Building Up the Body!

Reflection:  As Paul moves to the close of his magnum opus, his letter to the church at Rome, he concludes this section where he began in Romans 12:1, “Therefore in view of God’s mercy.”  And he concludes by addressing an issue that can become an issue in many churches, “legalism”.  Paul is addressing a church that is “majoring in the minors”.  They are focused on food laws, and whether or not to eat meat, which was the focus in the Old Testament with its dietary laws in the Old Covenant.   

In this correction, Paul says the kingdom is not about these things, but about “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” These 3 are all related.  As Paul has clearly expounded, righteousness (a right relationship with God through Jesus by faith) is obtained not by the law but by grace.  A right relationship with God also leads to peace that the world cannot give, which also gives the byproduct of joy.   That is what life in God’s kingdom is like.  You can see it is a freeing thing, not a binding law.  Therefore, when Paul senses that the community is retreating to a “works based righteousness”, he wants to put an end to it right away. 

Expounding on this theme, he teaches that Christian freedom is used to serve others in the community it is not just for oneself! He gives the example that if someone knows another’s conscience is sensitive to a particular behavior like eating meat or drinking wine, than the more mature person for the sake of the weaker person can in freedom abstain.  Paul concludes. “If what I do causes someone else to stumble, I will not eat meat at all.”  He says, “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” “Edification” means to build up.  When you support a brother or sister in faith by doing what is best in their interest rather than your own, it builds them up! 

Where is God calling you to build up a brother or sister in Christ?  At one time or other we were all immature in our faith, and needed a more mature follower of Jesus to help us to take steps of growth?  Pray today where God would call you to edify or build up the body of Christ where you worship! 

Psalm 45:1-9

For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.

1 My heart is stirred by a noble theme

    as I recite my verses for the king;

    my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

2 You are the most excellent of men

    and your lips have been anointed with grace,

    since God has blessed you forever.

3 Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;

    clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.

4 In your majesty ride forth victoriously

    in the cause of truth, humility and justice;

    let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.

5 Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;

    let the nations fall beneath your feet.

6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;

    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions

    by anointing you with the oil of joy.

8 All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

    from palaces adorned with ivory

    the music of the strings makes you glad.

9 Daughters of kings are among your honored women;

    at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

Job 10

10 “I loathe my very life;

    therefore I will give free rein to my complaint

    and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.

2 I say to God: Do not declare me guilty,

    but tell me what charges you have against me.

3 Does it please you to oppress me,

    to spurn the work of your hands,

    while you smile on the plans of the wicked?

4 Do you have eyes of flesh?

    Do you see as a mortal sees?

5 Are your days like those of a mortal

    or your years like those of a strong man,

6 that you must search out my faults

    and probe after my sin—

7 though you know that I am not guilty

    and that no one can rescue me from your hand?

8 “Your hands shaped me and made me.

    Will you now turn and destroy me?

9 Remember that you molded me like clay.

    Will you now turn me to dust again?

10 Did you not pour me out like milk

    and curdle me like cheese,

11 clothe me with skin and flesh

    and knit me together with bones and sinews?

12 You gave me life and showed me kindness,

    and in your providence watched over my spirit.

13 “But this is what you concealed in your heart,

    and I know that this was in your mind:

14 If I sinned, you would be watching me

    and would not let my offense go unpunished.

15 If I am guilty—woe to me!

    Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head,

for I am full of shame

    and drowned in my affliction.

16 If I hold my head high, you stalk me like a lion

    and again display your awesome power against me.

17 You bring new witnesses against me

    and increase your anger toward me;

    your forces come against me wave upon wave.

18 “Why then did you bring me out of the womb?

    I wish I had died before any eye saw me.

19 If only I had never come into being,

    or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!

20 Are not my few days almost over?

    Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy

21 before I go to the place of no return,

    to the land of gloom and utter darkness,

22 to the land of deepest night,

    of utter darkness and disorder,

    where even the light is like darkness.”

Romans 14:13-15:2

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.

In God's hand is the life of every living thing. Job 12:10

God is not far from each one of us. For “In him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:27-28

Tending God, you give life and then you draw near to your creation. When we face difficulties, remind us that you are holding us all in your powerful hand and are by our side through it all. Amen.