Harmony
Romans 13:8-10; 14:1-19[1]
We human beings tend to believe that our
viewpoint on a particular subject is the “right” one. At least if you’re like
me! We may not admit it out loud, because that would be embarrassing. We may
even make a show of deferring to others when they disagree with us. But we
still tend to believe that we’re right and anyone who disagrees with us is
“wrong.” That kind of “all-or-nothing,” cut-and-dried, “black-or-white”
thinking doesn’t leave much room for tolerance. I dare say that if someone
surveyed this group of people gathered in this place for worship on this
morning, there would likely be a variety of opinions about all kinds of
subjects. The reality is that’s just as true when it comes to our faith and how
we practice it as it is with our other opinions. But when we gather in this
place, I hope we try to focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. I
think that’s what Jesus would want from those who seek to follow him.
Our lesson from the book of Romans for today
addresses this question. I also hope you were able to hear that the earliest
Christians disagreed on some fairly important matters. Our lesson from Romans
for today isn’t the only evidence of that. There are other passages in the New
Testament that show the early Christians disagreed on some fairly important
matters. In our lesson for today, Paul mentions two specific points of
disagreement: which day to hold worship and whether or not to eat meat. The
conflict in both situations arose from the difference between Christians with a
Jewish background and those with a background outside of Judaism. And in that
day, the vast majority of churches included both groups. So these questions
were very much “live” for them. And they provoked serious disagreements among
the early Christian communities!
The matter of which day on which to worship
was not a new problem in the Greco-Roman world. Jewish people living in that
world faced serious opposition because they insisted on keeping the “Sabbath”
day holy by not working. In the Ancient world, every day was a day for work.
There was no such thing as a “day off” or a “weekend.” And more than that,
Jewish Christians would have been accustomed to worshipping on Saturday, their
“sabbath” day. Gentile Christians, on the other hand, may have been more likely
to worship on Sunday, in honor of the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on the
first day of the week. This was no trivial matter to either group! But Paul
urged the believers of his day on both sides of the issue to accept each
other’s differences. In fact, for Paul, it didn’t matter which day of the week
you chose for worship! That may still be shocking for us to hear!
The other issue had to do with eating meat.
I’ve mentioned before that meat was sold in open-air markets. And a significant
amount of the meat sold in the market was left over from sacrifices that were
offered at pagan temples that morning. But there was no “stamp” to indicate
which was which. You couldn’t tell which had been offered to a pagan god and
which was simply slaughtered for sale that morning. For some, to eat meat in
that context could be construed as taking part, at least in an indirect way, in
the worship of false gods, which was a violation of the most important of all
commandments! There were some believers, probably those who came out of a pagan
background, whose Christian faith was too “weak” to get past that obstacle. As
a result, they chose to eat only vegetables as a way of honoring. There were
others, probably those who came from a Jewish background that denied any
reality to pagan gods, whose faith was “strong” enough to recognize that all
things come from God, and so they ate meat, and they did so giving thanks to
God to honor him as well. Again, the question here wasn’t about food. It was
about the worship of false gods! And on a matter this important, Paul urged
tolerance! Again, that may seem shocking!
We might wonder how St. Paul the Apostle of
Jesus Christ could make such apparently offensive compromises. Does it really
not matter on which day of the week you worship? Does it really not matter
whether you eat something that others find offensive because they see it as taking
part in the worship of false gods? I think that least part of the answer to
these questions is that Paul realized they were matters of interpretation,
subject to differing opinions, and therefore not essential to faith. He didn’t
want the Body of Christ divided over matters of opinion. Rather, he urged that
believers adopt the mindset that we all “belong to the Lord” (Rom 14:8), even
and especially when we disagree about significant issues! This was so important
to Paul that he asked them who they thought they were to condemn other
believers who answer to Jesus Christ as their “master” first and foremost (Rom
14:4)![2] More than that, he urged that they accept each other, regardless of their
differences, so that they could “aim for harmony” above all things (Rom 14:19).
Of course, the real question is how far we
take this kind of tolerance. Differences of opinion on matters of religion have
not only divided the world into different denominations, they have also fueled
all-out wars. To be sure, there’ve been conferences throughout the ages to
resolve these differences and find a way toward tolerance. But even with the
“agreements” that have been reached on matters of religion, differences of
opinion on matters of faith have continue to provoke lynchings and witch hunts
and all kinds of ongoing violence through the ages. To some extent, you could
say that religion has always fueled conflict. Or perhaps it would be better to
say that religion has always been used as a means of fueling conflict by those
who have coopted it for their own purposes.
