Epistle for September 17, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 14:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

We can easily forget just how radical this new religion of Christianity was.  True, it was predicated on the prophecies and principles of the Jewish faith.  But it was a sharp departure from the legalism that had come to characterize the Pharisaical expression of Judaism.

Paul addresses some of the trickier aspects of Christian culture that will require some nuance — food and festivals.  For contemporary Christians, these concerns may seem quaint, but for Paul’s time they were of extreme importance.

First of all, he makes it clear that food and festivals are not critical to Christian identity.  And he also makes it clear that the church is not a place to wrangle about such issues:

Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.

This is a reassuring word.  The church is not given boundaries that keep out those who are weak in faith.  The church is to be a place where they can receive sound instruction and grow in faith.  However, the church is also not meant to be a debating society.  There are some things that are clearly revealed as true, that are not disputable within the church.  And there are some things that are matters of opinion and personal practice — what some might call adiaphora, which is defined as “matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless permissible for Christians or allowed in church.”

Some of these adiaphora include what Christians choose to eat, and what special times they observe.  Paul makes it very clear from the very beginning that dietary laws are not central to the Christian faith.  This is radical for a Jew who has been steeped in the Pharisaical tradition.  The dietary laws of Leviticus were of such importance that they had spawned a cottage industry of commentary in the Oral Laws of the Pharisees — concerning pork, shellfish, blood, lobsters, rabbits, etc.  These Oral Laws had come to be regarded as almost equal to the Written Law, but were actually the traditions and interpretations that had been passed down since the exile of Israel in the 6th century B.C.

Paul makes it clear that what a person chooses to eat or not eat is a matter of personal conscience, not religious legislation.  Peter had already broken this ground when God called him to cross the line separating Jews and Gentiles.  When the Centurion Cornelius invited Peter to come to his home and preach, Peter had experienced a vision preceding this invitation:

He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth, in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.  A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”   A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean” (Acts 10:11-15).

This vision seemed to have a dual purpose.  On the one hand, symbolically, God was telling Peter that Gentiles were to be included in the church.  But on the other hand, Peter was being told that the prohibited foods were no longer forbidden.  They had been a part of Israel’s cultural identity, but Christianity transcends cultural and ethnic identity issues.

So Paul’s Solomonic wisdom on this issue is that each person must decide in their own mind what is appropriate to eat.  The one thing that he insists on is that whatever a person chooses to eat, as dictated by their own conscience, should not be a matter of division or a source of disapproval:

 One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.  Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.

In a word, church members are not to judge one another based on diet.  Their only judge is God:

Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

Paul then turns to festival days and sabbaths.  The same rule applies:

One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.

The sabbath observation in Judaism, and the three major feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) were central to the identity of Judaism, along with other minor festivals. Paul is not denying the importance of corporate worship in the church.  He assumes that Christians meet together on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 11:18-26; 16:2).

But he is also insistent that the ritual system of sacrifices has been superseded.  Certainly, the Gentile is not bound by these Jewish rituals, although we have really good evidence that Paul himself continued to observe them as a Jewish Christian.  For example, when he was returning from his missionary journey from Macedonia and Greece, he was eager to arrive back in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost (Acts 20:16).  It may well be that Pentecost had assumed a dual purpose, as both a Jewish feast day and a Christian commemoration of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The bottom line for Paul, though, is the importance of the Christian community established by unity in Christ:

For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

What a person eats, or doesn’t eat; or whether they observe all the same holy days, is not relevant.  What is relevant is that they belong to the same Lord, who paid for their salvation with his blood.  The mark of identity in this new community of faith is following Christ — not kosher foods or high holy days.

The bottom line is that every person will be held accountable for their actions and their own conscience before God.  It is not up to individual members to judge one another:

 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Lest we draw the conclusion that Paul has renounced his Jewish heritage, he quotes the Hebrew Scriptures, from Isaiah 45:23:

 For it is written, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’”

Ultimately, every person will be judged according to their own relationship with God, not according to human custom or tradition:

 So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.

APPLY:  

There are a few old cliches that may describe the issue Paul addresses: “don’t major in the minors” and “don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Paul is advising the church in Rome that a person’s diet doesn’t define their faith, nor does their observance of special days.  What defines their faith is their relationship with Christ and his church:

For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

One thing we are not to do is judge someone based on their dietary habits or whether they fast, or how they observe the liturgical calendar.  Fasting, for example, is a spiritual discipline that is encouraged in both the Old and New Testaments.  But the person who fasts is not superior to the person who doesn’t. That is a personal decision.  If it enhances our relationship with God, it is commendable.  But if a person chooses not to do so, that is between themselves and God.

To take the cliches a little farther — as someone has said: “Don’t sweat the small stuff — and it’s all small stuff.”  One person fasts, another doesn’t.  One person eschews meat, another eats it.  That is not an “essential” matter for salvation.

RESPOND: 

Paul’s counsel is ultimately directed toward individual accountability on personal lifestyle issues.  That doesn’t mean that these lifestyle decisions don’t matter.  Fasting is encouraged in the Christian tradition as a means of enhancing our prayer life and reminding us of our dependence on God.  Too much meat, though permissible, does have health consequences — and a vegetarian diet can be of great benefit.

But what we often see, especially in our time, is a kind of moral superiority even among those who are non-religious.  The vegetarian may condescend to the person who orders a hamburger at dinner.  There are Christian denominations that absolutely prohibit meat, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine.  The use of these substances may be debated, and some of them are absolutely of no benefit to the body, but it can’t be demonstrated from Scripture that they separate a person from God.  Gluttony and drunkenness are regarded as sins —but those are sins of excess and a lack of self-control. We don’t stop eating simply because of the risk of overeating.  Anything that we crave, or to which we become addicted, can become our god — and that can separate us from our primary loyalty to God.

And then there is the warning about time.  I tend to like the observance of the liturgical year as observed in my own church — Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost.  And all the “holy days”: Christmas Eve, Epiphany Day, Baptism of the Lord, Transfiguration Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week (including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday), Easter Sunday, The Day of Ascension, Pentecost Sunday, All Saints Day, Christ the King Sunday.  And I will admit, that when I’m in a church that doesn’t display the “correct” colors for the proper season, it bothers me a little.  Then I have to remember this passage from Romans 14.

At the same time, those from a non-liturgical background should be reminded that they are not to judge traditionalists.  Paraments and special days and unique traditions (I think of the beautiful icons in Orthodox churches) don’t save anyone.  But as long as those traditions are an enhancement to worship and not the object of worship, the non-liturgical Christian should have no objection.

