GOD’S NEW COMMUNITY:

PRAISING GOD BY PLEASING PEOPLE

Romans 15: 1-7

INTRODUCTION

Jesus prayed on the night before he was betrayed for we who belong to River Hills Community Church. His prayer is recorded in John 17. He prays in part, “My prayer is not for them (the 11 apostles) alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me…” It is Jesus’ desire that we, as his disciples, enjoy the same level of unity that he and his Father enjoy in the fellowship of the Trinity. It is through this unity that the world will believe that God the Father sent God the Son into the world as the Savior.

We can be sure that since the Son of God asked the Father to do this that it is indeed the Father’s will that we be united as his people. We can also be sure that right now God is working to create that unity among us in response to the prayer of the Son. However, since the Son asked the Father to do this work, we can also assume that enjoying this unity is not natural. In other words, being a united church does not happen automatically. It takes a supernatural work in order for a church to attain the unity for which Jesus prayed. That is why in our passage this morning the Apostle Paul prays for the unity of the church. There are many things working against the unity of every local church. One of the most obvious and most difficult forces to overcome is the fact that we are all so different from one another. We are different in many ways. We differ in our backgrounds, our ages, our genders, our families, our likes, and our dislikes. We differ in our politics. We differ in our value systems. We disagree with one another on a wide variety of topics.

The good news is that God is fully aware that the church is made up of people who disagree with each other and differ from one another in a whole host of ways. Yet the Bible does not think that these differences need to result in division within the church. We have in Romans 14:1-15:13 a thorough discussion of how it is that we who differ from one another on significant issues can still be united in the church. Some day we are going to tackle this entire passage but for right now we are only going to examine what Paul says in 15:1-7.

MAIN POINT

The church is to be a place of unity, where differences don’t divide because…

I. Love is our rule (vv. 1-2)

Four questions need to be answered if we are going to understand what Paul is trying to say here. First, who are the strong? Second, who are the weak? Third, what are the “failings” the strong are to bear? Fourth, what exactly is it that Paul tells the strong not to do and to do?

To answer those questions we first have to look back at chapter 14. Read 14: 1-3. First, the weak are those who are “weak in faith”. This doesn’t mean they are young Christians or that they can’t trust God with their finances. Rather, their weakness is that they are convinced that it matters to God whether they eat meat or not, drink wine or not and worship God on Saturday. These “weak in faith” were not saying that eating meat would send you to hell. They weren’t saying that only vegetarians go to heaven. If that were the case Paul would tell them they are not Christians as he does in Galatians 1. They simply believe that to be a faithful Christian you will not eat meat, not drink wine and worship God on Saturday. If a person who was “weak in faith” were to eat meat they believed they would be sinning. That is the critical point in understanding the difference between the strong and the weak. The weak believe that eating meat, drinking wine or working on Saturday, would be sin. Therefore they view those who eat meat as inconsistent or bad Christians. They tend to be critical or judgmental of those who eat meat. Now the strong are those whose faith allows them to eat everything, to drink wine and to worship God on any or every day and to work on any and every day. They know that whether they eat meat, drink wine or work on the Sabbath, or not is a matter of indifference to God. They know that eating meat, drinking wine and working on the Sabbath is not a sin. The danger for these “strong” in faith is that they will look down on the “weak” and by the practice of their liberty put pressure on those who won’t eat meat to eat or drink, contrary to their conscience and thus cause them to sin.

What are the “failings of the weak”? Literally it is the “weaknesses of the weak”. The weaknesses of the weak refer to how vulnerable these individual’s consciences are. The weak are so worried about sinning and about trying to keep others from sinning that they have a hard time enjoying the good news of Christ. The weak are overly conscientious. The strong have to be careful not to say or do anything that will put pressure on the weak to violate their conscience. There is a level of patience and considerateness that the strong must exercise in order to not harm the weak. Additionally, the strong are not free to simply enjoy the liberty of the gospel, that is to please themselves. They must evaluate what they do and say in view of the fact that their “weak” brothers and sisters are nearby. The question for the strong is not, am I free to do this or say this thing? Rather they are continually seeking to use their freedom to help their weak brothers and sisters. Paul is not telling the strong to simply tolerate the weak. Neither is he telling them that they can just ignore them. He wants the strong to get involved in the lives of the weak to help them because they love them. He wants them to not merely look out for their own interests but also to look out for the good of the weak. He doesn’t want them to act in a condescending way but to work for their good so that they will be built up in the faith.

