Welcome One Another

Welcome

Good morning church! We’re very glad that you’re here this morning. My name is Luke Bibelhauser and I have the privilege of serving as the Next Gen Director here at Bldg 28. It’s such an honor to be in the pulpit this morning.

I want to be sure to thank everyone involved in setting up, serving, tearing down, and getting re-set up for Sunday morning this week for VBS. We had a truly great week. This place was packed with kids, the gospel went forth, and we had little to no injuries, so praise the Lord!

We don’t have a successful event like that without a church that believes in ministering the gospel to our children. It takes a lot of work and effort and good attitudes. So, from the bottom of my heart, a huge thank you to Pastor Jonathan, Toni, Rachel, and everyone else for making this last week happen.

Now, turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 15:1-7. We’ve been in our One Another series as a church this Summer, looking at some of the one another statements in the New Testament. We turn now to another one of those statements as we quickly come to the conclusion of this series in just two more weeks. Let’s read our text and pray together.

READ Romans 15:1-7

PRAY: Heavenly Father, we come to you now asking you to bless this time in your word. Please lead us to hear and take away what we need to take away. Help us to know what it means to welcome one another, after the example of the Lord Jesus, and how we are to live this out in this local church. In Jesus name we ask these things, amen.

Introduction

If it wasn’t for James Parker, I’m not sure where I’d be. While my wife and I were in college, I’d frequently make the drive to USF in Tampa to come see her on Wednesday nights. That’s when the Navigators campus ministry would meet and have a time of worship and a brief sermon.

While in college I was extremely shy. I was pursuing a degree in pastoral ministry but wouldn’t talk with hardly anybody (interesting, I know). I wouldn’t talk with anybody on my own campus, let alone people at USF. I would show up and benefit from the fellowship and the teaching/worship, but there were many dreadful nights where I’d slip away hoping to be unnoticed and not have to deal with awkward small talk.

Until James, who was on staff with the Navigators, made it a point to catch me one Wednesday. It was from that point that I’d ask him to disciple me. We’d meet up and talk Scripture and life. If it wasn’t for James, his kindness and hospitality, who knows if I’d even be pursuing pastoral ministry to this day.

It’s this kind of welcoming that we’ll be focusing on today. Our next One Another is Welcome One Another. We’ll dive into the first 7 verses on Romans chapter 15 in two sections: The Ground Work and The Exemplified Call. My hope and prayer from this text is that we see together the importance of welcoming one another, how we should do, all following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Context

Before we jump right in to chapter 15, it would do us well to understand whats going on in this letter from the apostle Paul to the church in Rome. Chapter 14 is where Paul provides some instruction for Christians regarding matters of the conscience (meaning, our inner sense of right and wrong). He references here the one who is “weak in faith”.

This is in reference to genuine believers in Christ who 1) believe that Christians should only be eating vegetables (likely to avoid eating “unclean foods”) and 2) believe that one day is better than another. Namely, these are Christians that still feel the need to abide by Jewish food laws and observing the Jewish Sabbath practices.

To be clear, Paul is not claiming that these individuals who have their conscience bound this way are any less Christian, but that they’re unable in their faith to fully embrace some of these matters that others can.

All of chapter 14 deals with these matters, encouraging either category of believer to be fully convinced in their own mind, doing all things from faith. Paul also encourages the Roman believers to not quarrel amongst each other over these matters.

This sets the stage for Paul to transition into an exhortation in light of these things from chapter 14.

The Ground Work

That brings us to The Ground Work. Romans 15:1 “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” The strong are given the command to bear with the weak. Instead of seeking to please themselves in their strong convictions, the strong are to seek to be patient with the weak.

The strong don’t have a pass to live it up in their “free conscience” but rather they are to take up and help carry the failings or the struggles of the weak in faith. You see, the burden is not on the weak to become strong but for the strong to bear with the weak. The call is for the strong AWAY FROM selfishness!