The bottom line is clear — Christ doesn’t have a “special menu” that every Christian is supposed to choose. Nor does he demand that we all observe the liturgical year.  What ultimately matters is that we live to the Lord.

Lord, I do find that when I fast, it makes me more aware of you. And there are special times of the year that raise my awareness of your story.  But I don’t seek to impose those practices on others.  Help me to live my life by precept and example so that others see you at work in my life, and are drawn to you by my lifestyle.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for September 10, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 13:8-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul articulates the same royal law of love (James 2:8) taught by Jesus and later by his brother James.  Jesus declares that all the law and the prophets are fulfilled in the commandments to love God and love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).

Here, Paul focuses exclusively on the horizontal expression of the law of love that deals with human relationships.  Interestingly, he argues that the Christian should be free of any sense of indebtedness except the debt of love:

 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

This is part of a larger discussion of Christian responsibility.  Paul insists that the grace-filled life of the Christian means true liberty from legalism — but in contrast, he does acknowledge that freedom must be exercised responsibly.  In relation to governing authorities, paying taxes, honor and respect to those in authority, Paul says this:

Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake (Romans 13:5).

Thus the Christian, though free, is still to live as a responsible and conscientious citizen of the city or nation in which he or she may find themselves.

Paul’s next discussion of the law of love in relation to the Mosaic law is interesting.  We are reminded that he has presented a very nuanced view of the Mosaic law throughout the theological portion of Romans, arguing that the law is holy and just and good but also arguing that the law itself has no power to save us, nor can anyone except Jesus perfectly fulfill the law.

But the Christian who has been saved by grace through faith, and filled with the Spirit of Christ, is also empowered to love.  And all of the Mosaic law, including the Ten Commandments are fulfilled in the law of love:

 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

It is important to note that this law regarding love of neighbor is an Old Testament law from Leviticus 19:18. Paul has never repudiated the law and the prophets, only their false interpretations.  Note also that the four commandments Paul specifically cites from the Decalogue relate to our horizontal relationships with other human beings.

And there is an urgency to his exhortations about how Christians are to live.  His view of time is eschatological.  One doesn’t know when time will end, so it is imperative to live well:

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.  The night is far gone, and the day is near.

Paul is not engaging in any apocalyptical speculation so rampant today.  He is simply stating the obvious — that every day one is closer to the end of the age. And that day is nearer today than it was yesterday. This is a call to wakefulness and awareness, because, as Jesus teaches:

Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes… Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come (Matthew 24:42,44).

In light of this awareness, that the day is near, Paul exhorts us:

Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

His imagery contrasts night and day, with darkness suggesting behavior that is associated with night-time revels (drunkenness and sexual debauchery) as well as interpersonal conflict (strife and jealousy).  And light becomes a palpable thing — the armor of light that we are to put on clothes us with protection.  Indeed, he extends the metaphor, that we are to put on Christ ­— like the light, Christ is to envelop us.

And Paul reminds us of a metaphor that prevails throughout Scripture — we are to walk properly, as in the day.  The imagery of walking with God, and walking in God’s ways, is scattered throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation.  And it is readily apparent that walking is far easier in the light than in darkness!  We are to:

 walk in the light, as he (God) is in the light (1 John 1:7).

We also see the contrast of flesh and spirit, and are reminded of Paul’s earlier declaration:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:5-6).

Making provision for the flesh and its lusts leads to death; the Spirit leads to life and peace.

APPLY:  

The law of love is at the heart of Christian ethical teaching.  The New Testament appropriation of this principle insists that it sums up all the law and the prophets.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Jesus or Paul or James are negating the Old Testament law, but that love is the foundation for obedience to the law.

Do we go to church out of duty, or because we love God? Do we tithe because it is a rule, or because it is a measured means of expressing our love? Do we visit the sick or feed the hungry because we were told to do so, or because we care?  The answer is pretty clear — we do these things, and obey the principles of the law not because they are legalisms, but because they offer guidance in loving God and neighbor.

Augustine of Hippo once said:

Once for all, then, a short precept is given you: Love, and do what you will… let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good (Augustine’s Homily 7 on 1 John 4:4-12).

There is an irrefutable logic here:

• If you love, you won’t commit adultery, which damages entire families, not just the two people involved.
• If you love, you won’t murder — the ultimate unloving act.
• If you love, you won’t steal — depriving someone else of the right to their own property is a selfish, unloving thing to do.
• If you love, you won’t covet — covetousness is the inner root of dissatisfaction that leads to envy and jealousy and lust and disharmony with others and ourselves.

It is impossible to think of an instance when love fails to fulfill the proper regard between God and ourselves, between ourselves and others, and within our own mind and soul.

The Apostle John sums it up this way:

We love him, because he (God) first loved us (1 John 4:19).

When we love, we become most like God.

RESPOND: 

Many years ago when I was in college I had a roommate who had been recently saved.  He was zealous in his church attendance and in his witnessing to others.  But I remember one time having a conversation with him about the love commandments of Jesus, and the commandments of love that permeate all the Scriptures.

He seemed completely puzzled.  This conversation was at least ten years prior to Tina Turner’s troubling song, “What’s love got to do with it?”  But that seemed to be his attitude — what’s love got to do with being a Christian?

I was every bit as puzzled by his attitude as he was by mine.  Christianity without love is like walking in the total darkness of night.  Christianity without love is like living in the world of Fight Club instead of a loving family.  Christianity without love makes religion into a set of rules instead of a Spirit-led walk with God guided by the principle of love.

When we forget to love as God has loved us, we forget that we too have been those unlovely and unlovable selfish broken creatures for whom Christ died:

But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Our Lord, your command to love is inspiring, but impossible without your love living and working in and through us.  May we walk in your light and bring others into your light as well. Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for September 3, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 12:9-21
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul continues to instruct the Romans in moral, applied theology.  Some scholars describe this kind of instruction in the New Testament as parenesis, which means advice, instruction or counsel.  These can include loosely connected ethical commands, lists of vices and virtues, and the like.

Our lectionary epistle lifts up several principles that are key to New Testament ethics — love, humility, compassion, forgiveness.  These are essential relational qualities for harmony within the body of Christ (Romans 12:14-5).

A useful means of describing some of these injunctions is to view them as either horizontal or vertical. 

• Horizontal qualities describe how we are to relate to one another.
• Vertical qualities are those that describe how we are to relate to God.

