Life Together
“Life Together”
(Romans 14:13-18, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 16, 2005)
Introduction: The Destiny of the Church
God has a great eternal plan for His church. That plan calls for growth throughout the earth, purification of His body and ultimately elimination of what is false from our midst on the Day of Judgment. Even now we actually have a spiritual taste of that final resurrection life, but one day we will live the resurrection life forever physically in heaven and fully enjoy eternal communion with God. This is our wonderful destiny. It is nothing that we deserve. It will be a great display of God’s grace, and it has come at great cost. Jesus has taken our hell for us. We have been given His heaven.
By contrast, the destiny of the world is to face the justice of God without any mediator. The world (including that part of it falsely hiding in the church now) will be publicly exposed and eternally condemned. The final state of the world and the hope of the Lord’s church could not be more different.
There is a sense in which we might like to go to the end of the story right now, and be done with this odd period of living by faith together as the church here on earth. But this is not the Lord’s plan. He has things for us to do, and especially, He is doing things to us. Christ is being formed in us. As Paul writes to the Galatian churches, “My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” There is an anguish to this current process, but it is a necessary anguish. We are becoming more like Christ.
As those who are the recipients of God’s grace, those who have this incomparable and magnificent destiny, how are we to live today? Especially, how are we to treat each other when we find that we have differences in our opinions and especially in our behavior? This morning God has a new aspect of the life of godliness for us. If you are to embrace this, some bit of worldliness must go. Of course, that is all for the best.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 14:13-18 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
(13) A new resolve that is truly Christian
In verse 13 Paul seems to be making a play on the Greek word for judging by using the same word twice with two different meanings. The verse literally reads in part, “Let us not ‘judge’ one another any longer, but rather ‘judge’ never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” God has given us abilities of discernment for a good purpose. Rather than using them to condemn one another, why don’t we try to use them to restrain ourselves in ways that will be good for God’s people?
Not every thought that goes into your brain has to come out of your mouth. And not every impulse of Christian freedom is consistent with love for your brother. You too can exercise restraint as God’s Spirit continues the good work He has begun in you.
This verse gives us a new resolve that we should all take to heart: I choose never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of my brother in the church. There is much good that can come from a serious consideration of the implications of this instruction.
(14-16) The fruit of careless living in the church
Verses 14 through 16 show us several different faces of this dangerous mountain of trouble that springs up from reckless and careless thinking, speaking, and living within the Lord’s family. Let’s follow Paul’s logic together as we see the various perilous messes of judgment and despising that can so easily grip the church.
First Paul returns again to the 1st century church conflict over eating meat – meat that may have come from pagan marketplaces or meat that was not to be consumed according to the Old Testament food laws that God had established for Israel. Paul says very clearly that he knows and is persuaded the “nothing is unclean in itself.” The root issue of surface morality is not in question. All food that can be received with thanksgiving and prayer is not unclean in itself.
Nonetheless, the next clause tells us the surprising news that something which in its essence is clean, is unclean to the one who thinks that it is unclean. This is because of the deep matters of the heart. Our obedience is not merely a question of outward rules. If we think that something is sin, even though it is not inherently sinful, for us to do it is sinful, because we think that we are sinning. Thus we are going against our conscience, and that is never safe or right. It is also a bad thing to do anything that emboldens another brother to ignore his conscience. If we get used to doing things that we believe are wrong we will be soon stuck in sin.
The next verse begins by instructing the “strong” person (in terms of Christian liberty) that he must give due consideration to the well being of his “weak” brother near him when he decides to eat something. In fact when your brother is grieved (saddened) by your exercise of liberty, you are not walking in love.
We must not destroy (kill) our brother in Christ, for whom the Lord died just because we think that we have liberty to eat what we want to eat. There are many ways that our behavior can lead to a dangerous pathway for others observing or imitating us.
Finally, verse 16 tells us the sad end result of this strange lack of discernment on the part of the “strong” one who insists that his liberty be so showy. The good freedom that he has will be spoken of as an evil thing. Even more than that, the world all around us may unnecessarily speak in an evil way about that the church and the gospel of Christ.
