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Romans 14:14-15:6 "Convinced By Jesus"
I have found that one of the biggest cultural differences between Japan and other places is the concept of what is clean and what is unclean. My wife and mother-in-law constantly scold me for wiping my hands on the "table-wiping" towel and wiping the table with the "floor-wiping" towel. To them it is dirty, to me one towel is just as good as another. What is really funny is the other night we went over for the first time to the house of a new family in the church. They are Americans but when we entered their American style house we just instinctively started taking off our shoes. They told us, "You can leave them on if you want". But you know it just felt wrong not to take them off. Our cultural opinion of what is clean and what is not clean can affect our spiritual life as well. Just this last week I was appalled to learn that most of the great preachers that I admire from the last century all smoked cigars! To me it is a filthy habit but to them it was a minor thing. Paul was convinced that there is nothing unclean of itself.
I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. (Romans 14:14-23)
Paul grew up and was trained in the teachings of the strictest of the Jews. I don’t think that it would have been easy to convince him that all those traditions of washing and clean and unclean foods were wrong. But Jesus convinced him. In Mark 7 the Pharisees, (the same group that Paul used to belong to) started to accuse Jesus and His disciples because they ate bread without washing their hands in the special way that the Jews practiced. But Jesus said back to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ This must have really hit home with Paul, because he had been a teacher of those commandments of men, leading people away from true worship of God. Jesus explained further that whatever enters a man from the outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach. Instead what comes out of a man, that defiles a man. The things that come out of the heart are the things that we should be concerned about. The Pharisees’ hearts were far away from God because they were more concerned about "playing the part" in front of each other than worshiping the Lord in spirit and in truth. Paul was convinced by the Lord Jesus that all the external things that he used to think were important were not what makes someone righteous. But Paul was also convinced by Jesus that as Christians we need to walk in love.
Paul wrote, "If your brother is grieved because of your food, you
are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one
for whom Christ died." We have perfect liberty in Christ. Paul
took advantage of that liberty to become all things to all men in order
that he might save some. But even though Jesus gives us freedom it is
sometimes very difficult for us to walk in that freedom. My American
friend Keith gave me freedom to leave my shoes on in his house. But
for me it just felt strange and actually wrong. Many people in the church
feel totally free to call me Jonathan, and that is what I am most comfortable
with, but some just cannot bring themselves not to use "Pastor"
in front of it. For them it would be a sign of disrespect. Depending
on your background and your culture it is easier to walk in liberty
in some areas than in others. Food, clothing, alcohol, smoking, make-up,
movies, dancing and many, many other things are looked upon differently
by different Christians. I know that none of these things can make me
dirty in the sight of God. None of these things can make me into a sinner.
Someone could walk right down the little back streets that are near
every major station, walk right into a hostess bar or a porno theatre
and it would not make him a sinner. All that those things would do is
tempt what is already in his heart to sin. This is why I don’t
go to those places, because I know that my heart is weak. But this is
why Jesus could sit down with the most notorious sinners of his day
and have dinner with them. This is why Jesus could let a prostitute
kiss His feet and anoint them with oil. He could do this because there
was no sin in His heart. It is not what is outside of us that causes
sin. It is what is inside of us.
Take very seriously what is inside of you. If you know that lust is
a sin that you struggle with then you have no business even going near
the back streets in Japan. Just stay on the main road. If you know that
your heart is held captive by just the sight of the newest BMW or digital
camera or Chanel bag then you shouldn’t tempt yourself by constantly checking the
latest magazines. If you know that pride is your weak point then don’t
set yourself up in situations where you will get the glory. Avoid it
like the plague. But don’t turn around and try to dictate to everybody
else what they should or should not do. Likewise if these things are
not a problem for you don’t force other
Christians into a place where they might have a problem. The inside
of your heart is the thing that you need to worry about. Don’t
try to fix the inside of somebody else’s
heart, don’t try to force them to your level of spiritual
maturity, instead Paul points us to a better way.