Some of the horizontal qualities are positive and proactive:

Let love be without hypocrisy… Cling to that which is good.  In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another; not lagging in diligence.

Some are negative, meaning they describe what we must avoid:

Abhor that which is evil… bless, and don’t curse.

The vertical qualities exhort us to be:

fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer.

These and several other aphorisms in this list are well-worth remembering and putting into practice. There is an emphasis on empathy with others and a sense of equality within the community:

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.  Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits.

And we also see echoes of the ethical teachings of Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Great Commandment of Jesus is implicit in Paul’s teaching on love, including the emphasis on the vertical and horizontal nature of Christian love:

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).

Paul also echoes Jesus’ teaching in relation to persecution.  Paul writes:

Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.  If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:43-45).

These are the teachings of the New Testament that can justifiably be described as “counter intuitive.”  They run counter to the normal human impulse to hate one’s enemy, exalt oneself over others, and seek to be more important than others.  And Paul summarizes this section with perhaps the most difficult and counter-intuitive teaching of all:

Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We note that Paul quotes the Hebrew Scriptures (Deuteronomy 32:35), which exhort us to leave vengeance in God’s hands, and Proverbs 25:21-22, encouraging kindness to one’s enemies.

The moral traditions that Paul is passing on are grounded in the Hebrew moral tradition.  And Paul is teaching that justice is ultimately up to God, not to those who are victimized.  The ultimate revenge for the victim is knowing that his/her oppressors are in God’s hands.  Thus the victim is free to treat his/her enemy with love and kindness.

This passage ends with the ultimate moral triumph:

Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

APPLY:  

There was a time, not so long ago, that when someone was described as a “Christian,” it was an unqualified compliment concerning their character and morality. Somehow, in the last several years in the West, the term “Christian” has become a pejorative word to some people, associated with intolerance and legalism.

Our lectionary passage reminds us of the many positive qualities that truly define Christian character, for all time and everywhere:

• Authentic, non-hypocritical love.
• Diligence and genuine fervor in seeking God.
• Courage in the face of adversity.
• Generosity and hospitality.
• Gracious response to persecution.
• Empathy with those who rejoice, and with those who weep.
• Humility.
• Repaying evil with good.
• Leaving justice ultimately in the hands of God.

If we were to truly live this way, imagine the impact on the skeptical, unbelieving world!

RESPOND: 

My wife is one of the smartest people I know.  But she is also very practical and down to earth. Years ago we were members of a Sunday School class that included seminary professors and seminary students.  Sometimes the discussion could reach rarefied levels.  And it was my practical wife who, at the end of the discussion, would ask the very pertinent question: “Okay, how am I going to apply this to my life?”

Romans 12:9-21 provides a good portion of the answer to that question.  As we consider our contemporary political and cultural scene, it is easy to see how some of this teaching applies to our lives.  We are taught in this culture that “nice guys finish last,” and the way to deal with affronts is to “hit back twice as hard.”

That’s not really the ultimate answer, according to Paul in Romans.  Or according to Jesus.  Even an atheist philosopher like Friedrich Nietzsche can see the dangers of violence and revenge:

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Paul reminds us that justice is not ultimately in our hands — justice is in the hands of God.  When we realize that fact, we are free to love and care even for our enemies, knowing that God will establish our justice.  And when we exercise mercy and kindness toward enemies, we are more likely to create conditions that make reconciliation possible.

Martin Luther King, Jr., in one of his famous quotes, was actually citing an American Transcendentalist and Unitarian minister who was an abolitionist in the 19th century.  Theodore Parker lived from 1810 to 1860, and didn’t live to see the emancipation of slaves, nor the 13th and 14th amendments of the Constitution.  But he had a long view of justice:

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

Lord, the blueprint for the Christian life is clearly before me in your Word.  I confess that I cannot live out these prescriptions, unless your Spirit is in me.  That is the promise of your grace, that you will live in and through us if we surrender our lives to you.  Fill me and empower me to live the life of your Spirit. Amen. 

PHOTOS:

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Epistle for September 13, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 14:1-12
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

We can easily forget just how radical this new religion of Christianity was.  True, it was predicated on the prophecies and principles of the Jewish faith.  But it was a sharp departure from the legalism that had come to characterize the Pharisaical expression of Judaism.

Paul addresses some of the trickier aspects of Christian culture that will require some nuance — food and festivals.  For contemporary Christians, these concerns may seem quaint, but for Paul’s time they were of extreme importance.

First of all, he makes it clear that food and festivals are not critical to Christian identity.  And he also makes it clear that the church is not a place to wrangle about such issues:

Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.

This is a reassuring word.  The church is not given boundaries that keep out those who are weak in faith.  The church is to be a place where they can receive sound instruction and grow in faith.  However, the church is also not meant to be a debating society.  There are some things that are clearly revealed as true, that are not disputable within the church.  And there are some things that are matters of opinion and personal practice — what some might call adiaphora, which is defined as “matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless permissible for Christians or allowed in church.”

Some of these adiaphora include what Christians choose to eat, and what special times they observe.  Paul makes it very clear from the very beginning that dietary laws are not central to the Christian faith.  This is radical for a Jew who has been steeped in the Pharisaical tradition.  The dietary laws of Leviticus were of such importance that they had spawned a cottage industry of commentary in the Oral Laws of the Pharisees  — concerning pork, shellfish, blood, lobsters, rabbits, etc.  These Oral Laws had come to be regarded as almost equal to the Written Law, but were actually the traditions and interpretations that had been passed down since the exile of Israel in the 6th century B.C.

Paul makes it clear that what a person chooses to eat or not eat is a matter of personal conscience, not religious legislation.  Peter had already broken this ground when God called him to cross the line separating Jews and Gentiles.  When the Centurion Cornelius invited Peter to come to his home and preach, Peter had experienced a vision preceding this invitation:

He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth, in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.  A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”   A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean” (Acts 10:11-15).

This vision seemed to have a dual purpose.  On the one hand, symbolically, God was telling Peter that Gentiles were to be included in the church.  But on the other hand, Peter was being told that the prohibited foods were no longer forbidden.  They had been a part of Israel’s cultural identity, but Christianity transcends cultural and ethnic identity issues.

So Paul’s Solomonic wisdom on this issue is that each person must decide in their own mind what is appropriate to eat.  The one thing that he insists on is that whatever a person chooses to eat, as dictated by their own conscience, should not be a matter of division or a source of disapproval:

 One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.  Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.

