STUDY THEME: CHRISTMAS: CELEBRATING JESUS BIRTH 12-09-01
“THE HOPE OF CHRISTMAS”. ROMANS 15:13
ROMANS 15: 1-4, 5-6, 7, 8-13.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO ROMANS 15.
Our lesson for today centers around “hope.” Someone has written “Hope is the only good that is common to all men; those who have nothing else still possess hope.” Another has written, “Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” Pope wrote, “Hope springs eternal in the human breast. Hope is the best part of our riches, the best possession; the last thing that dies in a man. You cannot put great hope into a small soul.
This year the real hope of Christmas is that all of the different people who have been touched by Christ will be bound into one. How can that happen? Paul makes several suggestions in our text from Romans 15. First Paul affirms that God is true to His word: He keeps his promises. God kept the promise He had made centuries earlier to send the Savior. Christ’s coming reminds us that God keeps his word. We can trust Him and His intentions for us. This gives us confidence and hope, which is based on what God can do, not on what humans can do.
While our lesson focuses on HOPE, you will notice that the Bible passage mentions also JOY and PEACE. Those are key words for the Christmas season. The tragedy is that many people are seeking hope, joy, peace and love in all the wrong places. The true form of each of these can only be found in the true God. I pray that this Christmas season this lesson will help each of us have the hope that God gives. Such hope makes not only Christmas, but each day more meaningful for us.
As our lesson opens, Paul is in Corinth gathering the offering for the distressed Christians in Judea. He is writing to the Christians in Rome that he plans to come see them after he has turned over the money to the church in Jerusalem. His extended plan is to visit Spain and he will visit Rome on his way there. He anticipates he will come to them full of joy and enjoy a refreshing visit with them. Paul had no way of knowing that when he went to Rome he would be going as a prisoner in chains. He closes the 15th Ch. With “Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.” The first four verses of Romans 15 show how we may become one by supporting one another.
1. PLEASE READ ROMANS 15: 1-4
I like J.B. Phillips translation of this Vs. 1. “We who have strong faith ought to shoulder the burden of doubts and qualms of others, and not just on our own sweet way.” Paul did not change his subject at 15:1, but extended it into new dimensions. Christian love, he affirmed, does not only restrain conduct that might be harmful to others; it acts positively in their interest. Often when we “bear with others”, we simply put up with them. That is not the meaning here, but that Christian love will be supportive of less mature persons. We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak. Christian fellowship should be marked by the consideration of its members for each other.
Similarly, when we speak of pleasing others , the implication may be that we avoid all differences of opinion so as to keep them happy. Again, this was not Paul’s meaning as his final phrases prove; any forbearance shown, any patience exercised, should be for his good, to his edification. There is a sinful kind of pleasing others that compromises ones faith to win the approval of others. Paul was not talking about that.
In Vs. 3 Paul cited Christ’s example as the reason believers should please others. During his earthly life, Jesus did not please himself, rather, He came to do the will of His Heavenly Father.
Jesus doing God’s will, included taking onto Himself the hostility people expressed toward God. Paul did not cite a specific instance from Christ’s life, but rather quoted a prophecy Jesus fulfilled. Psalm 69:9 depicts the unjust suffering of a righteous man, and Jesus is the highest fulfillment of such suffering. The apostle understood Ps. 69 to be a messianic prediction and quoted it several times.
Vs. 4 shows how Paul’s interpretation of Ps. 69:9 illustrates the ongoing value of everything that was written in the past, that is, the O.T. Scripture is relevant because by divine inspiration it was written to tech us. Bible interpretation begins by looking at what a passage meant for its first readers, but it goes on to discover what the text means (its significance) for contemporary Christians.
