Romans 14:12-23 “Do Not Injure Your Brother”

Paul tells us this morning in his writing to the Romans that little things that are merely a matter of opinion anyway should never stop anyone from believing in Jesus. What’s more, causing injury to another, a brother or sister of the faith, is not according to the faith at all. We should only ever want to be a blessing on others’ lives.

Paul has received a letter and has heard rumors that the church in Rome was tearing itself apart on minor issues such as what one should eat. Part of the church observed the strict dietary restrictions of the Jewish faith. Another part of the church did not want to eat meat that had been blessed by a pagan priest. Another part of the church was adamant that God created food for humankind and therefore there should be no restrictions.

On the Jewish side we see that Exodus 23:19 says that one is not supposed to eat meat that has been cooked with the milk of that animal. Most likely there was some logic to that four thousand years ago that escapes us today. So, if we follow that prohibition then we must not eat cheeseburgers. Please note that you may eat cheese, and you may eat burgers, but you may not eat cheeseburgers. Realizing that this is a biblical prohibition, what should we do about it? Should we picket outside every burger joint on the island? Should we sue McDonalds and Burger King? In a way, we already know the answer to this question because we eat cheeseburgers all the time–or pizza with ground beef, etc.

In Acts 10:9-16 we see that not only the Apostle Paul gives us this word. Peter is also given this word while he is praying: “About noon that next day as they were on their journey approaching the city (Caesarea), Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat. While it was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed creatures, and reptiles, and birds of the air. Then he heard a voice saying, ‘get up Peter, kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘by no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean.’ The voice said to him again a second time, ‘What God has made clean you shall not call profane.’ This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.”

Actually, when I was growing up, when I went out with certain friends on a Friday night to McDonalds, I was told that if I were a true Christian I would have to order the Filet-o-Fish sandwich. I would always just say, “I guess I am not a true Christian—give me one of those Big Macs.” We all know that eating fish on Friday was just something that the fishmongers came up with in the Middle Ages. They just wanted to sell more fish! (I do not know that for a fact.) Actually the catholic church of the Middle Ages had something they called a “soul count.” Every food had a certain number of souls assigned to it. Vegetables were the least and meat the most. So, on Friday you were supposed to “fast” a little bit by reducing your soul count intake.

Back in Rome in Biblical times, the issue was that the Jewish Christians were telling the non-Jews what they could and could not eat. This was causing some who would otherwise have joined the faith to shake their heads in confusion and walk away. After all, Jesus never said anything of the kind. At the same time pagans were accusing all Christians of being cannibals because we “eat the body and blood of Christ.” Talk about an obstacle to joining the Faith!

Verses 16-17, “Do not let your good be spoken of as evil. . . . . the kingdom of God is. . . .righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” This is in fact the counter-intuitive thread that runs throughout the Gospels in the telling of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus only ever did good. He could do no other. Yet, people spoke evil of him to the point where crowds were yelling publicly for his execution on the Cross. It is such a human propensity to want to turn what is good into evil.

It is so crazy that I want to start making jokes about it! We can name anything at all and call it evil–that does not mean that it is! Do you see the carpeting in the Sanctuary? It is evil! How do I know? I really cannot say, but I think that it is evil.

We can laugh, but then we have the story in the Gospel of the woman who is accused of adultery. (John 8) A crowd is gathered around her and is about to destroy her because of an evil that they perceive in her that must be condemned. Jesus says “let the one who is without sin cast the first stone.” One by one they put down their weapons and walk away. Finally Jesus forgives the woman of her sin.

I bring up this story because of something that has happened not too long ago right here on our island. A woman was told that she could not join a certain church because she had been divorced. The pastors of that church saw her divorce as a stain upon her character. They saw it as an evil that could not be allowed in the church.

Jesus knew what evil was. He had been tempted in the wilderness for 40 days by Satan, pure evil. Yet, for the woman who had sinned, and for the entire world that crucified Him, He forgave. If you have a different logic in your head that says you must go out taking what is good and claiming that it is evil—then may God forgive you too!

Luke 23:39-43 tells of Jesus dying on the Cross with two criminals on either side of him. He has already forgiven the soldiers who have mocked him and nailed him to the Cross. Jesus accepts the confession of one of the criminals and accepts into Paradise in heaven in that very moment. We are not just supposed to condemn and destroy. We are supposed to save and build up through the Grace of Jesus Christ!

Verse 19 of Romans 14 tells us exactly this. We are supposed to “pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding.” We are not supposed to be out destroying the work of God. Actually, the world already has someone to do that. His name is Satan. And, that guy will do his utmost and so needs no help from us at all.

Paul goes on to state that we should not be self-condemning. “Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve.” (Verse 22) I believe that as we get older, we come to know ourselves better, and are less likely to be so self-condemning. However, when we are still young, we tend to be more critical, even to the point of self-destruction.

This is one of the things that I struggled with when I was younger. I thought of myself as stupid, ugly, and not worthy to be loved by anyone. It only took fifty years to become comfortable with all of my faults and flaws. Today’s youth feel the same thing. They are unsure of who they are and how they are accepted into society. What they are lacking is faith in themselves that comes from something of faith outside of themselves. They need to know that there is beauty in them that God created. They need to know that there is forgiveness for whatever wrongs they think they have committed. They need to hear that they are good. And, if you are of age and still have not heard it, then you too need to hear this today that you are loved and forgiven. You are good with God!

We are supposed to bless our brothers and sisters and not injure them. That is our calling. Yet, I think that this may be one of the hardest things for us to achieve in our faith. Here is why: it is never so clear-cut who is being injured and whether we can actually bless others who are causing others harm themselves. That is very vague, let me give you an example of the problem. Let us say that a man comes up and pushes down a senior lady and takes her purse. The woman is injured and needs help. The man is running away with her money.

Well, calling the police may injure the robber. He may have to be arrested and go to jail. How could a good Christian woman want to see a man be arrested and go to jail? That would be horrible. Yet, is it a blessing to the robber if he is not given the chance to make amends before the judge and maybe be given the opportunity to turn his life around. What is the greater blessing? Let the robber go, or take him to prison?

We Christians are called to consider the heavenly perspective of trying to redeem a life and set an injustice straight again. And, in the bigger picture, we should not be wasting God’s time with such trivial issues as to whether we can eat a cheeseburger and still claim to be holy.

Amen.