How could all this happen? How could your exercise of Christian liberty lead to such a bad result? As your brother is saddened by your behavior, he may be distracted by your showy emphasis on something that you are allowed to do. He may begin to judge you. You may begin to despise him. Alternatively he may begin to ignore his own conscience and lose the aid of that precious ally in his fight against his own fleshly impulses. All of this can be very destructive to the church, leading to much distraction and division. It should not surprise anyone when a distracted or quarreling church invites the criticism of those observing it.
(17-18) Acceptable behavior in the Lord’s church
Christ did not die on the cross in order for us to live in such a careless and stupid way. As the last two verses of our text show us, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.”
I ask you to consider with me for a moment the question of how Christ lived. He was not sloppy with his words and actions. He was well aware of who he was speaking to and all that he did was well considered. Everything that he said and did was for our salvation. Could it be right for those who follow him to live as an army of one with little concern for our fellow soldiers of the cross – the precious sheep and young lambs for whom the Lord shed his blood?
Church conflict, like family strife, can be very painful. Perhaps you are tempted to think that the only way out of this kind of mess is to carefully keep your relationships superficial and distant from the other worshippers here this morning. But this is not the kind of model that we see given to us in Acts 2:42-47, where the Pentecost church is a vibrant example of spirit-filled life together. There is another alternative. The way of Christ is not disengagement with the church, but a new Christ-like engagement.
POINT: Christ lived and died as if you and I mattered. That has to mean something to us, and lead us to an uncommon resolve – May I never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of my brother.
Jesus Christ has invited us to come to Him and to find rest for our souls. It is false teachers who not only refuse this gospel invitation themselves, but who also try to prevent others from coming to Christ (Matthew 23:13). In your speech and life, could you be inadvertently following the false teachers that Christ condemned? Are you placing stumbling blocks before others by your careless words and behavior?
Application: Be careful what buttons you push.
This passage of Scripture reminds us that we need to live a more reflective life. We cannot pretend that our thoughtless and rash words and actions are OK. They are not. We’ve got to learn to stop, think, and pray before we speak and act.
Every person has hot buttons. People in families that want to hurt one another learn to do so by pressing those buttons at just the right time. Is there some area of life about which you are particularly sensitive? How does it feel when someone brings up that area in a way that puts you on the spot? Sometimes it comes in the form of bragging, where my strength, or the strength of others that I publicly commend ends up exposing your weakness. Sometimes my false humility can function the same way, as a secret dagger, unnecessarily exposing some weakness in my brother and grieving him.
“Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor,” says Ecclesiastes. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump,” says the Apostle Paul in another place. Do you want to bring distraction, disagreement, and division upon the church? Just do what comes naturally without any thought to those around you, and imagine that it is just you being you. Take some small and debatable word or behavior pattern that sets some other Christians off, and just start saying or doing it fairly regularly among small gatherings of the brethren. Then stand back and watch the destruction that comes.
Before long there will be very little consideration of Christ, his righteousness, the peace that has come to us through the cross, and the joy of the Holy Spirit. We will all be thinking and talking about you – what books you read, or what movies you watch, what you drink or smoke, or some other ridiculous bit of liberty that seems to be the center of your life. All this could have been prevented if you had been more willing to hold back on your liberty where appropriate and focus on Christ more than your books, your movies, your food, and your wine.
Conclusion: Forgive
One final word… If withdrawing from the life of the church is not the answer then we will all need to be ready to forgive one another. Mistakes will be made. Thin people will complain about how fat they are in front of people that are actually quite heavy. People with lots of savings will talk about how they have had to scrimp in front of those who do not know where tomorrow’s mortgage payment is coming from. People will say insensitive things, and people will judge one another too harshly.
We need to forgive one another. We need to live well together in the church. There is only one way to do this. We all need to be utterly amazed that we are alive at all. We who deserved the wrath of God have been brought to the sure hope of eternal life through the death and resurrection of Christ. Let’s talk about that one fact always, and forgive one another when we are hopelessly foolish about things like food and wine.
