So which are you? Are one of the weak or the strong when it comes to faith in Christ Jesus?

 

The problem is that we like to parade our strength while having little and often who’s who think they have little actually have a lot. The measure of faith has been on Paul’s mind for some time. Today we are back to it but in the context of how we relate to one another especially in matters of Christian practice. 

 

We are coming to the end of this letter and we need to remind ourselves that our gospel is about grace and about faith. Your salvation rests on Christ alone. You are a sinner, condemned by God. There is nothing you can do to change that.

There is no difference, ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ²⁵God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. Your salvation is God’s work, which Jesus willingly did by dying on the cross in your place.

 

Your part is to receive it by faith.

Your part is to respond in thankfulness and worship.

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your reasonable act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 

And Paul has been setting out what the living sacrifice is like.

think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

 

⁹Love must be sincere.

 

¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities,

 

⁸Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another,

 

¹⁴clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

 

 So lets keep that in mind as we move on to today’s passage.

 

READ 14:1-15:13

 

 Essentially Paul is picking up on the hot issues of the day and setting out how your thinking is to be changed by God.

Food whether Kosher or vegetarian; observance of special days or not. Life hasn’t changed much really!

But if you are thinking they are not your issues then reflect on the principles that Paul sets out and apply it to the issues you are faced with.

 

 ¹Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

Lets just pause there a moment. Notice that it is your judgement that another’s faith is weak. So you are already passing judgement on a work of God. Your faith and their faith are gifts of God. Gifts are not a matter of pride. Let go of pride and accept your brothers and sisters as God has given them. But notice where Paul’s attention is drawn. Not just that you are judging who is weak but what matters are acceptable. This is the general principle that overlays the rest of our reading.

 

Yes the immediate problem to Paul was food and festivals. But we can make all sorts of things that matter to us. Like the style of worship in church, the genre of the music in worship. The way other interpret Sabbath observance. Whether you smoke or not. Whether you drink alcohol. Or not. Whether you attend a particular meeting or not. Whether you know the right people or not. The list goes on we have wonderful ways of making sure we can look down on others and puff ourselves up.

 

Sorry that is not acceptable to the living sacrifice. Love must be sincere not based on me setting up rules to put you down.

 

One thing before we move on. The strong are those who know that rules like these have been abolished. The weak are those who have scruples on these points. Be warned the strong are the ones who enjoy the liberty of Christ without licence, the weak still need rules to guide their thinking.

 

 So what about food? While you witter on about diet, and what’s good for you, be aware you may be confusing your friends as to the nature of the gospel. But when it comes to making judgements, Paul is blunt.

4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

 

If you are the vulnerable, be reassured that Paul is totally positive And you will stand, for the Lord is able to make you stand.

 

So what about holy days? Like Christmas, Easter, Lent Pentecost, Good Friday and the like?

⁷For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

 

In essence everyday is holy to the Lord. You are not your own, you belong to God. That my be anathema to our self-reliance, independent but let God change the way you think. What you do with any particular day is about you living it for Jesus, not about necessarily following a tradition which, may I point out has limited historical basis. So you can fast in Lent or in advent or just about any time if that is what you believe is right before God. Perhaps we should have a Christmas celebration and sing a carol or two next Sunday. Certainly we will celebrate Easter this evening.

 

 So Paul has already set out two principles. Now he expands these

 First, We are accountable to God. This is following on from the principle of belonging to God. Your actions, just as your thoughts are to be judged by God alone. That does not mean that you live in some vague individualistic isolation but it takes the judgemental element that the rest of us like to indulge in out of the equation. And all of us must understand from this paragraph that ‘every knee shall bow’ means more than some eschatological event, it is a matter of our daily walk with Jesus. So we examines ourselves,

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
       test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:22-24

Notice the Psalmist is not doing it alone, he invites God to know his heart and reveal it to himself. This is a key part of our daily walk whether it is in a formal quiet time or in the course of our conversation with Jesus. Our actions are to be judged by WWJD and our thoughts examined so that our actions come from genuine love.

 The second principle is about what is the Kingdom of God is.

