Viva La Vida Christus: Living the Life of Christ (Part 7)
November 5, 2008 8:28 pm Chapter 14, Romans, Sermon-Texts
This is the seventh week of our fall sermon series, “Viva La Vida Christus: Living the Life of Christ” dealing with Romans 12-16. Part 7, this week, is titled “Meat, the Weak, and our Living Lord” and works with Romans 14:1-12 addressing how there can be differences among us who are Christians and how we need to avoid judging and despising one another. This sermon was originally preached November 2nd, 2008 at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA.
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November 2nd, 2008
Pastor Duane M. Smets
Series: Viva La Vida | Romans 12-16
“Meat, the Weak, and our Living Lord”
Romans 14:1-12
Introduction
Good morning…Let’s read our text and pray.
Lord God, it is our confession that we, together, as your people have much to learn. We like to fancy ourselves in thinking that we get things and have got them down…but the truth is we have a long way to go in becoming like Jesus, becoming the type of people we want to be and becoming the people you have designed us to be and are at work transforming us into being. Thank you for inspiring the Bible. A rich source and foundation for our faith which tells of who you are and the great things you have done. And thank you that in your book you get down and dirty and have your men address super practical issues so that we will know how our faith and love for you is supposed to work out in how we live our lives together. May your word sanctify us as we grow in grace through it. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
This is a section of Romans, and really through the rest of the book, we get reminded that this isn’t a book…it was originally a letter written from Paul to the original church in Rome. Other parts of the book are meticulous and carefully ordered and put together…here there is a lot more fluidity and weaving in and out because some real life issues are being addressed. Increasingly, we will see the letter-ness of Romans as we approach the end of the book.
What the letter-ness does for us who let the Bible dictate to us what we are going to talk about on Sundays is make this a really long section for us to deal with…because you can’t just cut a person off in mid-sentence or mid letter-ness right? That’d be rude. So the plan is just to have a really long service today. I’m going to preach like Paul probably did and go for about 3-4 hours. You guys cool with that? J
Can you imagine it? Sunday used to be an all day thing because the pastor would preach for a long time and then after would answer questions and everyone would sit around and talk about it for a long time. How we do that today is through community groups. We just finished talking through and discussing Romans 12 a couple weeks ago at the community group I’m a part of.
I wrestled a lot in prayer and study this week to try and figure out how to best help us all to work through this section together. It’s a tough, complex passage.
There are 10 direct commands. There is one overriding principle, which is restated 7 times in this with roughly 23 supporting reasons addressing the necessity and nature of the principle. There’s no clean textual way to break it up, all the experts do something different. This section is obviously addressing some specific issues there were some problems or concerns about going on in the church at Rome in the first century, so it’s highly dependent upon the history and culture of the time it was written.
There is a exchange back and forth between individual and personal faith and ethics and communal faith and ethics. There are two major, deep, rich, profound theological statements about who Jesus and what he has done for us. There is a great statement about how we are supposed to use and interpret the Bible.
And on top of it all the text ingeniously moves from talking about our personal relationships toward each other in the church to how that same principle applies toward our mission of showing and sharing the gospel with other people who don’t yet know and love Jesus.
So here’s how we’re really going to tackle this. I’m going to divide the text at an awkward place and spend three weeks on it. So I’m just going to deal with verses 1-12 of chapter 14 today.
Here’s the main questions I want to try and answer for us this week:
- What the heck is up with all the meat talk? Does God hate vegans? (preferences)
- Who’s weak and who’s strong? Why the differences? Can’t we all just get along? (judging)
- The statements/sentiments: “Don’t judge me!” and “You’re all heathens!” (despising)
I don’t have a good subtitle for today…the best I could do was this: “The Principle of Preference in Worship and Love Together”
Meat Eating and Holy Days
So let’s get into it. I think we have to talk about the meat deal first. It is the primary thing which appear to give Paul the reason for writing this section, there were obviously some differences of opinion and strife going on over this issue in the early church. I don’t think we can grasp what he is saying unless we get a handle on that.
Also, veganism and vegetarianism today is becoming increasingly popular today in our culture, especially in urban cities like ours in San Diego. Roughly 1 percent of the nation is vegan, meaning they don’t eat or use animal products. There is all kinds of stuff out there on this…the Vegan Society, Vegan Outreach, Vegan Action, Vegan Health are all non-profits aimed at enjoying and spreading the joy of eating animal free food. People are or become vegans today for various reasons…some for health concerns, some for animal concerns, and some because of spiritual concerns, or a combination of the three.
