Romans Chapter 14:1-15:6

Why can't people just mind their own business?

Do you ever feel like people are at you all the time? One of the most challenging times in our house is meal time. It's not because of the company. We enjoy the time together as a family to get caught up on our day and hear how everyone is doing. It's not the food either. We look forward to the dishes we prepare day in and out and with the BBQ season on us, we're enjoying outdoor cooked meals. What we find challenging is the myriad of telemarketers who phone our home during meal time to see if we are interested in whatever product they are trying to sell.

The frustrating part about this is that the phone call is an attempt by someone to manipulate us into buying their product. That person doesn't necessarily care about who we are as much as they care about our believing what they say and literally "buying" it. In Romans chapter 14:1 to 15:6, Paul enters into the area of church community life where people get into each other's face about what they believe and how they go about behaving in light of that belief.

Coming off of chapter 13 where Paul encourages the believers in Rome to be decent and true in everything they do - especially when it means the well-being of others, he now delves into how they have been treating each other. Apparently, it wasn't pretty. The believers were divided and the labels of "weak" and "strong" were attached to individual points of view on how to live out one's faith. The scenario went something like this:

"I think you're going about living for God all wrong. You Jewish believers still keep all of your ceremonial food laws and observance of special holy days. Don't you know that Jesus did away with all that? You're wasting your time. In fact, you're showing how weak you are in your faith because you use these things as a crutch. Look at us Gentiles! We don't have such hang ups. We eat meat sacrificed to idols and it doesn't bother us. We have no problem eating pork and shrimp because God made all of it and its all good. Be 'strong' in your faith like we are."

A tad obnoxious isn't it? And yet, this was the kind of interaction that was undermining the christian community in Rome. Paul addresses this issue by pointing out that it is up to every individual person to determine what they feel is a right response to their faith in Christ. Only they can determine that what they are doing is truly honouring to God.

"Who are you to condemn God's servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. The Lord's power will help them do what they should." 14:4.

Paul encourages the believers that rather than live in condemnation of your fellow brother and sister in Christ, live in such a way that you will not put an obstacle in another's way. [14:13] This was targeted to those who considered themselves "strong in faith" because they didn't succumb to what they thought were silly rules, regulations and observances. One persons liberty in a certain area could possibly be another persons stumbling block. Paul encourages the believers to be conscious of this and to not let their liberty cause others to stumble in their faith.

"Don't eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may have the faith to believe that there is nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who do not condemn themselves by doing something they know is all right." 14:21-22.

I have friends as well as family who hold certain behaviours as suspicious and not honouring to God that I personally do not have a problem with. This does not mean that I judge them according to my standard of what is right and wrong. What Paul is encouraging the believers in Rome and us indirectly is that our personal sense of right and wrong is not a matter to judge others but to honour God. I hear God saying through Paul to me that I need to respect the scruples of others in terms of their devotion to God. My job is to honour their faith and the way they live it out and let God be the judge of right and wrong in their life. That is not my place. My place is to love them [shades of what we talked about in chapter 12].

Paul encourages the believers in Rome to acknowledge the personal and private commitment that each individual makes to following Christ. Paul's prayer is that the believers follow Christ's example in this with each having the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other. [15:5]. We anger and annoy each other when we get in each other's face about how we live out our beliefs. This is a personal matter between each individual and God and God is big enough to deal with this even though at times there seems to be such inconsistency in how each of us chooses to follow Christ. Above all, what Paul is encouraging in this passage is that we remain consistent in demonstrating love toward each other!

Questions:

1. Ask yourself, "Have I judged someone's behaviour in following Christ because I thought it was wrong?" How can you make this right?

2. Work out some strategies in your small group about how to stay out of each other's face in respect to what Paul has written in chapter 14:1 to 15:6?

3. Review what is essential about following Christ. Come to a consensus on this in your small group in light of this week's passage.

4. Pretend that you have a hat rack that represents the things you hold important in your life as a follower of Christ. Evaluate the "hats" you have hanging on your rack. Do some of them need some rethinking? Should you ask God's Spirit to give you more wisdom on this issue?

5. Share your hat rack with others in your group. As you listen to your fellow group member, understand why that hat on their rack is important and how it helps them in staying committed to Christ.

Romans Chapter 13

There is no doubt that the church throughout history has had a significant impact on society at large. There is a long history of individuals, who, in the name of Christianity, fought for decency in the public circle. One such individual that comes to mind is William Wilberforce. Wilberforce lived from 1759 to 1833. He was a parliamentarian in the government of England and was instrumental in abolishing the slave trade. He grew up in the wealthy Clapham Sect, an elite group in England in his day out of which young men were groomed for influential positions in their country. Wilberforce introduced a bill in parliament in 1791 that would significantly reduce the activity of the slave trade in England but the bill was unsucessful. He fought for the rights of slaves for the majority of his political career and passed away one month before the Act of the Abolition of Slavery was passed in 1833.

