Welcome the Weak

Welcome the Weak

Romans 14:1-12

“So, where are we staying tonight?” Ellen and I had just started dating, and we were on a cross-country road trip. We were making a video for my mother’s 50th birthday. Back then (in the dark ages), we could not send video messages online, so I needed to drive across the country to get live video from family and friends. We were driving from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Palatine, Illinois, and Ellen asked a simple question, “Where are we staying tonight?” I replied, “The Scalabrinos.” Nick Scalabrino was my best friend, and his parents always welcomed me as a son. Then Ellen asked a simple follow-up question, “Do they know we are coming?” It was 10:30 pm. I said, “No, I should probably call them.” Ellen had just gotten her first taste of my planning skills. “You haven’t called them yet?”, she asked. So I channeled my inner Grant Hinson and said, “It’ll be fine. You don’t know the Scalabrinos. They love me.” 

We arrived at their house around 11:30 pm. Ellen was a little nervous walking into the home of total strangers who hadn’t known we were coming until an hour before. Yet, the Scalabrinos greeted us with a big midwestern welcome. The kitchen was full of food just as if they had known we were coming. They offered us an entire spread of all sorts of meats and cheeses, snacks, and drinks, with warm hugs and kind smiles. The Scalabrinos did not disappoint. As I have gotten older, I have never forgotten that welcome. I gave almost no notice before arriving at their home just before midnight.  But instead of receiving the, “What were you thinking?” judgment of two tired parents after a long day, I received, “Welcome! We are so glad you are here!” It was, indeed, a genuinely loving and joyful welcome, an undeserved grace that I have never forgotten.

The Scalabrinos treated me like family, like a son coming home from a long journey. Their love was not qualified. I was their son’s friend and, therefore, I was family. If their son welcomed me, they welcomed me, and since Ellen was with me, they welcomed her as family.  It was that simple. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever been welcomed by others into their homes and lives simply because you knew someone they knew? It may have been housing on a road trip, or the loan of a car after an accident, or an unknown chainsaw crew showing up after a storm. Have you ever been welcomed with kindness simply because you knew someone they knew?

Beloved, this is the church. This is the family of faith. If God has welcomed us, then we must welcome others with no qualifications. If God has opened His arms to fellowship, we must open our arms to fellowship. We must offer a Holy Spirit welcome to all who have fellowship with Christ. Now, it’s easy when the person we are asked to welcome is like us. If they have the same political opinions, like the same sports teams, have the same dietary restrictions, the same hobbies, and the same way of looking at the world, then it’s easy. But what if they are not like us? Well, that brings us to Romans 14. 

It appears that Paul has heard of some conflict in the church at Rome and takes some time to instruct the church about getting along with one another; he wants to encourage them to welcome one another in the same way that God has welcomed them. This morning, I want to encourage us to do the same. 

Welcome in the Lord (v. 1-4)

Over the last two chapters, the Apostle Paul has encouraged the Roman church to love one another. His exhortations were more general in nature, but here he seems to be addressing a specific situation. 

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14:1–4

Who are the weak and the strong in this passage? Most scholars believe the weak are Jewish Christians whose consciences did not allow them to eat meat and/or observe certain festival days. Dietary laws and the yearly liturgical calendar were very important in Jewish life. Many Jews were raised to eat only vegetables and to worship the Lord in specific ways on specific days. But, when they became Christians, they never felt free to move on from those practices. 

Remember, the Roman church was a mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles. Jewish believers probably founded and led the church until they were forced to leave Rome sometime during the reign of Claudius (41-54 AD). After Claudius died, Jews were allowed to return to Rome and return to the church. The church is for Christians, but not all Christians come from the same culture. In the church in Rome, some were Christians from a Jewish culture and others were Christians from a Gentile culture. These cultural differences were causing conflict in the church. 

In Romans 14:1,  when Paul writes,  “as for the one who is weak in faith,” he is referring to Christians from a Jewish background who felt bound by their consciences to remain culturally Jewish by not eating meat. 

