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Los Lunas Cornerstone

Church of the Nazarene

Let Us Adore Him (Advent 2, Peace)

    What is peace? Given that we’ve just lit the candle of peace, it’s worth considering. Is peace just the absence of conflict? That would certainly be the way the world wold want to describe peace. When we think about how the world would think about peace, we understand that they would take it to mean that there are no more wars, that everyone can just get along together and see eye to eye on everything. Is that really peace?
    Romans 15, our passage this morning, gives a different story. It lays out how believers in Christ ought to live with one another, and it is called peace. It isn’t the removal of conflict, like the world says. It doesn’t mean we never approach difficult topics or conversations, or that we never have hard words with each other. Rather, our foundation of peace is built on Christ, and what we find is that when we align our attitudes with Christ, it brings us into one mind and one voice, with unity we work to glorify God, rather than ourselves.
    Peace isn’t about winning an argument, or avoiding an argument, but about what it means to build a foundation on Christ that ultimately leads us to unity with one another.
    Let’s look at our passage for today, Romans 15:4-13, “Everything written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures give us strength to go on. They encourage us and give us hope. 5 Our God is a God who strengthens and encourages you. May He give you the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had. 6 Then you can give glory to God with one mind and voice. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Christ has accepted you. So accept one another in order to bring praise to God. 8 I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews. He teaches us that God is true. He shows us that God will keep the promises He made to the founders of our nation. 9 Jesus became a servant of the Jews. He did this so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for His mercy. It is written, “I will praise you among the Gentiles. I will sing the praises of your name.” 10 Again it says, “You Gentiles, be full of joy. Be joyful together with God’s people.” 11 And again it says, “All you Gentiles, praise the Lord. Let all the nations sing praises to him.” 12 And Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will grow up quickly. He will rule over the nations. The Gentiles will put their hope in him.” 13 May the God who gives hope fill you with great joy. May you have perfect peace as you trust in Him. May the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope.” (NIRV)
    Let’s take a moment first to understand what one of the issues was in the Roman church that Paul was addressing. Paul, in chapter 14 of Romans was addressing the eating practices of Christians. There were some that were very strong in their faith, and they had no problem with eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols because it didn’t cause spiritual issues for them; but there were Christians in the same church that thought this was an abomination, and would eat only vegetables in those circumstances. They had fallen into the trap of making this issue of eating meat or not, into a core issue, and a source of judgment against each other. They were accusing each other of not worshiping God properly if you didn’t agree with their side. Paul made his point by telling them not to purposefully be a stumbling block to others, but also to not judge others for their choices that really don’t harm their relationship with God.
    Chapter 15 then builds on this idea, that what we’re supposed to be doing as Christians isn’t to look out for what is best for me and my relationship with Christ, but rather on what is good for our neighbors and what builds up the community of Christ as a whole in unity. There is a huge emphasis in Paul’s letters, but especially here in Romans, on submission to others and selfless living.
    Paul says we ought to have the same attitude toward one another that Christ had. What does that mean? How does Paul define this attitude?
    One of my favorite verses from Romans is found in Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” (NIV) Paul says to be devoted to one another in love. Living in the body of Christ, having the same attitude toward one another in Christ, starts with being devoted to one another in LOVE. We learn that God encourages us and strengthens us. He seeks what is good for us, and does what is good for us. This is how we ought to love others as well, to love others as God loves them. Living in unity in the body of Christ means that we love one another by looking out for the well-being of other brothers and sisters.
    Being devoted to one another in love, having the same attitude as Christ toward one another also means that we sometimes put aside our own desires in order to build up the community. Paul tells us that Jesus became a servant to the Jews so that the Gentiles may believe and that God may be glorified. He became a servant, putting aside His own desires to do what was best for us, and for all those who would believe.
    In the Roman church, when it came to the issue about eating food being sacrificed to idols, Paul was saying that even though they might not agree on this issue, to put aside their own desires and to instead focus on building up the community of Christ. Not everyone is always going to agree, but that’s not necessarily what is important, and that’s not necessarily what brings peace.
    See, even though we might disagree on things, the foundation we have is the same. Paul calls us to have one voice and one mind. This oneness, this unity, comes out of being like Christ. He is the perfect example of what it looks like to be of one mind and one voice, as He said that He is one with the Father, and He knows the Father’s mind because He and the Father are one. So if we are to be of one voice and one mind with one another, then Christlikeness must be the foundation that we all have.
    The example He gave us is what we must strive for. He showed us love, He showed us compassion, He showed us how to care for one another, He showed us how to submit, He showed us how to sacrifice, and He showed us how to be selfless. So the way for us to truly be of one mind and one voice, the way for us to truly find peace with one another even in the midst of disagreements, is to become more like Christ. Growing in discipleship is how we become more loving, compassionate, caring, submissive, sacrificing, and selfless.
    This is an idea that we can look at in some of Paul’s other letters as well, like in Ephesians 4:2-5, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (NIV)
    Paul says that at our foundation should be the bond of peace, which we keep through unity, remembering that we are one body, with one Spirit, called to one hope by one Lord, one faith, one baptism. He says that we should be humble and gentle, patient, and bear with one another in love. This doesn’t say we have to agree, but it is a recipe for how we keep the unity and bond of peace in times that we don’t agree.
    Paul says in Romans 15:7 to accept one another, because Christ first accepted us. This doesn’t just happen, and it certainly isn’t easy. But we do it because Jesus first accepted us. But what we find is that as we grow in discipleship, as we become more like Christ, the more we will think like Christ, and have the mind of Christ through the Spirit’s work in us. Christ accepted you when you were feeble in your faith, and so we care called to accept one another even when we have feeble faith.
    We become servants of one another, just as Jesus served us and still serves us today. And we do this so that God might be glorified, and so we will be led to greater unity with each other.
    What this passage does is it calls us to be more like Jesus, and reminds us that being like Christ is the only way for us to find peace, not as the world understands it, a lack of conflict, but true peace, that looks at our differences and decides instead to cling to our unity.
    These were harsh words to the church that Paul was writing to. He calls out their selfishness and tells them to learn to be humble and ELEVATE one another. He calls out their judgmentalism and tells them to embrace the unity they have in Christ. He calls out their exclusiveness and tells them to have the mind of Jesus toward them, who accepted all.
    Paul isn’t saying that peace is avoiding conflict or confrontation. He knows those things are going to happen, even in the community of faith. He knows that the way to true peace in the body of Christ is to confront the things that are keeping us separate and breaking our unity. The way to live in peace with one another isn’t to ignore these issues, but to be reminded that at the core of who we are, at our foundation, is a better way. We are called to be like Christ above all else.
    All communities, even communities like the body of Christ, are full of people with differences of opinions. We have deep feelings about important issues. It would be easy for us to think that staying quiet about those issues will bring peace, but that clearly isn’t true. Again, as with all things in the world, Christ shows us a different way. The Holy Spirit through Paul asks us to remember who we are called to be. No to ignore conflict, but to wade through it with Christ as our foundation and our bond of peace. This is hard, but we remember that Christ calls us to a higher way so that we might glorify God.

Questions to form your quiet times this week:
1. Where in our community do we need to confront our judgmentalism, selfishness, or exclusionary practices?

2. Where in our community (church) do we need to be reminded of our foundation and identity in Christ?

3. Where do you need to submit, be selfless, and surrender to the hard work of examining your own heart? If peace begins with you, where do you need to allow your heart to be transformed so you can be a person of peace?

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