Princeton Presbyterian Church

Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1662

November 24, 2024

Romans 14.1-9                     Click here for audio worship.

Dr. Ed Pettus

(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)

 

“Give Thanks to God”

 

¹As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. ²One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. ³Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. ⁵One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

 

• Liberty in Non-Essentials

 

This season of the year we focus on the holidays of our culture and our faith. Thanksgiving reminds us of reasons for national thanks – pilgrims, settlers, history, and then, more importantly, we are compelled toward God and His Word and all the benefits we have received by His grace. We have something of a twofold gratitude for freedom, freedom in our nation and high above that, freedom in Christ. We have reason for gratitude to the point that it is almost impossible for us to list all the benefits we do have in Christ. Psalm 103 speaks of not forgetting some of the benefits,

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's (1-5).

 

Romans 14 begins with this discussion about opinions and he uses eating various foods as one example. Paul is encouraging Christians to welcome those who may differ on what to eat and what not to eat. He considers some as “weak in faith”, perhaps young Christians, not necessarily by age but new converts to the faith who have particular opinions on food. Now this may not seem like a huge issue, but what Paul advises is for neither side of these kinds of issues to look down or pass judgment on the other. Far too many times in the history of the church, people will divide over non-essential issues. They forget that old adage to keep the main thing the main thing, to keep the gospel at the forefront of our mission and ministry. We should not cause divisions in the church because someone differs on food or flowers or music or anything that is not directly related to the essential issues of salvation.

This is a genuine practice that the EPC has exercised well to this point in its history. We are called to be unified in the essentials of faith, at liberty in the non-essentials, and in all things to love one another. That does not mean that it is always easy. We are frail human beings and sometimes we let non-essential topics run over the unity of the church. We have to be diligent in recognizing when a non-essential is brought into the realm of essential and one way to prevent that is to be humble in spirit and loving in character and action. The Reformed practice is to respect the conscious of one another. If one wants to eat veggies, do not judge others who eat meat, and vice versa. God is the Lord of the conscious and the Word of God is to guide our conscious. We are to take all our thoughts captive to obey Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10.5).

 

• Redeeming Nature of Giving Thanks

 

In 1 Corinthians 10.31, Paul writes, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Here in Romans 14.6 Paul expounds on that thought, “The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.” It seems that Paul is stating that giving thanks has something of a redemption feature or redeeming power within the act and the disposition of gratitude. Verse 6 speaks of three actions that are exercised in honor of the Lord and twice that honor is noted through the act of thanksgiving.

The observation of days, which is probably a reference to Jewish holy days and festivals, is for the sake of honoring the Lord. We do the same, in one sense, with all days, but specifically with the Sabbath Day. We honor this day as God has commanded and thus honor the Lord when we observe the Sabbath. We honor the Sabbath and other days by being a people filled with gratitude for what God has done and has promised. We honor the Lord with thanksgiving at meals and with a heart of gratitude for all things.

Paul speaks again to the topic of eating or abstaining from eating and the caveat to giving honor to God is through gratitude. We eat in honor of the Lord by giving thanks to the Lord. Giving thanks appears to be a way of redemption, of setting aside things we might not consider sacred, to be sacred. There is an interesting phrase in Colossians 4.5 according to the New King James Version, “Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time.” The ESV speaks of “making the best use of time”, but I like the word redeeming. We redeem time in how we use our time, the time God has given us. We redeem food by how we use food and in giving thanks to God for our food. Jesus redeemed us by His death and resurrection. He paid the price for our sin that we could not pay and thus redeemed or freed us from the consequence of sin. We redeem time by using it wisely, redeem food by giving thanks, abstain from eating in the same way. You see, thanksgiving is an acknowledgment that our Redeemer lives. Giving thanks to God is a confession of faith in the One who supplies us with daily bread. Gratitude is a disposition that gives honor to God and glorifies His Name.

 

• We Belong to the Lord

 

All of this is because we belong to the Lord. We are His and we do not belong even to ourselves. We are the Lord’s precisely because He is our Redeemer. We have been bought with a price.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6.19-20).

As Paul has been teaching about how we are to act on issues of conscious, he clarifies why we do as he teaches. He uses the word “for” in verse 7, we welcome those weaker in faith, because God has welcomed them, For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

 

Our behavior toward one another in all things is contingent upon the understanding that we are not living to ourselves, not for ourselves, but that we live to the Lord, for the Lord, in the Lord. We die to Him as well, whether we live or whether we die, it is all to the glory and gratitude to the Lord. It is not about me, not about my opinions being right and forced on others, but upon the Lord and His Word. His Word is the guide to our actions and thoughts and life. The Word here is teaching us something vital to our life, the knowledge of our relationship to the Lord and thus to one another. We are connected in our relationship to God. We are His and His alone. Because we are His and related through that relationship, we are also responsible to live with one another in love as Christ has loved us. So, we welcome those who may disagree in certain areas of walking with the Lord, in this case on food or honoring certain days. We do so in humility, not lording any stage of maturity over another who may be weaker in the faith. In fact, we take the opportunity to encourage one another and to build each other up that we may honor and thank God even more.

 

• Jesus is Lord

 

Paul builds his argument even further. Do these things for we are not our own, and we are not our own because...For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. Jesus is Lord. He is Lord of all. Paul has shown us that we should not pass judgment on others for what they eat or what days they honor or on those who may serve another. Only the Lord is Judge. Christ died and rose triumphant as Lord over all people and all things.

I chose this passage as a precursor to this week as we look forward to Thanksgiving Day. There is much for which we can give thanks, not just in food or days of celebration, but in the knowledge that we belong to God, living or dying we are His and there is nothing that can snatch us out of His hands. We give thanks that Christ died and rose for our redemption. We give thanks for the Word that gives us wisdom to teach and encourage and be teachable, to live in humility with one another and in love. We give thanks to the Lord for all things. This Thanksgiving Day, remember two times Paul uses the phrase from Romans 14.6, “gives thanks to God”.

⁶The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.

Give thanks to God in all things giving honor to the Lord. Praise be to God! Amen.