Bible students offer two explanations of the phrase through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures. According to one view both endurance and encouragement are produced in believers lives through Scriptures. According to the second view, only encouragement is linked directly with Scripture. God is the ultimate source of both qualities. He uses Scripture to produce both. The practical effect of Scripture in our lives is so that we might have hope. We look beyond the present life with its challenges and difficulties, and the only reliable source of information about our eternal future is the Bible. Christian hope has its foundation in the God of hope. Those without Christ have no real hope. (Eph. 2:12; 1 Thess. 4:13.) They may have hopes of their own, but they lack the solid hope that comes through the Lord---a hope about which we learn in the Word of God.
In these next verses Paul pointed out that the Christians of Rome could become one by focusing on the same purpose.
2. PLEASE READ ROMANS 15: 5-6
Paul’s ministry is a commentary on Romans 1: 14 “ I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians: both to the wise, and to the unwise.” So the apostle acknowledged his debt to all people.
While in Ch. 14 Paul teaches that in debatable matters each Christian is free to do whatever he feels is right, according to his own conscience. No Christian is to judge other Christians, because God will be the final judge of all. Yes, Paul teaches this in Romans 14:1-12. But now, lest his readers become too intoxicated with the heady wine of liberty, Paul turns the coin over and introduces a sobering thought. Freedom to follow convictions must be balanced by personal responsibility to do what is best for your brethren. The question is not, “Can I feel free to do this or that?” The question becomes, “How can I fulfill my responsibility to help others grow in the Christian life?” It is wrong to do anything that may cause a Christian brother to stumble---be led away from, instead of closer to Christ.
It is an old story, but it bears repeating. A little girl was carrying a younger but hefty boy on her back. A man said “My child, he is too heavy for you to be carrying.” She replied, “Oh No! “You see he is my brother!” No burden is too heavy for us to bear if it be for the welfare of our brother/sister in Christ.
For some, the purpose of life is self discovery.
For some, the purpose of life is self attainment.
For some, the purpose of life is selfless service to God.
In the family of God, (even as in the natural family) we have to learn to live together in spite of differences. To make uniformity in creed or practice a test of fellowship is to rule out meaningful fellowship. Conformity by coercion destroys person hood—the loss is greater than the gain. Acceptance of another person does not necessarily imply approval of the other’s scruple, belief, or life style.
Jesus ate with people with whom He disagreed. And He talked freely as he ate, even to disagreeing with His host in Luke 7: 40. As in Corinth, even so in Rome, the church was composed of Christians who were “weak” and “strong” in their faith. This has no reference to saving faith, but to conduct in their saved condition. This may have been a division between Christian Gentile and Christian Jewish backgrounds.
In Vs. 5 Paul reminded his readers that God Him self is ultimately the source of endurance or steadfastness and encouragement. In light of the issue in Ch. 14 that threatened to cause disunity among his readers, Paul prayed that God would give them a spirit of unity. Thankfully, believers do not have to pull themselves together by sheer will power to show these qualities.
More literally, Paul prayed that they “mind the same thing among one another according to Christ Jesus.” This like-mindedness was not the equivalent of seeing “eye to eye” on all matters. Rather the more focused the church members were on Christ, the greater cohesiveness or unity the church would experience. Being like-minded meant having the same overall objective—the purpose of Christ—a commitment to seek the best way to achieve His plan. As believers focused their attention on Christ and His purpose, individual difference would be minimized.
We don’t have to agree about peripheral things to treat fellow believers as brothers and sisters and to worship the Lord together. Christians in a church need to learn how to disagree without being disagreeable. True Christian behavior moves beyond pleasing our neighbors to building them up. Above every thing the Christian seeks to please God. Thus in Vs. 5-6 Paul showed how believers can fulfill the greatest commandment (“love the Lord your God with all your heart.”) Romans 15:5-7 is actually a prayer or benediction.
In Vs. 6 Paul’s desire for his readers was that they might glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. A spirit of unity would help Christians give a positive witness to the world and would also positively affect the church’s worship. Unity among believers produces a symphony of praise to God.
The full phrase God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ speaks not only of the humanity of Jesus but also of the truth that we know God only through the Lord Jesus. Persons who truly glorify God know Him as the One Jesus fully revealed.
