A Holy Charge (12)

 

 

“Help the weak” (1 Thess. 5:14).

 

Perhaps we all have our strengths and weaknesses, no doubt we all have our blind spots. With many of us, our greatest strengths can be our greatest weaknesses if they are not crucified with Christ, for self-sufficiency is the death of life in Christ and ministry.

 

But I think “the weak” in this passage are likely those who are constitutionally weak; folks who have a tough time with life, with faith, with understanding; who often struggle as a way of life. This is who they are, it does not mean that this is who they will always be, but this is who they are now and we need to be careful about not putting stumbling blocks before them and deliberate about encouraging them and helping them along the Way of Jesus.

 

We see what this looks like in Romans 14:1 – 15:7; you will need to ponder this passage yourself to gain deeper insight into it, but for now we’ll consider some highlights.

 

“Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions” (Rom. 14:1).

 

“Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God” (Rom. 15:7).

 

Here is an inclusio of “acceptance.” That is, acceptance brackets all that is between 14:1 and 15:7, and what is between these verses is an element of church life, that element in which we don’t all see the same things the same way – what to do when we have this common occurrence?

 

Paul says that, in this context, we are not to judge one another. “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand” (14:4).

 

“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (14:10).

 

Note that we can have confidence in Jesus, our Master, to make us all stand (see also Phil. 1:6; 1 Thess. 5:24; Jude 1:24). In this confidence we can accept and encourage one another.

 

There are three communal issues that Paul deals with in Romans 14; eating, drinking, and whether or not to religiously observe some days above others. These are all issues that have to do with our relationships with one another, for the Body of Christ meets together and eats together as it shares the Life of Christ together. That is, these issues cannot be avoided if we are going to have relationships with one another.

 

Let me point out that Paul is not engaging in points of doctrine in this chapter, at least not doctrine as we typically understand it. Elsewhere Paul is clear that the time of holy days has come to an end, that the season of viewing food and clean and unclean has come to an end; and we see this, of course, in Jesus and in Peter as well. This is important to realize for two reasons.

 

The first reason is that we ought not to read doctrine about holy days and clean and unclean food into this passage – unless it is to see that there is a certain degree of patience and liberty and grace we need to extend to one another. The second is that we are indeed called to be gracious and patient about these things – not that we place ourselves under bondage to them, as the Galatians were doing, but that we give grace to others who are (hopefully) working through them.

 

Let’s also note that this is a two-way street, Paul is writing to both the strong and the weak.

 

“The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him” (14:3).

 

There is accountability on both sides, on the side of the weak and of the strong. Furthermore, let’s keep in mind that this letter is being read publicly in the congregation(s), the weak are hearing this just as the strong are hearing it. What is going through their minds? Are they classifying each other?  Are they asking themselves, “Which one am I?”

 

Are the weak thinking, “This is me, I am weak. Do I want to remain this way?”

 

Are the strong thinking, “O my. I have been judgmental, forgive me Jesus! Help me Jesus to help my brother and sister.”

 

I have confronted these things in my own life, and I am ashamed about many of my actions and attitudes over the years. I thank God He has not left me to myself or what a cesspool I would still be in. I have played the part of the weak and of the strong. Thank God for His mercy!

 

What about you? As you read Romans 14:1 – 5:7 can you see yourself? What roles have you played? What have you learned? What are you learning?

 

We’ll return to this in our next reflection, the Lord willing.

A Holy Charge (11)

 

“Encourage the fainthearted” (1 Thess. 5:14).

 

Continuing our reflection on encouraging the fainthearted:

 

“At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the peoples might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth” (2 Timothy 4:17).

 

To encourage others we must live lives of obedience to Jesus Christ, in word and in deed – no matter the cost.

 

I wrote the following to a friend in July of this year; it is lightly edited:

 

A year or two ago I watched a short film, The Rover of Tobruk, the story of Bob Quinn, a legendary Australian Rules football player who was awarded a medal for heroism during his service at Tobruk during WWII. Quinn’s story, as a football player, a solider, a friend, a “mate,” is remarkable. I have since read a few articles on Quinn, but none really captures the full scope of his character the way the film does – the articles have generally been worth reading, but they all tend to miss important points.