In a word, church members are not to judge one another based on diet.  Their only judge is God:

Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

Paul then turns to festival days and sabbaths.  The same rule applies:

One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.

The sabbath observation in Judaism, and the three major feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) were central to the identity of Judaism, along with other minor festivals. Paul is not denying the importance of corporate worship in the church.  He assumes that Christians meet together on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians  11:18-26; 16:2).

But he is also insistent that the ritual system of sacrifices has been superseded.  Certainly, the Gentile is not bound by these Jewish rituals, although we have really good evidence that Paul himself continued to observe them as a Jewish Christian.  For example, when he was returning from his missionary journey from Macedonia and Greece, he was eager to arrive back in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost (Acts 20:16).  It may well be that Pentecost had assumed a dual purpose, as both a Jewish feast day and a Christian commemoration of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The bottom line for Paul, though, is the importance of the Christian community established by unity in Christ:

For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

What a person eats, or doesn’t eat; or whether they observe all the same holy days, is not relevant.  What is relevant is that they belong to the same Lord, who paid for their salvation with his blood.  The mark of identity in this new community of faith is following Christ — not kosher foods or high holy days.

The bottom line is that every person will be held accountable for their actions and their own conscience before God.  It is not up to individual members to judge one another:

 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Lest we draw the conclusion that Paul has renounced his Jewish heritage, he quotes the Hebrew Scriptures, from Isaiah 45:23:

 For it is written,“‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’”

Ultimately, every person will be judged according to their own relationship with God, not according to human custom or tradition:

 So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.

APPLY:  

There are a few old cliches that may describe the issue Paul addresses: “don’t major in the minors” and “don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Paul is advising the church in Rome that a person’s diet doesn’t define their faith, nor does their observance of special days.  What defines their faith is their relationship with Christ and his church:

For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

One thing we are not to do is judge someone based on their dietary habits or whether they fast, or how they observe the liturgical calendar.  Fasting, for example, is a spiritual discipline that is encouraged in both the Old and New Testaments.  But the person who fasts is not superior to the person who doesn’t. That is a personal decision.  If it enhances our relationship with God, it is commendable.  But if a person chooses not to do so, that is between themselves and God.

To take the cliches a little farther — as someone has said: “Don’t sweat the small stuff — and it’s all small stuff.”  One person fasts, another doesn’t.  One person eschews meat, another eats it.  That is not an “essential” matter for salvation.

RESPOND: 

Paul’s counsel is ultimately directed toward individual accountability on personal lifestyle issues.  That doesn’t mean that these lifestyle decisions don’t matter.  Fasting is encouraged in the Christian tradition as a means of enhancing our prayer life and reminding us of our dependence on God.  Too much meat, though permissible, does have health consequences — and a vegetarian diet can be of great benefit.

But what we often see, especially in our time, is a kind of moral superiority even among those who are non-religious.  The vegetarian may condescend to the person who orders a hamburger at dinner.  There are Christian denominations that absolutely prohibit meat, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine.  The use of these substances may be debated, and some of them are absolutely of no benefit to the body, but it can’t be demonstrated from Scripture that they separate a person from God.  Gluttony and drunkenness are regarded as sins —but those are sins of excess and a lack of self-control. We don’t stop eating simply because of the risk of overeating.  Anything that we crave, or to which we become addicted, can become our god — and that can separate us from our primary loyalty to God.

And then there is the warning about time.  I tend to like the observance of the liturgical year as observed in my own church — Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost.  And all the “holy days”: Christmas Eve, Epiphany Day, Baptism of the Lord, Transfiguration Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week (including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday), Easter Sunday, The Day of Ascension, Pentecost Sunday, All Saints Day, Christ the King Sunday.  And I will admit, that when I’m in a church that doesn’t display the “correct” colors for the proper season, it bothers me a little.  Then I have to remember this passage from Romans 14.

At the same time, those from a non-liturgical background should be reminded that they are not to judge traditionalists.  Paraments and special days and unique traditions ( I think of the beautiful icons in Orthodox churches) don’t save anyone.  But as long as those traditions are an enhancement to worship and not the object of worship, the non-liturgical Christian should have no objection.

The bottom line is clear — Christ doesn’t have a “special menu” that every Christian is supposed to choose. Nor does he demand that we all observe the liturgical year.  What ultimately matters is that we live to the Lord.

Lord, I do find that when I fast, it makes me more aware of you. And there are special times of the year that raise my awareness of your story.  But I don’t seek to impose those practices on others.  Help me to live my life by precept and example so that others see you at work in my life, and are drawn to you by my lifestyle.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for September 6, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 13:8-14
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul articulates the same royal law of love (James 2:8) taught by Jesus and later by his brother James.  Jesus declares that all the law and the prophets are fulfilled in the commandments to love God and love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).

Here, Paul focuses exclusively on the horizontal expression of the law of love that deals with human relationships.  Interestingly, he argues that the Christian should be free of any sense of indebtedness except the debt of love:

 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

This is part of a larger discussion of Christian responsibility.  Paul insists that the grace-filled life of the Christian means true liberty from legalism — but in contrast, he does acknowledge that freedom must be exercised responsibly.  In relation to governing authorities, paying taxes, honor and respect to those in authority, Paul says this:

Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake (Romans 13:5).

Thus the Christian, though free, is still to live as a responsible and conscientious citizen of the city or nation in which he or she may find themselves.

Paul’s next discussion of the law of love in relation to the Mosaic law is interesting.  We are reminded that he has presented a very nuanced view of the Mosaic law throughout the theological portion of Romans, arguing that the law is holy and just and good but also arguing that the law itself has no power to save us, nor can anyone except Jesus perfectly fulfill the law.

But the Christian who has been saved by grace through faith, and filled with the Spirit of Christ, is also empowered to love.  And all of the  Mosaic law, including the Ten Commandments are fulfilled in the law of love:

 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

It is important to note that this law regarding love of neighbor is an Old Testament law from Leviticus 19:18.  Paul has never repudiated the law and the prophets, only their false interpretations.  Note also that the four commandments Paul specifically cites from the Decalogue relate to our horizontal relationships with other human beings.

And there is an urgency to his exhortations about how Christians are to live.  His view of time is eschatological.  One doesn’t know when time will end, so it is imperative to live well:

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.  The night is far gone, and the day is near.

