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The Peace and Hope That Comes From Accepting One Another
Romans 15:1-13
Mari Ikeda
We are now in August. Every year, this is the time for Japanese to remember the mistake of going to war, but I suppose many people have a special feeling this year because we have learnt so well since the war started in Ukraine last February, how difficult it is to end the war, and how fragile the peace is. Also, it was a memorial day for Hiroshima yesterday, and for Nagasaki it will be the day after tomorrow. Although Japan is the only country to have been bombed with atomic weapons, we have not joined Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and even some Japanese politicians started to discuss the idea of nuclear sharing by using the excuse of Russian threat, to many people’s dismay and anger, including myself. Therefore, I have been thinking since a while ago I’d like to speak about peace from Bible in August, but decided to continue to read the Romans for today, Romans 15, because this section actually gives us a clue about peace.
Today we’re going to read 15:1-13. This section is the very last part of the body of this letter, only to be followed by the closing greetings starting from the next paragraph. As it is the last part of the body, its content is a brief summary of what has been said throughout the letter. Let’s read a little at a time as usual. Verse 1-2, first.
A. Let us be patient with one another
1. The strong drawing near to the weak (1-2)
1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.
This is the repetition of the teaching from the previous part, saying that the person of strong faith should not condemn those of weak faith, but accept them. However, because this is a part of the summary of this letter, we don’t have to limit this as just meant for the conflict between Christian conservatives and liberals as we saw last time, but instead we can broaden our interpretation as to the teaching about the relationship between the strong and the weak in general in society. Here we see the important principle that this letter has been teaching us about. It is the principle that the strong should adjust themselves to the weak, and that the strong must not force the weak to make efforts to become strong. Jesus himself took the initiative to set the example. Let’s read the next verse, v.3.
2. Imitating Jesus (3)
3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
Jesus, who was God, but came to this world as a man, chose to be with the lowly people rather than the high class people, and condemned the hypocrites, but loved the sinners. Moreover, even though He himself was absolutely righteous, he was hanged on the cross for our sin. It was clearly the injustice, for the righteous person was made suffered by the evil ones. However, He only accepted the injustice, and chose to prove his love for us rather than his own righteousness.
We need to follow this example of Jesus, if we want to build peace. It is to chose to love others more than justify one’s position among others. For that cause, we may sometimes need to give up our self-protection, and endure people’s misunderstanding and even people’s humiliating treatment.
However, this neither means that we should always accept and neglect injustice, nor we should be silent and just persist in any humiliation. As I talked about this in details when I spoke about “Love your enemies” from Romans 12, I would appreciate if you read it on our website if you have not listened to it yet.
Let’s move on to v.4.
3. Learning from the Bible (4)
4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
The quotation in the previous v. 3, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me,” is the word in Psalm 69 in the Old Testament. While it was originally a song of David, who wrote this psalm for lamenting the unjust treatments he received when he was under siege by his enemies, it became a song for all those who suffer for injustice, and came to be applied to interpret the life of Jesus.
There are more songs of honest and direct words of people in Psalms, seeking God’s help in hardships, asking God for why He does not answer, and asking for forgiveness of one’s mistake. There are also some songs to give thanks for God’s answering to one’e prayer, or to confess one’s faith in Him even when the situations remains bad.
The Bible, not only Psalms and the Old Testament, but including the New Testament, is the book to teach us what it means for people to live by believing in God. It teaches us that God’s love for us has never changed over the course of time even though we human beings are weak and repeat mistakes all the time. That’s why we need to read the Bible so that we may not lose hope and endure in spite of the weight of sin of human race, and make sure of ourselves that God has not forsaken us.
Let’s move on to v.5-6.
4. Sharing a common desire for God (5-6)
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is Paul’s prayer for people of the church in Rome, but also directed toward us, transcending times. We as Christians face various internal conflicts even though we share the common faith in Jesus Christ, because the culture and lifestyle each of us grew up with is different, and each church teaches each of us differently. However, in this prayer, Paul does not pray for all the Christians to have a single mind for every matter. Instead, he wants and prays for each of us to discard the wrong belief in one’s righteousness and to share the common attitude to compromise and try to understand with each other. It means by following Jesus’ example to give priority to show love for others more than prove one’s righteousness, and seek God’s glory rather than our own fame. Just as Paul prays, let’s pray for God’s help for each other.