 

For many years Quinn would not talk about what really happened at Tobruk that led to his medal for heroism, and his reason was profound – a life lesson for me. His unit was under intense fire, a job needed to be done, and wounded mates needed to be rescued. His comrades were frozen with fear…they couldn’t move, they couldn’t respond to orders. Quinn acted, fulfilling their mission, bringing wounded back, doing what had to be done. Quinn would not talk about this, he would not talk about his mates’ failure of courage.

 

When he finally gave the interview that led to the film, it was with the stipulation that the interview would not be released until after his death (which was in 2008).

 

Why?

 

Because he wanted to make sure that all of his mates had lived their lives and passed away. He wanted nothing negative printed about his mates on that terrible day in Tobruk. Quinn said that, before that day, he had seen their bravery, he had seen their courage, he had seen their care for one another, but on that day they just couldn’t do it again. He did not look at them as failures, they were still his “mates” and he wouldn’t let them down, not on the awful day and not afterward.

 

And this is my life lesson from Bob Quinn, if we have courage when others don’t, let’s be thankful, if we answer Christ’s call to obedience when it eludes others, let’s be thankful. After all, don’t we want our mates to survive this hell we are in as much as we want ourselves and our families to be overcomers in Christ?

 

Novatian: Well, I can understand fear. The Emperor was a terrible tyrant. Perhaps here we can learn mercy and find ways to support the weak. Paul writes that his imprisonment has given courage to others…if that is what it takes are we willing?

 

Would we not desire to welcome weak brothers and sisters back home, where they belong?

 

When I think of dear Polycarp, I think of relationship and not creed (though I dearly love the creeds). “For eighty-six years I have been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me!”

 

Now, as the Bard wrote, “Here is the rub.”

 

Polycarp was committed to his King, he would not deny Jesus. This is different than denying or affirming a creed, a set of beliefs, a confession. Somehow we have come to think of Christianity as belief in a few cardinal statements rather than as being in an unfolding relationship with Jesus Christ. I have thought a lot about this, but I have not yet found a fruitful way to talk about it.

 

This is personal for Polycarp, and it ought to be personal for us. Can I deny Vickie is my wife? Can I deny Jesus is my Friend, my King, my Lord, my Savior?

 

But I fear that so many professing Christians are “professing” in the sense they profess belief in a confession, but do not profess and confess a relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

My own sense is that the German church during Nazism gives us the closest image to the church in the U.S. The alignment of the Lutheran and Reformed churches with National Socialism and Germany First (Make Germany Great Again) is clear to me. The very term Third Reich with its creation myth for Germans and our own 250 years of “freedom” ought to be apparent.

 

And the marginalization of those voices within the “church” in Germany who spoke for Jesus and the Gospel…just as we see today in varying degrees within the professing church in our own nation.

 

I think the German pastors and academics knew what they were doing to one degree or another…they had their justifications just as pastors in our country have theirs…they ignored reality, ignored suffering, ignored terror…just as today. Power intoxicates, alignment with earthly authority and privilege makes us drunk. We love having crowded churches. Why we even have our own Horst Wessel.

 

I suppose I sorrow most for the congregations, for the sheep. As a pastor/teacher/whatever I am frankly afraid to violate my calling, my charge, my imperative to wed people to Christ 2 Cor. 5:11; 1 Cor. 9:16. Do we not tremble at our charge? How can we not tremble?

 

When I was a teenager I wrote Richard Baxter’s oft quoted statement in my Bible, “I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” I have not always exemplified this, but I have never forgotten it. Does anyone even know of Baxter today?

 

The same is true of C.T. Studd’s line, “Tis only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” He gave up a career in cricket – he was what we would call a superstar – for the mission field. Just as Eric Liddell gave up his sporting opportunities for the mission field, dying in a Japanese internment camp.

 

Who do I want to be associated with on that Day? I think, by God’s grace in Christ, I’ll stand with Polycarp, Studd, Liddel, and Paul – it is absurd to me to think I even have a choice – Ha! Where else can I go but Jesus?

 

As Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

 

Amen.

 

The best way to encourage others is to demonstrate courage in Jesus Christ in our own lives, courage in word and deed, the courage of devotion to Jesus Christ. Let us carry others when needed, and teach them, in turn, to encourage others and carry them.

 

We ought not to shoot our wounded…in Jesus Christ is healing and courage.

 

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7).