Some of you know that in years past, I participated in something called GORUCK, where a team of folks would carry weighted rucksacks (or backpacks) and do whatever our instructor told us to do. I have a few pictures of me participating in this silliness (show pictures).
I’ve done six of these types of events, and I’m often one of the smallest men in the group. Part of the task is carrying the rucksack that weighs about forty pounds. However, the instructor will often add additional weight to the group, often in the form of sandbags. On one particular event, we had about ten extra sandbags, some twenty pounds, some forty pounds, and some sixty pounds. We would rotate the sandbags around and carry them as we marched through the city. Well, when it came time for me to carry a sandbag, which one do you think they wanted to give to the guy who only weighed about 155 pounds at the time? The sixty pounder! I had to carry my forty-pound rucksack plus the sixty-pound sandbag. I’m not one to turn down a challenge, so I told the team leader I’ll carry it, but it will slow us all down. You see, our team was only as strong and fast as the weakest and slowest member. I was not the slowest, but I was one of the weaker men in the group. Eventually, they gave me a forty-pounder instead of a sixty-pounder, and our team started moving faster. Our team realized that it made sense to help the weaker members for the benefit of the entire team.
This is our third weak where Paul is talking about how we should relate to our weaker brothers and sisters in the church. Paul is going to teach us in this week’s passage that when we help each other, it helps all of us, and it honors the Lord.
Today’s sermon is entitled “Honoring God by Honoring One Another.”
Before we go any further, let’s go to Lord in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
In the last few weeks, we’ve heard about not disputing with those who are weak in their faith and not causing those who are weak to stumble. Here Paul is talking about this topic again.
It seems to be clear that the way we interact with other Christians matters deeply. Indeed, it should affect the very way that we live.
So, let’s look at this passage and look at four ways that if affects the way we live.
First, . . .
I. We live with humility as our aim.
Let’s look at the entire passage together, and then we will walk through it.
Let’s look at Romans 15:1-13:
1 Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves. 2 Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. 4 For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. 5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
7 Therefore accept/welcome one another, just as Christ also accepted/welcomed you, to the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, 9 and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and I will sing praise to your name.
10 Again it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people!, 11 And again,
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples praise him!
12 And again, Isaiah says,
The root of Jesse will appear,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
the Gentiles will hope in him.
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, first, we must live with humility as our aim. We must make it our goal or our aspiration.
In verse 15, Paul says that we “ . . . have an obligation . . . not to please ourselves.”
It’s our obligation, church, to put the needs and desires of others ahead of our own. It’s our obligation to put up with the weaknesses of other Christians.
To be obligated means that we are bound or compelled, perhaps legally or morally, to do something.
Think about some obligations that you have in your life. If you are married, you are obligated to be a faithful spouse. You may be obligated to be a loving parent or grandparent. You may be obligated to show up to work at a certain time. We are obligated to pay our taxes, our mortgage or rent, and our utility bill. We ought to feel obligated to support our church. My wife thinks I should be obligated to give her gifts the whole month of her birthday (which happens to be this month).
Church, we are obligated . . . we are bound or compelled by the love of God and the work of Jesus to put others ahead of ourselves.
If we are obligated to do something, we better make it our goal or aim to be sure that we do that thing.
You better be sure you plan to pay your taxes. You better be sure you plan to love your family. I better be sure I plan to get gifts for my wife.
So also, we must be sure to plan to put others ahead of ourselves. We must be sure to aim to be humble.
We must live with humility as our aim.
Second, . . .
II. We live with the Bible as our guide.
Pay attention to verse 4. Paul says, “For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.”
Why do we care about being humble? Why do we care about bearing with those who are weak?
We care, primarily, because God has communicated through His Word, the Bible, that this is how we should live our lives.
Paul says that what is written in the Scriptures is for our instruction, and it is for our benefit.
