Romans 14:1-12
“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”
By: Rev. Kenneth Emerson Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
It may come as some surprise to us that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who preached 40,000 sermons in his lifetime that brought a revival to life which spread to the ends of the earth, never preached a single sermon on the Virgin Birth or the Second Coming.
It’s not that Wesley did not believe in these things, it’s just that Wesley did not feel that they were the core beliefs that we must get completely correct, jot and tittle, in order to be saved.
Furthermore, Wesley always refused to write up a Creed containing a definite number of fundamental doctrines that a Methodist must believe.
There was no official confession of faith that folks had to recite in order to become members of the early Methodist societies.
The sole condition for membership was a person’s desire “to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins.”
About his approach Wesley commented, “The Methodists alone do not insist on your holding this or that opinion; but they think and let think….Now I do not know any religious society, either ancient or modern, wherein such liberty of conscience is now allowed, or has been allowed, since the age of the Apostles. Here is our glorying; and a glorying peculiar to us.”
John Wesley made a clear distinction between what he called “opinions” and “essential truths.”
According to Wesley, “opinions” are matters where wide differences in belief are inevitable, and “essential truths” are the basic doctrines to which all Christians adhere.
But which things are “opinions” and which things are “essential truths”?
Paul writes in our Scripture passage for this morning: “One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.”
In the great city of the Roman Empire most of the meat that was sold had been sacrificed to idols.
Could a Christian eat this meat with a clean conscience or had the idols made the food ‘unclean’?
Facing this same situation in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes: “So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one….
….But not everyone knows this. Some people are so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.”
Yes, “One person’s faith allows them to eat everything, but another person, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables…
…Each should be fully convinced in his own mind…
…He who eats meat, eats to the Lord…and he who abstains, does so to the Lord…”
Now Paul uses eating or not eating meat and observing special days to the Lord or observing all days to the Lord to illustrate a much bigger point: As Christians, we are to be unified as we follow Christ together, “so that with one heart and mouth” we may “glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We are to accept one another “just as Christ” has accepted us…flaws, strange opinions and all… “in order to bring praise to God.”
Imagine the impact we could have on this community if we were to truly love one another in this way!!!
We are to strive for unity between Christians, and that unity is based on faith in Christ alone for salvation.
Do you know why Methodists use grape juice instead of wine when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper?
It’s not because wine is bad.
It’s because Wesley didn’t want things that may cause some people to stumble in their Christian walk to get in the way of what is truly important.
The Methodists found that many folks who had a problem with alcohol were being converted to Christianity, and when they took communion, for some, the wine was enough to cause them to stumble back into the bar…
…for alcoholics, one little taste is never enough.
Therefore, a Methodist named Welch, who owned a vineyard, concocted a way to make wine that did not ferment.
We now call this Welch’s grape juice!
That’s what Paul means when, later in Romans Chapter 15 he says: “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”
Instead of focusing on the salvation of souls, and the love for God and neighbor, we Christians often major in the minors. And when we do this, we are not acting in love!
Do we see Christians arguing and fighting with other Christians over dogma, political views, the Law?
Do we see Christians taking sides and breaking from one another over disputable matters?
Why are there so many denominations?
Could it be that we have not always followed the instructions given us in the New Testament as to how we are to deal with disputable matters?
We judge one another, do we not?
We fight amongst ourselves on matters that really have nothing to do with the core message of Christianity, do we not?
We “strain a gnat, but swallow a camel”, do we not?
And in Romans Chapter 2 Paul tells us that “God’s name is blasphemed among” the people of the world because of us when we do this!!!
John Wesley allowed people to have a great freedom of belief, and wanted to avoid any controversy over minor points that might get in the way of the cause of Christ.
For example, George Whitefield was one of the greatest Methodist evangelists during Wesley’s time, but Wesley and Whitefield disagreed strongly on the doctrine of predestination.
Both of them were completely convinced that the other was wrong, and yet they respected one another, loved one another, and worked together for the cause of Christ.
As Wesley put it in his sermon on the death of George Whitefield, “Let us keep close the grand scriptural doctrines of a less essential nature,” that the Christian Church has been divided on for ages.
“In these we may think and let think; we may ‘agree to disagree.’ But meantime, let us hold fast [to] the essentials of ‘the faith…’”
It takes a person with a very strong faith to be able to do and accomplish what Wesley did.
What does Paul start out by saying in our Epistle Lesson for this morning…
“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.”
This means that there are disputable matters in the Christian faith!
Not one of us has all the right answers!!!
None of us hold a monopoly on the truth!!!
What Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 is so true and so important for we humans to grasp, internalize and understand: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
He finishes by saying: “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
When disputable matters arise, it is love that is to trump!
As Paul writes a little later on in our passage: “If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love.”
Too often, we Christians act as though we have the right to pass judgment on other people.
But when we take it upon ourselves to condemn a brother or sister, we are taking upon a position of power that is not ours to take!
Every one of us, who call ourselves Christian, are Christ’s servant and if Christ is satisfied there is nothing further to be said!
Notice that Paul says: “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”
It is not up to us, it is up to God.
God is in control, and God is much bigger than we sometimes make God out to be.
Paul is confident that when God, the Master of all Christians, judges His servants—they will stand!!!
For Who causes us to stand? Only Christ, only Christ!!!
And praise the Lord for that!
Tolerance, mercy, forgiveness, we all have to work on these things, do we not?
In Romans chapter 14 Paul is telling us to be tolerant of one another for the sake of Christ—for the salvation of the world!!!
Our United Methodist theme of “Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors,” is very Wesleyan in nature.
When the Christian Church was still in it’s infant stages it was the view of so many: “Look how they love one another,” which caused them to seek the Lord for themselves, not the Creeds we recite or the style of worship, or the type of clothes we wear.
It was not whether or not we held certain political views, or backed the right candidate…
…and it’s still not about these things!
Those things that divide us cause others to look at the Church with a disgust that gives Satan the greatest pleasure, and causes us to create a poor witness to the world and to those who may be more vulnerable in their walk with God.
We are to build each other up, not knock each other down.
We are not to break a sweat over the small stuff!
If someone eats only vegetables…fine…leave them alone.
Don’t judge them.
Don’t ostracize them.
Don’t call them non-Christian.
Don’t look down on them!!!
Love them, and work together on the things you do agree on---living and dying for the Lord!!!
Paul tells us that no matter our opinions on certain aspects of the faith, let us all live in community and harmony to the Lord!
This is why Christ died, this is why Christ is Risen, so that He might be Lord of us all!!!
And so that we may be one as Christ and the Father are One.
Paul finishes Romans Chapter 14 with this: “So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.”
Tolerance?
On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest of tolerance, where are you, where am I?
Can we hold fast to the faith and still respect one another as God’s fellow servants?
Can we hold fast to the essentials of the faith “without passing judgment on disputable matters”?
Can we ‘agree to disagree’ and continue to love one another and work together for the salvation of the world?
Is our faith strong enough?
Can we “think and let think” and leave the judgment up to God, Who is able to make us all stand?
Tolerance is not really a choice in the Christian life, is it?
Rather it is the evidence of God’s love at work in us.
It is one of the “essentials of our faith.”
It is not an opinion or disputable matter.
Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, please enable us to accept one another as You have accepted us, so that we may bring praise to You! Let us all make an effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification, and may Your hope fill us with all joy and peace as we trust in You, so that we may overflow with the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray. Amen.
