Well, I am excited today. Lord willing, this will be my last time filming my message in front of a camera in an empty sanctuary.
Starting next Sunday, June 21st, we will be resuming our worship together in person.
We're going to be having an outdoor service.
And if you haven't got the details or information for that and would like to come, please get in contact.
And I'll be happy to get those details to you.
We're going to be meeting outside, so we'll have lots of space.
We'll be able to keep the required distance.
And we're really looking forward to that.
On the 28th, we'll be back here in the building.
And services will resume here at 11 a.m.
And so I'm excited to get back to worshiping together in person on Sundays.
Today, as we look into God's Word, we're going to continue on the theme that we began on last Sunday of how can we make this transition well.
The province has given us quite a number of guidelines that we must follow in order to resume gatherings for worship.
And we want to make this transition well.
Last Sunday, we looked at how we are to submit to the governing authorities.
God has instituted government.
And it's his desire that we follow the laws, the orders that they have given.
And so we are going to do that to the best of our ability as a church in the weeks ahead.
But this is a significant transition.
And so we want to do this well as a church.
And so this message today is aimed at helping us do that.
Not just understanding what we should do, but mainly to our hearts.
Helping us in our hearts with this transition.
So today's message, in some ways, will be continuing where we left off.
We're going to start reading in Romans chapter 13.
If you have a Bible, please open it up to Romans chapter 13, verse 8.
And before we dig in, let's just pray.
Father in heaven, thank you for your word.
Thank you that you speak to us powerfully through these pages, even today in our generation, in our day and age.
We ask that you would speak to our hearts and give us understanding as we read these words.
And that you would show us how you would have us live in the days ahead as we come back together again as a church.
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen.
Well, I'm going to start reading in verse 8.
And I encourage you to follow along in your Bible.
These are the words of the Lord.
Let no debt remain outstanding.
Accept the continuing debt to love one another.
For whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, you shall not commit adultery.
You shall not murder.
You shall not steal.
You shall not covet.
And whatever other command there may be are summed up in this one command.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no harm to a neighbor.
Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law.
And from here, Paul will go on to give some specific instructions about how he longs for the church there in Rome to love one another.
And I'm not going to read the whole of chapter 14 and 15.
But this is the main passage that my message comes from.
If you'd like, I encourage you to pause the video and take some time to just read through chapters 14 and 15.
This is the main text for our passage.
We'll just kind of read portions of it.
But the church in Rome has been arguing.
There has been fighting, disagreements.
We see this in verse 1.
Paul says,
So there's been quarreling.
There's been fighting.
There's been arguing over disputable matters.
Paul goes on to tell us what kind of matters those are.
Matters of eating and drinking.
Some people believe that it's a sin to eat certain foods.
Those foods are unclean.
Others believe that it's not a sin.
We can eat those foods.
They're not unclean.
And there's disagreements over sacred days.
Paul goes on to say here in chapter 14.
Which days are holy and should be set apart and observed carefully in certain ways and which are not.
And out of all of these, there are differences of opinion.
But there has been some attitudes which have arisen that Paul puts his finger on.
In verse 3 he says,
The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not.
And the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does.
So there has been some people treating others who see things differently or do things differently with contempt.
Passing judgment on them.
Looking down on them.
Treating them negatively.
Because of these differences over these disputable matters.
It's an ugly thing.
In verse 10 Paul says,
You then, why do you judge your brother or sister?
Or why do you treat them with contempt?
We may wonder, well, what does this have to do with us and COVID?
We're in a different situation today.
This doesn't directly apply in the same way.
We don't have differences over food and drink and sacred days like the church in Rome did.
But there are some similarities if we go beneath the surface here.
There's a lot of differences of opinion over all of this COVID-19 stuff.
And I think as we gather together as a church, some of those differences may arise.
And we may see, oh, how come we have to be doing this?
Well, we should be doing this.
This is good.
Others may feel that this is not necessary.
You think of even the simple thing of wearing a mask.
Do we need to wear a mask?
Some people feel we should and we do.
Others, not so much.
And so, in a different sense, there's some similarities here.
