Live in Harmony with One Another (Romans 15:1-7)

Hello, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into USun Churches Podcast.

We're a gospel centered church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.

May God bless you today through his life-giving word.

The second reading is from Romans chapter 15, verses 1 to 7.

Romans 15:1–7

Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strengths and not to please ourselves.

Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

For even Christ did not please himself.

On the contrary, as it is written, the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures.

Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.

Therefore, welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you to the glory of God, the word of the Lord.

And now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant us to live in harmony with one another according to Christ Jesus.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we we come before you, always needful of your grace, always needful of your care and your hand upon us.

We pray that even right now we would choose the good thing, choose the necessary thing.

Grant us to sit at your feet, to hear your word, and to live abundantly.

And in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Yeah, please be seated.

Well, those who uh know me to any degree are uh would not be surprised to hear that um I was thrilled to see the new Superman movie that came out just a short week ago or so.

You probably wouldn't be surprised to hear I've I've seen it not once, but twice in the last week.

I loved it that much.

That's not a joke.

We saw it twice, and it was wonderful.

Uh Superman was just, I mean, comic books in general were always an interest of mine growing up, but Superman in particular has always been just a favorite of mine.

He's just embodied all of the ideals that uh you want in a comic book hero, right?

He is uh kind, he is he's he's generous, he's strong, he's he always sticks up for the guy who can't stick up for himself.

That's that's the idea here.

So I was very surprised having walked out of the theater and enjoyed what for me was one of the most enjoyable theater experiences I've had in a while.

I promise I'm not getting a promotional cut or anything from the movie.

I was very surprised to come out of the theater and you do what you do, you Google the movie because you want to do a little reading, and Superman has gotten so much political backlash.

If you've heard it reported in the news, you might have heard something like that.

And there has been so much backlash, especially maybe most predominantly from the political right, about what's perceived to be very left-wing motivations, let's put it that way, in the plot.

Um, and I don't really need to develop beyond that.

But what's been very interesting to see is not just the right faulting this movie for being perceived as too left, we're starting to see criticism emerging from the left because this movie is too right.

And it embodies too many of the political ideologies or you know goals of right wing of politics or something like that.

And I'm kind of just going, it's Superman, you guys.

And it was a great movie.

And you know, I I just think it's it's so interesting, isn't it, that you know, we live in such a world, it it can take as little as a comic book superhero movie for us to see the disharmoniousness of our culture start to present itself.

Isn't it always like just a inch away?

You know?

It's an inch away sometimes at Thanksgiving dinners or whatever else.

It's like we just it's just palpable, isn't it?

And it just takes a Superman movie and suddenly we're all just up in arms.

We live in a disharmonious world, don't we?

And the risk, I think, sometimes is we can be an equally disharmonious church, can't we?

Some of us have experienced that, I think.

Some of us have experienced the pain and grief that goes with a church that factionalizes and disintegrates.

We live in a disharmonious world.

We live at risk of being a disharmonious church.

And no, I don't think we're in any immediate danger here at New Song.

I'm not, you know, waving a big red flag or something like that.

I'm just saying none of us are immune from that sort of thing.

So we're going through this sermon series on the one another commands that we find in the New Testament.

If we want to get a model for what it looks like to live out the gospel, put the practic into practice toward one another and towards our community, we do well to pay to these uh attention to these commandments that we find throughout the New Testament of how we as Christians are to conduct ourselves towards one another within the life of the church.

And we saw in week one, of course, that the most repeated commandment by far is the commandment to love one another.

In a real way, when we love one another, when we prioritize one another, when we put the well-being of one another ahead of our own, everything else follows.

And almost every other one another command, you could say, is an expression of that singular command to love one another.

And in a disharmonious world, what can that love look like?

Well, here I think Paul is speaking to a church experiencing disharmony and is at risk of fracturing.

And Paul wants this church in Rome to grasp the gospel such that they are inspired.

