“Wake Up and Welcome!”

Scripture: Romans 14:1-12

One week ago today, the Greater Owego Tent Revival came to a close, and it was wildly successful in every possible way.
- It was, as far as we know, the first organized revival in the Owego community since 1920.
- We had 1,200 to 1,400 people attend over the 4 days.
- Every comment that we received was positive and encouraging.
- There were a number of people who came forward to make 1st time commitments and even more to recommit their lives to Christ, and there were, in all likelihood, many more who did so right where they sat.
- But the most wonderful thing that happened began months ago and is expected to continue well into the future – and that is the uniting of over 30 local churches for the singular cause of raising up the name of Jesus and bringing glory to him. Denominational barriers fell, personal benefit was set aside, and the unity was obvious to volunteers and attendees alike. None of us threw away our doctrine and polity and worship styles, but we set our differences aside for these few days in honor of our Single and Glorious Lord.

It was incredible! We praised the Lord together, we worshiped the Name of Jesus together, we even celebrated Holy Communion together, and the roof never did fall in on us! That is how the Church SHOULD be, the way the Church SHOULD live. There is plenty of room for different modes and styles of worship, and even in doctrinal standards, but when it comes to serving and praising our Lord Jesus Christ, there can be no divisions.

In today’s text, Paul is cautioning the Church against the divisiveness that was, in all probability, rising up to threaten their very existence. It is also very possible that the Church was becoming selective as to who would be allowed into the fellowship. Neither of these attitudes can be seen as being Christian in nature, especially when they are compared to the variety and natures of people who Jesus welcomed into his presence!
And so must we.

Read Romans 14:1-4

Paul opens with the admonition to stop badgering those whose faith isn’t as strong as those who have been in the church for some time, and continues with instruction to set aside their dependence on ritualistic issues that seem to be carryovers from the Jewish Torah. Remember that the earliest days of the Church was as a sect of Judaism, and the old ways are hard, to say the least, to let go of. And some of the new Gentile believers may have been chastising their Jewish brothers and sisters for keeping to those ways.
Regardless of who was doing what, it was becoming a problem! For the Jewish believers, Torah had been their guide all of their life. It provided them with the means of showing honor to Jehovah God, and it didn’t make any sense to suddenly cast it all aside! But for the Gentiles, it had never been their way, and they held to Jesus’ teaching that ritualistic practices had never been God’s demand for their lives.
But Paul seems to be telling the people that Jesus never said that you should throw all of the ritual away – only that it had little, if anything, to do with pleasing Almighty God! If it helped someone to live a righteous life, then all the better.
Do you have any Roman Catholic friends who don’t eat meat on Fridays, especially during Lent? Protestants don’t generally follow this practice, but Paul is telling us to respect the other person, regardless of what they eat and when.
Do you have Pentecostal friends who speak in tongues, and you don’t? So what? There are many spiritual gifts, and ours may not be the same as someone else! (1 Corinthians 12:4-11 & Romans 12:4-8)
Do you have Baptist friends who subscribe to immersion as the only means for Baptism? We seldom immerse, although today is an exception, but baptism is baptism, as long as the process conforms to scripture.
These are just three of the differences that must never come between us – they are simply to be seen as a means of showing honor to the Lord, and we can never let them divide the Body of Christ. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 7:1-2) the Lord tells us that if we start judging others, then we will be judged in the same way.
The point is – don’t judge! Period!

Read Romans 14:5-8

Sacred days were another bone of contention. Pagan worship, which Roman converts may have been following would have stood in direct conflict with Jewish custom. Jewish holy days would have been a stumbling block to the Gentiles. Paul tells the church that the only way to bring honor to the Lord is if they set the day, or days, aside to the glory of Jesus! No more pagan ritual, no more strict adherence to Sabbath as defined in Torah - just give your life and your days over to the Lord.
The next few verses are Paul’s explanation for his concerns. He sees that the people are looking to their own preconceived notions of what is holy and what is not, instead of looking to Jesus’ teachings for their lives. The New Interpreter’s Bible comments that “The essential point is that everything that Christians do is done, not in relation to themselves alone, but in relation to the Lord.” We aren’t to place our own understandings above God’s. There is nothing inherently wrong with our culture, our heritage, our desires, but they can never be judged and justified by our own standards – they are to be compared to those that Jesus set in place.

Read Romans 14:9-12

This brings us back to Jesus’ sermon in Matthew 7:12. “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” Now before you think that Jesus is saying that we are to be accepting of each other’s sinful ways, that isn’t what he is saying. He is saying, though, that we are to respect each other and simply leave the judging up to him!
Paul reminds us that not only are we to avoid judging others for the ways that differ from ours, but that there is only one Judge in all of creation, and that we all will be standing before that Seat one day. And that on that glorious day, everyone – EVERYONE – will surrender to the authority of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:9-11 reiterates this point – that everyone, believers and non-believers alike, everyone who has ever lived, will one day be subject and submissive to the authority of Jesus Christ.
And if we are the ones who are causing rifts and divisions in the Body of Christ, the judgment will not go all that well for us.

And that is the strength of the Revival Movement that has begun in our town. No judgment, no condemnation, no raising our own ways above those of others – only the praise of Jesus Christ and the power of his Blood to heal and cleanse us. That has been our focus from the beginning, and that is the only way that others will ever feel welcome when they come into our fellowship.
And we can’t wait until they show up at our door - Sunday morning is not the time to begin welcoming others! We have to extend the hand of faith long before they arrive – we have to make them feel welcome before they come, or they might never take the step toward our door.

We need to wake up, and stand up, and free our voices to live and work and love as Jesus did. And that is the key to our faith.