Now, I know there are several of you in our church who are vegan or vegetarian (and yes, I know there’s a difference between the two). Is this talking about you? Well, maybe, maybe not. You’ll have to decide for yourself. As we’ll see, I think it depends on your motivations and your love for God and his people and not whether it is right or okay to be vegan or not.
Here is what the first century vegetarianism thing was all about. It was not about animal concerns or health concerns…it was purely a spiritual religious issue. The two main groups Romans was first written two were Jews and Gentiles.
In the book of Leviticus, the Bible speaks very specifically about what his people could eat and not eat before Jesus came. Certain animals or parts of animals were not “kosher.” Kosher means “fit”, meaning what is fit for consumption. So for example, pigs were not to be eaten by Jews because only animals with cloven hooves that were cud chewing could be eaten (Lev. 11:3-4).
Ancient Jews were very concerned about the law, as we have learned, the Torah, the law, was essentially the whole hope for salvation…doing everything just right in order to earn favor with God. They took that seriously. So much so Jewish rabbis compiled two whole other books called the Talmud and Mishnah with additional rules in order to “build a fence around the law” so that you wouldn’t even come close to breaking it. So many Jews, rather than try to figure out what meat was kosher and what wasn’t just went the whole way and became vegetarians.
Now here’s the other deal. In Jesus, he becomes the last sacrifice on the cross, brings us into a new covenant of salvation where we are not so dependent upon doing everything just right, but become wholly dependent upon him having done everything just right for us in our place and dying for all the things we’ve done that are not right and are in fact down right evil. In Jesus the law gets fulfilled and he tells his people specifically that there are no longer “clean” or “unclean”, that is kosher foods (Mark 7:19).
Now here is the other thing. The reason for a lot of those crazy laws in the Old Testament had to do with other cultures in ancient Mesopotamia who worshipped many of those animals as gods. And God, the true God, really cared about his people knowing that and wanted everyone for all time to know that only he is the true God and his people are made distinct by his covenant with them…so he had them eat only certain meats in contrast to the meat eaten and sacrificed by those of other cultures.
This became a big deal in the New Testament after Jesus, God himself came and taught us that he fulfills everything and that the doors are now made open to all kinds of people through him. It became a big deal because what happened often is that the Gentiles would sacrifice their meat to gods in their temple and then afterward would sell it in the marketplace (1 Cor 10:25).
So for example, ancient Rome had temples erected to the gods Juventas, Diana, Mars, and Fauna. Jews who became Christians because they believed Jesus was the Messiah had a really hard time with this. Jews, who had never eaten meat their whole life would get together for dinner with their church family composed of Jews and Gentiles and the Gentiles would be eating meat bought in the market that had been sacrificed to a foreign god earlier.
That’s what’s going on here in our text. And it wasn’t just meat. Look at verse 5, “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.” This no doubt had certain Jewish holy days in mind, as well as particularly the Sabbath, which was on Saturday. Jews now didn’t know what to do. They worshipped Jesus with the church on Sunday morning, because that’s when Jesus rose from the dead, but were they still supposed to worship on Saturday too as they had done their whole life?
Now maybe you get a little bit better feel of the situation going on behind this text? Yeah?
The Weak and the Strong
Now maybe we can actually talk about the issues involved here with being weak and strong, and with judging and despising. First off, does it strike you as weird that just calls one group of people “weak in faith” right off the bat? Doesn’t that strike you as being a little bit offensive.
If I’m like…yeah, so and so is a nice guy but he’s weak. He’s a nice Christian dude but he kind of sucks. That’s weird to me. I’m not sure if it would have come across like that to the original hearers or not.
Here’s why…weakness and strongness in the faith has to do with our confidence and maturity in what we believe. Think of body building. Some of you life weights and work out regularly. If you don’t, you’re probably weak and can’t bench a lot. If you are weak, you are probably not trained or very well, you don’t know the exercises and how to use the equipment, and you haven’t worked out your muscles very much. If you are strong, you’ve been trained, you know the equipment, and you’ve worked out your body a lot.
What this idea of the weak and the strong implies is that there are going to be differences among us in our level of maturity and faith. Some are going to be further along than others and that is okay. There is such pressure on us from all kinds of directions these days for us all to be equal in every area. Especially in Christianity, it is sad when competition enters in because of our pride and we think or feel like we have to have it all together and have all the answers or we are less than.