They can do nothing else but to live in harmony with one another.

Because churches that put the gospel into practice live in harmony with one another.

And if that's true for the church, first century church in Rome, that's true for us today, isn't it, New Saul?

When we live in harmony with one another, we can present the gospel with flesh on to one another.

And we can present the gospel to a community that lives in a disharmonious world.

It can be a whole new way of being, can't it?

So let's dive into Romans chapter 15.

Romans 15 · chapter mention

Let's see what it means to put the gospel into practice by living in harmony with one another.

First off, well, let me ask you this.

How do we put harmony into practice?

How do I want to phrase that?

How do we live out that harmony?

One, by way of obligation, two, by way of example, and three, by way of grace.

Obligation, example, and grace.

When we see these three things come together, we see what it means to live in harmony.

So let's begin.

Harmony begins by way of obligation.

Romans 15, verses 1 and 2.

Romans 15:1

If you have your Bibles, open them up with me.

Romans 15, 1 to 2.

Paul writes this.

Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the weaknesses of those without strengths, and not to please ourselves.

Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Those of us who are strong have what?

Have an obligation.

It's imperative, it's not optional.

We are commanded, commanded to do what?

To bear with the weaknesses of those without strength.

The strong are obligated to bear with the weak.

And no, Paul is not talking about folks hitting every time any time fitness across the street.

He's using weak and strong as kind of theologically charged words.

He does it a couple of times in a couple of his letters, but he's been doing this in the book of Romans, especially in the chapter that precedes this, in Romans chapter 14.

Romans 14 · chapter mention

He's dealing with the Christian law of liberty.

So we're there's a category of Christian freedom that exists outside of biblical imperatives around sin and salvation.

So we're not just saying that, you know, whatever just sits fine with your conscience, that's right or wrong.

There are biblical imperatives for what is sin and what isn't.

But there is a realm in which we can make decisions that aren't related to sin and salvation but belong to Christian freedom.

And Christians can legitimately choose two different things within the realm of Christian freedom.

And so Paul's writing this.

He says, Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don't argue about disputed matters.

Weak in faith, that's an interesting phrase, isn't it?

The way Paul is using strong and weak might surprise us.

It's something like this.

The strong are those Christians whose consciences are so bolstered by the gospel that they are liberated from hyper-scrupulousness.

That's kind of wordy, isn't it?

But it's something like that.

It's something like you're so gripped by the gospel and you have such a grasp of the gospel that you're liberated from just constant hyper-moral self-examination and you feel like, you know, I've got to live a razor's edge kind of life if I'm going to be a Christian.

Paul would describe those as weak Christians, which is interesting to me, maybe having grown up in church, I would expect the strong Christian to be the hyperscrupulous Christian, right?

The Christian who abstains from just about anything that's in any way questionable to anyone or something like that.

And yet Paul seems to say the more we are grasped by the gospel, the more we grip the gospel, the more our consciences are bolstered by it, and we experience the liberty of Christian freedom.

This is what he's talking about.

We Christians are those whose consciences have yet to be bolstered by the gospel in this way.

Strong Christians are.

He is not saying that we Christians are faithless Christians.

He's not saying that we Christians are sinners in a way that strong Christians aren't.

He's talking about the way the gospel bolsters our conscience.

Do you see that?

So welcome anyone who's weak in faith, whose conscience hasn't been bolstered by the gospel in this way, but don't argue about disputed matters, Paul says, verse 14.

And so Paul then goes on to describe how this can apply in particular ways in this congregation, both with related to dietary laws as well as holy days and the Sabbath.

And then Paul continues to say, therefore, let us no longer judge one another.

Instead, decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister.

Let not the weak cast self-righteousness, self-righteous judgment on those who are strong, and say, if you were really a Christian, you wouldn't be making the decision to do that, you know, because real Christians don't do, don't do that.

So long as it belongs in the realm of Christian freedom, of course.