In Acts 10, God gives Peter a vision, 

The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Acts 10:9–16

God gave Peter a direct command to,  “Rise, kill, and eat.”. But Peter responds like one of weak faith, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Then God gives a glorious sentence, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” A few paragraphs later Peter explains the vision,

And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean…Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. Acts 10:28; 34-35

God removed the dietary restrictions for the Jewish people to reveal that He shows no partiality but welcomes all who fear and follow Him. Both Jew and Gentile can be saved in Christ. 

If Peter now eats food formerly called unclean, then he demonstrates a strong faith in God. If others believe in Jesus but do not feel free to eat meat that was formerly unclean, they are still Christians, but weak in faith. You can imagine that the difference in how one approached food had the potential to cause severe conflict in the church. Now it appears that it was not just a potential conflict but a real one. Therefore, Paul took time to address it and, by doing so, the Holy Spirit is helping us with all the potential conflict in our own church. 

Paul explains the difference of people’s opinions and then provides the reason why we should not judge one another for those opinions. 

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. Romans 14:1–4

Notice that the text repeats the word “welcome” twice, in verse 1, “welcome him,” and in verse 3, “for God has welcomed him”? If God has welcomed him, then you should welcome him. It’s that simple. Paul then asks a penetrating question, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?” Who are you? You are not the boss. What gives you the right to look down on him? He belongs to God, not you. Paul is saying, “Focus on yourself and your master. Let God focus on others.” 

It’s not our place to judge. We should be more concerned about ourselves and how we are living before the Lord than we are about others. Remember Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7, 

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1–5

Paul is most likely drawing on Jesus in Romans. We should not pass judgment on others. Before we look at others, we have to take a hard long look at ourselves. It is natural to look down on others when they do not do things the way we would do them. In Rome, those who did not eat meat and observed certain days were considered better than others.  What is it in Rock Hill? In what ways are you tempted to judge one another within our body, and how does that judging create potential disunity in the body? Does it reveal that we show partiality toward certain people? Maybe we need a letter written to us, 

Let not the ones who homeschool despise the ones who send their kids to charter schools, and let not the ones who send their kids to public schools judge the ones who don't, for God has welcomed them both.

Let not one who chooses to listen to secular music despise the one who only listens to hymns, and let not the one who doesn't watch tv, despise the one who does, for God has welcomed them both. 

Let not the one who eats organic despise the one who eats processed food, and let not the one who eats meat despise the one who eats only vegetables, for God has welcomed them both. 

Let not the one who wears knee-length skirts despise the one who wears leggings, and let not the one who wears jeans to church despise the one who wears only dresses, for God welcomes them both. 

Let not the one who believes in a young earth despise the one who believes in an old earth, and let not the one who is postmillennial pass judgment on the one who is dispensational, for God welcomes them both. 

Let not the one who comes to every service look down on the one who only comes on Sunday mornings, and let not the one who regularly reaches out to others despise the one who doesn’t, for God has welcomed them both. 

Let not the churches who have expository preaching despise the ones who have topical preaching, and let not the churches who talk a lot about doctrine look down on the ones who talk more about reaching people, for God has welcomed them both. 

Let not the one who is bought with the blood of Christ despise the one who was bought with the blood of Christ, and let not the one who was forgiven look down upon the one who has received mercy, for God has welcomed them both. 

Can we admit that we all have the tendency to judge one another? How do you judge others? We all tend to believe that our way of doing things is better.  Can we commit to root out our judgmentalism? Can we lift each other up in prayer more than bring down each other in judgment? 

If God has welcomed others, we should welcome them too. God will keep them and uphold them. God is able to make them stand. Instead of judging one another, let's commit one another to the Lord. Let’s entrust our fellow church members to God.

Honor the Lord (v. 5-9)

Does this mean we cannot try to encourage our brothers or sisters to do things differently? I don’t think that's what Paul is saying here. If Paul is drawing on the words of Jesus, remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7,

Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:4–5

Jesus doesn’t say never help your brother or talk to your sister when you disagree, He says first, take the log out of your own eyes so that you can see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. If we walk away from Romans 14 thinking that we are justified to do whatever we want to do, then we don’t understand the text. We can’t look only at the first paragraph; we have to understand the second paragraph as well. We want our relationships to be the type where we can talk to each other about the things we feel others are not doing well. We never want to do anything that dishonors the Lord.

