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Jock Stein August 24, 2024 5 3

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Romans 14: 13-21 (NRSVA)

13 Let us therefore no longer pass judgement on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another. 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 If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. 16 So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. 19 Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual edification. 20 Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; 21 it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.

I am not the centre of this kingdom, God is. As I do right, I approach the centre. As I serve other people, I approach the centre. As I worship God, I approach the centre. Doing right is not defined by keeping rules (or breaking them), it is loving God and neighbour – and Paul gives an illustration of this in our passage today. This brings us peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Notice that here Paul puts together what God has approved, and what seems good also to humans. That is how God has made the world, to work well when human approval and God’s approval coincide. We are made in God’s image, to be like God and do the things he does, with Jesus the perfect example of this. We should never assume other people will do things badly – that is not what original sin is about – but as Paul said elsewhere, ‘believe all things, hope all things, endure all things’. That is part of kingdom life.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the image of the Father, and your image is taking shape in me again by the work of the Holy Spirit. Let me make this visible in the life and work of today, I pray. And may your example, your compassion, your good purpose make your kingdom visible in the lives of people I will meet today, and whom I now commend to your love, that love which is the life of Father, Son and Spirit, to be praised for ever, Amen.