Live for Each Other

Today’s reading from Romans is another example where we do not know the exact issue that Paul is addressing. The clues that we have do not all agree about what behavior he is criticizing. There are many guesses. Is he talking about the Jewish dietary laws or about meat that has been offered to pagan idols? Is he talking about those who insist on keeping the sabbath or those who claim every day is to be lived the same? Or is the argument over what day Christians are to celebrate? There has been much debate over what Paul is talking about here. In the end, we can only surmise what it is. But, that does not prevent us from seeing Paul’s main point. We know there was tension in the Roman church. That tension may well have been between the Jewish and gentile members of the church.

That these two groups would have some disagreements about how to live out their new-found faith is not unusual. We can compare it, in one sense, to marriage. Two people who get married bring with them different experiences of how a family works, how the tasks of the family are distributed, and how to raise children. Those differences must be worked out in order that they are able to live together and, as their family grows, meet the new challenges each day may bring. It is also the same when congregations merge. Each congregation had their own history and way in which they did things. When they merge they have to figure out how they will live out their faith. We have experienced this type of conflict and change in our lives. Paul himself experienced it. He is writing to the Roman church not to prevent it but to remind the members of the church that they must look out for each other. He is telling the church that their fellow members are more important than tradition or rules or even the freedom you have in Jesus. Instead of insisting that you are correct and, for example, know that an idol is an inanimate object and not god, and therefore the meat offered to it is just meat, think first about those who are still new to the church and weak in faith and how your action will affect them.

We already know that. But oftentimes we forget that God has called us into community through Jesus Christ and desires that we show mutual love and affection. Our other lessons give us a glimpse of what this may be like. In Genesis, Joseph’s brothers are really worried. Out of Jealousy they had sold their brother into slavery and, after the death of their father, were afraid that he would finally take revenge. So they concoct a lie and present it to Joseph. Joseph, probably knowing it is a lie, forgives them. Jesus emphasizes forgiveness in his parable. Remember this is only a parable and not a true story. The first slave owes an astronomical amount of money 10,000 talents (the talent refers to weight – around 74 pounds – probably in silver) the second slave owed the first 100 denarii (a denarius was 1/96 of a pound of silver). The first slave owed over 71 million times more than the second. In fact, it would have been impossible for the first slave to pay off his debt. (A Roman soldier was paid around 200 denarii a year in comparison.) The point was that the first slave could never have paid off his debt and should have shown the same mercy to others.

We have also been forgiven what is impossible to do. Jesus, by his life, death, and resurrection, has paid the debt our sin has created. So when others sin against us we are to act as Jesus and forgive them, not as the first slave and demand repayment. I am not telling you anything that you do not know. We actually ask God to forgive us as we forgive others when we pray the Lord’s prayer. You have been rescued from the pit of sin and death, freed from the prison of our mistakes and made whole by Jesus. Now live your life as Jesus lived. Share God’s love with each other helping each other to grow in faith and love so that, together, we may share our gifts and talents with the world letting them experience God’s forgiveness themselves.