In 2004, CBC ran a program to determine who is the greatest Canadian. The winner, elected by the Canadian people, was Tommy Douglas. Douglas served as Priemier of Saskatchewan for a series of 5 election terms [close to 20 years]. In those years, Douglas led his government to pass into legislation several laws that influence how Canada treats its citizens. One of the most famous is the medicare bill that ensured medical care to every Canadian. Douglas also passed a bill preventing discrimination of Canadians due to race, religion or creed. Douglas held strong Christian roots and was a Baptist Minister prior to entering politics. He was the first federal leader of the New Democratic Party. All in all, the founding roots of a Douglas led socialism are Christian to the core.

These two examples from different times in recent history show the influence of Christians as they saw their place in society as that of promoting the well-being of people and the good of society. In our passage this week, Paul the apostle expands on his explanation of what "loving others" looks like [chapter 12:9ff] by pointing out what the behaviour of the Roman Christian community should be to society. Living in harmony with civil leaders and encouraging a continual debt of love owed to their fellowman, Paul points out that such behaviour fulfills God's law. Paul warns that self examination is crucial so that the follower of Christ can ensure that they are living in the "day" and not the "night." [imagery for good and evil]

Being "decent and true in everything we do, so that everyone can approve of our behaviour" was not an appeal to tolerance of evil but an appeal to embrace fellow men and women and share the love that Christ has placed in our hearts by His Spirit so that we can join God in His mission to redeem the world. In Paul's day, it was far too easy to point the finger at government, civil leaders and non-believers as the source of evil in the world. Paul refreshes the minds and hearts of the Roman believers to the behaviour that Christ has called them. This behaviour is not accusatory [shades of Chapter 2:1ff] but embracing and accepting. In order to continue in such behaviour, Paul encourages his readers to "clothe themselves with the armour of God's light" and let Christ take control. This again is a confirmation of what Paul encourages the Roman believers to do in light of a God who has done so much for us: give our lives as living sacrificies. The explanation of what a life given to God looks like has come full circle at the end of chapter 13.

As followers of Christ, our behaviour can directly affect our society in ways that bring about what God desires for the human race. As a community of believers, we can make a difference in people's lives and be "Christ" to them. May we be the compelling community that the early church was so that our neighbours can know the love Christ and God's plan for their lives as well.

Questions:

What other characters from history have lived out their faith and affected the society they lived in? [check out Wikipedia.com]

How can our church community continue making a difference in our neighbourhoods?

How can we keep ourselves from the trap of living in the "night" rather than the "day"?

Romans 12:9-21

I don't know about you, but I hate lists. I know they're necessary, especially when you go to the grocery store and you want to remember all the things you agreed you would pick up. It certainly cuts down on the trips to the store. But lists become most annoying when they are used in such a way as to hold others accountable to the point of being restrictive. They then basically become the rules and the rules turn out to be sacred: no one dare break the rules!

Lists in the bible were not meant to be this way. In fact, the writers of the bible use lists to offer possibilities. The only list that is worth regarding as sacred are the list of ten commandments given to Israel in the desert of Sinai. These were given by God to help Israel see how far they had strayed from God and their relationship with Him. Paul in Romans uses lists much differently. Case in point is the list we find in the passage for this week. The ruling behaviour that accompanies this list is found in verse 9, of chapter 12: "Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them!" [NLT] Paul goes on then to suggest what this might look like.

When you read the list, it actually reads as a list to motivate one to truly love others. There are 22 separate items on this list: [taken from the NIV]

1. Hate what is evil –cling to what is good
2. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love
3. Honour one another above yourselves
4. Never be lacking in zeal
5. Keep your spiritual fervor in serving the LORD
6. Be joyful in hope
7. Be patient in affliction
8. Be faithful in prayer
9. Share with God’s people who are in need
10. practice hospitality
11. Bless those who persecute you – bless – don’t curse
12. rejoice with those who rejoice
13. mourn with those who mourn
14. Live in harmony with one another
15. Do not be proud
16. Be willing to associate with people of low position.
17. Do not be conceited
18. Do not repay evil for evil.
19. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody
20. Live at peace with everyone [if it is possible as far as it depends on you]
21. Do not take revenge – leave it up to God
22. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good!

When you read this list you get a feeling that rather than being restrictive, all these items on this list encourage the reader to be free to love and diligent to not allow evil to undermine that love. What this list describes is the life that Jesus lived while on earth and the life He has given us by His Spirit to live today. And by this, we can experience what C. S. Lewis calls a good infection. The very Christ life is made alive in us by God's Spirit so that we can be the true human beings God desires for us to be: His sons and daughters.

Well, when you think of what was going on in the Roman church as Paul is writing this to them some time in the 50s AD, this motivation to love is an attempt on Paul's part for the believers to live with a sense of love toward others and a place of importance for each in the community that centers around Christ. When all people give their lives over to God as living sacrifices, the behaviour of love toward each other is a natural outcome of such commitment and devotion.

In chapter 13, Paul will expand on this expression of love beyond the community of believers to the the community at large.

Questions:

1. What are some items on the list that Paul mentions that resonate with you right now?

2. Take those that resonate and share with your group how they apply to specific situations you are going through.

3. Discuss item 22 of Paul's list - "responding to evil with good" - and the challenges that presents in our world.

Romans 12:1-8

Changing the way we think about life is certainly a challenge when you realize what creatures of habit we are. We tend to do things and see things the same way and over time such ways become part of the fabric of who we are. In this passage, Paul is challenging the Roman believers to think differently. Their pattern of thinking and seeing their world was self-centered and small. They were self-absorbed about who they were and how they needed to behave in order to belong as a believer and follower of Christ.

Up to this point, Paul has been pointing them in a totally different direction. A brief review of the letter of Romans so far shows how Paul leads up to this challenge to the Roman believers to change their thinking:

1. In chapters 1-4, Paul focuses on what the believers "should not boast in." The message of the good news they received is about a crucified Messiah [despised by rulers but cherished by God as an act of love toward humanity]. They should not boast in themselves - their background, blood line, behaviour etc. God has made a way to restore relationship with humanity that has everything to do with Jesus - not human behaviour. In fact, all have fallen short of God's glory but all are made righteous through Jesus. All are children of Abraham - not just the Jews.
2. In chapters 5-8, Paul then focuses on "What to boast in." What we can boast in is what Jesus has done in us. His endurance patience and hope works endurance patience and hope in the human race so that we will not be disappointed about what God has promised. The second Adam has accomplished so much more than the first Adam who plunged humanity into sin. The second Adam has freed us from the slavery of sin so that it is no longer our master. Our master is Jesus and what a master he is because he is more a friend than anything else. When we try to do it our way, sin takes advantage of us but when we do it Jesus' way, we are freed and the Spirit of God works in our lives to draw us near to God and help us live in light of His love. And nothing can separate us from that love!
3. In Chapters 9-11, Paul then answers the question that was looming in the minds of the believers: Will Israel make it in the end? And Paul adamantly emphasizes that "Yes, they will!" Although Jews, for the majority, have not turned to Christ, in the end they will because the Gentiles will return the favour that the Jews gave the Gentiles, of introducing them to the God of the universe who is creator of all. They will respond to Jesus and be grafted back into the tree of humanity. There is no room for arrogance or personal preference because God sees all people as his and the Jews are no exception. They must be careful [Gentiles] to not be arrogant about their response to Christ otherwise they may lose their connection to God.

The pivotal verse that gathers all the thoughts of chapters 1-11 together is chapter 11:32 "For God has imprisoned all people in their disobedience so that He might have mercy on them all." Paul ends chapter 11 by exclaiming, "What a God we serve!" It is through Him that everything exist and everything has been made for!

The only thing left to do on our part as human beings, says Paul in Chapter 12, is to give our lives over to God! Its the reasonable thing to do. It makes sense. When there is a God who goes to the lengths he does for us, the only thing for us to do is to give our lives to Him. As we do that, God's Spirit begins to change the way we view the world and people. Rather than judge and evaluate by placing categories of division, God puts His love in our hearts and we are able to love and embrace those around us. In the passage to come for next week [Romans 12:9-21] Paul will focus on what this looks like. Ultimately, it is the key to pushing back evil in our world - responding to evil with good - the Law of Christ that advances God's Kingdom in this world!

Questions:

1. Do a quick review of the letter of Romans so far. What have been the highlights for you?

2. Think of ways that God has encouraged you by His Spirit to look at the world differently?

3. What is your place in this community? What gifts has God given you that make you a unique contributor to this community?

4. Tell someone about your gifts.

5. Think about how you can use your gifts to advance God's cause in our world?

Romans 11:1-36

"For God has imprisoned all people in their own disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone." Romans 11:32

In God's kingdom, there are no classification of people - no hierarchy or social status that divides them. Instead, there is a divine given equality where every person carries the same weight and importance in God's eyes. Verse 32 of chapter 11 is one of the all encompassing verses in the letter of Romans. The essence of what Paul has been writing about is encapsulated in this one verse. In order for God to have mercy, in his divine plan, imprisoned all humanity in its sin so that He could rescue them.


