The “One Anothers” – Accept
One Another
Romans 15:1-7 Pastor
Garrison
(Contemporary Opening – view clip from DVD
“The Greatest Game Ever Played”)
Have you ever had an experience
like that – being invited to a party, a wedding, a special event of some kind –
and feeling like, even though you were invited, you really didn’t belong
there? Maybe no one spoke to you, or
they looked at you with a “Who’s that?” or “What’s she doing here?” look in
their eyes. Does it ever happen here in
the church? “You may have been invited,
but don’t get the idea that you belong here?”
I can think of one instance in
particular when I felt that way. It was
on a plane. I’m not sure if my feelings
were a result of guilt or from discomfort in knowing I was being treated differently.
(Traditonal Service opening)
I have had the opportunity to fly in the first class
section of a plane only once because it was given as a kind of reward I guess
for giving up our seats on our originally scheduled flight. When I fly, though, I am usually in the coach
class.
First class passengers are served gourmet food on
real china and with real cloth napkins while those back in coach are getting
prepackaged snacks in plastic wrappers.
The first class passengers have room to stretch their legs and actually
put their seats back far enough to sleep, while those in coach are packed in
like sardines in a can.
On almost every flight there is a curtain that gets
drawn between the first class section and coach. It reminds me of the veil which separated the
Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple in
That curtain between first class and the rest of the
passengers in coach seems symbolic of the tendency we have to exclude, the
tendency for us to divide the world into “us” and “them.” It doesn’t just happen on planes. We can’t seem to get over the race issue in
this country which we have been reminded of once more through the election
campaigning taking place now. In this
world, you get what you can pay for. The
bottom line is, in this individualistic culture in which we live, we really seek
to please ourselves and, unfortunately, that attitude carries over into the life
of the church.
(ME CHURCH Video in
Contemporary)
Honestly now, wouldn’t we be perfectly happy if the
church was just the way we wanted it to be, if everyone thought as we thought
and acted as we acted. If church did
everything the way I think it should be done, we wouldn’t have any problems. Fortunately, or maybe in this case,
unfortunately, God made us all a little different and we’ve each been given our
own minds with the ability to think for ourselves. So Paul has to remind us, “We must not just
please ourselves. We should help others
do what is right and build them up in the Lord.” We have a responsibility to one another. We can’t expect everyone to see things or do
things the way I see it.
It’s our human nature to want our own way and the
church over the centuries has not taken Paul too seriously on this and it has
led to some serious problems. It’s one
of the reasons that there are so many different Christian denominations. It’s one of the reasons the Brethren movement
split three ways back in the 1880’s.
It’s one of the reasons we’re faced with some of the issues before us
here at Spring Creek right now. We want
the church to be a “me-church,” the way we would like it to be.
That hymn we sang a few minutes ago is a great hymn –
one of my favorites. “Just as I am
without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me.” Sometimes, however, as we interact with one
another, it almost seems as if what we are really saying is, “Just as I am
without one plea, so long as that only applies to me.” Accepting
one another just as we are isn’t always easy, but it is essential to the unity
of the church. It’s the point Paul
is driving home in his letter to the church at
As the “therefore” suggests, verse 7 in Romans 15 is
the culmination of the point he has been making. “Therefore, accept each other just as Christ
has accepted you so that God will be given glory.” Of all the one anothers,
I think this one has the greatest potential – both for destruction of unity or
for the strengthening of unity within the body.
How we handle our differences can
make or break us as a church. If we
can’t figure that out, Satan wins and our witness and mission are going to be
fruitless.
If we look carefully at Romans, the big question Paul
was addressing was how such distinctly different people as the Jews and the
Gentiles – the Biblical term for non-Jews – can come together in one united
body called the church. For centuries
the Jews looked down on non-Jews as unclean and unholy people. There were two classes – the “us” being the
Jews and the “them” being the Gentiles.
Gentiles were unholy, pagan people while Jews were the holy, chosen of
God. And now, God wanted these two
diverse peoples to become one body through shared faith in Christ. And it caused problems. You don’t just change attitudes overnight. What Paul tried to point out in the
subsequent verses of Romans 15 is that this was God’s plan all along. He quoted Isaiah 11:10, “The heir to David’s
throne will come and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.” This was fulfilled in Christ who called Paul
to be the missionary to the Gentile world and now the two were to be one in the
church through their shared faith in Christ.