Paul used the expression with one heart and mouth to describe the unity that should be evident among believers. The phrase with one heart translates a Greek word meaning “with one accord” or “with one mind.” Putting aside selfishness, believers with one heart can make right decisions under God’s leadership. The church can be so passionately dedicated to the Lord that both the strong and the weak will put aside personal differences. With one…mouth refers to a vivid, outward expression of unity. Harmony among believers will be evident to those outside the church. As a result, the church will glorify God.
One of the great things about Christmas is its potential for bringing people together---families, churches, and believers of different denominations. Even non-Christians often know familiar Christmas carols and the Christmas story. Believers can build on these to tell the true meaning of Christ’s coming.
The theme of Vs. 1-7 is “We have Christ’s example, and we need to follow that example if we would have the fellowship God wants us to possess.
3. PLEASE READ ROMANS 15:7
In Vs. 7 Paul suggests that the different people who have been touched by Christ can be bound into one by accepting each other even as Jesus accepted us. How did Jesus accept us? He accepts us as we are, and He recognizes us as we can be. If the perfect, sinless Son of God was willing to bring sinners into God’s family, how much more should forgiven believers be willing to warmly embrace and accept others in spite of their disagreements over issues of conscience?
During His ministry Jesus was criticized for receiving sinners and for even eating with them. In Luke 15:1-2 Jesus then told three parables to show that God welcomes repentant sinners. This is epitomized in the father’s warm welcome for the prodigal sin in VV 24-32. Jesus welcomes all kinds of people, no matter how they are or how great their sins.
Paul’s point is that just as Jesus received us in spite of our sins, so should we welcome others whom He has welcomed. If Christ has received someone, who are we to reject the person? When we follow the example of Jesus in this, we do so to the glory of God.
Over a century ago, F.L. Godet wrote words that still apply: “The compassionate welcome which Christ has given to all the members of the church individually ought to be perpetually reproduced in the welcome of goodwill and tenderness which they give one another in all the relations of life.” Discipleship is a matter of love rather than insisting on our own way.
Disagreements will continue to come where earnest yet fallible human beings live in the close proximity of church fellowship. But Christian love can encircle even the disagreements and bind together. This is why both Jesus and Paul enjoin us to love one another. Love not only covers a multitude of sins, it also can cement Christian fellowship.
4. PLEASE READ ROMANS 15: 8-13
Paul reminds us what Jesus did in emptying Himself and becoming a bondservant that the gospel might be preached to the entire world. Now what Paul is saying here is that God is already working out a great program that involves reconciling the Jews and the Gentiles. God has announced that He is going to do that, and He will bring it to pass. It has already started. It started when Christ accepted both Jews and Gentiles, regardless of the great differences between them. Jesus came to save those who are lost.
I have never heard of a church fight that was any worse than the attitudes the Jews and Gentile had toward one another in Paul’s day. The Jews held the Gentiles in contempt; they called them dogs. They would have nothing to do with them. The Jews even regarded it as sinful to go into a Gentile’s house and they would never dream of eating with a Gentile.
Of course if the Jews felt that way about the Gentiles, the Gentiles paid it right back in kind. They hated he Jews. They called them all kinds of names; they looked down on them. They would have nothing to do with one another. Yet, Paul says, that kind of division God is healing by the work of Jesus. And how did Jesus do it? Paul’s point is that Jesus began His work by becoming Himself a minister of circumcision or He became a servant of the Jews.
What Paul is arguing is that the Lord healed this breach between the Jews and the Gentiles by His giving in and limiting His own liberty. He who had designed the human body, He who had made it perfect consented to the act of circumcision. He became a circumcised Jew. He who declared in his ministry that all foods are clean, and thus gave clear evidence that He understood the liberty that God gives us in the matter of eating, never once ate anything but kosher food. He never had a ham sandwich. He never had bacon and eggs for breakfast. He limited himself to the Jewish diet, even though He declared that all foods were clean.