This picture is the monument erected in front of the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem as a tribute to all those who helped and assisted Jews during the Holocaust. A very moving experience for me in touring the museum [of which no pictures are allowed to be taken inside] was the hall of rememberance where the names of every Jew killed in the holocaust are recorded. A quote inscripted on the entrance from the journal of Benjamin Fondane who was murdered at Auschwitz in 1944 read as follows:

"Remember only that I was innocent and just like you, mortal on that day, I, too, had a face marked by rage, by pity and joy, quite simply, a human face!"

The terrible atrocity of the holocaust was that people believed that others were less human. This prejudice goes against the eternal value God has placed on every human being. In chapter 11, Paul brings to a close his argument concerning whether his own people - the Jews - will make it in the end. Paul encourages the Roman believers to remember that he - a Jew - is a follower of Christ, and like Elijah who lamented that there were no faithful prophets in the land, Paul reminds them as well that though hoards of Jews are not converting to Christianity it does not mean God has given up on them. In fact, in God's plan, the Jews were the instrument through which God reached out to the Gentiles [Paul says - case in point myself who am called to be an apostle to the Gentiles - 11:13]. In the end the Gentiles will return the favour to Israel and they too will convert to Christianity.

The picture on the right is a photo I shot on a kibbutz just outside Jerusalem. It's a teaching kibbutz with replicas of relics and sites from the biblical period. This statue of a rabbi rending his garment depicts the terrible regret of a Jew who spent all his life keeping Torah and finally finds out that Jesus is the Messiah and he has wasted all his life neglecting to follow him.

Paul says that the Jews will become jealous of what the Gentiles have, so much so, that they will turn to God and follow Jesus. Such is the hope that we are called to have for our Jewish brothers and sisters. They have left us a wonderful heritage that lead to our conversion and in the end we will also help them find their way to God.

"Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the Jews refused his mercy, God was merciful to you instead. And now, in the same way, the Jews are the rebels, and God's mercy has come to you. But someday they, too, will share in God's mercy." Rom. 11:30-31.

Questions:

1. Do some research to refresh your memory concerning the history of anti-semitism. Why was such cruelty poured out on to our Jewish brothers and sisters?

2. Work out for yourself what your attitude should be toward our Jewish neighbours?

3. What are some things we can do to build relationships with our Jewish friends?

Romans 10:1-21

"For they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God ..." Rom. 10:3

"Always the Queen's way!" - The Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland

I remember as a kid one of the 'bones of contention' when playing games in the school yard was who's rules we were going to abide by. I remember that there was always a particular way certain groups of kids would play games during recess. Learning the rules of the different groups was important to getting included in the game. Contesting the rules almost always happened and arguments occasionally led to the kid who owned the ball picking the ball up and leaving!

In the game of life, the rules of engagement evolve into the same contention for what rules we will play by in the work place, on the street, and in our own communities. Most of all, contention almost certainly arises in terms of who God is and how to engage in following Him. Paul the Apostle continues to expand his answer to the foreboding question, "Will Israel make it in the end?" by focusing on what it is that keeps the Jews out of the game of relationship with God. In his own estimation [which is quite accurate since he is a Jew by birth], the Jews stubbornly hold on to their way of being right with God which subsequently creates distance between them and God. Recalling Paul's own encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus [Acts chapter 9] and how Jesus challenged the way Paul was following God gives weight to Paul's critique of Jews in general and their approach to God. Jews were anchoring their being right with God according to their adherence to the Law. All along, in this letter, Paul has been re-orientating the Roman believers reminding them that being right with God has everything to do with what God has done for us and nothing to do with what we do for God.

For Paul, it wasn't a matter of being "zealous," for his own people have more than enough "zeal" in terms of their commitment to religion, but its a matter of focus: "What makes someone belong to the family of God?" Building on what he has already said in previous parts of the letter, Paul emphasizes that what makes one belong is their decision to believe in the way God has given to be right with Him. Confessing and believing that this is true and putting our trust in God's way of making us right with Him, [Rom. 10:9ff] we benefit from the Good News Paul has been preaching all along. This Good News tells us that the Father in heaven loves us and His desire is to draw us into His family by adopting us through Jesus and giving us His Spirit to help us live in this loving community.

In the verses that follow [Rom. 10:18 ff] Paul pulls scripture from the prophets who comment on the significance and history of Israel to show that Israel is very much a part of God's plan to rescue the world. The fact that Jesus comes as a Jew attests to the fact that Israel has a very important part in God's plan and God has preserved her throughout history so that His purposes will be fulfilled. Yes, Israel historically rejects God's ways time and time again, but God set them apart to be a light to the nations and whether they were with Him or not, He uses them to reach out to the other nations. These references from the prophets show that "God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning." [Rom. 11:2]. They still continue to be part of His plan and we will see in chapter 11 that Paul believes God's plan is that they will respond as a nation to Jesus and put their trust in Him!

Although Israel has walked away with the ball many times, there will be a day in the future when we will play together again in God's field enjoying the love and relationship that He desires for every human being!

Questions:

What is it that makes us right with God?

How can we build relationships with our Jewish brothers and sisters?

What is necessary for us to be counted as being in God's family?

Romans 9:1-29

Is it possible that God loves some people and not others?

This is the question that is answered in chapter 9 of Romans as Paul languishes over the distance of his own people [Israel] from the love and mercy of God. We see the incredible empathy Paul has for his own people as he wishes he himself could be "cursed forever" and separated from Christ if it meant that his people would draw near to Christ.

Chapters 9-11 of Romans address the issue of whether Israel will make it in the end? In beginning his rebuttal to this pending question, Paul focuses in chapter 9 on what causes us [both Jew and Gentile] to "receive God's promise." [verse 16] Underlying this argument is the other half of the conversation that we are not hearing. This other half is the discussion going on in the Roman churches. All along we have been pin pointing the strife between the Gentile and Jewish groups in the churches in Rome. Given Paul's focus on defining God's sovereignty [His freedom to do whatever He wants having to answer to no one] within God's character of love and mercy in chapter 9, the discussion going on in the Roman churches can be reconstructed to sound something like this: The Gentiles were arguing that God sovereignly chose them over the Jews as the receivers of grace forcing the Jews into a state of unbelief and eventual destruction. The Jewish rebuttal to this may have sounded something like this: God has not chosen us for destruction but historically has chosen us as His people who bear His law. [remember that this has been the argument from the beginning of the letter. Review chapter 3 especially for a refresher on this]

When you keep this conversation in mind, reading chapter 9 is less confusing. From verses 1-14, Paul argues for the fact that "election" [meaning God setting apart people for himself] is not based on blood lineage but rather on promise. This rings true in the beginning story of Israel, particularly in the life of Abraham and the birth of Isaac. God's election comes not because of following the law [and so Ishmael being the son who bears the inheritance] but of God's gift of Isaac. ["It is the children of the promise who are considered to be Abraham's children." verse 8b] In verse 16, you get a conclusion to the argument in vv.1-14 - "So receiving God's promise is not up to us. We can't get it by choosing it or working hard for it. God will show mercy to anyone he chooses."

Verse 16 transitions into Paul setting the argument of God's sovereignty within the argument of promise that I've described above. Paul says, "Yes - God is sovereign, and the amazing thing about God's sovereignty is that he chooses to "love everyone." The Gentiles probably used the story of God hardening Pharoah's heart as evidence that God does make some reject Him. Paul says don't use this as a pretext for understanding God's sovereignty. ["No, don't say that!" verse 20a] God's sovereignty must always be viewed in the context of how God comes to us. Yes God has every right to make some vessels for noble use and some vessels form ordinary use but - as Paul emphasizes starting verse 22b - "but he also has the right to be very patient with those who are objects of his judgment and are fit only for destruction. He also has the right to pour out the riches of his glory upon those he prepared to be the objects of his mercy - even upon us, who he selected, both from the Jews and the Gentiles."

From verses 25 - 29, Paul then refers to passages in the Old Testament that show how God had mercy on both groups [Gentiles and Jews]. Paul will describe later in Chapter 11:11 that the apparent rejection in Israel of God made room for the Gentiles to come close to God but this does not mean that God has rejected Israel forever. The Gentiles will return the favour to Israel and will be instrumental in drawing Israel close to God.

To answer the question I posed at the beginning, the answer is "NO." God does not choose some to love and others to hate and reject. God's plan is far more comprehensive and all embracing. In Paul's heart and mind, he is convinced that in the end God will receive both Gentiles and Jews and they will respond in hordes. The danger is when we say God works in a way that favours one group over the other. This is not God's heart and it is not what God has chosen [elected]. A reference back to chapter 3 emphasizes that "all have sinned" and in Christ, "all are saved."

Questions to consider:

1. What part does Israel play in God's plan of salvation?

2. Review the context in which God's sovereignty is to be viewed?

3. What is the nature of God's "choosing?"