There are differences of opinion.
And we want to see from the Lord, what does he have to say to us in our day with what we're facing with all this COVID stuff about how to handle differences of opinion?
So, what does Paul say?
Well, first of all, he acknowledges that the differences are there.
He doesn't sweep them under the rug and minimize them.
He acknowledges that they're there.
They're real.
One person's faith, verse 2, allows them to eat anything.
But another whose faith is weak eats only vegetables.
Verse 5, one person considers one day more sacred than another.
Another considers every day alike.
So, these differences are real.
And probably when we get together, we'll see that there are differences in how we think and feel.
I know there's at least a couple people in our church who feel that wearing a mask is not necessary.
And this is all an overreaction.
And there's at least a couple people in our church who feel quite the opposite.
It's really good that we're wearing masks.
We want to do everything we can to protect those in our community who are vulnerable.
So, how should we handle these differences?
Well, the first thing Paul does is remind these people here in the church in Rome just who they are in Christ.
Verse 3,
That person who thinks or does a little differently than you and your family in the midst of all of this COVID stuff,
God has accepted them.
Because of their relationship with Jesus, they are on the same level, the same ground as you are.
In fact, Paul will go on to take up the language of family.
He says in verse 10,
Those people who see it differently than you in these disputable matters,
they're your brother, your sister, their family in the Lord.
Let's not forget that.
From there, Paul goes on to give some instruction.
He says that we should not treat those who see things differently with contempt.
This is verse 3 and verse 10.
We should not judge them.
Verse 13,
We should not pass judgment on them.
Play the judge.
Look down on them.
Because they see things differently than we do.
We shouldn't assume that that person that feels like they should go the extra mile
in doing these guidelines and wearing a mask even in public is a legalist,
is just doing it to appear self-righteous.
We shouldn't assume that that person that feels they don't need to wear a mask in public
is doing it because they're reckless and they're selfish
and they don't care about anyone else.
In fact, Paul encourages the people in the church there
to assume positive intention for their different ways of doing things.
In verse 6,
Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.
Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord,
for they give thanks to God.
And whoever abstains from eating meat does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.
For none of us lives for ourselves alone.
Verse 8,
If we live, we live for the Lord.
And so we may have different ideas about what we should do
and how we should handle this and what your family will do
and how you will manage your kids in the midst of all of this,
especially as we gather again as a church.
But as Christians, Paul is saying,
everything we do, we should be doing for the Lord as unto Him.
And you may decide to do something different than I may decide to do.
And that's okay.
These are disputable matters.
And let's be clear, we're talking about disputable matters.
We're not talking about things that God has made clear,
like we talked about last Sunday.
It is clear that we are to submit to the governing authorities
that He has placed in our lives, Romans 13.1.
And so we will, as a church, follow the guidelines
and the requirements that the government has given us.
But some may wish to go beyond that.
Others may have a different attitude about things that are disputable,
whether we need to wear masks for the whole service,
as opposed to just during the singing.
Paul's encouragement is,
don't pass judgment on one another when it comes to these things.
Don't think that you're better,
that you see it the right way.
They're wrong and, you know,
they're just off.
You've got the superior view here and look down on them.
Don't do that, he says.
In verse 13,
let us stop passing judgment on one another.
And throughout this section,
he reminds them that each of us,
when it comes to these disputable matters,
these things that may be a little bit gray,
we will have to answer to God
for how we conduct ourselves.
And so let Him be the judge.
Don't play the judge
over your brother or your sister
in these kinds of things.
So what is to be the guiding principle
as we seek to gather together again
for this church in Rome
with their particular issues?
Well, it has to do with love.
And Paul will explain that
starting in verse 13.
He says,
Instead, make up your mind
not to put any stumbling block
or obstacle
in the way of a brother
or sister.
He goes on to give
a bit of an example
of what he means by this.
I think mainly to do with the food stuff.
He says,
I'm convinced,
being fully persuaded
in the Lord Jesus,
that nothing is unclean in itself.
But,
if anyone regards something
as unclean,
then for that person,
it is unclean.
