click here to listen: Podcast 071413 edited
When I was in undergrad at LSU, several of my friends formed a club called the MEAN TEAM—Meat Eaters Across the Nation, Together Eating Assorted Meats. The team was formed in response to the Wesley Foundation’s policy on providing dinner. When a meat eater would prepare the meal we had to provide a vegetable option (and salad didn’t count). When vegetarians would provide the meal they did not have to provide a meat option. Several of us saw this as an injustice, an oppression of the good will of our Christian fellowship. So, we formed the MEAN TEAM and printed up blood red shirts, which on the back offered a picture of a butcher and a bible verse—Romans 14:2. Romans 14:2 says, “He who is of weak faith eats only vegetables.” So the shirt read, “Romans 14:2—taken out of context and in our favor.”
I must confess that Romans is one of my favorite books of the bible because of the way Paul details what it means to be a Christian and how it is that we commune with God for eternity. In the first half of Paul’s letter, He details the meaning of the cross and the role of the Holy Spirit. In the second half of his letter, Paul applies his very difficult theology to very practical situations, as he does in Romans 14. There were some who were eating meat sacrificed to idols and there were others who were abstaining from eating former pagan jerky. The Roman church basically asked, “Ok, Paul, should we eat meat or not?”
Now, there’s a whole other sermon on this topic alone, which you will undoubtedly hear one day, but in short Paul says, “Well, eating meat sacrificed to idols is ok because we know that those gods don’t exist, but if you are eating with someone for whom this would be a difficult hurdle to faithfully overcome, then you should abstain out of Christian charity.” Paul follows this up by saying, “Do not for the sake of food destroy the good that God is doing.” The cornerstone of Paul’s ethics is “You can unless you shouldn’t and you shouldn’t unless you should.” This is why, at times, Christianity is quite difficult and why we tend to argue over things.
What Paul is really getting at is the controversy over circumcision. When Romans was written the church was experience quite a controversy. Peter was preaching that one had to be circumcised in order to follow Christ. Paul was preaching that you ought not to be circumcised to follow Christ. What is a church to do when two key leaders disagree on the basic premise of Christian membership? Well this issue was taken up at the second Jerusalem council, and James, Jesus’ brother, essentially said, “Peter you can preach circumcision in your church and Paul, you can preach uncircumcision in your church.” I wonder if Paul’s letter to the Romans was echoing in James’ ears.
In our scripture today Paul says, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing in all of creation, which includes circumcision, which includes eating meat, which includes fill in the blank, can separate us from the love of God. You see, Paul was a good Methodist. He’s talking about prevenient grace, knowing that God loves you, God moves toward you, God wants to be with you. There’s more to the story because Paul continued to write eight more chapters, but this is the first step, knowing that you are loved and valued and that Christ died and rose from the grave for you and me.
Nothing can separate you from God’s love. So, why did Paul keep on writing? Because the way we respond to that free gift of grace matters. I like to think of it like this. Sin is an archer’s term. It means “missing the mark.” Shooting an arrow and missing the center is what “sinning” means. The word “repent” means “to turn around.” What’s the worst way to sin? Firing arrows into the crowd behind you. Sinning has no purpose. It wastes arrows and people get hurt. When Jesus says, “Repent, the Kingdom is at hand,” he is saying, “Turn around and aim at the target. I’ll show you where the target is and how to aim. I’ll even keep giving you arrows. All I ask is that you daily aim for the target.” Here’s the thing—it’s a moving target. The target is fixed upon God but God is alive and dynamic and moving. Another way to look at it is that God is the target. Jesus took the cross and whittled it down into an endless supply of arrows. The Holy Spirit moves the target to the place where God is calling you. This is why we ask for forgiveness daily. The target has moved. We need God’s guidance and help to fire in the right direction each and every day. Nothing can separate you from the love of God means that the target is always there. Your quiver is never empty. It’s just that sometimes we lose our focus and we begin to drift away from where we are to aim our energy and gifts and our talents.
Nothing can separate you from the love of God. You are not allowed to leave here thinking you are unlovable. When I look at my children, there is nothing they can do to cause me to stop loving them. Do they miss the mark? Every stinking day. But in love you teach them to better their aim. Treat others with kindness. Don’t complain about people when they aren’t there to defend themselves. Share your toys, even with the person you don’t think deserves it. Respect others even when you disagree. If someone needs help, help them. When we do these things, our aim gets really good and we begin to understand just how powerful love is. It’s so powerful that nothing can destroy it . . . not even death on a cross. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.