But I would say this is a matter of “the tail
wagging the dog.” When people use religion for their own purposes, things
usually get out of whack. And sadly, the typical strategy is to pick out
matters where there ought to be legitimate room for a difference of opinion to
drive a wedge between people who otherwise could get along with one another. You
may find this hard to believe, but one of the most controversial points of
disagreement in the Christian church over the centuries has been over how we
understand what happens when we celebrate the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
Talk about the tail wagging the dog! What ought to bring us together as one has
been one of the greatest sources of division in the Body of Christ for
centuries!
In the early days of the Protestant
Reformation there was disagreement among the “reformers” that threatened to
splinter the movement. There was a conference between Martin Luther and his
counterparts from the Calvinist branch of the church to try to settle their
disagreements. Although they agreed on most of the matters they faced, they
disagreed on the Lord’s Supper. Specifically, the one aspect of the Lord’s
Supper about which they disagreed was whether the communion bread actually
became the body of Christ! They had the chance to agree to disagree, but some
of them wouldn’t have it, and it didn’t happen. And it still divides Christians
to this day.
About a hundred years later, years that were
full of religious wars in Europe, a principle emerged that has been quoted by
many who chose harmony over discord: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials
liberty, in all things charity.”[3] “In
essentials unity.” We practice that by affirming the Apostles’ Creed. “In
nonessentials, liberty.” That’s where we have different practices. “In all
things, charity.” Of course, in that day, “charity” was what we call “love.” Of
course, in these and other religious disputes, the “rub” relates to what you
define as “essential” and “non-essential.” We can always find ways to draw dividing
lines in these matters. But there’s no questioning the importance of that last
phrase: “in all things charity.” It seems to me that if we get that part right,
then maybe the lines we draw between what we think is “essential” and
“nonessential” might not be so important any longer.
I would say Paul teaches us to make “charity,”
or love, the overriding principle in every dispute. Paul speaks of it earlier
in our reading for today: what we “owe” to each other is the same love that God
has given us. We will likely never agree on what is essential and what is
negotiable in matters of faith. But surely we can agree that the foundation for
harmony in the church is that we observe the commandment, “you shall love your
neighbor as yourself.” Paul said when our religion is real, it will show up in
our love for one another. When I think about this, I wonder how many lives
could have been spared over the centuries if people of faith had practiced
“charity” in all things. And I wonder, in these days when we seem to be so
divided and so willing to condemn those who disagree with us, how much conflict
and grief may be spared if we who claim to follow Jesus would practice
“charity” above all else. I wonder what it will take for us to seek harmony
above all things!
I don’t know that I have the answer to that
question. What will it take in these days for us to practice charity above all
else? In these days, what will it take for us to seek harmony above all else? I
know for myself, what helps me is to be reminded that God has accepted me as I
am. God’s love for me never fails. God chose to love me from “before the
foundation of the world” as Paul says. And that love will never fail, “world
without end, Amen! Amen!” That helps me to get past any differences of opinion
and to see other people who may be across the “lines” as persons for whom
Christ died, whom God loves. They are human beings who deserve my full love and
respect, simply because they’re human beings. I don’t know what it will take
for you to get there. That’s why I’ve left my sermon “open-ended” today. I hope
we will go from this place and explore that question. I hope that we may indeed
learn to practice “charity” above all things and seek harmony above all else.
And in the process, maybe we can make a real difference in our world!
[1] ©
2026 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 9/13/2026 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Cf. Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 2.2:725: Christians holding different
opinions cannot judge each other “Because both are servants, each serving the
Lord with their better or less good faith, each finding in the Lord his own
Judge and Saviour. They cannot exclude each other when God has accepted both
and will judge their faithfulness or unfaithfulness by His mercy.”
[3] On
the history of this often-quoted phrase which is erroneously attributed to St.
Augustine, see James J. O’Donnell, “A Common Quotation from ‘Augustine’?”
accessed at http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/augustine/
quote.html . He points to a reference by Philip Schaff, The History of
the Christian Church, 7:650-53, where he notes that the saying originated
with Peter Meiderlin, a Lutheran Theologian, who published a tractate calling
for peace and unity in 1626. Richard Baxter quoted the saying in the preface of
The True and Only Way of Concord of all the Christian Churches in 1679, which led to it being attributed to
him.
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