If your brother or sister
is distressed,
because of what you eat,
you are no longer acting in love.
He continues on
to flesh this out a little more
in verse 20.
He says,
Do not destroy the work of God
for the sake of food.
All food is clean.
But it is wrong
for a person
to eat anything
that causes someone else
to stumble.
It is better not to eat meat
or drink wine
or to do anything else
that will cause
your brother
or sister
to fall.
Now,
what is Paul talking about here?
Again,
it may be difficult
for us to relate
to the food and drink thing.
We tend not to see
food as,
well,
it is a sin to eat this
and not this.
At least,
not in our culture
or in our church.
But the gist
of what Paul is saying
is that there are times
when we may need
to lay aside
good things,
our rights
or our freedoms
for the sake
of others
and would do it
out of love
for a brother
or sister.
And in this case,
it has to do with
that brother or sister
in this example
having a weak conscience.
For them,
they see that activity
or that partaking
in that thing
as sinful.
And so,
when you,
knowing that it isn't
truly sinful,
come along
and in front of them
just do it,
right in front of them.
It can cause them
to stumble
or cause them
to fall.
And Paul's speaking
of almost harming
that brother or sister
not in a physical sense
but in a spiritual sense.
In 1 Corinthians 8,
verse 4,
Paul goes on
to give another
clear example of this
talking about
food that's been
sacrificed to idols.
And he talks about
how,
you know,
if one brother or sister
sees eating that food
as a sin,
I mean,
that's the false god
I used to worship
and I turned away
from that
when I came
to faith in Christ.
And you,
even,
you have no issues
eating it.
You know that
an idol's nothing,
that it's not a true god,
it's just food.
But you,
you know that
your brother
has an issue with it
but you go
and you eat it
in front of them.
Paul says,
you wound his conscience
and you sin
against Christ.
He says,
you cause them
to stumble
and you should
not do that.
In that case,
he says,
you should
lay aside
your freedom
to eat
this kind
of food
and not eat it.
He says,
if what I eat
causes my brother
to stumble,
if eating meat
causes my brother
to stumble,
I will never
eat meat again.
Now that's an example
of love.
I am a carnivore
through and through
and I love
a good hamburger.
I love
a good
barbecued
piece of chicken.
But there are times
when for love,
out of love
for our brother
or sister
in Christ
or our neighbor,
we must lay aside
good things,
our freedoms,
our rights,
our privileges.
That's what love
does
and that's the principle
that Paul is getting
at here
in Romans chapter 14.
This is
the solution.
This is the key.
towards peace,
which is what
he's trying to
encourage
and restore
and strengthen
here in the church
in Rome.
He says
in chapter 15,
verse 1,
we who are strong
ought to bear
with the failings
of the weak
and not to please
ourselves.
Each of us
should please
our neighbors
for their good
to build them up.
For even Christ
did not please
himself.
It's easy
with all of this
COVID restrictions
that have
been put on us
in the past
weeks and months
to be thinking
about ourselves
and pleasing
ourselves
and what we
want to do
but are unable
to,
especially as we
come to gather
for worship again.
What we would
like to do,
we would like
to draw close,
we would like
to give hugs,
we would like
to shake hands,
we would like
to sing as
loudly as we
want without
a mask,
we'd like to
hang out in
the building
just like we
did before.
But there are
times when
out of love
for others
who may be
harmed by our
actions or
who are weaker,
we must lay
aside some of
our freedom,
some of our
rights,
some of our
privileges.
And in this
case with the
COVID stuff
that's going
on,
it's not
weakness of
conscience,
but it's
weakness
physically.
Some people
are more
vulnerable to
this virus
that when it
should come
into our
community,
it may take
them out
because they
have underlying
health issues
already.
So that's
why our
province has
given us
these guidelines
and requirements
to follow.
This is the
way of love.
love will
sacrifice
oneself,
lay down
oneself,
one's rights,
freedoms,
privileges,
out of concern
for the other.
Love is
concerned for
the other,
not mainly
for oneself.
I think to
those words
that are
famous in
the passage
on love,
1 Corinthians
13,
love does
not seek
its own
or it is
not self
seeking.
