7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring
praise to God. 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.”
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. Romans 15:7-13
As I read this passage, the phrase “Accept one another, then, just as Christ
accepted you,” (Romans 15:7) is what jumps out at me. That is a tall order! Christ has accepted us into His family, with
limitless patience and love -- we are to welcome and receive one another in
that same spirit. Paul reminded us in the previous passage of Romans 15 that
when we operate in unity as the body of Christ, we have one heart and one mouth
to praise God (Romans 15:6). This reminds me of when my three girls were
little, and they needed to clean up their playroom. Once the work was done, they could move onto
the next fun activity of going to the park, doing a craft, or whatever carrot I
chose to dangle before them to induce some action. But often, they would waste their time
arguing over who left the toys out, who had tidied up the day before, or my
personal favourite, who had friends over that had made the entire mess! Often, the result would be dinner was ready
before they had time to get to the fun stuff.
I would shake my head and say, “just stop quibbling and work together to
get the job done.”
I think God must shake his head at us in much the same way from time to
time. We have been called into one body
and one fellowship, to live together in oneness with Christ as the center. Yet, sometimes we let our differences limit
us, instead of taking the time to listen and really find out where someone else
is coming from. Being a part of the
Family of God is such a gift but comes with responsibilities. We need must put the love of God and one
another ahead of our own agendas and “to-do” lists. If we can stay focused on our common goals
and unite as His people, we can be powerful instruments for the Holy Spirit to
work through in bringing glory to God. This tall order becomes far more doable
if we stop quibbling and remind ourselves of what Jesus did for us -- then any
petty differences that we have with others don’t seem like such a big deal.
Today, I pray that this passage moves you as it has me, to work towards
unity with our church family at St. Augustine’s and beyond. If there are any
relationships that need mending, I pray that Christ gives us the grace and
humility to do what needs to be done, so we can get to the good stuff!
- Wendy Doherty
