Romans 15:1-13
Our culture honours personal characteristics such as independence, self-sufficiency, self-confidence, and an attitude that says “I know what I’m doing and where I’m going.” Strong people like this are the ones who get ahead and become the leaders in society. It’s only natural for such people to develop pride in their qualifications and accomplishments, and even sometimes to regard themselves as superior to people who aren’t blessed with natural talents or resources, those whose position in life is weaker, those who have been injured by others or who suffer from misfortune, illness, or addiction.
This is the world’s way, but it is not Christ’s way. At the Last Supper, Jesus’ disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:25-27), and Jesus told them, “The rulers of the nations lord it over them and those in authority call themselves benefactors. But it will not be like that among you; rather, the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. Who is greater, the one sitting at the table or the one serving? It’s the one sitting at the table. But I am among you as one who serves.” In this way, Jesus calls the strongest people among his followers, the most gifted, the natural leaders, to serve the weaker people, those without special advantages.
Our whole Bible reading today is devoted to spelling out what Christ’s direction means within the church. In fact, Romans 14 is part of the same instruction. It’s very easy for people with strong ideas and opinions to assert that their thoughts are superior and try to impose their decisions on others. The Bible warns against this. Here is Romans 14:1-7 in the strong contemporary paraphrase The Message by Eugene Peterson:
Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.
For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.
Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.
What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters.
We tend to forget this, particularly if we have more knowledge and experience than the people who see things differently than we do. Strong, knowledgeable, experienced people easily believe they know what is best, and weaker, inexperienced people ought to recognize this and knuckle under. But today’s Scripture begins:
We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. (Rom. 15:1-2, NRSV)
The Message adds:
Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
So the strong people should be serving the weaker, not dominating over them. That sounds like what Jesus told his disciples at the Last Supper when they argued about who was greatest. And now St. Paul goes on to echo what Jesus said about himself:
For Christ did not please himself. (Romans 15:3)
The Message goes on:
He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus! So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!
– Robert Kruse
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