Hear the word of God as recorded in Romans 15.1-14 (ESV).
15:1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me." 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
"Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name."
10 And again it is said,
"Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people."
11 And again,
"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him."
12 And again Isaiah says,
"The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope."
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
14 I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.
Thanks be to God.
We see in this text today that our duty is to bear with those who are weak, building them up in the faith. "We who are strong" – that would be anyone who is hearing this Scripture. Do we hear what God says to his Church? Do we receive the riches of the living Word of God, Jesus Christ? Are we people called according to his name? There can be no strength which is stronger than that. If the Lord has proclaimed us to be his holy vessels, immortal, recipients of every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, who is stronger than we? We are indeed strong. And we have a holy obligation. This is God's command. We are to please our neighbor, not for his whims or sinful desires, but for his good.
What does our text today tell us about pleasing our neighbor for his good? In verse 3 we see that Jesus did good for those who believe on him by enduring suffering for our sake. Jesus has given us hope, according to verse 4. In verse 5 we try to live in harmony with one another. In verse 7 we welcome one another. But see how we are moving to talk about Jesus rather than us? So let's take a good look at Jesus.
Generally I hesitate to use terminology like this. But it seems to fit the context of this passage of Scripture so I'll put down my discomfort for a moment. We see here that Jesus himself is an example of bearing with the weak. Now before there's any misunderstanding, Jesus is far more than an example. The incarnation is not so we can have an example. It's so we can have a savior. Yet at the same time, Jesus, living a perfect life on my behalf, does live in such a way that I can learn how I should live as well.
In verse 8 we see that Christ confirmed God's promises, showing the Jews about God's faithfulness. In our attempts at doing what is good for our neighbor we too show God's faithfulness and how Jesus himself is the fulfillment of the promises of God. Our service to our neighbor is radically God-centered and not neighbor-centered or self-centered.
In verses 10-12 we see that these demonstrations of God's mercy and faithfulness are not only good for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. While we show God's love to our neighbors quite purposely we also show God's love to countless onlookers. Do our neighbors talk to their friends about what those strange Christians are doing? Sure. Do people see us caring for our neighbors? They might. What happens as we go about doing good? We develop a reputation. And while it may be tempting to take the honor and glory for our reputation as our own, we can't do that. Our service to our neighbor is God-centered. It isn't about us. It's about Jesus, who laid down his life for us.
This is, of course, exactly where our attempts fall apart. We fail to do the duty our Lord has given us. We grumble about our annoyingly weak neighbors like they grumble about us. We want to do what pleases us. And if there's any doubt in our mind about that, picture a Thanksgiving dinner. It's been cooking all day, the house is full of wonderful smells. There's turkey in abundance, a big pot of gravy, mounds of stuffing, corn with too much butter to imagine. Fresh bread and a couple of pies are baking in the oven. We are ready for a feast fit for kings. Then the phone rings. The homeless shelter has just called. We pack up the dinner, piping hot, drive to the shelter and drop off the food. Because we need something to eat, we drive by the nearby fast food restaurant and stop near the dumpster. After a few minutes of rummaging around we find some cold, limp, only partially eaten food. Ahh, the delight of half of two whoppers!
We like to please ourselves. Unlike Christ in Philippians 2, if we have heavenly delights we do consider them something to be clung to. We consider our comfort more important than the comfort of others. We fight for our own way. We get the surveyor to check the exact property line so as to make sure our neighbor doesn't put a picket fence in our yard, and if he does do it, we don't assume it is an accident. We look down on those who are not dressed as nicely as we are. And we are jealous of those who are dressed more nicely than we are. This ought not to be. It is not the way of our Lord and Savior.
In light of this, what will we do? We don't need just an example. We need a savior. We don't need to be told what to do. We need the ability to do it. We don't need to be confronted with our sinful failure any more, at least not today. We need to see Christ's forgiveness. And that brings us to the good news in this passage.
In verse 13 Paul prays for the Romans. In verse 14 he states his conviction that the Romans are full of goodness, knowledge, and the ability to serve one another in love. How does this come about? It is nothing we can do on our own. It is not something we can work up by trying and trying to serve our neighbors. It is not something we can do just because we see the example of Christ. The best we can hope for under those circumstances is self-righteousness which draws attention to our own goodness rather than Christ's promises. No, we don't do good works on our own. We do them in dependence on Christ's forgiveness. We realize that Jesus did not care for his own comfort but he cared for our good. He took our sin upon himself and died for it, the just for the unjust, to redeem us to God the Father. Jesus Christ died our death and then rose again to live our life. And in this era of the resurrection Jesus is living our life through us. As we serve our neighbors we are serving Christ. More importantly, as we serve our neighbors, it is actually Jesus serving them. We are his hands. He is our head. He is our heart. He is the one who gives us the desire to serve. He is the one who shows us what is for the good of our neighbor. He is the one who proclaims his glorious provision and love. He is the one who is exalted in all things. And he does this through us.
Our Lord, Comforter of the nations, let us go and love our neighbors in Your name, for their good. Let us bring glory to You as you work in this world through us.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit – Amen.
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