But that was easier said than done. Bringing Jews and Gentiles together must have
seemed to Paul at times like trying to mix water and oil. They had issues and those issues were causing
disunity within the body. The problem
was, the issues that were separating them were not issues
essential to the faith. In chapter 14
Paul illustrated this and tried to help them see what really is essential. Listen carefully.
(Read Romans 14)
If Paul were writing to us today, what are some of
the issues he would insert into that chapter?
What are we allowing to divide us into “us” and “them” – maybe worship
music, worship styles, dress for worship, books?
The bottom line Paul is trying to get at here is this
– what is essential. What is it really
that unifies us? He’s saying, “You need
to see the big picture and get off these things that are non-essentials. They may be important to you, but they are
not essentials and not everyone will see them the same way you do.”
We only need to look back over our own history here
at Spring Creek to see that some things which were once considered essentials
are things we now have few thoughts about.
Thirty years ago a woman would not come to worship without a head
covering and more recently than that she also would not have come to Love Feast
without wearing her covering. That was
an essential, an expectation for women here at Spring Creek. Looking around this room this morning I don’t
see too many head coverings.
When I was a young boy there was a man here at Spring
Creek who really scared me. To top it
all off, he sometimes would ride with us to church. You know why I was scared? He looked funny – so I thought. He had this white beard and wore these
strange coats which buttoned all the way up to the top. And I thought he talked a little funny. His name was John Stahley. John was the last of the generations of this
congregation to dress in the plain coat and to carry on the tradition of the
Brethren beard. One Easter Sunday
morning much to my dismay he sat next to me in church and on the first hymn he
turned right to the page when he opened the hymnal. He elbowed me and laughed out loud – “Look at
that, turned right to it,” he said. I
wasn’t afraid of him after that. There
was a time in our church’s history when dressing like John was an
essential. I don’t see too many plain
coats or Brethren style beards here this morning.
There was a time when this building looked a lot
different. It was a frame building with
separate entrances for men and women on the east side of the sanctuary. When you came to worship, the men sat on one
side and the women on the other. There
was no pulpit, but only a speaker’s table, and there were no musical
instruments. All the singing was done
unaccompanied. If we go back far enough,
the entire worship service was in German.
There was a time when those things were essentials.
Somewhere along the line something changed and what
was once thought to be an essential of the faith is no longer. Somewhere in my reading I recall coming
across this principle which I think is one we need to capture for ourselves
once again. “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials,
liberty; in everything, love.”
So what are the essentials? As I look at scripture, when we strip away
tradition and personal conviction or opinion, here is what I think is
essential.
From Jesus this:
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and
all your mind.”
And, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew
From Paul this: “If you confess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. For it is by believing in
your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your
mouth that you are saved.” (Romans
10:9-10 NLT)
What is essential - belief in the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, confession of faith in him, love for God, love for neighbor, and
obedience to the example and teachings of Jesus. When we are baptized and become a part of the
body of Christ in this place, the vows we take focus on these things. “In essentials, unity; in
nonessentials, liberty; in everything, love.” Acceptance of one another involves seeing in
one another those things which essentially unify us, and then giving each other
the liberty - the space to explore and grow - in our understanding of those
things which are the nonessentials – and, above all else, to love one another.
Our essential unity is in Christ. God has already made us one. Paul explained this in Ephesians 2:14-18,
“For Christ himself has brought peace to us.
He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the
cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. He did this by ending the system of law with
its commandments and regulations. He
made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from
the two groups. Together as one body,
Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and
our hostility toward each other was put to death.”
“He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles
who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through
the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.”
We have
already been made into one body, united in Christ. We cannot create that unity. It has already been done. What we are responsible for is preserving
that unity. “Make every effort to
keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves
together with peace.” (Ephesians 4:3
NLT)
“Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has
accepted you…”
That is the challenge before
us. Can we see Jesus in our brother or
sister? Can we see beyond each other’s
weaknesses, faults, and inadequacies and see a brother or sister trying to walk
the same walk of faith I am on? They
might not be at the same place I am.
They might see some of the nonessentials much differently than I do, but
can we look beyond that and see another who is trying to work out their
salvation just as I am?
