Romans 15, 4-13

Romans 15:4-13 King James Version

4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

9 And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

10 And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people.

11 And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.

12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Dear congregation,

Paul puts it in a nutshell: you Christians in Rome are fundamentally different. Paul looks at this colourful mixture and asks himself: how is it possible for these fundamentally different people to be one church?

Paul uses words that express community: ‘of one mind’ and ‘of one accord’

This is how he visualises the coexistence of fundamentally different people. They are fundamentally different in their faith, even though they worship together.

One group are Jewish people who believe in Jesus. They have been taught from childhood how a Jewish person ‘correctly’ believes. Their faith is not a private matter and is not practised in a quiet chamber, but is public and visible.

The year is characterised by different religious times. The week is structured by the Sabbath. The days are organised by specific prayers.

The whole of Jewish life is characterised by a longing for God to feel at home in the world. It is the longing to align the world with God's righteousness.

The Jewish part of the community wants to please God. They want to live ‘right’ and ‘do it well’. This means that they take their traditions very seriously. Jewish people feel that they are part of a long line of generations, right back to father Abraham.

Jesus himself also stands in such a long tradition and it makes sense that Matthew begins his gospel with the family tree of Jesus.

Part of the collective consciousness of a Jewish community is that they are a small people and that they are persecuted. Part of their understanding of the world is the idea that they have a special mission in the world: To make God visible.

Now there are fundamentally different people in Rome. The Romans. The Gentile Christians.

They came with a different self-image: Rome was the centre of the world. Emperor Augustus was so powerful and strong. The Roman Empire expanded and extended country by country. Part of the collective consciousness: we do what we want. We conquer the world.

And among them there were now also people who were enthusiastic about Jesus Christ.1This is how churches were founded. People with fundamentally different traditions, world views and histories came together.

And they should now live together in unity and harmony.

As I immerse myself in the situation in Rome, I realise that the people in our St John's congregation are just as fundamentally different.

I meet people who come from a missionary family. The first thing I hear from them is their family tree:

their grandfather or great-grandfather came as a missionary and then they tell me about their family relationships.

The children and grandchildren are part of the missionary story - they preserve their origins. They uphold traditions. They tell the old story. The church year plays a major role. The weekly church service on Sunday is a highlight of the week. The day is structured by morning and evening prayers. And life is determined by living the faith in everyday life.

It strikes me that this is very similar to the Jewish Christians in Rome.

And then there are the others: also a colourful mixture. There are the cosmopolitans: expatriates who are at home all over the world - like the Romans. People who conquer the world for themselves and to whom the whole wide world is open.

They are people with world experience. They already know that life can be very different and that you can adapt.

The big question on Paul's mind: Is one way of life better than the other? Is it better to continue living the way your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents taught you? Or is it better to be open to all kinds of experiences and influences? When your own origins are not so important, but your own experience of the world is.

Which is better, honouring and preserving the history of our fathers and mothers, no matter how difficult it may be, but trying to do them justice and preserve tradition?

Or is it better to leave it all behind, conquer the world for yourself and take what you can with you?

That is an idle question, because they both exist: both groups are there in Rome and in both groups, people refer to Jesus Christ.

Therefore, Jesus Christ is the one who unites them. He connects tradition with freedom. The law with mercy. Truth with justice. Peace with gentleness.

Jesus Christ unites.

That is why in the family tree that Matthew gives him, his origins are not determined purely chronologically, but people who represent a certain group of people end up in Jesus' family tree: Ruth for the refugees.

Jesus Christ unites.

Here we are: one church. None of us will say to the other: you don't belong to us.

So far so good.

Nevertheless, as much as we profess: we belong together. In everyday life, this can be exhausting and lead to deep conflicts.

Especially when both sides argue with Scripture. St Paul demonstrates this wonderfully here: Some quote Psalm 18, others refer to Deuteronomy 5.

Some use Psalm 117 as an argument and others Isaiah.

What they all have in common: They want to do right by Christ! They want to live as Christians in such a way that the world recognises that they are Christians.

2 And Paul now lets them know: No one can do it alone! No one can claim to follow Christ in the best and most appropriate, the ‘right’ way. On the contrary: Paul emphasises that it is not about the faith of the individual: It is about the union of the one with the other. It is about mutual acceptance.

Only in the church, only in the community does it become visible how Jesus Christ works and what Jesus Christ achieves: he makes friends out of strangers. He makes brothers and sisters out of fundamentally different people. People who accept that the other is also ‘right’ in their knowledge of God.

A community is created in which it no longer matters where we come from, but rather into which future we are setting out, staying on the journey and shaping the path together.

What unites us is Christ and his mission, his calling in the world. This is what he calls the church to:

here in the Christian church something shines forth that is hard for the rest of the world to believe: here fundamentally different people are united and unanimous - listening together to God's word, arguing in love about the interpretation of the word and caring together for those who have fallen under the thieves.

It is not the origin of the helpers that counts, but their compassion and willingness to share.

During Advent, this is written into our family tree as a church: Our Christian family tree includes Jews and Gentiles. Slaves and free people. Our Christian family tree includes Germans and South Africans.

Blacks and whites.

The fundamentally different belong to us - we do not see them as strangers or enemies. They are our brothers and sisters.

We experience this and then we lose it again. We fail because of our humanity, vanity and competition. We hurt others because we absolutise our knowledge.

We remain in the tension of ‘already and not yet!’ Christ is already among us and he is not yet here.

Advent - we are not just waiting for a wonderful Christmas, but we are waiting for the time when our patience will be rewarded and we will be freed from suffering:

We wait for the time when we do not live on hope and owe the world hope, but when we are all one - and peace has come to earth.

May this peace, the peace of God, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen