Why Not Leave Judgment to God? —Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 16A (Romans 14:1-12)

  

Romans 14:1-12 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

14 Welcome those who are weak in faith but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ² Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³ Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them. ⁴ Who are you to pass judgment on slaves of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵ Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶ Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. Also those who eat, eat for the Lord, since they give thanks to God, while those who abstain, abstain for the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷ For we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ 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. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹ For it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,

    and every tongue shall give praise to God.”

¹² So then, each one of us will be held accountable.

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                People seem to enjoy judging or criticizing other people. Social Media has made such activities even more common. Even when we lack information, we seem intent on letting others know what we think about this or that. In other words, as we set aside traditional expertise, everyone has become an expert. This has become even more common now that AI is taking hold. Just ask Google or Safari or Bing, and you will receive an answer. Even if we can’t determine whether the answer is correct, we will think of ourselves as being more knowledgeable than we really are. I must confess that I am susceptible to such activities!

                Let us remember that Paul is writing this letter to a Christian community that has probably existed for a couple of decades, one that he had never visited. So, even though he is giving advice on important matters, he may not have the kind of authority in such matters as he might have had in Corinth, Ephesus, or Philippi. Nevertheless, it appears that he has learned about divisions within the community, which demand his attention. At least he offers to help. As is true of Paul’s letters, he is not averse to making his views known.

                Our reading begins with Paul telling the community to welcome those who are “weak in faith.” Chapters fourteen and fifteen address an apparent conflict between two parties whom Paul identifies with the monikers “weak” and “strong.” What is not completely clear is the identity of each party. In our reading, Paul warns against quarreling over opinions regarding food and whether to honor particular days. It is probably safe to say that this is a conflict involving Jewish and Gentile members of the community. Paul has already addressed this conflict in an earlier chapter, but as he winds down his letter, he again addresses an area of concern, which he has addressed in letters to congregations he had planted. The overarching issue here is one of welcome. He believes that the communities claiming to follow Jesus should be welcoming. He does believe there are rules and regulations, ethical ones, that should be followed. However, when it comes to what we might call adiaphora, there should be freedom. Here, food and observance of particular days are the issues that have risen.

                One of the major questions concerns the identity of the “weak in faith” and the “strong.” It seems that in Paul’s mind, these are unfortunate monikers, since in his view, when it comes to the Christian community, Jew and Gentile are equal. He is willing to proclaim the good news to both Jew and Gentile. As Michael Gorman points out, “Segregation was not, and is not, a Christian option” [Gorman, Romans, p. 267].  There is no room for intercultural conflict in the community of faith, so Paul is intent on unifying what appears to be a fractured community that should be one unified body of Christ. By focusing on food and on which days should be observed, Paul addresses boundary markers, something he has dealt with elsewhere, such as circumcision in the Galatian letter. The identity of the two parties is difficult to discern. It could be that the “weak in faith” might involve Jews who are insistent on the importance of specific dietary and calendar rules, and yet there is nothing in the Torah that bans eating meat or requires eating only vegetables. It could involve eating meat that had been offered to idols, something that had come up in Corinth (1 Cor. 8), but that might involve both Jewish and Gentile Christians.  As for particular observances, that is difficult to determine as well. Whatever the background to this message, Paul seems intent on downplaying the boundary markers used to segregate members of the community from each other. Whoever the Weak and Strong were, Paul wanted the two to live together in peace and unity. This is a helpful message at a time when division and polarization have become areas of concern in the United States and elsewhere. At the end of the reading, we hear a word of guidance that might help the congregation move toward peace and unity.

By addressing these boundary markers, