Skip to main content

Romans 15:1-6

I can't say I've heard many sermons on this passage, or the rest of Romans 15.*

We then who are strong ought to bear with the [a]scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to [b]edification. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” 4 For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the [c]patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Perhaps it is not preached on much because it is hard thinking, believing, and living. 

1. If you are a strong Christian (is this a challenge, a little bit of a pinch?), you should be able to bear with (tolerate?) those "scruples" or attitudes of the weak that don't function as a moral guide in your own life, and not seek to please yourself. But notice the "we." It is possible that the "weak" are new believers who have to work through their scruples and wounded conscience about cultural practices and past involvements as they "grow [up[ spiritually."  The assumption is that the weak, like a child, will develop the ability to deal with those past things and become strong and mature. I don't believe this is talking about addiction, though. Drunkenness at that time would not have been seen as an illness, just sin to be repented of. Many more evangelicals drink now than did in the past, and by that I may mean they do it publicly or talk about it publicly. I think rock music of a certain strain is an example. In my lifetime, many associated it with a past of drugs or other immoralities, and let's me honest: although some rock songs are fun, some of them are nihilistic and hardly purport a Christian worldview. Some believers can't/couldn't listen to it because of that (or it was a common experience in my youth). I believe Paul is saying be humble, do not dismiss these folks or belittle them, be understanding, and don't put temptations in their paths. 

2. The principle is to please the neighbor (notice neighbor instead of brother) for edification. 

3. Verse 3 brings me to a concept that I think is missing in our study. The moral concepts of the Bible are not for a: to be nice and other people think we are "nice." or b. purely human in origin or application.  The moral concepts of the Bible are theological and Christological in essence. Another thing that is rarely taught: that the principles we are given are not about us, even though they are for our good. This is a Christ-centered universe. Moral principles of the kingdom are for His glory and because of His being and sacrifice and resurrection. 

4. Verse 4 swings the camera a bit but also makes us focus on something we do not want to see--the reason we need the Old Testament. A few years back Andy Stanley claimed we needed to unhitch Christianity from the Old Testament. Pretty bold and pretty stupid and pretty ungodly a claim. I will post on this tomorrow.

*In my Christian experience, which is over 50 years, I notice that preachers use certain texts repeatedly and ignore the bulk of the Bible. This mystifies me. Can anyone explain it? I heard someone say that James is not preached from much. Not in my life! I've probably heard as many sermons from James as any others, except Romans 12:1-2. 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why to Read Fiction, Idea #27: Empathy, anyone?

The Idea #27 is tongue in cheek.  But these are some ideas about writing fiction, which I have done in ten novels (and counting), a dozen short stories, and two produced plays (I know, not exactly the same).  Background: In 2015 a colleague and I wrote an open educational resource public speaking textbook for a grant provided by our University System. We didn't realize at the time that it would go viral and be used all over the world within a few years. There are two reasons for that: it is good (as good as anything on the market) and it is free, although only in digital form. Check out www.exploringpublicspeaking.com for it. We also didn't know at the time that my co-author would die at 39 in 2016. I still miss him. Back to the point, I receive requests for the test banks every other day, and this morning I received one from Pennsylvania. The writer had a signature line: "Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Birdwatching

 Whose world is this, anyway? My husband came out to the deck where I was reading, thinking, and taking long pauses to listen to birds and watch them visit the feeders. Nala and Butter were keeping the the squirrels away. The cardinals, like kings, were making sure they were fed first but wrens, sparrows, finches, robins, swifts sat in the trees calling and cackling. My Cornell Labs app has identified 18 in 18 minutes, some new ones included. “How interesting that God made all the birds have distinctive calls,” I said. “But I guess they are calling to their own kind, their mate and children.” “Do you think they are talking to each other?” he said. “Not like we do, no communicating, but signaling.” “I thought they were singing for us.” We laughed about that; our human-centric, self-centered view of things takes over. “They sing and make noises when we are not here, so it’s not for us. If they are singing for anyone, it’s God.” I had read Samuel’s speech to the nation in I Samuel 12,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Keeping Up Appearances? David's Surprise Anointing to Be King

  Have you ever watched the show, Keeping Up Appearances? What it is. A comedy about a British woman who wants to be thought of as very high class even though her family is low class. Her name is Hyacinth Bucket but she pronounces it Bouquet. She wants everything perfect but her family works against her, and her neighbors run from her. We all know someone who wants to keep up appearances, and sometimes we do. In our everyday life, we depend on our eyes and we automatically trust them, at least at first, and we often don’t look closely or below the surface. Like puzzles. But we know that appearances can be deceiving, even though they catch us. So I wanted to show this video I saw recently because it’s disturbing but informative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FERa1AI2EK8 AI has gotten far better on making these deep fakes—videos that are not of anyone but totally generated by the software. Even though they look like someone, they are not. Of course, it is stealing fro...
Post a Comment
Read more