No, some are just newer than others, or less confident than others. We are not in a race against each other, having some competition to see who can win or be better than the other person. There are weak people and there are strong people and that is okay. And it is good for you to know where your at…because you who are weak need the strong and you who are strong need to help the weak. And on top of it all, all of us have areas of weakness and areas of strength.
In the Christian life you are supposed to have someone who is further along than you who is pouring into you and giving you wisdom and input and counsel. Then you are also supposed to have someone who is not as far along as you, who you are discipling and teaching and helping them grow in the faith. That is how God designed it to be. As Titus 2 says, the older are to teach the younger. If you don’t have those two things in your life, you need to correct that…get a Christian mentor and a Christian disciple.
Now look at a few things in the text with me. Who is this weak person? Most likely it is a Jew who has become a Christian, which is ironic because you would think they would be the strong ones since they had the Bible before the Gentiles…but in their case, their past religiousness made it very difficult for them causing them to have to relearn a lot of stuff making them weak.
But let’s get our ideas from the text…who’s the weak person.
#1 - They have faith. 14:1, “the one who is weak in faith.”
#2 - God has accepted them. 14:3 “God has welcomed them.”
#3 - They honor and thank God. 14:6 “The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the
Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God.”
$4 - They are in the church family. 14:10 “Why do you pass judgment on your brother (repeated
in vs.15).”
So the weak person IS A CHRISTIAN! Get that. This person is a Christian. So that means this, get it, this is important… There is room for areas of difference within the church family! We do not all have to think the same thing about everything at the same time. There are non-essential matters within Christianity. Areas that are open handed issues. What’s he call this particular issue? Verse 1, “opinions.” Other translations say, “disputable matters” and we are not to quarrel or argue about them.
You see there are some things worth quarrelling or arguing about, as long as it is done in love. Things which are outside being Christian. For example: If you believe there are other gods or other equally true religions, you are not a Christian. If you believe Jesus was not fully God and fully man, you are not a Christian. If you do not believe you are a sinner, you are not a Christian. If you believe that Jesus did not die on the cross and rise again for you sin, you are not a Christian. These are closed handed issues, not open for question or difference of opinion. The reformers called them adiaphora, matters of indifference.
Other things are open handed issues for Christians, non-negotioables. Like whether or not to eat meat or drink alcohol. Like whether or not you should be baptized as a baby or an adult (I want to do both). Like the sequence of events going to happen during the end of times when Jesus returns. Like whether or not to vote and who to vote for. Like whether or not you drive a hybrid, an SUV or ride a bike. Like whether or not you listen to “non-Christian” music. Like whether or not smoking tobacco is okay. Like whether or not cussing is okay or not. Like whether or not tattoos are okay. Like whether or not “R” rated movies or TV is okay. All these things are open.
You can have an opinion and you ought to really think hard and study and pray over these issues to where you have a stance. Like verse 5 says, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” We should never do something just because somebody else told us. We all have a Bible and a brain and can think for ourselves. Remember from last week, Sola Scriptura. And as long as our position does not violate something Scripture clearly says and you can enjoy it with a clear conscience so that you can “honor and thank God” for it…then you are probably on pretty safe ground.
What matters is whether you are having such a position out of an attempt to glorify or make much of yourself, or because you are honestly thinking and behaving so out of a life lived unto Jesus. Look at verse 7-9, “7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For 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. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”
You what matters in the end is not so much what we end up thinking about areas we may or may not deduce from Scripture, but if you are being honest with yourself before Jesus about it and then treating others with charity and love when you disagree.
Judging and Despising
How we treat each other is when this issue of judging and despising comes up. Have you ever heard anyone use one of the two phrases. One person says, “Don’t judge me!” or “They are so judgmental!” Ever heard that. Or on the other hand, maybe someone who says, “Oh, those people are such heathens, or so ignorant!” These are the two attitudes the Bible comes down on here
It is the attitudes involved. Verse 3 says, “Let not the one who abstains pass judgment.” Verse 10 asks, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother/sister?” And verse13 says, “Let us not pass judgment on one another any longer.”
Now this doesn’t mean that when you see a brother or sister in sin that you shouldn’t go talk to them about it. Matthew 18 is clear about that when Jesus says to go to one another when you see each other fall in sin and it is not addressed. Some of you need to learn that. You are not to go talk to other people in the church or outside of the church about something bad another person did or is doing unless you have first gone and talked to them first. When you do that, you are going to them in a spirit of love and asking them questions and trying to help them. That is good.
What is bad is the kind of judging where you are acting as though you sit in the place of Jesus on the throne and making a final conclusive irrefutable statement on a person and condemning them. Let me show you in the text.