And likewise, strong Christians, don't put a stumbling block in the way of weak Christians.

Just because it doesn't trouble your conscience doesn't mean it doesn't trouble anyone's conscience.

Don't insist upon your own self-importance.

Right?

The question is not who's right or wrong.

The point is we are obligated to live in harmony with one another, to prioritize one another, weak and strong Christians alike.

So then, verse 19, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.

That's the obligation here.

And living in harmony comes by way of fulfilling this obligation, of not insisting upon our own preference, our own opinion, our own self-styled priorities, but instead to prioritize one another as brothers and sisters in Christ out of love.

Friends, I suspect there's still strong and weak Christians in this sense in today's church.

And I wonder if sometimes in different issues we can categorize ourselves as one or both, or, you know, however that works.

When I was a kid growing up in church land, the big debate was uh genes in church, believe it or not.

Maybe some of you were around for that debate as well.

Maybe some of you are, you know, that's still a debate.

And that's okay.

Um but you know, church is a place for reverence, and so you put on your very best.

That was, you know, that was the mindset of some.

And for others, church is a family gathering, and so we wear what we wear to a family gathering, right?

And is there a right or a wrong answer?

Is there a gospel-conditioned answer?

Not really.

It's more what's reflected by the heart.

And yet it's funny how a simple issue like this can be something that just wedges its way into the life of the church and splits it apart and factionalizes, and each one's pointing the finger at the other like, we're the real Christians here.

You guys just don't get it.

See how that works?

Could do it with more serious issues as well.

You know, I know uh some who've left churches over the fact, I mean, I started a goofy little Superman illustration, right?

I know some who've left churches because pop culture should have no place in church.

In fact, Christians should have nothing to do with pop culture or franchises of any particular sort, because it's just so worldly and we need to be mindful not to be of the world, right?

And again, it's within the realm of Christian freedom, we're not talking about right or wrong answer.

We're talking about, well, what's the priority here?

Is it I'm the right Christian and I'm gonna make sure that you see that?

Or is it we choose to live life together because we're called to live in harmony one with the other?

And that's the calling on us.

Regardless of our politics, whether or regardless of our practice, we are called to prioritize one another because that's precisely our obligation as Christians, to live in harmony with one another.

I mean, it's almost as though God knows that we struggle to do that, so he gives us this little arena he calls the church, so we get to practice this together, right?

So, how do we practice something like that?

How do we put our obligation into practice?

Well, we've seen it verse uh in chapter 14.

Don't judge one another, right?

Don't be a stumbling block and pursue peace.

Prioritize each other over your own preferences or opinions.

Because your brother or sister in Christ is far more precious to the Lord, I suspect, than your opinion.

And we need to act like that.

Harmony comes by way of obligation when we fulfill this obligation.

It's not an option for us as Christians.

But it's not just an obligation that God gives us, it's an example he gives us as means by way we live in harmony with one another.

Let's look at verse 3.

For even Christ did not please himself.

On the contrary, as it is written, the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

Harmony comes by way of fulfilling this obligation, it's true, but harmony is most fully expressed in the example that God gives us in his own incarnation in Christ.

When we look to Christ, we see the ultimate example of what it means to live in harmony with one another, a God who will go to limitless length to bring us into harmony with himself, a God who is willing to enter into our messy and divided world so that he can live in harmony with us and calls us to do the same one with another.

Do you see that?

There is no limit to Christ's self-giving, to his selflessness, to what he is willing to suffer, so that we can live in harmony with him and with one another.

Paul writes to the church in Philippi, everyone should not look to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

And he says, adopt the same attitude of that as Christ Jesus, who existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.

Jesus didn't consider his divine status, right, God of God, as something to be leveraged, but rather he willingly emptied himself, assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross.

Christ is the ultimate example of what it means to live as one who endeavors above all else to be in harmony one with another.

We look to Christ, we see that example of living in harmony.

And Paul says there's biblical proof.