Now, let’s start the second half. First, verse 7.
B. What we gain from accepting one another
1. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you” (7)
7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
I think this short sentence is the simple principle to guide us to accept each other’s differences and avoid conflicts with each other in order to create a peaceful world. It says, we should forgive and love each other, just as Jesus forgave our sin and accepted us. We may need to be not afraid of being hurt for others, just as Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross for all people.
This can apply to all sorts of human relationships. 。 It applies not only the relationship among believers in a church, which is originally intended in this paragraph, but also to friends, couples, and parents and children. Similarly, it can apply to the relationship between the Christian conservatives and liberals, the theme of teaching in the previous chapter, and to the
relationship among Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches. Likewise, we should keep the same attitude to everyone, whether the person is a Christian or not, because Jesus accepts everyone.
Let’s continue to read v. 8-12.
2. In a surprising turn of events, gentiles believe in God (8-12)
8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” 10 Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.”
The problem of conflict between the Jews and Gentiles has been tackled with throughout this letter of Romans, especially in chapter 9-11. In closing the letter, I suppose Paul could not help but come back to this issue once again. For the Jews in those days, it was a surprise that Gentile came to believe in the same God together. However, as Paul points out here, it was indeed something that had been prophesied in various parts of the Old Testament, and it just revealed that God’s love and mercy were far greater than human expectation from the beginning. As it was repeatedly emphasized in chapter 9-11, God’s choice of people is far reaching beyond human expectation, choosing those who are thought unworthy to be chosen, and giving faith to those without faith. We also need to know that there might be some people who seek God just as we do, among those we think are our enemies who we would never understand each other, or among those we unconsciously look down. We may find our friends in most unexpected place.
Now, let’s read the last verse, v.13.
3. Joy, peace, and hope beyond our imagination (13)
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This prayer of Paul is for people of the church in Rome, who had the problem of internal conflict right at hand. He prays that joy and peace would be given to them through their trust in Jesus, even if they worried and feared for being excluded by each other. He also continues to pray that they may remain in hope by the help of the Holy Spirit in order that they approach toward the future where they understand each other better.
As you might notice, the text we read today does not teach us how to stop human evils and injustice. It does not tell us how we can stop the war that has already started. Nonetheless, I find the similarity between what is said in today’s text and the way of Hibakusha, the victims of the atomic bombs, who have made actions for prohibition of nuclear weapons and peace, for they desired that no one may suffer the same tragedy they had to experience again. They are the people who sacrificed their life for the future generations, by speaking up about their painful memory that they would want to forget otherwise, by overcoming hatred to make friends and supporters all over the world. We need to keep looking for a way in order not to waste their efforts and focus on what is beneficial for the world peace and our future generations, more than some short-term benefits of one’s nation in the name of national security.
(Prayer) Dear God, who created this world and knows our everything, give us a humility to accept our own mistakes and weaknesses. Help us not to justify ourselves but to have compassion and an attitude to understand others. Pour out your Spirit on us, so that we can forgive and accept each other, just as you forgave and accepted each of us. Help us resist in solidarity to any forms of human evil and injustice, wars and oppressions in the world. Dear Lord Jesus, we pray this in your name, Amen.
Summary
In order to create a society that values diversity, each one of us needs to start by accepting others’ differences, and being patient and practicing forgiveness when others misunderstand us. We have encountered Jesus Christ, who has accepted us in that way. Jesus went out of his way to include those who have been rejected and to choose those who have been deemed worthless. If we imitate Jesus and accept one another, even if the world is not a place of peace, we will have joy and peace in our hearts and live in hope of what we do not see.
For Discussion
- Are there people you find difficult to accept (forgive)?
- What is “the endurance taught in the Scriptures”?