Verse 10-12, “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? 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 confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”
The Bible teaches that when we die, everyone, regardless of being a Christian or not, will receive an immortal body, and we will stand before Jesus seated on his throne to receive a judgment. Every knee will bow and confess and recognize that he is the true judge of all, the author of all, whom we owe our lives and our worship. He will ask us for an account of how we have lived our lives. And there is only one good answer.
I have failed. I have sinned against you my Lord. Have mercy on me. You came into this world to die for my judgment, that I might receive your life. Your blood Jesus is all I plea. I love you Jesus and live for you, you are my master. And Jesus says in Matthew 25:23, he will answer, “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master (Matt 25:23).”
All other answers will be naught, and fail…I did this or that…or I tried but…, all those answers will be insufficient and Jesus says in Matthew 25:41 such will hear these words, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt 25:41).”
Now that is intense. Maybe you can see why it is so bad for us to make matters where there is freedom of difference and opinion into salvation, heaven and hell issues. That judgment belongs to Jesus alone, not us. When we make a big deal about things we shouldn’t we are treading on Jesus ground.
Now all the judging stuff is directed toward the weak person, whose tendency is toward legalism and thinking they are better than others because of certain non-essential practices. But there is also a warning and a word of rebuke for the strong. It is not to “despise” the weak person.
Let me highlight it for you, verse 3, “Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains.” Verse 10, “Why do you despise your brother.” What can happen is when a fellow church member is talking about their personal preferences and restrictions…it can start to make the person who doesn’t feel strongly about those things to feel resentment and bitterness toward the weaker brother who has a more tender conscience about some practices.
You see the one who is strong has dangers too. The one is strong and has a great freedom or liberty of conscience is not prone to legalism but the opposite extreme. They are prone to antinomianism, or lawlessness…just thinking that anything goes and not taking their life or their action very seriously spiritually. Despising breeds anger and frustration and discontent and ends up making you at odds with everyone. You begin to look down on others all the time rather than looking at others with compassion and reaching out to them.
Conclusion
Okay, next week we’ll talk more about how to actually walk through a situation with a person who you may be in disagreement with about a matter opinion, in house, within the Christian family. So let me just summarize what we have set up today.
Here’s what we’ve learned. The main issue here is not so much meat or not meat, this isn’t primarily a text about veganism…it is a text about how we deal with and look at matters where there can be differences among us. You can fill in the blank several other things besides meat, like alcohol, tobacco, music, cussing, baptism, end times…you pick.
What matters to God is two things: our motivation and our mutual care for each other. In our motivation before him…do we live our life for him, with a goal of trying to honor and thank him for everything…is Jesus Lord of everything in your life or are there things you would not be willing to give up if he asked you.
That is a good test for your heart in matters of indifference. Ask yourself, could I do without this or that or does it mean so much to me that I couldn’t give it up for God if he wanted me to. If you know deep down you couldn’t then something other than Jesus really is your god and your Lord that is ruling over your life.
On how we treat one another, our mutual care. Do you have judgmental, passing judgment attitude, where you are constantly sizing yourself up and comparing yourself to other people. if so, that’s not good. Do you look down on others or do you look across to them as brothers and sisters within the same Christian family? Do you resent or despise certain people or their beliefs or do you have a spirit of charity and welcoming toward them.
Here is the deal. If all of us are honest with ourselves…I’m sure we would all find areas where we are each weak and where we are each strong. What we need is Jesus. The center and most important words we’ve looked at today is at the end of verse 8, “we are the Lord’s.” If you are Christian you belong to Jesus.
If we look to the life of Jesus, our Lord…he was judged and despised for us in order that we might be freed from judging and despising others. Jesus allowed a human government to judge and sentence him to death so that we might be freed from the judgment of eternal death. In the carrying out of that sentence Jesus was mocked and spit on, despised and rejected, esteemed not but smitten by men in order that we might be freed from despise our sin brings before God. This is the gospel my friends…Jesus judged and despised for us in order that we might live a new life in a new way.
I want to encourage everyone today as we approach the table in this way. 1 Corinthians 11:26 says every time we do this, communion, “We proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” When he comes he will come as a great judge. Let’s examine our hearts today and go before Jesus our high and merciful judge and take to him our weaknesses and our strengths and allow him to work out his Lordship in us. Ask yourself where you are weak, where you are strong…and then ask Jesus to be Lord in that area…Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.
Let’s pray.