Look Up, Not Down
Romans 14: 1-12
After being voted out of office the first time, Teresa and I moved three hours away to Tyler, Texas where I landed a job as an Assistant District Attorney for Smith County. We were pretty excited and lucked into a cute little pre-war two-bedroom, one bath house in the historic district of town. As a long-time family friend lived in Tyler we started going to the Baptist Church, First Baptist to be exact. It was one of the oldest churches in Tyler and was one of three located adjacent to what used to be the courthouse square before the old courthouse burned down which seemed to confer some sort of status. Being a newcomer in town I noticed that practically every time I was introduced to someone it wasn’t long before I was asked what church I attended, not if I attended church, but which church. You could tell by the looks on their faces whether or not they approved of your particular house of worship as they went on to tell you about how wonderful their church was.
I googled churches in Tyler and one site said that there are no less than 85 officially listed churches in Tyler and the surrounding area. There are 37 Baptist Churches, four Church of Christ, two Assembly of God, two Church of God, and one Methodist. Somehow the Presbyterian and Episcopal churches didn’t make the cut. Nevertheless, the other thirty-nine listed churches are non-denominational or evangelical. For what it’s worth, Marvin Methodist, also adjacent to the old courthouse square disaffiliated and is no longer a United Methodist Church. It begs the question that if the Gospel message of Jesus Christ is simple and to the point then why are there so many different churches?
And, I believe, that’s the issue the Apostle Paul was addressing in this portion of his letter to the Roman church. From what has been reported back to him he has a sense that deep divisions are forming among the Jesus followers because they are experiencing differences of opinions regarding what it means to live faithfully in Christ. While seeking to become like Christ, it is Paul’s desire that the Christians in Rome not become insular, ignorant or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside of their own experience. He fears that they may begin to think too highly of themselves and come off as elitist, better than everyone else.
It’s important to remember that a large part of the Roman congregation were former Jews who were steeped in their knowledge of the God of Israel and very invested in ceremony and spiritual rituals. And now, new people are being drawn to this new and unconventional religion, a religion where all were accepted regardless of their station in life. He says: Welcome the person who is weak in faith—but not in order to argue about differences of opinion. He wants those who are strong in their faith to be patient, understanding, and accepting of the new believers and to help them along with their spiritual development. He uses the example of how one person believes it is okay to eat everything while the weaker person eats only vegetables. To us that may seem silly, but at the time there were still some dietary restrictions in place and those who were strong in their faith saw nothing wrong with eating the leftover meat from a pagan sacrifice. It was just meat. Those weaker in their faith were concerned that by eating such meat they might be doing something that was offensive to God. I know that seems kind of silly, but from my experience in Tyler I can see how that could be a problem in a different way. Some of the other churches that weren’t, shall we say: mainline, had beliefs and restrictions on musical instruments in churches, how women wore their hair or whether or not makeup was permissible, and which translation of the Bible was acceptable. Garrison Kiellor makes fun of us Methodists if our Jello salad isn’t the correct liturgical color for a Sunday potluck.
Paul says that those who eat must not look down on the ones who don’t, and the ones who don’t eat must not judge the ones who do, because God has accepted them. He rhetorically asks: Who are you to judge someone else’s servants? They stand or fall before their own Lord, and they will stand, because the Lord has the power to make them stand. Basically, he’s asking who made them God and that it’s not their place to pass judgment. He points out that one person considers some days to be more sacred than others, while another person considers all days to be the same. He says: Each person must have their own convictions. Someone who thinks that a day is sacred, thinks that way for the Lord. Those who eat, eat for the Lord, because they thank God. And those who don’t eat, don’t eat for the Lord, and they thank the Lord too. He’s telling the Roman congregation, and us, not to get all knotted up about the small stuff and says: If we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to God. He reminds us that this is why Christ died and lived: so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. After putting it all in proper perspective, he asks why we judge our brothers or sisters, or why do we look down on our brother or sister and reminds us that one day we will all stand in front of the judgment seat of God when we will then be called to give an account of ourselves to God. I don’t know about you, but I for one, would just as soon not have to explain to God why I think I’m better than someone else because of how they look, or speak, or dress, or love, or live. Unless they are a neighbor who needs to know the love of God, it really is none of our concern. We need to spend our time looking up, not down.
The lesson here is that Paul doesn’t want to get sucked into a debate about what food can be eaten and what food can’t. For us it’s symbolic, it’s secondary to his larger point that God is always to be glorified in a Christian’s life. Paul understands that there will be differences in opinions in the church, matters that are disputable, matters that cause splits but he admonishes us not to quarrel about issues that are nothing more than a matter of opinion. The differences we have should not be feared or avoided but accepted and handled with respect and love. And we shouldn’t expect everyone, even in the best possible church, to agree on every subject. Through sharing ideas, we can come to a fuller understanding of what the Bible teaches. As hard as it seems at times, we need to accept, listen to, and respect others. Differences of opinion need not cause division. They can be a source of learning and richness in our relationships. Now that’s not to say that some issues are central to our faith and worth fighting for—but many are really based on individual differences and should not be legislated. Our principles as followers of the way of Jesus Christ should be: In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in everything, love.
The problem we face is that many times we Christians base our moral judgments on opinion, personal dislikes, politics, or cultural bias rather than on the word of God. When we do this, we show that our own faith is weak—we do not think that God is powerful enough to guide his children. Our human opinions and judgments about others will not finally matter since God is the impartial and gracious judge. We must remember what Paul said about us as a people; that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. By recognizing God’s transcendence and role as judge, God’s people, you and me, are freed to live in love even in the midst of disagreements with others as we continue to look up towards God and not down upon others.
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, how we praise you for the simplicity of your Gospel message brought to us by your Son, our Savior, through his words, teachings, and examples of how we should conduct ourselves as your beloved children. And we thank you for the gift of the Spirit who guides and leads us as we seek to do your work and your will. Keep us mindful of the simplicity of Jesus’ message as we lovingly help others get stronger in their faith as we walk beside them in love, compassion, understanding, and patience. We pray that during those challenging times of division that we look up to you for guidance and not down upon those with whom we disagree. We pray that we are united in all things that are essential to your Word and that in all we do, we do it with love. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
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Fun service this morning. Connie and I broke out our ukuleles for He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands and Peggy sang a beautiful rendition of We Can Be Kind as our prelude.
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