Background and Recap

Welcome back to Series 4 and Episode 8. It is remarkable how quickly we are getting towards the end of the book of Romans. We are now in chapter 15. If you have been following Word Online in Romans all the way through from the beginning, you will know that Paul has explained all stages of his argument and his teaching. In Series 1, he put the emphasis on explaining the nature of the gospel. That is such an important foundation - to truly understand what the gospel is. In Series 2, he helped us by explaining some of the resources we have to live the Christian life. In Series 3, he dealt with the controversial and difficult question of where the Jews fit in to the purposes of God.

But in Series 4 Paul has been focusing in, very practically, on the situation of the church in Rome. There were different ethnic groups in this church with a history of tension between them, particularly between the Jewish group and the Gentile group, mostly Roman citizens, who were together in the church but often saw things differently and didn’t find it easy to get on with each other. Paul has been addressing a number of issues that he thinks they need to deal with in the local church in order to make it function effectively.

In the last couple of episodes, we have been looking at some of those issues in a very practical way. We found out, in chapter 14, that there were, what Paul called, some disputable matters - issues that could easily lead to tension in the way people behaved in relationship within the church. He identified three different things that were causing tension which he probably heard about from reports people had sent to Paul because he had not actually visited the church at this particular time. In Romans 14: 2, he mentions the issue of food. He observed that in the church in Rome there were some people who were vegetarians, and other people who ate all food including meat. And in Episode 5, he noted that there were some people in Rome, particularly Jewish believers, who wanted to follow the Jewish Sabbath and some of the other holy days of the Jewish calendar, based on the Old Testament. Later, in Romans 14: 21 he also added in the issue of alcohol, drinking wine, as a point of tension. He described the fact that Christians are actually free to eat whatever food they want, free to drink alcohol if they want, in moderation and free not to observe any Jewish holy days. But he respected the fact that some people still preferred to do that, and had reasons for being cautious about adopting the attitude of being free in all those areas.

Paul brought this argument to a conclusion with the wonderful verses which we looked at in the last episode, and I want to remind you of those, so that we can move forward into this episode, understanding Paul’s thinking clearly.

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.”

Romans 14:19-21, NIV

He is encouraging the Roman Christians to make every effort to be sensitive to people who find some ways of socialising and worshiping together difficult, and don’t feel free to fully participate. He is encouraging an attitude of sensitivity and kindness in the local church. We also saw, at the very end of the last episode, Paul’s other wonderful statement in

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.’

Romans 14:17, NIV

Some things are central to the Christian faith and some things are secondary. Cultural patterns of behaviour, generally speaking, are secondary issues where we can have a lot of variation in our churches. Just think of all the different ways that Christians like to worship together, whether they sit or they stand; whether the women and the men sit separately or together; whether we have traditional music from our own culture or whether we adopt music from other cultures; whether we use electronic instruments, or traditional instruments, or maybe we sing without instruments; how we use our bodies in worship, in raising our hands and clapping and dancing, or bowing our heads and kneeling respectfully. These are big variations and Paul wanted there to be real sensitivity and kindness in the church, so that they didn’t become points of tension and division which take away from the primary issues which are, ‘righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’.

Sensitivity and Kindness

“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbours for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 15:1-6, NIV

The principle at the beginning, in verses 1 to 2, is that the strong, the people who are really free to adopt different cultural behaviours, should support those who are more sensitive, as I have just explained. The reason why people were very sensitive about food, for example, was not only looking back at the Old Testament, where some foods were clean and some foods were unclean in those laws, but also the fact that food was considered by many Christians, particularly meat, to be contaminated in Roman society because so much of it was dedicated to or used in worship in the pagan temples. It made people think that it was contaminated spiritually, even spiritually dangerous to eat foods because they may have been dedicated by a pagan priest to a pagan god or goddess. Some of that meat may have been used in a sacrifice, then the rest of the animal gets into the marketplace and becomes the food on your table. For some people, this was something that made them afraid. They were afraid of evil spirits coming through to them from the food. This was an issue of sensitivity. Paul had said, as I have explained in earlier episodes, that when we have the Holy Spirit within us we shouldn’t have this fear. It is not necessary to have this fear but he recognised that not everyone had the faith to believe that that was the case. So, we are dealing with very sensitive issues.

In our modern society, food can also be a sensitive issue. We considered briefly the situation of Christians living in Islamic societies, or working closely with large groups of Muslims, or believers having a Muslim background in the church, where Islam totally prohibits the eating of pork or anything related to pigs. Some believers with a Muslim background are sensitive about this issue, and reluctant to eat pork. Therefore others in that community, might well agree not to eat pork either. I also mentioned the situation of Christian communities in Hindu societies, where cows are considered sacred. In many parts of India, for example, cows are not used for meat and in some parts of India it is illegal to kill cows; they are considered sacred animals, and so many Hindus do not eat any beef, or any products of cows. Therefore, in that context, it may be wise for Christian communities to stay away from that food.