We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me." For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God And Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. (Romans 15:1-6)
Our example is always Jesus. It helps us to see what Jesus did with His liberty. Jesus allowed Himself to be bound by the things that bind us. "The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me." In America there is a phrase that people always say. "It’s a free country!" To them it means that they can do anything they want to and nobody should tell them what to do. But Jesus, the only truly free person who ever lived, shows us the real meaning of freedom. Freedom is powerful because it allows us to sacrifice more. A few years ago the Lord showed me something very interesting. I noticed that I was obsessed with getting a seat on the train. I would rush from one train to the next, search for the emptiest car, carefully evaluate each person that was sitting trying to guess who would get off first. I would avoid getting on with old people because then I would have to let them have a seat. The Lord convicted me of this and told me that for a month I should not sit down unless there were more than two empty seats left. The most amazing thing happened. Because I was free from the tyranny of trying to get a seat I no longer rushed between trains. I didn’t care who I got on with or where I stood. But the most amazing thing was that during my two hour ride in and out of Tokyo I was able to "give" my seat to about ten or twenty people. Each time a seat near me came open, instead of rushing to sit down like I used to I could graciously give it to somebody else (even though they might not even know that I had given it.) This is the incredible power of freedom. As long as I was enslaved to my flesh, how tired I was, how long the trip was, how much I deserved to get a seat, I gave nothing. But when I was set free I could give and give and give.
Don’t hold on to your rights, instead
pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may
edify another. Let’s finish with Paul’s
prayer, "Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be
like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you
may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received
us, to the glory of God.
Romans 15: 7-33 "You Have To Start Somewhere"
Today we come to the conclusion of Paul’s letter to the Romans. In this great letter Paul started with man’s sin and we learned that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23) Next, Paul turned to how we can be righteous, not by works, not by the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. This is how Christianity is different from every other religion. Other religions try to teach us how to be good. Jesus is good, and when we put our faith in Him, His goodness starts to flow through us. The Christian life is not trying to please God by our good deeds, instead we are accepted by God through Jesus and because of that acceptance God’s goodness starts to work in our lives.
Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written: "For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles, And sing to Your name." And again he says: "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!" And again: "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!" And again, Isaiah says: "There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles in Him the Gentiles shall hope." Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:7-13)
You might have wondered how the religion of a small country in the Middle East thousands of years ago could become the faith of almost 2 billion people today? How can the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob become my God? How can the promises made to the House of Israel have anything to do with me? What does an ancient Jewish rabbi who ministered in Jewish lands primarily to Jewish people have to do with me living today in Tokyo, Japan?
Let me begin to answer by saying, "You have to start somewhere." God started with one man, Abraham, and then his family and descendants. But that does not mean that God was only concerned about Abraham, in fact in God’s very first words to Abraham he tells him, "In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen. 12:3b) You cannot start global, you must start local. It is true today in our era of satellite cell phones and internet superhighways, nothing works on a global scale until it is very well understood on a local scale. It is absolutely amazing to me that there are 2 billion other people out there who share my faith. A large reason why they can is because we can all read of the faith of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the same book.
As God first taught Abraham’s family, and then the people of Israel to walk in relationship with Him, He also continued to tell them that they would be a blessing to all the families of the earth. Paul wrote some of these prophecies down in his letter. God started small but from the very beginning His plan was to reach the whole world. When the time was right God sent His own Son, Jesus. Jesus was Jewish, lived in Palestine and ministered to mostly Jews, but the Bible tells us that Jesus was not just sent to the Jews but to the whole world. John 3:16 says that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.", not just to the Jews but the world. Paul tells us that Jesus became a servant to the circumcision, that is to the Jews, for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. Jesus lived a perfect life in the "local" context, setting the example for us to follow, showing us clearly what it means to walk with God. However Jesus has global impact as the good news of righteousness by faith spread.
Listen carefully to what Paul says next, as it effects how we share that good news of Jesus with others.
Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient – in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation, but as it is written: "to whom He was not announced, they shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand." (Romans 15:14-21)
Paul was confident about the Roman Christians. I really
admire this about Paul. He says that he is confident about their goodness
and their knowledge and their ability to admonish each other. We so
often don’t give our brothers and sisters in Christ the benefit
of our trust. We feel that unless we give them a doctrinal statement
that they have to sign and ministry guidelines that must be followed
to the letter then they are in grave danger of falling away. And yet
Paul could write to a church that he had never even been to yet, "I
myself am confident concerning you". Paul could be confident because
the same Spirit that was guiding him was also guiding the church in
Rome. Paul could travel from place to place, always moving on to new
areas where the gospel had not yet been preached because he knew that
the churches that he had planted were not just abandoned and left to
fend for themselves. Instead they were placed in the care of the Spirit.
Paul didn’t feel that he needed to order them around or change
how they conducted their services, all he did was write them to build
them up and encourage them, using the teaching gift that God had given
to him.
As we spread the gospel here in Japan, who knows what will happen? God
is able to do far more than we can ask or even think. Last week I got
a crazy idea. I sent a letter to the editor of a journal for Housing
and Relocation Specialists. These are people who help corporations move
ex-pats overseas. I offered to write an article on how these people
could help their Christian clients find churches. I thought to myself,
"This editor is probably not a Christian, she probably won’t
look twice at this." But I sent it to her anyway. The very next
day I got a nice letter back from her telling me that she was a Christian
and that she attends Calvary Chapel in New Jersey! I wrote the article
and a couple days ago I got another e-mail from this editor. She told
me that her boss called and wanted a "touch-piece" (a light
human-interest story) and after saying a little prayer she suggested
using my article. Her boss said "Let’s use God in June."
I do not know where this will lead, but that is okay. I have the distinct
impression that I am not in control of it, God is. It is the same with
our ministry here. We don’t have to control every aspect of what
goes on through our church, because we have confidence that God is!
Jesus is the head of the church and He will take us where He wants to
go. The only thing you can be certain of is that it will be exceedingly,
abundantly above anything that we could ask or even imagine.
Paul’s confidence was truly in God. He says, "I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me." As we love as Jesus loves and teach the Word of God, our confidence should never be in our great spirituality, our Christian maturity, our wonderful comprehension of Scripture or our masterful way of presenting the gospel. My brother and I shared the same workshop back in Oregon. My brother had I had the same beautiful wood to work with, the same excellent tools to use, even the same plans to work from. But for me to boast in these things would be silly, because although I had access to all the same material my finished product never turned out very well. My brother’s craftsmanship was superb. He could boast in a job well done. If someone came in and saw a finished piece of furniture and my brother was not around I could have claimed that I had done the job. I am sure they would have believed me, after all, I was surrounded by tools and wood. It would have been easy to fool them. It is also easy to fool people, even fool yourself that the ministry is something that you have done. Last week at the baptism I was so happy and excited, every time I started to sing Amazing Grace it was at least a half an octave too high! I could say "Look at me, what I have done for Jesus!" But that would be like pretending to be my brother. Instead I am proud and boast in what Jesus has done through us.
Finally Paul says that he made it his aim, "to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man’s foundation." I think that this is one of the main problems in Christianity today. There are too many builders on too many foundations. We pick and choose the "gospel" that we want to hear from the preachers that we like. Our faith is built on teaching tapes from this ministry and that ministry, from this author’s book and that magazine article. What is worse is that much of our energy is spent trying to tell other Christians "our" way and why it is better than "their" way. Much of our energy is spent building on other men’s foundations instead of reaching the lost for Jesus. I was reading research this week that tells us that 75% of the world will have an opportunity to hear the gospel 77 times a year. Seventy times! That is more than once a week! No wonder people feel threatened by Christians, pushed by Christians, even harassed by Christians. But there is more. Another 25% of the world is totally unreached. They have never even heard the gospel! We are living in that part of the world. Every chance you get to share the simple truth that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes on Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Every chance you get to share the gospel with someone from Japan you are laying a new foundation in somebody’s life. They have to make the choice, to receive it or not, but you have given them that opportunity. We are called, to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, "to whom He was not announced, they shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand."
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