Paul is not engaging in any apocalyptical speculation so rampant today.  He is simply stating the obvious — that every day one is closer to the end of the age. And that day is nearer today than it was yesterday. This is a call to wakefulness and awareness, because, as Jesus teaches:

Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes…. Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come (Matthew 24:42,44).

In light of this awareness, that the day is near, Paul exhorts us:

Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

His imagery contrasts night and day, with darkness suggesting behavior that is associated with night-time revels (drunkeness and sexual debauchery) as well as interpersonal conflict (strife and jealousy).  And light becomes a palpable thing — the armor of light that we are to put on clothes us with protection.  Indeed, he extends the metaphor, that we are to put on Christ ­— like the light, Christ is to envelop us.

And Paul reminds us of a metaphor that prevails throughout Scripture  — we are to walk properly, as in the day.  The imagery of walking with God, and walking in God’s ways, is scattered throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation.  And it is readily apparent that walking is far easier in the light than in darkness!  We are to:

 walk in the light, as he (God) is in the light (1 John 1:7).

We also see the contrast of flesh and spirit, and are reminded of Paul’s earlier declaration:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:5-6).

Making provision for the flesh and its lusts leads to death; the Spirit leads to life and peace.

APPLY:  

The law of love is at the heart of Christian ethical teaching.  The New Testament appropriation of this principle insists that it sums up all the law and the prophets.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Jesus or Paul or James are negating the Old Testament law, but that love is the foundation for obedience to the law.

Do we go to church out of duty, or because we love God? Do we tithe because it is a rule, or because it is a measured means of expressing our love? Do we visit the sick or feed the hungry because we were told to do so, or because we care?  The answer is pretty clear — we do these things, and obey the principles of the law not because they are legalisms, but because they offer guidance in loving God and neighbor.

Augustine of Hippo once said:

Once for all, then, a short precept is given you: Love, and do what you will….let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good (Augustine’s Homily 7 on 1 John 4:4-12).

There is an irrefutable logic here:

• If you love, you won’t commit adultery, which damages entire families, not just the two people involved.
• If you love, you won’t murder — the ultimate unloving act.
• If you love, you won’t steal — depriving someone else of the right to their own property is a selfish, unloving thing to do.
• If you love, you won’t covet — covetousness is the inner root of dissatisfaction that leads to envy and jealousy and lust and disharmony with others and ourselves.

It is impossible to think of an instance when love fails to fulfill the proper regard between God and ourselves, between ourselves and others, and within our own mind and soul.

The Apostle John sums it up this way:

We love him, because he (God) first loved us (1 John 4:19).

When we love, we become most like God.

RESPOND: 

Many years ago when I was  in college I had a roommate who had been recently saved.  He was zealous in his church attendance and in his witnessing to others.  But I remember one time having a conversation with him about the love commandments of Jesus, and the commandments of love that permeate all the Scriptures.

He seemed completely puzzled.  This conversation was at least ten years prior to Tina Turner’s troubling song, “What’s love got to do with it?”  But that seemed to be his attitude — what’s love got to do with being a Christian?

I was every bit as puzzled by his attitude as he was by mine.  Christianity without love is like walking in the total darkness of night.  Christianity without love is like living in the world of Fight Club instead of a loving family.  Christianity without love makes religion into a set of rules instead of a Spirit-led walk with God guided by the principle of love.

When we forget to love as God has loved us, we forget that we too have been those unlovely and unlovable selfish broken creatures for whom Christ died:

But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Our Lord, your command to love is inspiring, but impossible without your love living and working in and through us.  May we walk in your light and bring others into your light as well. Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for August 30, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Romans 12:9-21
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul continues to instruct the Romans in moral, applied theology.  Some scholars describe this kind of instruction in the New Testament as parenesis, which means advice, instruction or counsel.  These can include loosely connected ethical commands, lists of vices and virtues, and the like.

Our lectionary epistle lifts up several principles that are key to New Testament ethics — love, humility, compassion, forgiveness.  These are essential relational qualities for harmony within the body of Christ (Romans 12:14-5).

A useful means of describing some of these injunctions is to view them as either horizontal or vertical. 

• Horizontal  qualities describe how we are to relate to one another.
• Vertical qualities are those that describe how we are to relate to God.

Some of the horizontal qualities are positive and proactive:

Let love be without hypocrisy…. Cling to that which is good.  In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another;  not lagging in diligence.

Some are negative, meaning they describe what we must avoid:

Abhor that which is evil….bless, and don’t curse.

The vertical qualities exhort us to be:

fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer.

These and several other aphorisms in this list are well-worth remembering and putting into practice. There is an emphasis on empathy with others and a sense of equality within the community:

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.  Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits.

And we also see echoes of the ethical teachings of Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Great Commandment of Jesus is implicit in Paul’s teaching on love, including the emphasis on the vertical and horizontal nature of Christian love:

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).

Paul also echoes Jesus’ teaching in relation to persecution.  Paul writes:

Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.  If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:43-45).

These are the teachings of the New Testament that can justifiably be described as “counter intuitive.”  They run counter to the normal human impulse to hate one’s enemy, exalt oneself over others, and seek to be more important than others.  And Paul summarizes this section with perhaps the most difficult and counter-intuitive teaching of all:

Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We note that Paul quotes the Hebrew Scriptures (Deuteronomy 32:35), which exhort us to leave vengeance in God’s hands, and Proverbs 25:21-22, encouraging kindness to one’s enemies.

The moral traditions that Paul is passing on are grounded in the Hebrew moral tradition.  And Paul is teaching that justice is ultimately up to God, not to those who are victimized.  The ultimate revenge for the victim is knowing that his/her oppressors are in God’s hands.  Thus the victim is free to treat his/her enemy with love and kindness.

This passage ends with the ultimate moral triumph:

Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

APPLY:  

There was a time, not so long ago, that when someone was described as a “Christian,” it was an unqualified compliment concerning their character and morality. Somehow, in the last several years in the West, the term “Christian” has become a pejorative word to some people, associated with intolerance and legalism.

Our lectionary passage reminds us of the many positive qualities that truly define Christian character, for all time and everywhere:

• Authentic, non-hypocritical love.
• Diligence and genuine fervor in seeking God.
• Courage in the face of adversity.
• Generosity and hospitality.
• Gracious response to persecution.
• Empathy with those who rejoice, and with those who weep.
• Humility.
• Repaying evil with good.
• Leaving justice ultimately in the hands of God.

If we were to truly live this way, imagine the impact on the skeptical, unbelieving world!

