We're All in This Together!

2nd Sunday in Advent, 12/5/10
Romans 15:4-13


We’re All in This Together!
I. Glorifying the Lord who united us
II. Sharing the hope God gave us


For more than a decade psychologists have seen trouble coming. In fact, they’re calling it a modern plague. It’s called social isolationism. Experts in this field have seen a sharp decline in social connectedness over the past 20 years. According to a recent study by scientists at Duke University 25% of Americans claim to have no meaningful social support at all—not a single person they can confide in. 50% of Americans claim no close confidants or friends outside of their immediate family. Those stats are double what they were in 1985.
And the reasons for it are many. Longer commuting times is one. But the biggest reason is that the contact with the rest of the world for far too many people is through a flat screen—either their television or their computer. Since the beginning of time humans have banded together, forming communities for mutual support and encouragement. Not anymore. Now we flee to the friendly confines of our couches behind locked doors and shut the rest of the world out while we look at the world of our choice through a particular channel or website.
And the toll this isolation takes? An increased vulnerability to mental illnesses such as depression and addictions. You see, we humans just weren’t made to exist in isolation.
And neither were Christians. We not only share a common flesh and blood, we share a common faith, a faith in Jesus as our Savior from sin. That common faith brings us together, it unites us, it bonds us to each other.
And as a group of united Christians we’re focusing together in this Advent season on preparing ourselves for our Savior’s coming, chiefly his return to this earth on the Last Day. Every one of us is living in repentance for our sins and faith in Jesus as our Savior. That’s being ready for his return. Whether we’re conscious of it all the time or not, that’s what we’re doing. We’re all in this together.
In a way, that’s the truth Paul emphasized in this portion of his letter to the Romans. He reminded them that they have a common faith and a common goal. So do we. So let’s remind ourselves of it this morning and then act like it as we wait for his return. We’re all in this together. Let’s see what that means as we take Paul’s words to heart.

I.

As I look out over the congregation this morning I see something that I expect—we all look strikingly similar. There isn’t much diversity among us at all. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing or a good thing; I’m just stating what it is. Many of us have similar backgrounds and experiences. By and large we’re similar economically and socially.
But what do you imagine the congregation of Christians in Rome looked like? Was it as homogenous as our own?
Not at all. Basically, there were two groups of Christians in that congregation. The first were Jewish people who were converted to Christianity. Some of them had been present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and were among the 3,000 who heard Peter’s sermon and were baptized. They returned to Rome and began gathering together in a congregation of Christians.
But another group of Christians began joining them. These were Gentile people, many of them natives of Rome. Through various outreach efforts they had come to know and believe in Jesus as their Savior. They were formerly idol worshippers, heathen people who worshipped the gods of the Roman people. But now that they were Christians, they left their heathen way of life. And they joined with their fellow Christians, those who were Jewish by nationality.
But they still had their differences. For decades many of these Jewish Christians had been living as Jews according the laws of the Old Testament, things such as eating kosher and celebrating the various Jewish festivals. Now that they had faith in Jesus, many of them continued in these customs, not because they had to, but because they enjoyed them and were comfortable doing them.
Many of the Gentile Christians felt the same way. They gave up what was sinful about their heathen way of life, but they kept some of their old customs, holidays and ways of doing things. None of these things were inherently sinful; they were just different from the way the Jewish Christians looked at things.
But they also had their issues. For instance, some of the Jews knew that they didn’t have to eat kosher, and yet, if someone brought a casserole to a fellowship meal that had pork in it, they refrained from eating it, thinking it was wrong.
Meanwhile, some of the Gentile Christians had a similar problem. You see, they didn’t buy their meat from a grocery store like we do. Meat was sold each day in the open market. Most of that meat had been used earlier that day in a pagan ritual at a heathen temple. Some Gentiles felt that it was wrong to eat such meat when it really wasn’t.
This doesn’t sound like such a big deal to us, but it was to them. They were tempted to allow these differences to divide them.
So Paul addressed that situation. He encouraged them to serve each other just as Jesus served us all. He offered this prayer, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves.” He wanted them to realize that they were all in this together so that they would help each other out of Christian love for one another. And the goal? Paul writes, “So that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When they served each other in Christian love, God would be glorified by what they said and did.
There’s the goal for us as well. We’re all in this together, glorifying the God who united us.
We don’t share the differences that the Christians in Rome had. We’re not racially or culturally divided. Even our customs and celebrations and ways of doing things are largely the same. Most of all, our faith in Jesus unites us. But we still need the encouragement that we’re all in this together. We could easily take the position that our opinion about how we should be doing things here at church is the superior way. We could easily look down on some of the choices that our fellow members make—choices that are not sinful, just different. We could easily get discouraged when we don’t see others taking our encouragement and acting in keeping with it. And the more we do so, the closer we come to setting ourselves up as the best example of a Christian this congregation has. But we all know different. We all know we’re in this together. We have a serious condition that draws us together. It’s called sin and we’re helpless to get rid of it. But we’re also united in our faith in Jesus as our Savior from sin. We look to his death on the cross as the payment for our sins. We know that he has drawn us together by faith in him. And so now we glorify him as we encourage one another, as we bear with each other in our weaknesses. We do so because we’re all in this together.

II.

I met a person some time ago who lived by this philosophy: Expect the worst and hope for the best. I don’t know how he ever coped in life, always expecting the worst to happen and only hoping that things will get better.
Thankfully you and I as God’s people don’t have to live that way. Paul tells us why in this prayer for the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Twice Paul uses the word “hope.” But he uses it in a way that’s different from the way we often use it. We usually say things such as, “I hope it doesn’t rain today.” In other words, our hope is nothing more than a wish.
But Paul speaks about the hope that God gives and that’s much more than a wish. It’s confidence. We Christians can live in hope each day because we’re confident of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Even if the worst thing happens to us today—that we die a violent and unexpected death—we’ll awake in eternal bliss and glory in heaven. We’re confident of that because Jesus won it for us.
We can also live confident of each other. I know that you share the same faith in Jesus that I have. I hear you confess that faith. I see you live according to that faith. I see your fruits of faith. Because of that, I know that you will share eternal life with me in heaven. I’m confident of that. So are you.
And that confidence fills us with joy. You see, none of us are perfect. Far from it. We’re sinners. Part of life as a congregation of Christians is dealing with the sins we all commit. Those sins cause us heartache and sorrow. They hinder the work that we could be doing. Left unchecked, sin can threaten the life of a congregation.
But we gather every Sunday, and even at times on Wednesday evenings too, to confess those sins and to assure each other of our forgiveness in Christ. We stand shoulder to shoulder at the Lord’s Supper and receive our Savior’s body and blood for the assurance of our forgiveness. We repeat to one another Christ’s promise that he has prepared a place in heaven for us. And in a world gone mad in which few things go right, our confidence of our forgiveness and life in heaven fills us with peace and joy.
At this time of year, as joyous as it’s suppose to be, we can often get disappointed and discouraged with our family members and our fellow Christians. Sometimes our expectations are unrealistic; at other times their sinful self-centeredness is the cause. We need to offer each other forgiveness for our sins against each other and then remind ourselves what we have—a common faith in Jesus. We’re all looking forward to celebrating his birth. We’re all waiting for his return to this earth as he promised. And by faith in him, we’re ready for both. Remember, we’re all in this together. Amen.