October 28, 2021 — Romans 15:7 – 33

“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

“Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name”;

and again he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”;

and again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him”;

and again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.” May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:7-13

“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Welcoming others is not only our responsibility each and every day (and especially on Sundays), but just another way in which we give glory to G-d. Let that last phrase settle on you for a second, and then read it again. When we welcome others, especially the strangers in our midst, we give glory to G-d. This is the Gospel message — we are not supposed to hate our neighbor, we are to love them as ourselves.

At the beginning of his book What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey tells a story about a prostitute who was asked if she ever approached a church for help for her and her daughter when seeking money and food. The prostitute answered, “Church! Why would I ever go there? I was already feeling terrible about myself. They’d just make me feel worse.” When we welcome others, without judgment, without pre-conditions, without hesitation, we give glory to G-d.

We are really good at making people feel uneasy — unwelcome — unwanted — by our stares, our glances and our watchful eyes. Perhaps we need to see their humanity, their gifts, and their value by seeing Christ in all people. When we look in each other’s faces, especially the stranger, we are called to see Christ incarnated in them — after all, that is why Jesus died — so that when G-d looks at us, G-d does not see our sin — instead G-d sees the very essence of Christ.

Let us Pray,

Lord Jesus, you love all people. You show no partiality – you love all people. Help us to live into that love and to share that love with everyone we meet, everyone we see, and everyone — everywhere.  Amen.

Pastor Dave

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