(Romans 14:13-18, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 16, 2005)
Introduction: The Destiny of the Church
God has a great eternal plan for His church. That plan calls for growth throughout the earth, purification of His body and ultimately elimination of what is false from our midst on the Day of Judgment. Even now we actually have a spiritual taste of that final resurrection life, but one day we will live the resurrection life forever physically in heaven and fully enjoy eternal communion with God. This is our wonderful destiny. It is nothing that we deserve. It will be a great display of God’s grace, and it has come at great cost. Jesus has taken our hell for us. We have been given His heaven.
By contrast, the destiny of the world is to face the justice of God without any mediator. The world (including that part of it falsely hiding in the church now) will be publicly exposed and eternally condemned. The final state of the world and the hope of the Lord’s church could not be more different.
There is a sense in which we might like to go to the end of the story right now, and be done with this odd period of living by faith together as the church here on earth. But this is not the Lord’s plan. He has things for us to do, and especially, He is doing things to us. Christ is being formed in us. As Paul writes to the Galatian churches, “My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” There is an anguish to this current process, but it is a necessary anguish. We are becoming more like Christ.
As those who are the recipients of God’s grace, those who have this incomparable and magnificent destiny, how are we to live today? Especially, how are we to treat each other when we find that we have differences in our opinions and especially in our behavior? This morning God has a new aspect of the life of godliness for us. If you are to embrace this, some bit of worldliness must go. Of course, that is all for the best.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 14:13-18 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.
(13) A new resolve that is truly Christian
In verse 13 Paul seems to be making a play on the Greek word for judging by using the same word twice with two different meanings. The verse literally reads in part, “Let us not ‘judge’ one another any longer, but rather ‘judge’ never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” God has given us abilities of discernment for a good purpose. Rather than using them to condemn one another, why don’t we try to use them to restrain ourselves in ways that will be good for God’s people?
Not every thought that goes into your brain has to come out of your mouth. And not every impulse of Christian freedom is consistent with love for your brother. You too can exercise restraint as God’s Spirit continues the good work He has begun in you.
This verse gives us a new resolve that we should all take to heart: I choose never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of my brother in the church. There is much good that can come from a serious consideration of the implications of this instruction.
(14-16) The fruit of careless living in the church
Verses 14 through 16 show us several different faces of this dangerous mountain of trouble that springs up from reckless and careless thinking, speaking, and living within the Lord’s family. Let’s follow Paul’s logic together as we see the various perilous messes of judgment and despising that can so easily grip the church.
First Paul returns again to the 1st century church conflict over eating meat – meat that may have come from pagan marketplaces or meat that was not to be consumed according to the Old Testament food laws that God had established for Israel. Paul says very clearly that he knows and is persuaded the “nothing is unclean in itself.” The root issue of surface morality is not in question. All food that can be received with thanksgiving and prayer is not unclean in itself.
Nonetheless, the next clause tells us the surprising news that something which in its essence is clean, is unclean to the one who thinks that it is unclean. This is because of the deep matters of the heart. Our obedience is not merely a question of outward rules. If we think that something is sin, even though it is not inherently sinful, for us to do it is sinful, because we think that we are sinning. Thus we are going against our conscience, and that is never safe or right. It is also a bad thing to do anything that emboldens another brother to ignore his conscience. If we get used to doing things that we believe are wrong we will be soon stuck in sin.
The next verse begins by instructing the “strong” person (in terms of Christian liberty) that he must give due consideration to the well being of his “weak” brother near him when he decides to eat something. In fact when your brother is grieved (saddened) by your exercise of liberty, you are not walking in love.
We must not destroy (kill) our brother in Christ, for whom the Lord died just because we think that we have liberty to eat what we want to eat. There are many ways that our behavior can lead to a dangerous pathway for others observing or imitating us.
Finally, verse 16 tells us the sad end result of this strange lack of discernment on the part of the “strong” one who insists that his liberty be so showy. The good freedom that he has will be spoken of as an evil thing. Even more than that, the world all around us may unnecessarily speak in an evil way about that the church and the gospel of Christ.
