October 27, 2021 — Romans 14:1 – 15:6

“Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each of us will be accountable to God.” Romans 14:1-12

“Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister?” Oh this is the eternal question — why do we like to pass judgment on others? Why do we sometimes tend to think the worst of people? As human beings, we are born with the freedom to think. I am reminded of the old song “Standing on the corner watching all the girls go by…” where one line of it says, “brother you can’t go to jail for what you’re thinking.” That would appear too much like the “thought police” – from dystopian novels and movies. We may not go to jail, but our thoughts are part and parcel of who we are. And if we continue to think thoughts that continue to pass judgment on others, we might as well just shout out all of our thoughts, for surely G-d knows what we are thinking. I am just as guilty of this as anyone….if being a Christian were so easy, I would imagine that our churches would have every pew filled. Funny thing, people who do not go to church believe the ones who do are a bunch of hypocrites. And they would be right, our churches are filled with hypocrites, but that is the point — and we know it — that’s why we go. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of G-d.

But, the difference between those who attend on a regular basis and the one’s who judge us is that by attending church, we hear about our sinfulness, and so are continually called into accountability — and then we receive the forgiveness of the sins we repent of, to support our attempts toward having the mind of Christ – of putting on Christ — of living the Christ-like life.

Let us Pray,

Lord Christ, you call us to love our neighbor as ourselves. You command us to love unconditionally. We know this is just the beginning of the struggle. To love all people means we must first forgive and find love for ourselves. Help us to see the love of Jesus as our guide as we seek to love and forgive all people. Amen.

Pastor Dave

October 26, 2021 — Romans 13:1 – 14

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” Romans 13:1-7

Romans 13 has a lot packed into it. For example, when Paul says: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities…”, well this sounds ok to our democratic societal ears. But to any person living under a governing authority that is oppressive and abusive to its people, these words from Paul can sound chilling. Of course, our rulers, those in all levels of government, should be subject to Romans 12:2, because in my estimation, Paul is speaking not only to me but also to the very people who make up all levels of government — they also should “…discern what is the will of God.”

And, in the process of determining world politics and our current world state, we look at Romans 12 and13 and wonder how we can ever come to an agreement as to what is a “Just War”. When Paul was writing these words, the Jewish revolt of 66 CE by the Jewish Zealots was still less than 10 years away leading to the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Should the only governing authorities that we are to follow be the authorities who are “G-d’s servants for the good”? And how are we to determine who that is?

Many people say there should be a separation of Church and State….and to that I say Amen. However, I also believe that the people who work for the government should have some moral principles that guide them in all aspects of their lives — especially in determining the good for all people through laws and decisions. As people of G-d, it is possible to expect our leaders both in the church and in government to truly have some guiding principles that come from a moral center.

Let us Pray,

Lord Jesus, we look to you as our hope and salvation. We live in a world where the reign of G-d waxes and wanes, but the reign of human rulers is always present. Give us the wisdom to work for guiding principles that are just for all people. Amen.

Pastor Dave