Someone is not necessarily judging you when they ask you why you send your kids to public school, and someone is not necessarily judging you when they ask why you are listening to secular music. Someone is not necessarily judging you when they ask you why you dress up for church. When we are questioned, it helps to confirm that what we are doing honors  the Lord. 

One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. Romans 14:5–6

The key sentence is at the end of verse 5, “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” We should be fully convinced in our own minds that public school is the best way we can honor the Lord, or we should be fully convinced in our own minds that homeschool is the best way to honor the Lord. But we cannot be fully convinced in our own minds that the best way for someone else to honor the Lord is to do what we think they should. 

We want to honor the Lord in everything. We want to eat in honor of the Lord, dress in honor of the Lord, educate our kids in honor of the Lord, practice entertainment in honor of the Lord, spend our money in honor of the Lord, etc. We want to be fully convinced that what we are doing honors the Lord. Because of that, we should want people to help us think through how it would be best for us to honor the Lord. When someone disagrees with us, it does not necessarily mean they are judging us. They may simply be trying to help us honor the Lord. 

How we live will impact the people in our lives. If you become aware of a gluten allergy, it will impact everyone else in your house. If you become convinced of homeschooling, it will impact your family dynamic. In 1624, John Donne wrote, 

No man is an island,

Entire of itself;

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main…

Any man's death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee. 

Donne’s poem helps to explain Romans 14:7.  None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.  We do not live isolated lives. How we live impacts the people around us. Every man’s life will impact the people around him. So we must be fully convinced in our own minds that the way we are living is the best way to honor the Lord. First, we should not judge the decisions others make as they are trying to honor the Lord and, second, we should not be offended when others try to help us think through the best way we can honor the Lord. We must both care less about what others think and what they do (Romans 14:1-4), and we must not be offended when others care about what we do and how we do it (Romans 14:5-9). 

If we have people in our lives who do not look down on us but try to help us honor the Lord, we should be grateful. Conversely, when people look down on us for things we are fully convinced of in our own minds, it shouldn’t bother us because we have been convinced by the Word and the Spirit that what we are doing is right. Others will have to stand before their own masters. If we have people in our lives who say things to us that prick our consciences and cause us to reevaluate decisions and lifestyle choices, we should be grateful. We should be thankful for anything that drives our desires to honor the Lord. 

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Romans 14:8–9

Jesus Christ is Lord. If we live, we live for Him. If we die, we die for Him. Whatever happens, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. The Lord has welcomed us, and how did he welcome us? Jesus Christ died for us and lived again. He became Lord of the dead and the living. Put simply, He became Lord of all. God welcomed us into His family through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We were enemies of God, rebels to His will. Then, while we were yet sinners, living for ourselves and our own glory, Christ died for us. Jesus loved the unlovable. He died for the undeserving. If Jesus Christ welcomed the weak, we should as well. 

Friend, if you are a non-Christian, are you encouraged that God welcomes all sorts of people with all sorts of opinions, from all sorts of backgrounds? It doesn’t matter if you are weak or strong, if you were raised legalistically or without any structure, God welcomes everyone who comes to Him through Jesus Christ. The only thing that can keep you from God is not repenting of your sins and trusting in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. God wants to welcome you into His family through Jesus Christ. Jesus died so you could be warmly welcomed into the family of God. He was raised from the dead to display His power so that everyone would know that salvation is possible through Christ. 

Christians, we start judging others and looking down on them when we start thinking too highly of ourselves. Part of being transformed by the renewal of our minds is to think of ourselves with sober judgment. We are not anyone’s master; we are merely servants of the only Master. When we start to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, we start to highlight how much better we are living than others. We start to think that our way of doing things is the way others should be doing things. We start to think and act as if we know more and live better. We must take the logs out of our own eyes so that we can see clearly. Our hearts should be to love our brothers and sisters in the best way we can and to honor the Lord in all that we do. 