It’s good for us to know what God wants for us. It’s good for us to know that, among other things, God wants us to love our brothers and sisters in the faith who are weak.
This is not all that Paul has to say about the Bible. Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
I don’t know about you, but I want to be equipped; I want to be complete!
The Scriptures, the Bible, will help make us complete.
The Bible will teach us that we should love God and how to love God. The Bible will tell us that we should love others and how to love others. The Bible will tell us why we have life and how to live that life.
As Paul said, “ . . . whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.”
We must live with the Bible as our guide.
Third, . . .
III. We live with Jesus as our example.
Speaking of the Bible being our guide, Paul uses several Bible passages from the Old Testament to point us to how Jesus was the ultimate example of love and humility for us.
Paul says in verse 3, “3 For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
Paul says even Christ did not please Himself.
If anyone had a right to live for Himself, it was Jesus. He is the divine Son of God; He is God Himself, yet He emptied Himself in humility so that we might be made right with God.
Paul said Jesus was insulted for our sake, He suffered for our sake, and He died for our sake.
Jesus displayed the ultimate display of humility so that we might be changed by His loving sacrifice.
Paul goes on to say in verse 7, “Therefore accept/welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.”
Jesus is our example. As He welcomed us, we are to welcome others with humility and love.
Paul says in verses 8-12 that Jesus not only became a servant so that Jewish people might be saved (those he calls the circumcised). Jesus also became a servant so that the Gentiles (the non-Jewish) might be saved.
Paul quotes Psalm 18, Psalm 117, Deuteronomy 32, and Isaiah 11 to demonstrate that Jesus brought reason for rejoicing to not only the Jewish people but to the entire world.
By humbling Himself and lovingly welcoming others, Jesus changed the world and brought hope to those who were lost in their sins.
So, also, we are to humble ourselves and display the love of Jesus to all the world, particularly our brothers and sisters in Jesus.
We must live with Jesus as our example.
Finally, . . .
IV. We live with the Spirit as our power.
Listen to what Paul says in verse 5, “Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.”
We need God’s help, don’t we, church? We need God’s power, don’t we, church?
Paul says that God will grant us endurance and encouragement to do what we need to do to love one another and live in harmony with one another.
It’s not only by the power of God that we are saved; it is also by the power of God that we are given all that we need to live the Christian life.
You and I can’t be humble on our own; we can’t live in harmony on our own.
Without the power of God, we’re helpless and harassed, like sheep without a shepherd.
You need the power of God’s Spirit in your life, and we need the power of God’s Spirit in our church!
Listen to how Paul finishes the passage. Look at verse 13. Paul says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
We need hope, we need joy, we need peace; and we can have all these godly qualities through the power of the Holy Spirit.
If we want to live the Christian life, if we want to live with humility, if we want to live as those who love our fellow Christians, we will do so by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We live with humility as our aim, we live with the Bible as our guide, we live with Jesus as our example, and we live with the Spirit as our power.
Let this bottom line summarize the truth of this passage for us:
Bottom Line: We honor God when we honor one another.
Loving one another is the life that God has redeemed us to live. When we live the life that God has for us, we honor Him.
We honor God when we honor one another.
Challenge yourself to live out this passage in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Dig into the Scriptures for how you can honor someone.
Romans 14 and 15 has something to say about loving each other. What about the rest of the Bible?
Dig into the Bible and search the Scriptures for God’s ways and God’s words about honoring other people.
Learn how you can honor Him by honoring others.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Ask the Holy Spirit to give you joy, peace, and hope.
Did you know that the Holy Spirit is poised and ready to bless you with His power? However, we need to ask Him for His power.
God wants us to want Him. He wants us to want His power. He will give you power if you ask Him, trust Him, and follow Him.
So ask the Holy Spirit to give you more of Himself this week.
(Gospel presentation)
Jesus welcome us, so let us welcome others.
If you’ve not come to Jesus, His arms are open to welcome you in.
(closing prayer)
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