Meditation for July 26

Based on Romans 14:13-23

 

Paul writes:  "Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another... If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.  Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died... Let us then pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding... The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.  Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve.  But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

 

Clearly there were differences of opinion in the Christian community in Rome about dietary laws - what was okay to eat and what wasn't okay to eat.  Paul makes it clear that Christians can eat what they want ("I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself..." - verse 14).  But then he follows this up by saying that if you know that your eating of a particular thing is a stumbling block to a Christian brother or sister, you shouldn't eat it.  He is most concerned with how we care for each other in the Christian community, and the standard is love (verse 15).  This ties in with what he wrote in Chapter 12:  "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor." (verses 9-10)

 

There are challenges that are inherent in trying to be a Christian community, just as there are challenges inherent in any of our relationships.  One of the most basic ones is this:  How can I be me and still honor you?  A variation on that theme:  How can I hold onto my deeply held beliefs and honor your deeply held beliefs, even when they are different from mine? 

 

Paul makes it clear that the answers have to do with faith and love.  "Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."  That's a strong and convicting statement, it seems to me.  How many things do I do each day that do not proceed from faith?  How many of my actions proceed from fear, for example, or from wanting to be right, or from wanting to show that I am smarter or better or some other "greater than" posture?  Paul says if it is not proceeding from faith, that is, if it is not coming out of that most grounded, grateful place in us where we remember that God is for us, and that God is also for the other person that we are dealing with, then we are acting sinfully.

 

You recall that in 1 Cornthians 13 Paul also wrote, "And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." (verse 13)  For the Christian community in Rome, and for all the communities that he wrote to, love was the bar that Paul said they should be striving for.  What is the most loving thing you can do?  That is what upbuilds the community - when we look out for each other, in love.  That kind of love involves some sacrifice, and it certainly involves mutual submission and service.  (cf. Mark 10:35-45)  Paul makes it clear in this passage that I may be doing something that, on the one hand, seems perfectly alright, but if I know that it is going to cause someone in the community to stumble or lose faith, and I do it anyway, that is a sinful action on my part.

 

This business of trying to live together as a Christian community, helping each other to grow in Christ and to love and serve others in Jesus' name, is tricky and difficult.  On the other hand, with so many longing for community, with so many in our world living lonely and disconnected lives, isn't it worth the struggle?  When you have those moments of feeling deeply connected to God, and deeply connected to another person or a group of people, isn't there something that resonates deep within you that says, "This is what life is all about!"

 

Let we pray for the grace to love each other in the way that Paul talks about.  May we "love one another with mutual affection" and "outdo one another in showing honor."

 

Christ's peace,

 

Peter+