6-12-2022

PURSUE THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE

Romans 14:1-23

I hope you’re not like the hypercritical husband who was impossible to please. He was really cranky at breakfast. If his wife made scrambled eggs, he wanted them poached; if the eggs were poached, he wanted them scrambled.

One morning his wife hit upon what she thought was a brilliant idea. She decided to poach one egg and scramble the other. When she put the plate before him, she thought for sure he would be happy.

He looked down at the plate and snorted, “Can’t you do anything right, woman? You scrambled the wrong one!”

How do you get along with difficult people? It can be really hard sometimes. Even in church you can experience times when you don't see eye to eye with others. One person can have an opinion about something that is the opposite of someone else.

The question is, how do you deal with that other person? I'm glad you asked, because the Bible has something to say about that. In fact, it is in our text for today, Romans chapter fourteen.

Romans 14:1 gives us this good advice: We are “not to dispute over doubtful things” (NJKV). Another translation says: “without quarreling over disputable matters” (NIV), and another is perhaps even more clear: “do not argue about opinions.' (NCV).

Instead, as it says in Romans 14:19, “Let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.”

There are specific things referred to in this chapter that the Christians in Rome needed instructions as to how to deal with those things, and with people who held different opinions about them.

Apparently there were divisions in the church that the apostle Paul felt needed his attention. In this chapter he addresses conflicts over food, drink, and elevating one day above another.

Concerning food, there were some in the church in Rome who had come out of idol worship and paganism where they’d take the finest of all the cattle and sacrifice it to one of those pagan idols.

They would only take a little bit of that meat and burn it on the altar, and then take all the rest of that good meat and sell it in the marketplace.

So people bought this meat, took it home, and ate it. But there were some Christians who said, “Oh no, a Christian cannot eat that meat. It was sacrificed to idols.”

There were even some Jewish Christians who had come out of Judaism who said, “And you don’t know how that meat was killed. In order for that meat to be kosher, it has to be killed a certain way. So it is better if we don’t eat any meat at all.”

But there were some other Christians in the church who said, “Hey, no big deal. Those idols aren’t real, it’s good beef, it’s cheap and it’s good. What’s the issue?” This caused serious disagreements over food.

And verse five deals another disagreement. There were some who considered one day more sacred than another.

Some of these Christians had come out of Judaism and they were still observing the Jewish holy days, and insisting that everyone else do the same.

It appears that everybody had an opinion, and believed they were so right, that everyone else should believe and do as they were doing. Someone has written this satirical poem which illustrates what was happening in the church at Rome.

Believe as I believe, No more, no less;

That I am right, And no one else, confess;

Feel as I feel, Think only as I think;

Eat what I eat, And drink but what I drink;

Look as I look, Do always as I do;

Then, and only then, Will I fellowship with you.

Maybe today we don’t have as a big a problem as people in that day did with these particular issues. But that attitude sadly is not too far from the truth in many churches. Because we don’t like our personal opinions and convictions judged, do we? No! We don’t!

Steve Shepherd, now minister at First Christian Church, Chaffee, Missouri, remembered working in church camp with senior high kids. Some of the preacher faculty members wanted to serve communion, the Lord’s Supper, one evening to the young people.

He said, “Guess what? Some of the other faculty members thought that it was totally wrong to do that, saying that the early Christians observed the Lord’s Supper ONLY on the Lord’s Day and to do otherwise would be sinful.”

He made it plain that he was not in the ANTI-group! He was all for it, remembering that Jesus said, “As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of me.”

He said he thought that meant any time we wanted to remember the body and blood of our Lord, then it was ok with Him! And that in fact that it is right to remember Him at any time! The more, the better!