Pastor Chad preached an excellent message last week in Hebrews 10, where he discussed how we as Christians can draw near to God by faith. He also focused on the idea that we as believers should not neglect meeting together. The gospel calls us to Christ and to each other as His church.

Therefore, gospel confidence grows in gospel community.

That same idea from last week is applied here, in that it’s literally IMPOSSIBLE for the strong to bear with and encourage the weak if they never come to church! The one another’s throughout this whole series takes place right smack in the middle of the local church!

A modern day application of what’s happening in chapter 14 would be…drinking alcohol or perhaps getting a tattoo. Are either of those things sinful in and of themselves? Certainly not! A Christian is free to drink alcohol, but not get drunk of course, that is sin. A Christian is free to get a tattoo, wisdom would say be sure that tattoo doesn’t promote sin.

What Paul commands from the one who can partake in these things and from the one who can’t, do so fully convinced in your own mind in faith!! And to those who are comfortable with these things: bear with your brother or sister who may feel differently!

You are NOT to boast in your liberty, pleasing yourself. Instead, help carry the weak. Don’t give them an excuse to stumble, but bear with them!

If you are free to do these things mentioned in your conscience, do them to the glory of God! But be mindful of those who aren’t, seeking not to simply please yourself in your liberty. Put their needs above your own…To be a follower of Jesus means to count others more significant than yourself, after the example of Christ!

Romans 15:2 doubles down on this: “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” The strong are not to simply tolerate the weak, but are to seek their good, to build them up in the faith! It’s not enough to merely be ok with the weak in your presence, the call is to help push them closer to Christ!

To be clear, Paul is not advocating that we seek to affirm sin. He’s writing this in the context of believers interacting with each other. This is not a call to please your neighbor in their sinful lifestyle. That’s not doing them good, but harm!

The call is to encourage your brother or sister in the Lord in the things of the Lord. How many so called churches have lost this idea today…that building our neighbor up means letting them live in their sin. The BEST thing we could do for our neighbor, the best way we can please our neighbor, for their good, is to help them become more like Christ! To build up your neighbor in the church, for their good, means to push them closer to Christ.

Pray for them, study Scripture with them, invite your neighbor over and talk together about the things of the Lord!

We see Paul’s reasoning for this in Romans 15:3–4 “For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

The reason the strong should bear with the weak is that Christ, the strongest One there is, didn’t seek to please Himself…but instead hung on the cross, carrying the sin of His people. Christ is the ultimate example of seeking the good of others over yourself!

It’s not enough to say “its not my job to worry about if someone struggles with this, its on them”. Personal accountability and discipline isn’t removed here, however, that excuse is.

Paul triples down with the example of Christ here to show that its the strong’s responsibility, their duty, to put the weak above themselves.

This is all setting the groundwork for the one another that we’re focusing on this morning. Christ in His atoning work on the cross is the reasoning for the strong bearing with the weak, the strong seeking to do spiritual good to their neighbor, and for all of us to welcome one another…after His example!

And after putting a bow on his dealings with the strong and the weak, Paul then takes the time to press in just a little deeper off of his using Psalm 69:9. He moves from the quote, to encouragement in what the Old Testament Scriptures provide for the New Testament Christian: instruction, endurance, encouragement, and hope.

Christians are not to “un-hitch” themselves from the OT. Rather, we are to learn from the whole of the inspired word of God. And from that we may gain endurance to run this race. We may also receive encouragement from God’s word…all ending up in hope.

Hope for Jews and Gentiles to live among each other in peace and unity. Hope that the Messiah has come, the Scriptures are fulfilled. Hope that Jesus is coming back soon for His bride!

Some of you ALL but crawled your way in this morning. I’m so glad you’re here. You need to hear this: if you feel like the gas tank is on E, like you’ve given all you can give, and life keeps beating you down…there is endurance for you in the Scriptures. Isaiah 40:31 “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Some of you are so discouraged you’re wearing it on your face. Life hasn’t turned out the way you wanted it to. Rejection around this corner, set back around the next…there is encouragement in the Scriptures. Psalm 94:18–19 “When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”

Brothers and sisters, as the Scriptures testify…there is hope to be had today! Christ Jesus is alive, His church is marching on, and He has called the strong to care for the weak, for His church to be unified with one another, and to welcome one another after His example!