It is quite clear that Paul agrees with those who say that eating meat, drinking wine and working on the Sabbath is a matter of indifference to God. He does think that the weak are wrong in their views. You can see this in 14:14, 17 and in 15:1 when he includes himself among the strong. He is requiring the strong to get involved in the lives of the weak so that the whole church will grow up in the faith. He isn’t asking the strong to give into every whim and wish of the weak. He wants them to aim at the good of the weak, which is that they would grow in their faith. However, the strong must not do this in an arrogant, condescending way. They must not flaunt their freedom in such a way that the weak feel pressured into eating meat, for then they would be sinning. The strong by their patient love are to help the weak by making sure their weak conscience is not harmed and by using their influence to help the weak become strong. This is what love does. It doesn’t require the other to become like me but rather it seeks to help the other by accommodating itself to the preferences of the other.

There are hundreds of issues Christians disagree about that the Bible does not clearly address. These issues usually end up destroying the unity of the church and the beauty of Christian relationships. All of us have a tendency to view our position as the more godly, the more mature position. At the risk of being misunderstood and offending some of you, I’m going to mention several issues that Christians disagree about and try to show how we are to live with one another in spite of these differences. Many Christians think it is sinful to send your children to public schools. They believe that sending your children to Christian schools or homeschooling are the only two options open to “godly” parents. Other Christians believe that it is sinful to isolate your children from the broader culture. They are convinced we have a responsibility to live in the world in order to be salt and light in that world. Not participating in public education is forsaking our God-given responsibility to influence our culture and other individuals for Christ. Paul would identify both of these positions as the result of being “weak” in faith. He would argue that whenever you attach the words “sinful” or “godly” to lifestyle preferences that are not clearly commanded or forbidden in the Scriptures, then you are acting as one who is “weak” in the faith. There are Christians who believe it is sinful and ungodly to use birth control. Other Christians believe it is sinful and ungodly to bring more children into a world that is already overpopulated. There are Christians who believe that no godly person would ever be a Democrat and other Christians who believe that no godly person could ever be a Republican. Again, Paul would identify all of these positions as the result of weakness in faith.

It is not that these lifestyle choices are not important. You have to make decisions about how you are going to educate your children, whether you’re going to use birth control or not, what kind of car you’re going to drive, what kinds of entertainment you will watch, how you will vote, what kind of food you will eat, whether mom is going to work outside the home or not, etc. The problem is that we have the tendency to believe that our choices are God’s choices. We are living the way God wants us to live and therefore those who don’t make these same choices are not living as God wants Christians to live. Paul believes it is possible for people with widely divergent lifestyles to live together in unity. The way this happens is for those who know that the gospel gives freedom to make different choices to bear with those who are insisting that God prefers certain choices. Those who know that the church is united not by a common sociology but by a common theology live gently with those who want to make sociological choices the organizing principle of the church. The strong patiently endure the insistence of the weak that certain choices are godlier than others. They refrain from forcing their views and lifestyle choices upon those who disagree. They refuse to make a big deal out of what others consider a big deal. They seek to love and build the faith of others, not get others to agree with their preferences. They are not condescending but respectful of the views of the weak.

The church is to be a place of unity, where differences don’t divide because…

•  Love is our rule

•  And because…

II. Christ is our example (v. 3)

Verse three gives the reason why the strong act in love towards the weak. It gives the reason as to why the strong bear with the weaknesses of the weak, don’t please themselves but seek to please the weak, working for their good which is the building of their faith. The reason the strong live like this is because this is how Jesus lived. Jesus laid aside his right to have a happy life here. He chose a life of suffering and so that is what the strong choose, a life of suffering love. Paul quotes a portion of Psalm 69:9 to show how it is that Jesus suffered. We need to look at this together and consider the implications for us.

