My Brother

Psalm 133:1 ESV

1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Augustine: In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love!

Romans 14 ESV

1 As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11 for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. 19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats. 21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 22 The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

In the church at Rome there were Jewish converts to Christianity who were reluctant to give up certain ceremonial aspects of their heritage. Others embraced the freedom from an overly restrictive past. Still other members of that church were gentile christians who had no issues other than a sinful past. This diversity could actually feed their biases toward one another, thus the warning we see here.

We are to receive one another. Opposite of receive is reject.

There may be no good thing between the two.

Tolerance - with tolerance there is a measure of contempt. Tolerate is a mask, covering the truth of one’s heart

Judgement - ‘I’m not going to reject you but I am going to judge you.’ As believers in the bible belt we dont make that statement, we just tend to live it. We will all be judged when we stand before God. Infinitely more certain than the sun coming up tomorrow.

We should never attempt to do what God has said He will do. Having a hard time ‘amen-ing’ that one?Take a cue from Abram. God told him He would provide a son through Sarai. They decided on a different plan. They attempted to do what God had said HE would do.

So we shouldnt judge one another because God has said He will. Does that mean we shouldnt hold one another to the Word? Or teach, correct and rebuke? Of course we should. But in these matters that are not primary [central] (salvation by grace through faith, deity of Christ, etc) but are secondary [perifery] (preference about music, dress code, etc) we simply refuse to judge one another. One of the reasons we have such a sweet fellowship with the other churches in this community is because of a corporate acceptance of this one command.

We receive each other because God has received us. Oh church, let your mind’s eye gaze once again on the glorious redemptive work of Jesus at Calvary. Allow yourself to embrace Him substituting Himself for you in drinking the cup of a Holy God’s wrath. Rest in the grace of God that brings the peace of God. HE HAS RECEIVED US. So we receive one another.

We are to build one another up. v.19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Opposite of build up is tear down. An opposite of peace is conflict. When we resist the peace of God in the church we tear down. When we seek to assure peace in the church we build up.

Let’s refresh our memories about peace. The difference between being a peace-keeper and a peace-maker is that a peace-keeper will manipulate the situation to keep whatever semblance of peace is there. This is the parent who will excuse a child’s behavior, blame the system and enable a lifestyle. But a peace-maker will allow God’s Word to speak truth into a situation so that it’s life-changing power can make peace.

So we concentrate on building one another up. We seek to know each other better. To understand. To empathize. To celebrate. To grieve. After all, community? We were built for this!

Your ______ has an effect on the other people here.

Depending on how you read this, it may seem Paul is dismissing the law. On the contrary. We know full that the law shows us what we are like. It allows us to see our sinfulness in stark contrast to the Holiness of God. AND it points us to Christ! Where the shadows created by the law are dispelled in His marvelous light!

Freedom is our right, given by Christ on the cross. But it is not our guide for conduct. Love serves that purpose. ‘above all put on love. Love for my brother causes me to act in his best interest. That allows the peace of God to rule the relationship. That makes peace.

We dont receive one another to fill the church, but because there is a lost world that needs Jesus. One of the ways God has chosen to draw people to Himself is by how the church treats each other. When we are not one, we make the gospel un-attractive. But when we are, oh the world knows that God sent Jesus.