The Exemplified Call

Which brings us to our 2nd section: the exemplified call. Now, I want to begin this section with the last verse. I believe that understanding verse 7 first will help bring everything together more fully. Romans 15:7 “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

This is the exemplified call. Paul now brings it all together here by including both the strong and the weak. This command is for everybody:…welcome one another…after Christ’s example! I would venture to say that many of us are surprised that this is even a “one another” in the New Testament. Tragically, it’s likely one of the most overlooked commands.

It begins with a “therefore”, which links Paul’s prayer for the Roman church in verses 5-6, which we’ll get back to. How are we supposed to welcome one another? (Some translations translate it “accept one another”, the same idea is in view here). As Christ has welcomed us! What does that look like?

Romans 5:6 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” While we were still weak, dirty, underdressed, dead in our sin, outcasts…Christ welcomed us, dying for us…KNOWING that if He invited us to clean up and them come to Him, He’d be waiting around forever.

The strong are to welcome the weak and the weak are to welcome the strong. The Jew is to welcome the Gentile and the Gentile is to welcome the Jew. Believers are to accept one another, welcome each other, bring one another in with hospitality, kindness, and love…all perfectly modeled in our Saviors actions toward us.

Practically, how do we do this? How should the Christian welcome another Christian? I’ll put before you two examples:

1) Is Charles Simeon. He was a successful and faithful pastor/preacher in the Church of England in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. It’s from him that we have today’s “Simeon Trust Workshops” for preachers. At a young age, Simeon was appointed by a Bishop to be the next pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge, England.

He would serve there faithfully for 54 years, but for the first 12, he would experience stiff and steady opposition from the church leaders and congregation. So much so, that the congregation would hire a “afternoon lecturer” to preach on Sunday afternoons, because they preferred that mans preaching over the appointed Simeon’s.

These same parishioners would lock their rented pews so that any Sunday morning churchgoers would have to sit on benches rented at Simeon’s expense.

Simeon would even try diligently to begin a Sunday evening service in the church, but eventually the church wardens would lock the building, making it impossible. (Gruendyke)

This was enough strife and conflict to send any pastor packing, but not Simeon. Instead, he labored on in the word and prayer, faithfully preaching and teaching those that would show up. He even invited young men into his home to train them up as pastors.

Who in their right mind would’ve blamed this man for giving up on these hard hearted individuals? Yet, despite the hatred and antagonism he recieved, Simeon continued on welcoming his congregation faithfully, as Christ had welcomed him.

2) Is found in my beautiful daughter Shiloh. She, as well as my whole family, have been shown so much hospitality since I came on staff here. And Shiloh has made so many new friends. But, when she see’s Monica and Montrel Periea, its game over.

They’ll all shout and scream for each other like they haven’t just seen each other last week, hugging and dancing.

Now, do we have to jump up and down and dance and scream in order to welcome each other? Of course not. But I give you these two examples to highlight that our welcoming of one another in the local church ought to be consistent, meaningful, and joyful. We actually do this welcoming with our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

Just as Christ dying for us while we were still weak…His death is a constant reminder of His welcoming…His death has ACTUALLY brought us in and welcomed us to Him by faith, thus its meaningful…and theres no greater joy than the truth that Christ died for the ungodly at the right time!

Are you thinking this way? Are you welcoming others with your words? Are you seeking out someone to bring in each time we gather together?

I would suggest we overlook this command to welcome most commonly due to two of our American “respectable sins”…unforgiveness and partiality.

Some here haven’t welcomed others who’ve been in this church with you here in years. We’ve convinced ourselves  that its ok to hold grudges in our hearts against the people in the chairs next to us day after day, week after week, year after year. Never truly forgiving, just distancing ourselves.

