Advent with Paul

Romans 15: 1 - 13

Today is the third Advent Sunday, on which we will meditate on a passage that follows the church calendar: Romans 15:1-13. It is actually not so easy to relate this passage with Advent, but this is based on the church calendar, and I believe the church did not choose it recklessly. Indeed, the passage can be related to Advent sundays. We have talked about Advent in Sunday services or afternoon devotions. If you follow it routinely, you know one of them is about receiving mercy and compassion from God and shining them. The first verse in this passage has some similarity: the strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak. Here we can emphasize the message: the reality is that in a church there are stronger ones, weaker ones, more mature ones, more immature ones. The Bible says the strong should have the power to bear with the failings of the weak. Otherwise, what is the point of having the strength, if not for bearing the weak?

However, bearing with the failings of the weak does not mean to keep accommodating or tolerating all the time. Verse 2 says ‘to build him up’, meaning there is growth into maturity. Be careful with the sin of pride: we feel stronger and thus become self-righteous. How can we avoid this trap of pride and self-righteousness? It is by having compassion and mercy towards the failings of the weak. This will liberate you from becoming people who easily feel more righteous and stronger in the Lord. Also, verse 3 has a Christological rationale for it. We should not please ourselves because Christ did not please himself. The foundation is once again what Christ has done for us. If we really know Christ who did not please himself, then we should not please ourselves. Verse 3 says ‘the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me’. This is the true mark of maturity. We who are really strong can bear reproaches, especially reproaches that should not have fallen on us but others. We are willing to bear the reproaches for others, as if we, “like Christ”, substitute them.

Verse 4 then says that whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we may have hope. There are three things here: endurance, encouragement, hope. Once again, the truly strong can endure. The weak cannot bear the failings of others, but the strong can bear, endure the failings of others. The strong not only can bear the failings of the weak, but also can give encouragement. Why is there endurance and encouragement? Because there is hope. Hope is actually repeated in the last part of the passage. It is not a marginal topic but a keyword in this passage. Endurance itself is mentioned to be an attribute of God Himself. He is the God of endurance and encouragement. God is the source of endurance and encouragement, so He can grant us to live in harmony with one another. We long for a church that lives in harmony with one another. Of course this is a longing of every one of us who thinks in the right way. You can imagine a church that lives in disharmony. It is chaotic. However, people often forget what can make people live in harmony with one another. As in verse 5, without endurance and encouragement, it is very easy for a community to be divided. When we hear about the failings of others, instead of bearing them, we pass them to others by gossiping. We do not want to bear the burden ourselves, but throw it directly to others so that they can bear it. There is no endurance. Likewise if there is no encouragement. We will have people in our congregation who are discouraged, pessimistic, hopeless. In that situation it is impossible to live in such harmony, because such harmony can only be lived out in a community whose members encourage one another. It is impossible for discouragement to unite people. It will be divisive instead.

Verse 6 is also important: ‘glorify God, glorify the Father, glorify Jesus Christ’. Pay attention that living in such harmony is not the end in itself. This is not a harmony that is enjoyed in itself. As verse 6 says, it is important to live in such harmony so that together, with one voice, we may glorify God, glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. If people do not live in harmony and the community is divided, they cannot really glorify God. A commentator even says glorifying God is the central theme of Paul’s epistle to the Romans. We are together called to glorify God.

We live in Europe and face a very strong paradigm of individualism. Sometimes we are not immune to this paradigm either. I am not saying that christianity does not have any individual or personal aspect. That is not my point at all. Of course there is a place to talk about individual or personal aspects. However, when we talk about individualism as a paradigm, it becomes something incompatible with the Scripture and the holy gospel. Sometimes we are unaware of this and think that what matters is how we glorify God individually or personally. What is important is that I myself glorify God in my workplace. I glorify God in my family life. In my own church I glorify God. We often forget that christianity is glorifying God communally. As verse 6 says, together, we glorify God. Here we do not glorify God individually, but communally. Because communal glorifying is so important, Paul tells them to welcome one another. This doxological vision to glorify God pushes us to welcome one another. Without welcoming one another, there is no communal glorifying. Again, welcoming one another is not just about showing how hospitable we are, although it is indeed important. It is about the doxological vision. This is not about your and my hospitality, or Asian-Indonesian hospitality, or hospitality of any Asian country you may come from. This is not about our culture. This is about glorifying our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, there is a Christological reason or foundation here, ‘as Christ has welcomed you’. Thus we should welcome one another.

