"Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.' For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 15:1-6)
Edification, instruction, perseverance, encouragement, hope, unity. Those are the kind of key words in this passage. Paul's instruction is to treat neighbors in a way that edifies them and brings about their greatest good. The greatest example of this is Christ, who -- even as the Son of God -- bore humanity's reproach for its edification, though humanity was far from "neighborly" at the time. We see this through the testimony of the Word, which testified of this before the act had even been done -- for the purpose of our instruction, which leads to our perseverance and encouragement through our understand of these Scriptures, which brings us to the ultimate purpose: that "we might have hope". And even beyond this individual level of relation to the Scripture and the greatness of Christ's work, there is more; the God who gives that encouragement and perseverance continues, in His grace, to grant us unity with one another. And the ultimate point? His glorification in all of these wonderful things.
When I was reading, the first thing that really stuck out to me was the last portion of this text. I suppose I just don't feel very unified right now -- I often don't feel "at home" in the community I'm a part of, and I feel distanced from my tightest community (my family) in a way that I've never experienced before. I want to be "of the same mind" in some sphere, with some group of my community. But the real truth is that, at the moment, I feel a bit alone. And that scares me -- first because I don't want to be alone at all, and second because I don't want being alone to mean I'm in the wrong.
So there are my fears, projected on the text. But thank goodness for observation before application (kudos, LPC), because there are some things I didn't consider. First, that perseverance, encouragement, and hope don't have their roots in my community with other people. Is that a sphere in which those things find communal fulfillment? Absolutely! But their roots are firmly planted in the Word, and in Christ's fulfillment of the Word. And the Word, all it contains, all it purposes, all it actively does in the world and in my heart -- all that is rooted in the person of God. So this Scripture begs the question:
How can I expect to have the one (the "same-mindedness" of community that I so long for) without first being aligned with the other (the person of God, from whom all these things spring)?
Oh Lord, help me. I jump right to the end -- I want clean, pretty, easy life in a community where I am loved and where I belong without question. I don't always want to take the necessary steps to commune with the Source of all these things. I'd just rather skip to the end, ok God? I don't really feel like taking the necessary steps to read Your Word, to understand the Scriptures, to learn about the source of all my perseverance, encouragement, and hope. I'd rather just have it automatically and skip the work.
Great -- moving on!
Yikes. Lord, help me. I've got to know You before any of the things I so blithely desire can even be possible, true, or valuable. I've got to discipline myself to read and understand Your Word. I want to discipline myself to read and understand Your Word, and to understand You as the source of anything good in my life. Community, family, unity, hope -- everything springs from You. So it's not really those things I want -- though I'm rarely wise enough to understand this -- it's You. I want You. I need You. Help me, Father. Help me remember that this is the truth, even when I'm too short-sighted to see it.
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