How wrong! How opposite that is to the gospel! Today’s the day that needs to change, God’s word calls us to it.

Some of us just straight up don’t like certain people by the look of them. So, instead of welcoming a brother or sister, you stay away. Praise the Lord Christ didn’t act this way toward us.

The call today is to welcome one another: Welcome your Democrat brother or your republican brother, your white or black sister, your homeless brother or your rich brother. 

One of the many beauties of Christ’s church is that its made up of all sorts of people, all from different places and statuses…forming a beautiful tapestry of grace! 

Here’s the mind blowing reality: We SHOULDN’T welcome one another. We’re too divided, too disconnected, and pitted against each other. Yet, by Christ’s example and ministry of reconciliation, we can and should welcome one another!

So, who in this room needs to be welcomed? It wouldn’t take any of us very long to find someone today or week after week. But, it starts with a heart and mind change. Come to church seeking to welcome one another, not BE welcomed. Seek to serve the body this way, not to be served!

Does it excite you to get to no somebody that doesn’t look like you or think like you? It should. For when you do so, you bring glory to Christ and highlight the beauty of His church.

Bldg 28, champion this effort today! Who can you take out to lunch and get to know? Who could you invite to sit next to you? Who can you ask if they have any questions about the church?

Imagine if we all took this on??!! God would be glorified in a church that is UNBELIEVABLY sticky! People would stick around and be attracted.

From our children’s ministry, to our student group, to our young adults ministry…from our home groups, to our worship ministry, to our deacons…from our elders, to our greeters, to our coffee shop…this command MUST permeate into EVERY area of our church!

Because, heres the danger: as this church keeps growing by God’s grace, it will become easier and easier to slip through the cracks and hide in the shadows. We should desire to be a people that fill every crack and shine light on every shadow, making sure everyone gets welcomed and brought in!

Paul takes this command one step further here in verse 7, saying that we ought to welcome one another for the glory of God. This should be what motivates us to accomplish this…a church full of people DEDICATED to magnifying the Lord by accepting one another.

Christ welcomed you for the glory of God. It wasn’t primarily for you, but to highlight the grace and mercy of God. While at the same time, Christ displays His great love for you and me through His welcoming of us on the cross! Therefore, we should be sold out in all that we do, to magnify and lift high God…especially in our welcoming of one another.

Leon Morris is quoted in saying “God's glory was promoted when Christ received us as sinners. It is further advanced when we, who are by nature sinners and wrapped up in our own concerns, instead receive our brothers and sisters in Christ with warmth and love.”

Verses 5-6 tie it all together. This is a prayer that Paul includes, asking God to grant the Roman believers to live in harmony with one another, following after Christ…that they may in unity, with one voice, glorify God. This type of unity is accomplished in view of Christ and His finished work.

Its also accomplished through prayer. Do you pray like this? For the unity and harmony of Bldg 28? We should be praying to this end regularly, that the Lord would so unify us in the gospel that we would be a unified, booming voice in this city.

Louder than any Scientology building or mosque or synagogue, church, pray that our unity as a local church and our hospitality would scream so loud that it causes others to glorify our Heavenly Father!

Also notice how Paul gives us the command to welcome after the prayer. Therefore, it should be said that welcoming each other is a way to unity in the local church.

This requires that we acknowledge each other…that we see one another and take a vested interest in how one another is doing. Welcoming one another ensures that we continue discipling one another, pushing each other closer to Christ.

It leads to loving one another, serving one another, honoring one another, stirring one another up, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. Welcoming one another keeps us connected to each other.

Conclusion

The command to welcome one another is much more than a simple hello. It’s a glorious, heartfelt action toward a fellow believer, striving to give them a glimpse at how Christ has welcomed them.

Just as our Lord has welcomed us before we were cleaned up, its our Christian duty to do the same toward our brothers and sisters. Our reasoning is found in Christ seeking not to please Himself but His people.

To welcome one another is to seek to build one another up, bring each other in, and push one another closer to Christ.

So, Bldg 28, lets welcome one another.

PRAY