He who was without sin insisted on a sinner’s baptism. Jesus said to John “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So He who had no reason to be baptized consented to be baptized. Now, Paul’s argument is that the results of that limitation were that Jesus broke the back of the argument and of the contempt between the Jew and the Gentile. He reached both Jews and Gentiles to the glory of God. Jesus had one thing in His mind…Paul said, “I have become all things to all men that I may by all means win some to faith in Christ.”
Paul gave us three Scriptures to back it up: One from each of the three major sections of the O.T.
Vs. 10 is from the Law: “Rejoice O Gentiles, with His people.” Deut. 34:43.
Vs. 11 from the Wisdom Literature: “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him.” Ps.117:1.
Vs. 12 from the Prophets: Isaiah says, “There shall come the Root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, in Him shall the Gentiles hope” Isa. 11:l0.
So you have the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings all agreeing that God can work out these kinds of problems. What Paul is really saying is, “You do not need to separate; you do not need to split; you do not need to fight, you do not need to sue one another; you do not need to quit. You can work the problems out, for there is help available from all these sources, and God is honored and glorified when you do so.” Then Paul concludes with this magnificent benediction, in Vs. 13.
May the God of hope fill you with great joy and peace so you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13 NIV
What a magnificent verse. Look how much we have going for us. All the great words of the Christian faith appear here: hope, and joy, great joy; and peace, calmness and confidence; and trust, belief in a living God; and finally, the power of the Holy Spirit, the invisible force that can open doors and no man shuts them, and can shut and no man opens—the power of God released among us.
Now I think we Christians need to remember this. When we presume to write one another off because one has liberty we do not feel they should have; when we talk down to people and disparage those who do not have the faith and strength to act in liberty such as we do, we destroy the work of God.
What the apostle is urging us to do is to unite on the great positive words of our faith, and that we allow these qualities of hope, and joy, and peace, and trust, and power to be visible when others see us gathered together as Christians. When they hear us talking about each other we are to reflect these qualities, rather than the little divisions and arguments that many of us have. In a sense, the whole argument of this epistle is drawn to a close with this tremendous benediction:
May the God of hope fill us with the great joy and peace and trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
How I hope these will be the characteristics that we manifest to the world around us. The hope of Christmas is that all the different people who have been touched by Christ will become one by confirming God’s vision for the Kingdom of God. God’s vision for the kingdom includes all nations.
C.S. Lewis wrote the Screwtape Letters, which was a narrative between the devil and his supposed nephew named “Wormwood”. Regarding the subject of how to sabotage the church the devil counseled his nephew.
“The church is a fertile field if you just keep them bickering over details, structure, organization, money, property, personal hurts and misunderstandings. One thing you must prevent: don’t let them ever look up and see the banners flying, for if they ever see the banners flying then you have lost them forever”.
Could it be that one reason why hope is blocked from some of our lives is because we’re not welcoming all kinds of people? Could it be that we’ve built a dam to hold back the infinite reservoir of hope God wants to flood our lives with? Could it be that our internal resentments, unresolved bitterness, and refusal to forgive our fellow Christians has locked out hope from our lives? If so, then the way to overflow with hope is to begin doing what today’s text tells us to do, to not just live to please ourselves, but to welcome, bear the burdens of and even please others for their good.
CONCLUSION:
So my question for myself and for you today is this: Do you really want to follow Jesus’ example, receive strength from the Bible, honor God with praise, fulfill the Bible’s promises, and overflow with hope? I’d venture to say that every single follower of Jesus wants those things to be true in their lives. Well, Romans 15:1-13 tells us that if we want these things, then we dare not exclude people from our fellowship as a Christian community. These things come in part as a consequence of welcoming all kinds of people who we share a common faith with.
NEXT SUNDAY FROM LUKE 2:4-20 WE CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF JESUS AS THE CENTER OF OUR CELEBRATION OF CHRISTMAS.
A.V. DAUGHERTY 12-09-01
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