On the contrary, as it's written, Jesus didn't live to please himself.

On the contrary, it's written, the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

Interestingly enough, Paul is quoting from Psalm 69, 9, which is a psalm of a righteous individual suffering in injustice, but with the hope, the assurance that God will ultimately vindicate him.

And early Christians like Paul understood that this is just an anticipation of the greater work that God is going to do through the ultimate righteous one in Christ, who will suffer on our behalf, and who will ultimately be vindicated by God through his resurrection, so he can share his righteousness with us.

So Paul looks at Psalm 69, 9, and he goes, Well, there's your proof.

There is nothing, no insult too great for Christ to bear upon himself so that we could live in harmony one with another and with him.

And then Paul does this great little digression in verse 4.

I've got to be so careful, because this is very cool to me, worth a PhD, but a bit of a like, Paul's sort of thinking out loud for a moment here.

And I'll just highlight one thing here.

So harmony is by way of example.

We look to Christ's example.

Where do we find Christ's example?

We find Christ's example in Scripture.

What's the purpose of Scripture?

Paul wants to remind us.

For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the scriptures.

If we want to live in harmony with one another, we look to Christ's example.

We find Christ's example in Scripture.

Let's not forget the purpose of Scripture, which is this: our instruction.

God desires us to learn of Him, to sit at His feet, to grow intellectually, spiritually as we follow Him.

God desires growing, learning Christians.

But not just learning interesting little factoids, right?

Little trivia facts, but growing in instruction towards hope.

As we're instructed, hope increases.

Did you see that?

These are written for our instructions so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the scriptures.

When we look to Christ, we find him in the scriptures, we remember that the purpose of the scriptures is to be instructed towards hope, so that we can live lives full of hope and assurance, resting in God's sure promises, always mindful of the glorious future that He's promised us in Christ.

And that for us is reason to endure, and that is encouragement, even in the depths of the burdens that we experience.

God's given us the scriptures as this great gift in which we can find Christ.

And in finding Christ, we find his example.

And in living into his example, we can experience one with another that harmony that God desires for us.

Does that make sense?

I mean, that is a cool digression, isn't it?

Harmony comes by way of obligation when we fulfill this obligation to prioritize one another.

Harmony comes by way of example when we find Christ and we follow Christ's example.

All of this kind of reminds me of you know those little bracelets we had in the 90s, the WWJD bracelets?

I grew up in church in the 90s, so I very much had my WWJD bracelet.

I wish I could say I knew where it was, but WWJD is that great little kind of aspirational reminder.

You know, in the midst of day-to-day temptations, in the midst of day-to-day little trials, you know, what is it that Jesus would do right now?

You know, when I'm tempted to gossip, when I'm tempted to greed, when, you know, what have you?

The lesson of that little bracelet is the same thing I think Paul's kind of getting at here.

Look to Christ as your example and put that into practice.

When we're tempted to live in disunity, let's remember Jesus would have us live in unity.

Now, that's an important example to follow.

But I suspect if we go looking to that example or go look into that WWJD bracelet, we would find no power with which to carry that out.

Because if you've if you've worn a WWJD bracelet like I have, you know at the end of the day you did not do.

What Jesus would have done, right?

At the end of the day, that I'm very mindful of how fall, how far I fall short of that standard.

So it's not just do what Jesus would do, it's remember what Jesus has already done.

And remember what God gives you.

Because if we're going to have power to follow Christ's example, to put into practice the harmony that we are called to, then we need a supernatural grace.

And that's exactly what God gives us.

He doesn't throw us back on ourselves.

He wants to be the wind in our sails as we live in harmony with one another.

Verse 5, this is a bit of a benediction, isn't it?

Now me the God who gives endurance and encouragement.

Where does he give those things?

The scriptures, right?

The God who gives endurance and encouragement through the scriptures grant you to live in harmony with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and with one voice.

So who is it here that gives?

Is it us?