RESPOND: 

My wife is one of the smartest people I know.  But she is also very practical and down to earth. Years ago we were members of a Sunday School class that included seminary professors and seminary students.  Sometimes the discussion could reach rarefied levels.  And it was my practical wife who, at the end of the discussion, would ask the very pertinent question: “Okay, how am I going to apply this to my life?”

Romans 12:9-21 provides a good portion of the answer to that question.  As we consider our contemporary political and cultural scene, it is easy to see how some of this teaching applies to our lives.  We are taught in this culture that “nice guys finish last,” and the way to deal with affronts is to “hit back twice as hard.”

That’s not really the ultimate answer, according to Paul in Romans.  Or according to Jesus.  Even an atheist philosopher like Friedrich Nietzsche can see the dangers of violence and revenge:

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Paul reminds us that justice is not ultimately in our hands — justice is in the hands of God.  When we realize that fact, we are free to love and care even for our enemies, knowing that God will establish our justice.  And when we exercise mercy and kindness toward enemies, we are more likely to create conditions that make reconciliation possible.

Martin Luther King, Jr., in one of his famous quotes, was actually citing an American Transcendentalist and Unitarian minister who was an abolitionist in the 19th century.  Theodore Parker lived from 1810 to 1860, and didn’t live to see the emancipation of slaves, nor the 13th and 14th amendments of the Constitution.  But he had a long view of justice:

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

Lord, the blueprint for the Christian life is clearly before me in your Word.  I confess that I cannot live out these prescriptions, unless your Spirit is in me.  That is the promise of your grace, that you will live in and through us if we surrender our lives to you.  Fill me and empower me to live the life of your Spirit. Amen. 

PHOTOS:

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Epistle for September 17, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Romans 14:1-12

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

We can easily forget just how radical this new religion of Christianity was.  True, it was predicated on the prophecies and principles of the Jewish faith.  But it was a sharp departure from the legalism that had come to characterize the Pharisaical expression of Judaism.

Paul addresses some of the trickier aspects of Christian culture that will require some nuance — food and festivals.  For contemporary Christians, these concerns may seem quaint, but for Paul’s time they were of extreme importance.

First of all, he makes it clear that food and festivals are not critical to Christian identity.  And he also makes it clear that the church is not a place to wrangle about such issues:

Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.

This is a reassuring word.  The church is not given boundaries that keep out those who are weak in faith.  The church is to be a place where they can receive sound instruction and grow in faith.  However, the church is also not meant to be a debating society.  There are some things that are clearly revealed as true, that are not disputable within the church.  And there are some things that are matters of opinion and personal practice — what some might call adiaphora, which is defined as “matters not regarded as essential to faith, but nevertheless permissible for Christians or allowed in church.”

Some of these adiaphora include what Christians choose to eat, and what special times they observe.  Paul makes it very clear from the very beginning that dietary laws are not central to the Christian faith.  This is radical for a Jew who has been steeped in the Pharisaical tradition.  The dietary laws of Leviticus were of such importance that they had spawned a cottage industry of commentary in the Oral Laws of the Pharisees  — concerning pork, shellfish, blood, lobsters, rabbits, etc.  These Oral Laws had come to be regarded as almost equal to the Written Law, but were actually the traditions and interpretations that had been passed down since the exile of Israel in the 6th century B.C.

Paul makes it clear that what a person chooses to eat or not eat is a matter of personal conscience, not religious legislation.  Peter had already broken this ground when God called him to cross the line separating Jews and Gentiles.  When the Centurion Cornelius invited Peter to come to his home and preach, Peter had experienced a vision preceding this invitation:

He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth, in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.  A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”   A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean”(Acts 10:11-15).

This vision seemed to have a dual purpose.  On the one hand, symbolically, God was telling Peter that Gentiles were to be included in the church.  But on the other hand, Peter was being told that the prohibited foods were no longer forbidden.  They had been a part of Israel’s cultural identity, but Christianity transcends cultural and ethnic identity issues.

So Paul’s Solomonic wisdom on this issue is that each person must decide in their own mind what is appropriate to eat.  The one thing that he insists on is that whatever a person chooses to eat, as dictated by their own conscience, should not be a matter of division or a source of disapproval:

 One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.  Don’t let him who eats despise him who doesn’t eat. Don’t let him who doesn’t eat judge him who eats, for God has accepted him.

In a word, church members are not to judge one another based on diet.  Their only judge is God:

Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him stand.

Paul then turns to festival days and sabbaths.  The same rule applies:

One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own mind.  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks. He who doesn’t eat, to the Lord he doesn’t eat, and gives God thanks.

The sabbath observation in Judaism, and the three major feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) were central to the identity of Judaism, along with other minor festivals. Paul is not denying the importance of corporate worship in the church.  He assumes that Christians meet together on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians  11:18-26; 16:2).

But he is also insistent that the ritual system of sacrifices has been superseded.  Certainly, the Gentile is not bound by these Jewish rituals, although we have really good evidence that Paul himself continued to observe them as a Jewish Christian.  For example, when he was returning from his missionary journey from Macedonia and Greece, he was eager to arrive back in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost (Acts 20:16).  It may well be that Pentecost had assumed a dual purpose, as both a Jewish feast day and a Christian commemoration of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The bottom line for Paul, though, is the importance of the Christian community established by unity in Christ:

For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

What a person eats, or doesn’t eat; or whether they observe all the same holy days, is not relevant.  What is relevant is that they belong to the same Lord, who paid for their salvation with his blood.  The mark of identity in this new community of faith is following Christ — not kosher foods or high holy days.

The bottom line is that every person will be held accountable for their actions and their own conscience before God.  It is not up to individual members to judge one another:

 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Lest we draw the conclusion that Paul has renounced his Jewish heritage, he quotes the Hebrew Scriptures, from Isaiah 45:23:

 For it is written,“‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’”

Ultimately, every person will be judged according to their own relationship with God, not according to human custom or tradition:

 So then each one of us will give account of himself to God.

APPLY:  

There are a few old cliches that may describe the issue Paul addresses: “don’t major in the minors” and “don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Paul is advising the church in Rome that a person’s diet doesn’t define their faith, nor does their observance of special days.  What defines their faith is their relationship with Christ and his church:

For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.  For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

One thing we are not to do is judge someone based on their dietary habits or whether they fast, or how they observe the liturgical calendar.  Fasting, for example, is a spiritual discipline that is encouraged in both the Old and New Testaments.  But the person who fasts is not superior to the person who doesn’t. That is a personal decision.  If it enhances our relationship with God, it is commendable.  But if a person chooses not to do so, that is between themselves and God.