Paul talks about those who are weak and those who are
strong in the faith. Truth is, we all have areas
in our faith where we are strong and areas where we are weak. Those weak areas are the ones where we can be
tempted to do what we know we shouldn’t be doing. If we think we don’t have any, our heads are
in the sand. None of us is perfect or
exempt from temptation. None of us has
this thing we call Christianity down 100%.
But we all also have areas in our
faith where we are strong. And that is
why we need each other. In verses 8-9 of Romans 15 Paul said the Jews
needed the Gentiles to show them the joy and unencumbered nature of the faith
and the Gentiles needed the Jews to give them grounding, depth and
understanding of the scriptures. We need
each other also. We are not here to
please ourselves, we are here to build one another up
in the faith.
Paul said we are to live in complete harmony with
each other “as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.” I like his use of a musical term. But, you know, musically there are two kinds
of harmony. There is consonant harmony
and there is dissonant harmony. Let me
give you an example on the piano.
Consonant harmony results when the musical tones fit
together well and produce a pleasing sound.
Dissonant harmony results when there are tones which our ears find to be
clashing with one another. The
interesting thing is that neither one is necessarily good or bad. It depends on how they are used. Dissonant harmony can be very effective in
communicating feelings of unrest or stress and is especially effective when it
resolves into some pleasing consonant harmony which relieves that unrest.
There will be differences of opinion among us. We are all human and in all churches there
are going to be times when people don’t agree.
There will be times of dissonance.
It’s how we resolve that dissonance, how we handle those differences, which
is important.
Once again, just like with love last week, how we go
about doing that is found in the example and teaching of Jesus. We are to accept one another “as Christ has
accepted us.” Jesus tells us not to
judge one another, he said, “...why worry about the speck in your friend’s eye
when you have a log in your own? How can
you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in
your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite!
First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough
to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”
“Just as I am” applies to every one of us.
Fifteenth century monk and author Thomas a Kempis said, “Be not angry that
you cannot make others as you want them to be, since you cannot make yourself
as you wish to be.” The first step
in handling our differences is to recognize our own shortcomings. When we realize none of us is perfect, we put
ourselves on an equal footing and then we can talk to one another. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit. Rather, in humility value
others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to
the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4 NIV)
We need to be in conversation with one another. We need to listen to one another. Through sharing ideas we can come to a deeper
understanding of what Jesus is teaching us.
Accept, listen to, and respect each other. When we do so, differences of opinion won’t
be causes for alienation or division.
They will be sources of learning and richness in our relationships.
Jesus told a parable of a shepherd who had 100 sheep,
but one was lost. The shepherd left the
99 to go and look for that one which was lost because that one was as important
to him as all the other 99. If we are to
accept one another as Christ accepted us, we need to never lose sight of the
fact that we are all people whom God loves, people all of whom matter to God
and none of whom are to be written off.
When we see each other this way, we will handle our differences in a way
quite different from the world’s way.
God has put us
together here in this place, he has called us to be a part of this church, for
a purpose. Paul tells us that
purpose. “May God, who gives this
patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other,
as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one
voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Our purpose is to bring glory
to God, a united and harmonious praise to God.
Paul explained, in Romans 15:9 and following, “That
is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:
‘For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles; I
will sing praises to your name.’
And in another place it is written, ‘Rejoice with his
people, you Gentiles.’
And yet again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Praise him, all you people of the earth.’”
This is what God purposed from eternity past, the
united and harmonious praise of all people – Jews and Gentiles, Brethren and Presbyterians,
Haldemans and Garrisons. This is what will be in eternity, a united
and harmonious praise of God by all his children. This is a description of what should be
evident now in the
When we focus on each other’s weaknesses we lose
sight of the big picture of why we are here.
We should not be here to get out of church what pleases us. We are
here for the purposes of God – to build his kingdom and to bring him glory. To do so we need to see each other through
the eyes of Jesus – blemished and imperfect, but loved and forgiven, each one a
vital part of the body and the mission of this church.
Brothers and sisters, “accept each other just as
Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.” Amen.
Sending:
I challenge each of us this morning – if there is
someone in the church with whom you have had differences, one with whom you
sense a broken relationship, I challenge you to go to that person today or
sometime this week and seek to restore the relationship.
May God, who gives us patience and encouragement,
help us to live in complete harmony with one another, to accept one other as
Christ has accepted us, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus, so that
God will be given the glory. Amen.
© 2008 Spring Creek Church of the
Brethren