Harmony

Linda Pollock April 09, 2022 0 1

Playlists

Add to Favourites

Save for later

Listen to this daily worship

Romans 15: 5-10, 13 (NRSVA)

5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

‘Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles,
    and sing praises to your name’;

10 and again he says,

‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

There is division in the Roman church just as there always has been in the Church (Acts 6) and there still is to this day. God’s people don’t always get along. Paul is writing to the people in Rome reminding them that from the beginning, God’s intention was to welcome whosoever into His love and, although the Hebrews enjoyed this privilege first, God’s love is not restricted to them. The death and resurrection of Christ Jesus reveals the breadth, width and depth of God’s grace and nothing can be taken from that – certainly not disagreements. Paul is reminding the community that God’s grace can overcome any difference be that ethnicity, social status, gender, or religious heritage. Christ Jesus is much bigger than anything we feel the need to offer as prestigious or worthy or exceptional, all of that is insignificant compared to the generosity of God. In the same way that God welcomes humankind to intimacy with Godself, the Romans are to welcome each other and to celebrate their unity in Jesus, the Lord of the Hebrews and the Gentiles.

Nothing has changed. In all our disagreements in the Church and the church, we are to live in harmony, rejoicing in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we can see this truth, if we can live in this truth, God is glorified, and we will begin to see and live the joy that so often eludes us.

PRAYER:

O God Who doesn’t notice the labels we assign to each other, thank You for gazing at us with love and for inviting us into Your communion. Help us to live first for You, to forget the affiliations to denominations or fellowships or styles of worship, and to focus our eyes on You. May Your Holy Spirit dwelling in us reach out to one another in welcome and celebration and help us to choose union rather than division. Amen.