Do we give our all?

Really trying hard at this harmony thing?

Trying harder this week than we did last week?

It's not what Paul says, is it?

It's God who gives endurance and encouragement through the means that He's purposed in Scriptures.

As we become Bible people, we will be filled with the love and knowledge of Christ such that we live out his example, not as those who just are trying harder and harder, but as those who are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do so.

See, whenever God makes a demand, he supplies even more generously.

And that's exactly what he's doing here.

God gives us the endurance and the encouragement we need.

Everything we need to live in harmony one with another is exactly what God has given us.

Isn't that amazing?

Isn't it an amazing thing to be a Christian?

Know that God supplies exactly what it is he requires of us.

So all we have to do is look to Christ.

The outcome here is so that we may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God is glorified, exalted, lifted high, magnified, made known when we live in harmony with one another.

I suspect the opposite is true as well, isn't it?

God is obscured.

He's diminished in the eyes of others.

When the church lives in disharmony, when we fracture, when we prioritize our own opinions and preferences over brothers and sisters in Christ.

No church is immune from that.

Well, what an amazing thing it is when God is glorified in our midst.

When, by way of harmony with one another, we see Him lifted high and we experience the peace and joy, everything that comes with living at unity one with another, with one mind with one voice, which, by the way, I don't think is Paul saying you'll agree on absolutely everything, right?

That's what the church, that's what's expected of the church, because bear in mind he's talking about Christian freedom, where two Christians can make two different choices within the realm of Christian freedom, and it's not like one's making the right or wrong decision.

But with one mind and with one voice, we are together confessing and proclaiming the one Savior we belong to.

We know who we belong to.

And therefore, with our mind we are devoted with him, and our voice we confess him, we proclaim him.

Right?

In all things charity and the essentials unity.

It's something like that.

And that's what we're being called to, one with another.

So, what's the application?

Verse 7.

Therefore, welcome one another, just as Christ has welcomed you to the glory of God.

There was a time where I had this sermon titled Welcome One Another, which would have been just as fair a title, I think.

But you know, the more I just got studying this passage, the more I just come to realize living in harmony with one another and welcoming one another, it's like two sides of the same coin, or it's like two stars just orbiting one another.

Fulfilling one is fulfilling the other.

You can't have one without the other.

But when we're living in harmony with one another, we're welcoming one another, we're accepting one another, is what some translations have.

We, rather than closing ourselves off to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we embrace our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Sometimes literally, all times spiritually.

We're there for each other.

We stick together, we prioritize one another.

Because that's how we proclaim the gospel one with another.

We welcome, we accept one another because we are welcomed and accepted by God in Christ.

That's the gospel, isn't it?

Christ did not come to judge, but to show us his mercy, and that's what we see at the cross.

Christ did not come to crush us like a stumbling block, to insist upon his own freedom, to leverage his divine status over us.

He came to give us grace.

And Christ comes to pursue peace, peace with us in our hearts, and peace with us as we endeavor to live together as the church.

So, saints, in this disharmonious world that we live in, we see the importance, the difference it can make to endeavor to live in harmony with one another.

If we show that to one another, we show one another that there is a different way, a new creation way of being human.

But not only do we show that to one another, we show it to our community around us.

We can be a light of harmony in the disharmonious world.

We can't solve the world's disharmony, at least I don't think we can.

Maybe we can, but I'd be surprised.

It's the world.

But we can show Port Perry that there is a different way to be.

And there is a harmony that we discover in the gospel that we will find nowhere else.

So do we know that harmony for ourselves?

Do we endeavor to drink deeply of the scriptures so that we can find Christ and follow his example, trusting him always to provide us with the grace and power we need to live out what he has called us to do?

Let's endeavor to live in harmony with one another and so put the gospel into practice together.

Amen.

We hope that you've been blessed by God's Word today.

If you live in the Port Perry area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.

Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.

Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.

If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca slash giving to make your contribution.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.