To take the cliches a little farther — as someone has said: “Don’t sweat the small stuff — and it’s all small stuff.”  One person fasts, another doesn’t.  One person eschews meat, another eats it.  That is not an “essential” matter for salvation.

RESPOND: 

Paul’s counsel is ultimately directed toward individual accountability on personal lifestyle issues.  That doesn’t mean that these lifestyle decisions don’t matter.  Fasting is encouraged in the Christian tradition as a means of enhancing our prayer life and reminding us of our dependence on God.  Too much meat, though permissible, does have health consequences — and a vegetarian diet can be of great benefit.

But what we often see, especially in our time, is a kind of moral superiority even among those who are non-religious.  The vegetarian may condescend to the person who orders a hamburger at dinner.  There are Christian denominations that absolutely prohibit meat, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine.  The use of these substances may be debated, and some of them are absolutely of no benefit to the body, but it can’t be demonstrated from Scripture that they separate a person from God.  Gluttony and drunkenness are regarded as sins —but those are sins of excess and a lack of self-control. We don’t stop eating simply because of the risk of overeating.  Anything that we crave, or to which we become addicted, can become our god — and that can separate us from our primary loyalty to God.

And then there is the warning about time.  I tend to like the observance of the liturgical year as observed in my own church — Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost.  And all the “holy days”: Christmas Eve, Epiphany Day, Baptism of the Lord, Transfiguration Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week (including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday), Easter Sunday, The Day of Ascension, Pentecost Sunday, All Saints Day, Christ the King Sunday.  And I will admit, that when I’m in a church that doesn’t display the “correct” colors for the proper season, it bothers me a little.  Then I have to remember this passage from Romans 14.

At the same time, those from a non-liturgical background should be reminded that they are not to judge traditionalists.  Paraments and special days and unique traditions ( I think of the beautiful icons in Orthodox churches) don’t save anyone.  But as long as those traditions are an enhancement to worship and not the object of worship, the non-liturgical Christian should have no objection.

The bottom line is clear — Christ doesn’t have a “special menu” that every Christian is supposed to choose. Nor does he demand that we all observe the liturgical year.  What ultimately matters is that we live to the Lord.

Lord, I do find that when I fast, it makes me more aware of you. And there are special times of the year that raise my awareness of your story.  But I don’t seek to impose those practices on others.  Help me to live my life by precept and example so that others see you at work in my life, and are drawn to you by my lifestyle.  Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for September 10, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Romans 13:8-14

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul articulates the same royal law of love (James 2:8) taught by Jesus and later by his brother James.  Jesus declares that all the law and the prophets are fulfilled in the commandments to love God and love one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).

Here, Paul focuses exclusively on the horizontal expression of the law of love that deals with human relationships.  Interestingly, he argues that the Christian should be free of any sense of indebtedness except the debt of love:

 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

This is part of a larger discussion of Christian responsibility.  Paul insists that the grace-filled life of the Christian means true liberty from legalism — but in contrast, he does acknowledge that freedom must be exercised responsibly.  In relation to governing authorities, paying taxes, honor and respect to those in authority, Paul says this:

Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake (Romans 13:5).

Thus the Christian, though free, is still to live as a responsible and conscientious citizen of the city or nation in which he or she may find themselves.

Paul’s next discussion of the law of love in relation to the Mosaic law is interesting.  We are reminded that he has presented a very nuanced view of the Mosaic law throughout the theological portion of Romans, arguing that the law is holy and just and good but also arguing that the law itself has no power to save us, nor can anyone except Jesus perfectly fulfill the law.

But the Christian who has been saved by grace through faith, and filled with the Spirit of Christ, is also empowered to love.  And all of the  Mosaic law, including the Ten Commandments are fulfilled in the law of love:

 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.

It is important to note that this law regarding love of neighbor is an Old Testament law from Leviticus 19:18.  Paul has never repudiated the law and the prophets, only their false interpretations.  Note also that the four commandments Paul specifically cites from the Decalogue relate to our horizontal relationships with other human beings.

And there is an urgency to his exhortations about how Christians are to live.  His view of time is eschatological.  One doesn’t know when time will end, so it is imperative to live well:

Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.  The night is far gone, and the day is near.

Paul is not engaging in any apocalyptical speculation so rampant today.  He is simply stating the obvious — that every day one is closer to the end of the age. And that day is nearer today than it was yesterday. This is a call to wakefulness and awareness, because, as Jesus teaches:

Watch therefore, for you don’t know in what hour your Lord comes…. Therefore also be ready, for in an hour that you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come (Matthew 24:42,44).

In light of this awareness, that the day is near, Paul exhorts us:

Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.

His imagery contrasts night and day, with darkness suggesting behavior that is associated with night-time revels (drunkeness and sexual debauchery) as well as interpersonal conflict (strife and jealousy).  And light becomes a palpable thing — the armor of light that we are to put on clothes us with protection.  Indeed, he extends the metaphor, that we are to put on Christ ­— like the light, Christ is to envelop us.

And Paul reminds us of a metaphor that prevails throughout Scripture  — we are to walk properly, as in the day.  The imagery of walking with God, and walking in God’s ways, is scattered throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation.  And it is readily apparent that walking is far easier in the light than in darkness!  We are to:

 walk in the light, as he (God) is in the light (1 John 1:7).

We also see the contrast of flesh and spirit, and are reminded of Paul’s earlier declaration:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:5-6).

Making provision for the flesh and its lusts leads to death; the Spirit leads to life and peace.

APPLY:  

The law of love is at the heart of Christian ethical teaching.  The New Testament appropriation of this principle insists that it sums up all the law and the prophets.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Jesus or Paul or James are negating the Old Testament law, but that love is the foundation for obedience to the law.

Do we go to church out of duty, or because we love God? Do we tithe because it is a rule, or because it is a measured means of expressing our love? Do we visit the sick or feed the hungry because we were told to do so, or because we care?  The answer is pretty clear — we do these things, and obey the principles of the law not because they are legalisms, but because they offer guidance in loving God and neighbor.

Augustine of Hippo once said:

Once for all, then, a short precept is given you: Love, and do what you will….let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good (Augustine’s Homily 7 on 1 John 4:4-12).