We know that the congregation in Rome was having a crisis, especially after the edict of Caesar Claudius, who expelled Jews from the City of Rome. This changes the demography of the congregation that Paul ministered to. The number of Jewish people used to be substantial, but after the edict, it was significantly reduced. This changed the constellation of the congregation in Rome. If you read the epistle to the Romans, this is the crisis that Paul was addressing. Paul was encouraging the remnant Jews who questioned God’s justice for their banishment. On the other hand, Paul was reminding the Gentiles not to become arrogant or position themselves wrongly. You may read this in the next passage i.e. verse 8 and so on. Verse 8 says that to show God’s truthfulness, Christ became a servant to the circumcised in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs. Here Paul reiterates the priority of Israel. The circumcised here refers to the Israelites. The Jewish community, despite their significant reduction in numbers, is comforted because God does go back on His promise. However, this should not be taken in an exclusive sense. The promises of God should not be taken as an exclusive thing to the Jews or the Israelites. Verse 9 says ‘in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.’. It is true that God’s promises were indeed first given to God’s chosen nation, that is Israel. They were given to the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob or Israel. However, even since the promise was given to Abraham, it was clear that that there is a view in which the Gentiles would be included. It is interesting to note here how Paul makes an application of what it means to glorify God together. The ones who glorify God should not be only the Jews, and should not be only the Gentiles either, although the Gentile population was rather dominating in number at that time. They should still remember that to glorify God together means doing it together with the Jews. Glorifying God is a calling for all nations, not for only a particular nation. We can directly apply this to our lives. Does our church have the same doxological vision? Together, with one voice, glorify God, glorify Jesus Christ. What does togetherness mean here? In this passage, it means transcending racial, tribal, national boundaries. If we stay within our national boundary, then we have not understood what this means.

We said it is rather difficult to relate this passage with Advent as if the message is indirect. What is really the relation with Advent? It is actually simple. When Jesus comes, He will unite different nations to worship the true God. Christmas is not for only one nation. Jesus is not for only one nation, but all nations. Advent prepares us for that. If we keep living exclusively, we do not live out the spirit of Advent and do not prepare ourselves for Christmas. Even the Israelites were not immune to this danger. You read in Acts, even Peter, an apostle, found it difficult to comprehend why God accepts other nations such that God had to give a vision of animals considered unclean by Israel and told him to eat them. This signifies the inclusion of the Gentiles and that the Gospel will reach the Gentiles. Let us prepare ourselves this Christmas by asking God to make us an inclusive church. We then truly live out the narrative of Christmas. In the narrative, the Magi, who are clearly not Israelites, are included. Even in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, there are people who are from outside the lineage of Israel.

Paul quotes a few parts of the Scripture: in verse 9, 10, 11 and 12. Verse 9 says, ‘Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles and sing to your name’, which means praising God is not done by only the Israelites, but also among the Gentiles. Needless to say, there must be some witnessing to the Gentiles, otherwise how could the Gentiles praise God? Verse 10 has a different perspective. Verse 9 pictures a believer praising God among the Gentiles, but verse 10 speaks to the Gentiles, ‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’ so that they can rejoice with God’s people. Verse 11 is different as well. It is an invitation or even a command to the Gentiles, ‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.’ Here the plural form ‘peoples’ is used, indicating that it includes not only the Israelites, but also the Gentiles. Verse 12 is perhaps most related to Advent, ‘the root of Jesse will come’. It says ‘will’, so now is still the time of waiting. It also says, ‘even he who arises to rule the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.’. Some Israelites might think that to rule here means to make the Gentiles submit to Israel, and this is the Kingdom of God. However, this is not that kind of political kingdom with military power, or even with violence. Instead, to rule here means to rule righteously with love and mercy because even the Gentiles put their hope in the one who rules. Clearly this is not a violent rule, otherwise no one will put their hope in the ruler.

Once again the word ‘hope’ appears here, and it is a keyword in this passage. In the last part, hope is almost inseparable from believing. People who have hope must believe in God’s promises. God’s promises are hoped for by not only Israelites but also the Gentiles. We want to try to apply this in our context. In the past, we, the Asian people, received the Gospel from European missionaries, who believe that the Gospel is not only for their nation, but also for other nations in the whole world. Now we, as Asians, live here in Europe. How do we become a blessing here? Do we create an Asian ghetto in which we feel comfortable, or do we try reaching out to other nations? This is the calling for people who live out the message of Advent and Christmas. Let us not be satisfied with glorifying God together with people of the same culture, but we must witness the universality of the Gospel that we believe.

From this hope our lives will be filled abundantly with all joy and peace. I believe everyone wants joy and peace, but sometimes we human beings create our own concepts of joy and peace. In this passage, joy and peace are inseparable from abounding in hope. What is the hope? Once again, it is the hope that there will be a new people formed by God who consists of all different nations. This should be the doxological vision of you and me. It should not be limited by racial, national or cultural boundaries. Instead, we get to understand the depth of the joy of the Lord, because He gives himself for all nations. God wants to give such true joy and peace in our lives. Let us keep hoping and believing in God’s promise. May God bless us all. (S.W.)