Paul reminds
us that
this is
the very
way that
Jesus
himself
has loved
us.
He says
for even
Christ
did not
please
himself.
He came
into our
world and
he said
not what
I want,
what I
will be
done.
And he
suffered,
he went
to the
cross,
he laid
down his
life for
us,
for his
friends,
love's sake,
because he
loved us.
He gave
up that
which was
rightfully
his.
In his
letter to
the
Corinthians,
Paul says,
though he
was rich,
yet for
our sake,
he became
poor.
He let
go of
that which
was rightfully
his,
his rights,
his privilege,
and he
did it for
love's sake,
for us,
to save
us.
Paul says,
encourages the
church in
Rome and
us to
have that
same mindset
and attitude.
We see
this in
chapter 15
verse 5,
may the
God who
gives
endurance
and
encouragement
give you
the same
attitude of
mind
toward each
other
that Christ
Jesus
had.
We could
think of
those words
in Paul's
letter to
the Philippians.
He says,
do nothing
out of
selfish
ambition,
or vain
conceit.
Rather,
value others
above
yourselves.
Don't
merely look
to your
own
interests,
but look
also to
the
interests
of
others.
Again,
he says
there,
have the
same
mindset
as
Christ
Jesus,
who being
in very
nature
God,
did not
consider
equality
with God
something
to be
used to
his own
advantage.
Rather,
he made
himself
nothing
by taking
the very
nature
of a
servant,
being made
in human
likeness.
And it
goes on
from there.
This is
the way
that Jesus
has loved
us.
And Paul
is saying,
have the
same
attitude
attitude,
of
being
willing,
if
necessary,
to lay
down
your
life
for your
brother,
for your
sister,
for your
neighbor.
And we
have
opportunity
to do
that in
this
COVID
situation.
The virus
is not
here in
Davidson
yet,
but it
may
yet
get
here.
And when
it does,
there are
people who
are weaker
neighbors in
our community,
not necessarily
weakness in
conscience,
but who
have physical
weakness.
I think of
the people
over at
the lodge.
I think of
some of the
people in
the manor.
I think of
many elderly
people living
still in their
own houses
here in
town,
who have
underlying
health issues.
There are
times when
we must
lay aside
our rights,
our freedoms,
our privileges,
for the sake
of love
for others.
And that's
really what
the province
has called
us to do
with all
of this.
And so as
we come
together in
the weeks
ahead,
I hope and
I pray that
that can
be our
mindset.
That we're
not just
doing all
these things
because we
have to.
As we heard
last Sunday,
we're doing
these things
because we
love the
Lord Jesus
and we
want to
honor him
and obey
the government
as he's
asked us
to.
But we're
also doing
these things
out of
love for
one another
and out
of love
for our
neighbors
because we
care about
them.
We will
joyfully
lay down
some of
our freedom,
some of
our privileges.
We will
adhere to
these
restrictions.
At the
end of all
of this,
we can
still meet
together.
We can
still
worship
God.
We can
still sing
despite
these
things
and we
will.
And I
hope that
we can
all do
that together
with joy
in our
hearts
and that
those
watching
will see
us as
an example,
a living,
breathing
example of
the kind
of love
that Jesus
has for
them.
Let's
close with
a word
of prayer.
Lord Jesus,
thank you
for these
words.
we know
that the
church in
Rome was
different.
We know
that we're
in a
different
situation
here today
and we
know that
many other
churches
are in
different
situations
than our
own church
here in
Davidson,
but we
pray and
ask that
you would
work in
our hearts
that by
your spirit
you would
pour your
love into
us and
that it
would overflow
from us
to others.
We don't
want anything
to be a
dampener
on our
joy or
to spoil
our worship
in the
weeks ahead.
And so
we ask
that you
would give
us grace
and help
to accept
what has
been given
for this
time and
to proceed
with care
and with
concern,
with love,
with faith,
and with
white-hot
worship for
you.
You are
our God,
you are
our Savior,
and we
love you.
we pray
these things
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.
Thank you.