How could all this happen? How could your exercise of Christian liberty lead to such a bad result? As your brother is saddened by your behavior, he may be distracted by your showy emphasis on something that you are allowed to do. He may begin to judge you. You may begin to despise him. Alternatively he may begin to ignore his own conscience and lose the aid of that precious ally in his fight against his own fleshly impulses. All of this can be very destructive to the church, leading to much distraction and division. It should not surprise anyone when a distracted or quarreling church invites the criticism of those observing it.
(17-18) Acceptable behavior in the Lord’s church
Christ did not die on the cross in order for us to live in such a careless and stupid way. As the last two verses of our text show us, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.”
I ask you to consider with me for a moment the question of how Christ lived. He was not sloppy with his words and actions. He was well aware of who he was speaking to and all that he did was well considered. Everything that he said and did was for our salvation. Could it be right for those who follow him to live as an army of one with little concern for our fellow soldiers of the cross – the precious sheep and young lambs for whom the Lord shed his blood?
Church conflict, like family strife, can be very painful. Perhaps you are tempted to think that the only way out of this kind of mess is to carefully keep your relationships superficial and distant from the other worshippers here this morning. But this is not the kind of model that we see given to us in Acts 2:42-47, where the Pentecost church is a vibrant example of spirit-filled life together. There is another alternative. The way of Christ is not disengagement with the church, but a new Christ-like engagement.
POINT: Christ lived and died as if you and I mattered. That has to mean something to us, and lead us to an uncommon resolve – May I never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of my brother.
Jesus Christ has invited us to come to Him and to find rest for our souls. It is false teachers who not only refuse this gospel invitation themselves, but who also try to prevent others from coming to Christ (Matthew 23:13). In your speech and life, could you be inadvertently following the false teachers that Christ condemned? Are you placing stumbling blocks before others by your careless words and behavior?
Application: Be careful what buttons you push.
This passage of Scripture reminds us that we need to live a more reflective life. We cannot pretend that our thoughtless and rash words and actions are OK. They are not. We’ve got to learn to stop, think, and pray before we speak and act.
Every person has hot buttons. People in families that want to hurt one another learn to do so by pressing those buttons at just the right time. Is there some area of life about which you are particularly sensitive? How does it feel when someone brings up that area in a way that puts you on the spot? Sometimes it comes in the form of bragging, where my strength, or the strength of others that I publicly commend ends up exposing your weakness. Sometimes my false humility can function the same way, as a secret dagger, unnecessarily exposing some weakness in my brother and grieving him.
“Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor,” says Ecclesiastes. “A little leaven leavens the whole lump,” says the Apostle Paul in another place. Do you want to bring distraction, disagreement, and division upon the church? Just do what comes naturally without any thought to those around you, and imagine that it is just you being you. Take some small and debatable word or behavior pattern that sets some other Christians off, and just start saying or doing it fairly regularly among small gatherings of the brethren. Then stand back and watch the destruction that comes.
Before long there will be very little consideration of Christ, his righteousness, the peace that has come to us through the cross, and the joy of the Holy Spirit. We will all be thinking and talking about you – what books you read, or what movies you watch, what you drink or smoke, or some other ridiculous bit of liberty that seems to be the center of your life. All this could have been prevented if you had been more willing to hold back on your liberty where appropriate and focus on Christ more than your books, your movies, your food, and your wine.
Conclusion: Forgive
One final word… If withdrawing from the life of the church is not the answer then we will all need to be ready to forgive one another. Mistakes will be made. Thin people will complain about how fat they are in front of people that are actually quite heavy. People with lots of savings will talk about how they have had to scrimp in front of those who do not know where tomorrow’s mortgage payment is coming from. People will say insensitive things, and people will judge one another too harshly.
We need to forgive one another. We need to live well together in the church. There is only one way to do this. We all need to be utterly amazed that we are alive at all. We who deserved the wrath of God have been brought to the sure hope of eternal life through the death and resurrection of Christ. Let’s talk about that one fact always, and forgive one another when we are hopelessly foolish about things like food and wine.
posted by Pastor Magee at 12:02 PM
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