Stand in the Lord (v. 10-12)

Paul sharpens his argument by asking a couple questions that remind us of our coming judgment. 

Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

and every tongue shall confess to God.”

So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Romans 14:10–12

Paul brings our minds to eternity. We are so focused on our day-to-day lives that we often forget about what is coming. Paul wants us to lift our eyes to the final day. “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” This is a sobering reality. Every. Single. Person. will be held accountable for what he or she does in this life. So often, when the Bible speaks of God’s power, it talks about how He will judge people for their works. Psalm 62 is one example,

Once God has spoken;

twice have I heard this:

that power belongs to God,

and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

For you will render to a man

according to his work.  Psalm 62:11–12

Jesus also says in Matthew 12,

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:33–37

Paul provides both a positive and a negative reason for why we should not judge others. Negatively, we should not judge others because God will judge us. He sees our hearts. He will judge us for every careless word we speak against our brothers or sisters. Paul is trying to protect us from future judgment. This should be a powerful motivation for us to not look down upon others but to think with sober judgment. 

Notice again that Paul speaks about the totality of humanity, “every knee shall bow” and “every tongue shall confess.” It doesn't say every Christian, it says every person. If you are here and have not trusted in Christ, know this, you will stand before the judgment seat of God, and you will bow your knee and confess Jesus as Lord. The question is whether you will do so willingly or by force? The choice is yours. You can choose to humble yourself before God as a servant of His will or humble yourself before God as an enemy of His will.

Although Romans 14:12 ends with a stark warning, the passage began with a much more joyful tone. Welcome the weak among you for God has already welcomed him. We are welcomed and can stand in judgment before God because we do not stand alone. We will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make us stand. Beloved, God welcomes sinners. He has welcomed us, and He will welcome others. It does not matter when you knock on the door. It may be early in the day or close to midnight. But when you knock, the door will be opened, and you will receive a rich welcome into God’s eternal kingdom through the Lord Jesus Christ. We won’t be welcomed because of what we bring. We will be welcomed because God has already bought everything for the celebration through his Son. Jesus paid it all so we would be welcomed, and we were welcomed so we could be welcoming. Now we have the great privilege of being the hands and feet of the risen Lord Jesus. When people knock on our doors here at Park, we can offer them a rich welcome into the family of God. I pray we are always known as a people who are ready and willing to offer a big welcome to any and everyone who knocks on our doors, so they can get a small taste of the rich welcome that is promised to us in heaven. 

I was talking to a dear sister this week about the sermon and asking, “How do you think people judge one another at Park?” She was silent for a few moments and then replied, “I am trying to think about the ways I may judge people.” What a humble response. We shouldn’t justify the fact that we don’t judge others; we should honestly consider how we may be judging them. I pray this sermon will urge you to consider whether or not you are welcoming others in the same way that God has welcomed you.

It’s been more than twenty years, but I still remember the welcome that Ellen and I received from the Scalabrinos that night. It reminds of the welcome we will receive when Christ welcomes us home. At the conclusion of D.A. Carson’s book, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor, he writes about his father’s death and his subsequent welcome into God’s eternal kingdom. 

When my dad died, there were no crowds outside the hospital, no editorial comments in the papers, no announcements on the television, no mention in Parliament, no attention paid by the nation. In his hospital room there was no one by his bedside. There was only the quiet hiss of oxygen, vainly venting because he had stopped breathing and would never need it again.

But on the other side, all the trumpets sounded. Dad won entrance to the only throne-room that matters, not because he was a good man or a great man...but because he was a forgiven man. And he heard the voice of him whom he longed to hear saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.”

If Jesus has welcomed us by His blood and promised us a rich welcome into His eternal kingdom, we must welcome others as a preview of the even greater welcome we will receive when we meet our Master face to face. 

When I stand in glory, I will see His face,
There I’ll serve my King forever

In that holy place.