  First what it is not is what the world and many Christians think it is. You must understand that much that is said and done in the name of Christianity has little to do with the words of Jesus. The crusades are example of this and we are still told the tale. In Northern Ireland we were told the Kingdom of God is the cause of the suffering. It is a lie. It is fierce nationalism wearing the coat of religion. And it is not about what you eat or drink or whether you go to mass every day or an evangelical church every week.

 What is it about is the fruit of the Spirit being brought to fruition in the lives of individuals and the community of the saints.

 ¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, ¹⁸because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

 

Now this is particularly hard on men who like action and have an instinct to fight but God wants to change the way you think. The values of the kingdom, which Jesus spoke a great deal about, are of righteousness, being in a right relationship with God – the main subject of this letter, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit – a right relationship with the Holy Spirit. And in receiving Christ’s salvation and living by the Holy Spirit in peace and joy you serve Christ. In doing so you please God, which is most important but also you please men, on the whole, because your life is a haven in the storms of relationships. The living sacrifice leads you to be a beacon of hope in a hopeless world. That is the greatest praise Jesus ever gets. That the world  or maybe those around you see Jesus living through you.

The fourth principle is faith. What matters in this fellowship is building up one another’s faith. What matters is that we live by faith. And so Paul pleads here that we apply that principle. First that we do not destroy another’s faith by vilifying or ridiculing his understanding and means of expressing that faith. If the Kingdom of God is not about food and holy days then don’t destroy the work of God for the sake of getting someone else to do it right in your eyes. What matters is that each of us acts in faith not doubt. So, for example if we organise a meal out on a Sunday in a restaurant we should respect those who do not believe it is right to pay for a meal on Sunday. There should be no pressure to break what another believes is an act of obedience. The same applies to diets, drinking, smoking, dancing, cinema, TV and a multitude of disciplines that we set ourselves in the obedience of faith to either avoid temptation or sin itself. Paul says that for a Christian giving while doubting is sin. And that applies to whether your actions will distract or worse mislead another. Better to be puritanical than cause your brother or sister to fall. Or, if the circumstances demand it, better a liberal than to cause a brother or sister to fall because of your authoritarian views.

 

the next principle is that of pleasing others.

¹We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. ²Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up. ³For even Christ did not please himself…

 Notice that this is not please your neighbour, whatever, but please him for his own good. It is contrasted with

¹We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.

 

Jesus said that we should love our neighbour as we love ourselves and this is an explanation of that command. Our concern should be for the building up of the faith of another, not knocking them down to puff up our pride in our faith. The problem is that we like to add to the 10 commandments a few of our own. Like Don’t offend me! Don’t upset me!  And we turn this on its head and say if you are not pleasing me you are not living the live of faith. Be careful that this principle applies to you not someone else.

Paul is clearly getting passionate at this point and launches into a prayer for unity. It is because he and we know that  all this is beyond us and we need the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to change and become Christ-like.

 ⁵May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, ⁶so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

When did you last pray for a spirit of unity in this church? Jesus prayed a very similar prayer in John 17. Because the world loves dissent and feeds its prejudice on reported failings and division in the church. Remember Satan loves us to be off with each other, it sours the gospel and turns others away. It takes away our peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. These prayers are not here for interest, they are here to be your prayers for this church at this time.

 

Then he goes over the business of Jew and gentile again. Reminding his readers that we are to accept one another and in so doing bring praise to God. Well the Jew, Gentile issue may not be the hot one but we have to work at our attitude to immigrants. While you resent them being in the country, they will stay away, the gospel will not advance and Jesus will not be praised. So we must demonstrate this agape loves of God that loves those who the rest of the community rejects, be it immigrants, Muslims, sex offenders, or whatever the Mail rails against tomorrow. In the church there must be acceptance for al as we are all sinners, saved by grace. And anyway as Paul points out, it is God’s plan and that should be good enough for us.

 

Paul turns to prayer again. This inner battle with ourselves to offer ourselves as living sacrifices is beyond us so Paul prays

 

¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

The point of all this is that your hope lies in Jesus, God is a God of hope because he has provided a way of salvation. Jesus is the Way Out. If you have put your faith and trust in Jesus you are on your way to heaven. The future is certain. The present struggled are nothing compared to the glory that is to be revealed. Today we need to pray not only for unity but for peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

Where is your hope founded?

In Christ Alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

 

Let’s sing it and let live it in the way relate to one another as we serve Jesus in worship and thankfulness.

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