Christ’s Example

We need to remember that ‘Christ did not please himself’. When we are being sensitive to other people, we are following the example of Jesus in his original Jewish context, where some of the same issues applied in a slightly different way. Jesus lived according to a very clear religious law - a legal system with over 600 official commands, and many other cultural regulations added that had been created in the religion of the Jews. He lived under this legal system and he obeyed the laws written in the Old Testament. He showed that he obeyed them, although he didn’t accept some of the other traditions which were not in the Old Testament. He followed the food laws; he obeyed the Sabbath; he respected his parents; he attended religious festivals in the city of Jerusalem, as commanded in the Law of Moses. Jesus himself was sensitive to his environment, even though he predicted that the time was about to come - when he died, was raised again from the dead, and formed the new covenant - where those Jewish laws would no longer apply to the Church. But he did not please himself. This is the point that Paul is making.

Encouragement from the Old Testament

He goes on, in the second half of this passage, to speak about the God who ‘gives endurance and encouragement’ to us through the Scriptures. Paul is trying to help the Romans see their discipleship as a long-term commitment to the church community, to obedience to Christ, and to evangelism in their area. He speaks briefly here about the Old Testament, the Scriptures, which, as he writes meant the Old Testament, because the New Testament books were being written and had not yet been widely distributed. He is thinking of the Old Testament and its benefit for us. “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught by the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we may have hope.” He is moving his theme a little, from talking about cultural issues, to talk more particularly about discipleship as a long-term commitment. We need endurance and in order to have endurance we need encouragement.

Paul believes that the Old Testament, in particular, can give us encouragement. How does it give us encouragement? There are a number of different ways. One great way is by telling us the stories of men and women of faith who, over a long period of time, obeyed God and followed him. This is stated very clearly, in Hebrews 12: 1 - 2, where the writer to the Hebrews has just been describing men and women of faith in the Old Testament in Hebrews 11. He spent the whole chapter giving examples, and he concludes with these words which are very similar in idea to what Paul is saying at the beginning of Romans 15.

“Therefore, since we’re surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

The ‘great cloud of witnesses,’ refers to the people of the Old Testament who went before the time of Paul, before the time of the Church, and before our time. They give us encouragement.

Here are a couple of examples. Think of Moses in the Old Testament: called by God to a remarkable and miraculous role of leadership, to help the Jewish people escape from Egypt, through the Red Sea through an incredible miracle, into the desert area known as the Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, and then to go to the Promised Land. But Moses spent many years with great difficulties, because the Jewish people didn’t want to obey all the things that God said during that journey. The entry into the Promised Land was delayed by 40 years because of their unwillingness to obey. This leader, Moses, had to endure 40 years of difficulty and frustration and yet he endured right up to the end.

A lady called Ruth, in a book named after her in the Old Testament, whose story is celebrated amongst the Israelites, wasn’t even from the Jewish people! She was from the neighbouring tribe of Moab and married a Jewish man who died. Her parents-in-law were living nearby, and her father-in-law died. She ended up as a widow as a young woman. She adopted the faith of Israel, went back to Israel and was poor for a long time, until she was ultimately blessed with marriage and a family. – A story of endurance, to encourage us.

There are so many stories like that in the Old Testament. Paul points out that the Roman Christians need, not just practical wisdom to live the Christian life, but they also need a long-term perspective about Christian discipleship. Christianity is a way of life for the whole of our lives; when we are young; when we are middle-aged; and in our older years as well, if God gives us the grace, to live a long life for him. Paul wanted the Romans to do that.

The Gospel Moves out to Gentiles

“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it’s written: ‘Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.’ Again, it says, ‘Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.’ And again, ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.’ And again, Isaiah says, ‘The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.’ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15;7-13, NIV

Having settled the question that we need to accept one another graciously from different cultures, and try to work together in one church community from different cultural backgrounds, Paul now moves on, to indicate the significance of all this. What we are doing in a local church in allowing people to thrive from different cultures and different backgrounds, is a small representation of something much bigger that God is doing, which Paul could see in his own ministry, and has been continuing ever since that time up until the present day. The gospel is moving out from the Jewish people at the beginning, further and further into different parts of the world; different ethnic groups; different nations; different languages; different cultures; and getting stronger as the time goes on. He speaks here in a wonderful way, how it started with the Jewish people; ‘For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth.’ It started with them, ‘so that the promise is made to the patriarchs might be fulfilled’, which is a reference to the promise to Abraham that ‘through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed’; through the Jewish people ‘all the nations of the earth would be blessed’. This is a thought that is in Paul’s mind all the time. Christ served the Jewish people, so that there could be some Jewish people in the Early Church who would then serve the nations by going out to them - exactly what Paul did; that is what his life was all about: ‘that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.’

