Word of Salvation – Vol.36 No.19 – May 1991

 

Tolerance

 

Sermon by Rev. M.C. DeGraaf on Romans 14:15-23

Reading: Deut.10:12-22; Gal.2:11-3:9

Singing:

119:1,7,8, 26, 344, 451, 166

 

Brothers and Sisters,

You don’t have to be a great expert in international or domestic affairs to realise that sin has made it difficult for the peoples of this world to live together in harmony.  Ever since Adam accused Eve of leading him astray, and ever since Able was murdered by Cain, it is as if the forces of sin are pulling us apart.

We all know that that was not the way it was originally.  In Paradise Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony and communion with God, with creation around them and also clearly with each other.

In sin, it is as if a great wedge is pushing them all apart.  They hid from God among the bushes of the garden.  In many ways creation had become an enemy.  It also groaned under the load of sin.  And of course relationships between people began to break down.

There is no question that God’s grace has worked many miracles through the ages.  And yet, you only need to pick up your paper, on any given day, and you’ll quickly see that that wedge is still hard at work in our world.  Tamils are killing Sinhalese in Sri Lanka.  Black and white are in conflict in South Africa.  They’re still exploding bombs in Northern Ireland.  People are still being kidnapped or shot at in Lebanon.

In spite of what the evolutionists might want to believe, ever since the Fall, sinful man became intolerant and continues to be so.

The dictionary defines that word intolerant as ‘being unable to endure or accept opinions that differ from one’s own.

There is enough of that in the world.  And sadly, of course, we’re not just talking about ‘the world’.  At times there can seem to be just as much intolerance in the Church as well.

Just look at what Paul is dealing with here in the last chapters of Romans.  As we’ve already seen in the book of Acts, the early church was often very divided along ethnic and cultural lines.  The new Christians who had earlier been orthodox Jews had quite different views from those who had previously been Gentiles.

Not only that of course, but also, like all churches in all ages, there were those who were stronger in the faith and those who were weaker.  Those who were a hundred percent sure about what the important issues were and those who were still struggling, trying to work out what it meant to live the Christian life in their particular situation.

Often times these issues are coloured by where we come from.  For example, for an ex-gambler gambling is a great sin.  For an alcoholic it might be drink.  In Romans 14 Paul seems to be especially talking about things connected with the ‘old’ Jewish religion.

As in the book of Galatians, Paul needs to put the brakes on those who are still looking for some kind of spiritual or religious significance in the laws of Israel.  There were still those who thought that keeping the special days and the special diet laws would somehow help set them right with God.

Paul needs to remind these people, as he has been doing, right from the beginning of this book (just look, for example at chapters 2 and 3) that all this is now behind them.  Through the death of Christ they have been given a whole new freedom.  They are liberated from all this struggling.  The Jews who followed the old way had been like debtors, always trying to pay off an enormous loan.  But now a new way was opened up.  Everything had been paid for in Christ’s blood and the old had passed away.

Freedom is a funny thing, of course.  Not everybody knows what to do with it.  For many people it’s kind of scary, really.  In the Old Testament the people of God had been like children.  They were clearly told ‘do this’ and ‘don’t do that.’

In the New Testament we are described as mature adults (or at least maturing young adults).  We have the gift of the Spirit, general laws of love and the guidance of people like Paul and James.  But nevertheless we have to make many more decisions.  And that can be difficult at times.  And perhaps even a little frightening.  Perhaps that is why some people always seem to be looking for new laws to somehow give them assurance.  It gives their life a sense of direction.  At least there are some very easy goals to aim at.

In the light of this new freedom and the tension that it can bring, Paul says some very important things in our text.

Firstly, he makes it clear that our living out this new freedom must be tempered by love, and a concern for the other members in the body.  We are to use freedom to build up not break down.  To put it another way: It is a Christian’s duty to think of everything, not as it affects ourselves only, but also as it affects others.  It’s all very well to say that ‘as a Christian I have no problems drinking alcohol’ for instance, but does that mean you have a right to ignore another’s problems with it?

And what about worship?  Do we approach discussions on it asking how we can work to encourage others especially weaker members (in the Pauline sense ‘young in faith’ etc.)?  Or are we too caught up in what we think should happen?  It is similar to the way some speak about Bible studies or Youth Club or even worship services etc.  ‘What do I get out of it?’ instead of, ‘How do I build up my brother/sister?’

And think about work.  You know how you stand before God, and you know that your actions operate within His structures, but does your neighbour know that?

We live in an age where the individual is considered to be everything: my interests, my needs, my desires are to be fulfilled at all costs.  But Paul reminds us again that this is not the Christian way.  Our lives are to be marked by a real concern for our brothers and sisters.  Also in verse 17 he reminds us that the Christian life involves righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Every time I do something it is worth stopping and asking: Does this further the kingdom?  Or perhaps more importantly, in the context of Romans 14, does it hinder someone else from seeing the kingdom for what it really is?

• When I gossip with someone (and for instance bring down a person’s value), does the person who hears this gossip hear the righteousness that lies at the heart of the Good News of Jesus Christ?
• When I get angry because I feel I have been wronged, does the person I am abusing see the peace of God that passes all understanding?
• When I complain because I feel God is asking too much from my life, am I showing those around me the joy that comes from being embraced by the Father?
• To sum all that up I guess I must ask: When people talk to me or to you, do they see the kingdom of God reflected, or the kingdom of this world?

Paul makes that point very clear in the last few verses of chapter 14.  In a way he makes things very black and white when he says that we make our decisions in life either in faith or in sin.

He leaves little room for compromise or for declaring things somehow to be neutral.  And he lays quite a challenge before us.  A challenge to look carefully into our lives and to look at the source of what we do.  What is the fountain from which our decisions and actions flow?  Is it a fountain of greed, or self-centredness?  Or is it simply empty habit or superstition: ‘I live my life the way I do because it has always been done that way.’  Or is it the fountain of life, and freedom, and love?

Is it the fountain of Christ and His way?  Do you seek to serve as He served, giving your life totally to God and neighbour, not out of some great fear of the law (that’s all behind us now) but for the same reason that Jesus lived it.  Do you seek to serve because of your love for the Father who sent His Son to die for us and because of your concern for the neighbour whom God also loves?

AMEN