Romans 14:1-12 NRSVUE
1 Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. 2 Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. 3 Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
5 Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. 6 Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.
7 For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. 8 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, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12 So then, each one of us will be held accountable.
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon hosts a monthly gathering called Common Table. It’s an opportunity for nonprofit and faith leaders to meet one another and share about various ministries that we are up to.
The August meeting was held, just down the street, at PDX Saints Love, so I figured, why not, pop over.
Ron was sharing about the opportunity for clergy to accompany immigrants at ICE.
I talked about my experience with that last week – the sermon is on our website, if you’re curious.
Kristle shared about PDX Saints Love’s $50,000 funding hole because the Mayor gave all 3.2 million dollars for Day services to Join… then told Rahab’s and PDX Saints that Join could share that money with them.
Some community members shared about the Peaceful Interfaith Protest, scheduled for August 23 – that’s how that made it into our all Church email.
Then we chatted.
I met a very passionate young man whose goal was to recruit White Clergy to show up to public anti-racism events.
I thought, OK, that’s interesting, tell me more.
So then he starts to basically shame white clergy, and me, by extension for not doing anything to work for justice.
I took a deep breath. Remembered Rev Dr. King’s letter from a Birmingham Jail, and tried to open my heart to listen.
He kept going on and on about how it’s every Pastor’s job to show up in public spaces and be on the news standing up for racial justice.
And when I dared to gently suggest that public appearances wasn’t the only, or even the most effective way to work for justice, he declared the conversation “unproductive,” and walked away from me.
Honestly, I was kinda relieved that he moved on.
This isn’t the first time that someone has tried to tell me how to be a Pastor “the right way.”
I doubt it will be the last.
In times like these when there are soooo many good, and important, and worthy things to be a part of, discerning what I am called to do, and therefore what I am not called to do, is essential.
There are only 24 hours in each day and we should only be laboring 5 days a week – as John Wesley, the founder of Methodism wrote, workers should take 2 days off per week. One day for God, and one day for our own business.
And even if we were to work and volunteer 7 days a week, no one person, and no one church, can do all the Good that there is to be done.
We can only do all the good that we can do.
In the places and times that we can do it.
With the people we can do it with.
The Kingdom of God is like a choir.
Each singer sings their part.
And to sustain the long notes, we take turns breathing, resting and rejoining the choir as God gives us breath.
Today’s Bible reading is from Paul’s Letter to the Christian Community in Rome. And we do think that Romans was written by the authentic Paul. Some of the later letters ascribed to Paul, were not written by Paul, because he was kinda dead at the time. But writing in the style of a famous leader and signing the letter as if the leader had written it was very common at the time. So you can think of some of Pauline letters, like first and second Timothy and Titus, which were written after Paul was dead, as “Fan Fiction,” if you will. They have some great content, but Paul didn’t write them!
Paul’s letter to the Romans was a letter of introduction.
Paul had never been to visit the Christian Community in Rome, so Paul was introducing himself for a planned visit.
Part of Paul’s introduction was an explanation of Paul’s beliefs.
So the book of Romans is Paul’s most theological letter – explaining Paul’s theology of Grace to try to convince the Romans to donate to a proposed mission trip to Spain, that unfortunately got cancelled by Paul’s arrest and execution in Rome.
So Paul is speaking generally about his vision of how the church should be, and in the process addressing some of the typical issues that most churches had.
In verses 1-4 the translators chose to use the word, “weak,” but what Paul was really talking about was the Newbies.
This translation reads:
“1 Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions.”
In today’s language Paul might have said,
“Welcome the newbies, and don’t argue with them about opinions.”
The eating issue in verse 2 that Paul is referring to was a big controversy in the early church. This takes some explaining, so here’s my modern interpretation.
You know how some restaurants are part of a larger corporation?
Like this McDonalds may be nicer than that McDonalds but they’re all McDonalds?