Paul is thrilled with the idea that people in Rome, who come from a pagan background, maybe have had no contact with the Jews, don’t know the Old Testament, have never heard of the Messiah, are now in the church. They have been saved. They have been born again. Suddenly they realise that the pagan gods are not really gods; the Roman gods are false gods. They have come away from the temples; they have chosen to worship the Messiah; they have realised that Jesus died for them to take away their sins and so, they are glorifying God, as Paul says here, ‘for his mercy’. Mercy has been an important theme in the book of Romans, as we saw particularly in chapter 11, and at the beginning of chapter 12.

It is amazing how God’s plan has spread from the small beginnings in Galilee, when Jesus travelled from village to village. In ‘The Life of Jesus’, in Word Online, I tell the story of Jesus’ ministry, his travelling. He had three tours of Galilee travelling around from place to place. First of all, on his own; secondly, taking his disciples with him; and then thirdly sending them out in pairs all over the villages. Then he evangelised the whole country as he left Galilee and went down to Jerusalem at the end of his life. You can find out the story by going through Word Online, ‘The Life of Jesus’. But all that was a preparation, preparing the way that the gospel would spread out fast and quickly, to many other different places, from its Jewish foundation. Paul represents this because he was called to be one of those who leads the way.

God’s Purposes as Seen in the Old Testament

Paul illustrates that this was God’s purpose, by quoting four short passages, from four different Old Testament contexts. They are all about the Gentiles. In the Bible, the word Gentile means all the ethnic groups who are not Jews. In other words, almost all the people who are participating in this teaching session today, like myself. I come from a British background, I have no Jewish heritage. I am a Gentile.

In the Old Testament, although the focus was on the Jews, we find in a number of ways and at different times, there is a prophetic theme that the Gentiles are going to come and worship the living God as well.

Romans 15: 9, David speaking, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” David is expecting that his kingdom in the Old Testament will draw in Gentile worshippers; they will see God’s favour upon him.

Romans 15: 10, Moses speaking, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” believing that the amazing miracles surrounding the people of Israel in his time would draw Gentiles to worship the God of Israel and indeed, some did.

Romans 15: 11, the psalmist says, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” speaking about Temple worship in Jerusalem in the Old Testament period. As Gentiles came and saw this wonderful worship of the Jews of the God of Israel, some of them would come and worship.

Romans 15: 12, Isaiah the prophet, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” Jesse was the father of David, God’s chosen king of Israel, about whom God prophesied that he would have a successor, a second ‘David’, the son of David, who would rule in God’s Kingdom permanently. That successor was Jesus. The Messiah will draw the Gentiles in, according to Isaiah the prophet.

Paul was really thrilled by these Old Testament passages. He saw that their truths, their aspirations and their predictions were being fulfilled through him, when he travelled to all the different cities of the ancient Greek and Roman world, and he started proclaiming Christ to a people who had never heard anything about him at all before.

As we come to the end of the book of Romans, we see Paul expanding his vision for mission. This is going to be a big theme in the next episode. He had in his heart, the view that the gospel was for all the nations of the earth.

Reflections

As we reflect at the end of this episode, we are privileged to live at a time in the 21st century where the Christian message has reached more ethnic groups and more places, cities and towns than ever before in the history of the Church. The development of the gospel, that Paul could see before his own eyes 2,000 years ago - the calling that was on him as an individual, and the prophecies he saw in the Old Testament - weren’t just fulfilled in his own generation, they are also being fulfilled in the modern age, where there has been such an energetic advance of the gospel, through different missions to all the continents of the earth. Even those where the governments have closed their doors to the church and made it hard, still the word of God is getting through. In our reflections I want you to take encouragement from this passage. You and I are involved with that mission-responsibility, wherever you live, whatever country you are in, whatever town, city or village you live in, you have an opportunity to keep sharing this Christian faith, to continue the work that started 2,000 years ago with the first Apostles, and was represented wonderfully in the New Testament by the example of Paul. He is an inspiration for us today.

Let us be on the front foot in prayer, in reaching out to other people, and also in having confidence that God’s way of reaching people is primarily through the local church. Paul invested a huge amount in the book of Romans to teach and to train the local church in Rome because this was the base from which the gospel could go out in that community, and as we will see in the next episode, by missionary endeavour to other countries as well.