A Reading from Romans: Thank God for Broccoli and for Prime Rib

So this is the Reading from Romans appointed for last Sunday ... from "The Message." Now, we don't usually use The Message in Sunday worship -- it is, after all, a paraphrase, not a translation. But our bishop has given us latitude to do so if we so choose -- and this Sunday our rector so chose.

And it is the first time I can EVER remember a congregation applauding the Epistle. Seriously. At both services. So check it out. See if it works for you. Maybe it will make you smile. Maybe it will make you think. And maybe -- just maybe -- if we'd paid more attention to the sentiments Paul offers here to the Romans we'd be a better, stronger, more inclusive, more Christlike church than we have managed to be up until this point.

Oh ... and (just for fun) here's the photo the rector texted me of his supper on Tuesday night. Seriously. Broccoli AND Prime Rib. (You couldn't make this stuff up!)

Romans 14:1-12

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.

For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ’s table, wouldn’t it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn’t eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God’s welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.

Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience.

What’s important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God’s sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you’re a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It’s God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That’s why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.

So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

“As I live and breathe,” God says,
“every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
that I and only I am God.”

So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.