Back in the first century, Temples sold the meat that was sacrificed at them, like fast food. Also, business owners, like restaurant owners, belonged to religious business associations, so that restaurant might not be a McAthena’s, but it’s part of the McAthena’s association. Kind of like, Olive Garden and Longhorn Steak House are both owned by Darden Brands.
Only the very rich had kitchens, so most people ate out or got take out!
Which was a problem for newbie Christians who used to worship Athena, so now they didn’t feel comfortable eating at McAthena’s.
And, there were Jewish Christians who were still keeping Kosher, so they would not eat meat prepared by a non-Jew.
So some people ate only vegetables because they didn’t have a kitchen or didn’t trust others to cook kosher. While other people, like Paul, ate anywhere because McAthena’s was what was handy and they didn’t believe in Athena, so it didn’t matter to them.
So Paul is saying – God has welcomed all these people, with all their opinions about food, into the community of believers, so don’t judge each other! If God can accept them, so should you! Or as my children like to say, “You do you!”
In verse 5 Paul is addressing the controversy about Sabbath. Jewish Christians observed the Sabbath on Saturday, as is still Jewish custom. Some Christians had taken to observing Sabbath on Sundays, because that’s the day Jesus rose from the dead. Still others just aren’t concerned about what day it is, as long as everyone gets a day of rest.
Paul is saying – for goodness sake Sabbath should be a source of rest, not a source of stress – this is not worth arguing about!
There have been arguments about matters of opinion in the Church since before there were buildings to choose carpet colors for! This is nothing new.
I think it’s just human to have opinions.
It’s also human to debate whose opinions are better.
But let’s not major in the minors.
That young man who tried to tell me how he thought I should be a Pastor.
That was his opinion.
And it’s a valid opinion.
I agree that we do need more Progressive Christians in the public eye, so that people are not only hearing from the Clergy who espouse White Christian Nationalism that the press seems to love covering so much!
But… is being a public figure my calling?
Maybe at some point, but I don’t feel God calling me to do that now.
I work for Jesus. Seriously. The United Methodist Book of Discipline specifically states in ¶ 143 that “clergy appointed to local churches are not employees of the local church, the district, or the annual conference.” because our ministry, “is derived from the ministry of Christ (¶ 301).”
I work for Jesus, not any of the people who like to tell me how to be a pastor.
And you work for Jesus, not any of the people who try to tell you what is your calling in this moment.
We are accountable to one another.
Let me be clear, having our calling be defined by God is not an excuse for bad behavior!
And If I ever behave in a way that you feel is wrong, please do report it to my supervisor – District Superintendent Karen. You can look up her contact info on the Oregon-Idaho UMC website.
But when it comes to our calling — the ministry we are meant to be a part of.
Every person, every church… we can only do what God is calling us to do.
We cannot do everything.
The Kingdom of God is like a choir.
Each singer sings their part.
No one can sing all the parts at the same time.
And to sustain the long notes, we take turns breathing, resting and rejoining the choir as God gives us breath.
Look at verse 10 and 11.
Why pass judgement on our siblings in Christ?
They don’t need to despise us for following our calling — for singing our part, anymore than we should despise them for following their calling and singing their part.
We are all God’s children, whether we know it or not.
So let’s leave the judgement to God!
If you ever feel pressured by me to do something that you don’t feel called to do, please say no to me!
Boundaries are holy!
Our callings are holy!
Too holy to spend our precious time doing things that are not ours to do.
And I will try to do the same.
I met a new community member for tea the week after the EMO meeting.
She was wondering what more she could do in these difficult times.
I shared the groups we are involved with.
Family Promise.
The Sewists Group
Montavilla Neighborhood Association
Rahab’s Sisters
Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice,
who train the legal observers that I do Clergy accompaniment alongside. Because she speaks multiple languages, Legal Observing was what she felt called to do, so I helped her connect with them.
Would I have preferred that she do something more involved in our church? Yup!
But, that’s between her and God.
11 For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12 So then, each one of us will be held accountable.