Read Psalm 69: 6-9. The psalmist is passionate about God. The great passion of his life is to see the name of God magnified in the world. He is passionate about the house of God, which is the place where God is worshipped. However, he lives in a world that doesn’t like God. It is a world that does not believe that all goodness, life, and happiness are found in God alone. We live in a world that is positive happiness can be found here, in this life. Therefore, Paul says Jesus came into the world with this radical agenda: Hope in God alone . The world heaped its abuse on him, it hated and insulted him and finally crucified him because it hates God. But the suffering that passion for God brought to him did not deter him from his course because, “zeal for God’s house consumed him”. Jesus was insulted because of his devotion to God, not his devotion to any political cause or lifestyle preference.

How does this lifestyle of Jesus stand as the motive for my seeking to build up other Christians in their faith? Maturing Christians have the same zeal that Jesus had, the glory of God. It is the consuming desire of maturing Christians that the greatness and goodness of God be seen and felt by all. He or she knows that God is most glorified when people are most satisfied with Him. So, they love to help people to discover what a treasure God is. They do not believe that the greatest source of joy in life is to have others agree with them on every lifestyle choice but to find Jesus to be the satisfaction of their souls. Mature Christians, while they must make choices about how to live do not make those lifestyle choices the center of their lives. Our lives are to be organized around the sufficiency and greatness of God, not the greatness of our lifestyle choices. We are zealous for the worship of God, not zealous for home schooling or fighting global warming or our right to drink wine or electing politicians from one party or another.

What is shocking about this verse is that Paul equates the suffering Jesus endured for the sake of God with the suffering that the strong must endure when they do not please themselves but seek to please the weak. In other words, Paul equates Jesus’ suffering the abuse of God’s enemies with the suffering that we must endure if we are going to love other Christians. He is not saying that the weak are the same as those who hate God. He is saying that if you are going to love other Christians for the sake of God, then you are going to suffer hardship. You will not be able to freely live your life as you want. You will have to deny yourself legitimate pleasures. You will be misunderstood and probably insulted. The unity of the church and the growth of the church in faith require that at least some of us suffer the loss of earthly pleasures and gladly endure mistreatment by other Christians so that the whole church grows to love Jesus more.

The church is to be a place of unity, where differences don’t divide because…

•  Love is our rule

•  Christ is our example

•  And because…

III. God’s word is our hope (v. 4)

Verse four at first appears as if it is a digression from the main point. Paul has quoted the OT in order to encourage the strong to bear with the failings of the weak. He has used the Scriptures to help the strong to endure the suffering of loving the weak. So on one hand v. 4 is simply giving the general principle that God’s word is given to us for the purpose of filling us with hope so that we will endure. The whole OT was written to teach us about God and how he saves his people. This instruction gives endurance and encouragement to us so we find our hope to be in God and not in ourselves or our abilities to find happiness in this world. The word of God causes us to hope in a future world. We do not expect to be fulfilled here because this isn’t home. We’re on our way to our home and when we get there it will be better than anything we can imagine here. Therefore, we can deny ourselves legitimate pleasures here and work for the good of the irritating people who make up the church. However, why does Paul feel the need to give us this principle in this context?

Here’s what I think Paul is doing. He knows that all of us have opinions about things that God is not really all that concerned about. He also knows our tendency to justify our own position by trying to get God on our side. For a Christian, the way you get God’s endorsement of your particular lifestyle is to be able to show the Bible says so. He has just told us that mature Christians aren’t interested in winning arguments but are passionate, like Jesus, for the glory of God in the salvation of his people. He has just quoted the OT to support his position. In doing so he has not only shown us the why and how of living for the good of others but he has also shown us how God intends for his word to be used. His word is to be used to point people to a greater hope than what this world offers; not to win arguments about issues that don’t matter.

Now, a mature Christian in his or her desire to build up another Christian will use the Bible to confront a sinful behavior or sinful thinking. But this kind of careful and compassionate instruction is a far cry from petty bickering about issues that are not central to Christian doctrine and living. You can know if you are misusing the Bible by what your intention is. Are you trying to win an argument or are you trying to win a soul? Are you trying to justify your lifestyle choices or are you trying to increase your friend’s hope that to have heaven is far greater than to have the passing pleasures of sin in this life?

If your house is on fire and you and one of your children are inside the home still, you will not spend your time talking about the length of his hair. You will be giving instructions on how to escape the house safely. When we are consumed with the eternal, with the glory of God and the horror of his judgment, we will not waste our time on justifying our petty preferences from the bible, we will concentrate on the great issues of sin and God and judgment and Christ and salvation and living a holy life. We will use the Bible the way Paul does, to inspire hope in a future glory so that we will endure in a life of suffering love here.

The church is to be a place of unity, where differences don’t divide because…

•  Love is our rule

•  Christ is our example

•  God’s word is our hope

•  And because…

IV. God is our joy (vv. 5-7)

Verses 5-7 are the climax to Paul’s argument. It is here that he explicitly and forcefully grabs out attention and seeks to get us to fix our attention on what really matters. He is aiming at getting us to view reality as it is, not as we want it to be. What is so powerful about Paul’s statement here is that he is certain that if God has his way in a church there will be agreement, one mind. This is amazing when you remember where he started. He assumes in v. 1 that in every church there will always be disagreement about all kinds of issues. Christians will look at themselves as being more biblical, more mature in their faith, than others. But, Paul believes that when God works in a community of people all the differences will be set aside in the amazed wonder and worship of our God and Father. He is convinced that God will be glorified when Christians warmly welcome one another, not just tolerate each other, the way Jesus warmly welcomes us into God’s family.

He is setting forward here the goal of the Christian life. This is why Christ came and died and rose again. He came to win his people for God and to God. When Christ saves a person he gives to him or her a new passion and love. Whereas before the person hated God and loved sin. When Christ saves them, they now love God and hate their sin. He expects that passion to grow in and through the relationships of Christians with one another. As we welcome one another as Christ welcomed us then God’s praise and glory will increase. His prayer and confident expectation is that Jesus will show how wonderful he is through our acceptance and love for one another. He is sure that God will so overwhelm each Christian in the community with a vision of the wonder of Jesus and his salvation that a mighty, united chorus of praise will erupt.

Most of us have experienced this in other settings. If you’ve ever been to a sporting event, you’ve experienced what Paul is talking about here. Take a Packer game at Lambeau field. There are over 70,000 people gathered together from all walks of life, from every political party and every sort of ethnic and family background. They come together and with one heart and voice delight to praise the Packers. Total strangers have warm feelings for one another, which often break forth in high fives and hugs. If you were to take any 10 of these fans at random and put them in a room and ask them to discuss a couple of controversial subjects you would soon have a fight on your hands and these comrades from Lambeau would be trying to hurt each other. However, if these 10 fans only talked about the Packers, they would become the best of friends, but the minute you let them begin to emphasize what makes them different, they will become enemies. It’s the same thing we as a nation experienced following Sept. 11. Remember the members of Congress standing on the steps of the capital singing “God Bless America”? These men and women who were violently opposed to one another joined their voices in praise of America. Their common love overcame their many differences and enabled them to worship together.

What Paul is saying is that the work of Christians in each others lives is to help us see that Jesus is so desirable and his salvation so glorious that we are so caught up in loving and adoring him that the things which make us different are seen as trivial and minor and unimportant. There is no way that human beings can engineer such a thing. When it happens, it is the result of a work of God. So the mature Christian spends time asking God to do just that work. He prays for his spouse and his children and his fellow church members to be so overwhelmed with God’s love for sinners in Christ that they only love Him and what he loves. If you will read the prayers of Paul in the NT you will discover that this is exactly what he is praying for. This is what it means to pray for revival. To pray that God gives to us such a view of himself that we are overcome with a desire to know him and delight to worship him and to love what he loves.

When you walk into a new church the first question that all of us ask is this: Can I fit in here? Are these people like me? Will I be able to belong? Often, what then attracts us to the church are the sociological things that we share in common. Some of the most troubling conversations I have are with people who are looking for a new church. When I inquire as to why they are leaving their former church it is because they don’t feel the people or the leadership of their former church love the things they love. They don’t love their parenting choices, they don’t appreciate their education choices, they don’t prefer their musical preferences. Many people leave churches for sociological reasons, not theological. If we are going to grow as Christians and help one another grow we have to believe the promise that what units us, the person of Jesus and his salvation, is a million times greater and more significant than what divides us. We will only grow to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when he is more glorious and satisfying to us than how we’ve chosen to live. It is only as each of us personally sets our own heart on finding him and then seeks to encourage one another to find him that we will ever become what God plans for us to become.

The church is to be a place of unity, where differences don’t divide because…

•  Love is our rule

•  Christ is our example

•  God’s word is our hope

•  God is our joy