Romans 15:13 (ESV)
[13] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
What a great verse, but the interesting thing is how the paragraph begins.
It ends with this powerful benediction of hope, joy, peace, and power, but it
begins with this shocking statement, “Christ became a servant to the
circumcised to show God’s truthfulness.” Christ (Greek for Messiah), the
warrior king that the Jews were looking for to lead them to freedom, came as
their servant. The verse just before that, Romans 15:7 says, “Therefore welcome
one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” This is written
in the context of a call for the church to live in harmony with one another (Rom
15:6). Christ became a servant in order to welcome you into his kingdom.
Two thoughts strike me as I reflect on these verses. The first relates to welcoming
unbelievers. How do we reach people with the Good News of Jesus in a world that
views Christianity as hateful and divisive? We serve. How do we reach people
with the Good News of Jesus in a world bent on coercing us into an unbiblical
world view? We serve. I recently read a quote from Emperor Julian, a Roman
Emperor from 361 to 363AD. It was fascinating. He was explain how Christianity spread
in a pagan world. They served people that their own pagan priests and pagan friends
were unwilling to serve. He was calling Pagans to serve like Christians, but
his plea fell on deaf ears. Their theology did not support his call, but
Christianity does. We are called to love our brother and love our neighbor. What
if we learned to serve like Jesus served?
Second, we are called to serve one another. Too often Christianity has been
seen as divisive rather than unifying, and the accusation has been true. We
divided over whether women could wear pants to church. We divided over whether
Christians could watch movies. We divided over whether Christians could play
cards. We divided over what kind of music is acceptable. And now we are dividing
over whether we should be vaccinated and whether we should require masking in
the face of Covid. Is this really the heart of the one we serve, the one who
became our servant in order to welcome us into his kingdom?
Should we not show grace toward those with whom we disagree? Should we not
be willing to serve those who hold different views on these issues? Should we
allow one or two to manipulate and control the whole? No, I don’t think that is
right. But we certainly need to figure out how to help them feel safe and a
part of who we are.
I asked a school teacher yesterday whether her school district was requiring masks. She answered with a smile that they were not requiring masks. But then she added, “If they require masks, then I’ll wear one.” She obviously felt that non-masking was preferable, but was willing to mask if needed. That is the heart of a servant. She didn’t say that she would “stand up for her rights.” She didn’t say that she would petition the School Board, or call everyone she knows to put in endless phone calls and visits to the school officials. She simply said that if they required masking then she would mask. That is the heart of someone who is more concerned about serving her students than about demanding her rights. May we, as believers, have that same heart. “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness” (Rom 15:7-8).
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