There is an irrefutable logic here:

• If you love, you won’t commit adultery, which damages entire families, not just the two people involved.
• If you love, you won’t murder — the ultimate unloving act.
• If you love, you won’t steal — depriving someone else of the right to their own property is a selfish, unloving thing to do.
• If you love, you won’t covet — covetousness is the inner root of dissatisfaction that leads to envy and jealousy and lust and disharmony with others and ourselves.

It is impossible to think of an instance when love fails to fulfill the proper regard between God and ourselves, between ourselves and others, and within our own mind and soul.

The Apostle John sums it up this way:

We love him, because he (God) first loved us (1 John 4:19).

When we love, we become most like God.

RESPOND: 

Many years ago when I was  in college I had a roommate who had been recently saved.  He was zealous in his church attendance and in his witnessing to others.  But I remember one time having a conversation with him about the love commandments of Jesus, and the commandments of love that permeate all the Scriptures.

He seemed completely puzzled.  This conversation was at least ten years prior to Tina Turner’s troubling song, “What’s love got to do with it?”  But that seemed to be his attitude — what’s love got to do with being a Christian?

I was every bit as puzzled by his attitude as he was by mine.  Christianity without love is like walking in the total darkness of night.  Christianity without love is like living in the world of Fight Club instead of a loving family.  Christianity without love makes religion into a set of rules instead of a Spirit-led walk with God guided by the principle of love.

When we forget to love as God has loved us, we forget that we too have been those unlovely and unlovable selfish broken creatures for whom Christ died:

But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Our Lord, your command to love is inspiring, but impossible without your love living and working in and through us.  May we walk in your light and bring others into your light as well. Amen. 

 PHOTOS:
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Epistle for September 3, 2017

START WITH SCRIPTURE:

Romans 12:9-21

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Paul continues to instruct the Romans in moral, applied theology.  Some scholars describe this kind of instruction in the New Testament as parenesis, which means advice, instruction or counsel.  These can include loosely connected ethical commands, lists of vices and virtues, and the like.

Our lectionary epistle lifts up several principles that are key to New Testament ethics — love, humility, compassion, forgiveness.  These are essential relational qualities for harmony within the body of Christ (Romans 12:14-5).

A useful means of describing some of these injunctions is to view them as either horizontal or vertical.  Horizontal  qualities describe how we are to relate to one another.  Vertical qualities are those that describe how we are to relate to God.

Some of the horizontal qualities are positive and proactive:

Let love be without hypocrisy…. Cling to that which is good.  In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another;  not lagging in diligence.

Some are negative, meaning they describe what we must avoid:

Abhor that which is evil….bless, and don’t curse.

The vertical qualities exhort us to be:

fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer.

These and several other aphorisms in this list are well-worth remembering and putting into practice. There is an emphasis on empathy with others and a sense of equality within the community:

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep.  Be of the same mind one toward another. Don’t set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Don’t be wise in your own conceits.

And we also see echoes of the ethical teachings of Jesus and the Hebrew Scriptures.  The Great Commandment of Jesus is implicit in Paul’s teaching on love, including the emphasis on the vertical and horizontal nature of Christian love:

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  This is the first and great commandment.  A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40).

Paul also echoes Jesus’ teaching in relation to persecution.  Paul writes:

Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse. Repay no one evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men.  If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.

Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount:

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,  that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:43-45).

These are the teachings of the New Testament that can justifiably be described as “counter intuitive.”  They run counter to the normal human impulse to hate one’s enemy, exalt oneself over others, and seek to be more important than others.  And Paul summarizes this section with perhaps the most difficult and counter-intuitive teaching of all:

Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.” Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so, you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We note that Paul quotes the Hebrew Scriptures (Deuteronomy 32:35), which exhort us to leave vengeance in God’s hands, and Proverbs 25:21-22, encouraging kindness to one’s enemies.

The moral traditions that Paul is passing on are grounded in the Hebrew moral tradition.  And Paul is teaching that justice is ultimately up to God, not to those who are victimized.  The ultimate revenge for the victim is knowing that his/her oppressors are in God’s hands.  Thus the victim is free to treat his/her enemy with love and kindness.

This passage ends with the ultimate moral triumph:

Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

APPLY:  

There was a time, not so long ago, that when someone was described as a “Christian,” it was an unqualified compliment concerning their character and morality. Somehow, in the last several years in the West, the term “Christian” has become a pejorative word to some people, associated with intolerance and legalism.

Our lectionary passage reminds us of the many positive qualities that truly define Christian character, for all time and everywhere:

• authentic, non-hypocritical love.
• diligence and genuine fervor in seeking God.
• courage in the face of adversity.
• generosity and hospitality.
• gracious response to persecution.
• empathy with those who rejoice, and with those who weep.
• humility.
• repaying evil with good.
• leaving justice ultimately in the hands of God.

If we were to truly live this way, imagine the impact on the skeptical, unbelieving world!

RESPOND: 

My wife is one of the smartest people I know.  But she is also very practical and down to earth. Years ago we were members of a Sunday School class that included seminary professors and seminary students.  Sometimes the discussion could reach rarefied levels.  And it was my practical wife who, at the end of the discussion, would ask the very pertinent question: “Okay, how am I going to apply this to my life?”

Romans 12:9-21 provides a good portion of the answer to that question.  As we consider our contemporary political and cultural scene, it is easy to see how some of this teaching applies to our lives.  We are taught in this culture that “nice guys finish last,” and the way to deal with affronts is to “hit back twice as hard.”

That’s not really the ultimate answer, according to Paul in Romans.  Or according to Jesus.  Even an atheist philosopher like Friedrich Nietzsche can see the dangers of violence and revenge:

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

Paul reminds us that justice is not ultimately in our hands — justice is in the hands of God.  When we realize that fact, we are free to love and care even for our enemies, knowing that God will establish our justice.  And when we exercise mercy and kindness toward enemies, we are more likely to create conditions that make reconciliation possible.

Martin Luther King, Jr., in one of his famous quotes, was actually citing an American Transcendentalist and Unitarian minister who was an abolitionist in the 19th century.  Theodore Parker lived from 1810 to 1860, and didn’t live to see the emancipation of slaves, nor the 13th and 14th amendments of the Constitution.  But he had a long view of justice:

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.

Lord, the blueprint for the Christian life is clearly before me in your Word.  I confess that I cannot live out these prescriptions, unless your Spirit is in me.  That is the promise of your grace, that you will live in and through us if we surrender our lives to you.  Fill me and empower me to live the life of your Spirit. Amen. 

PHOTOS:

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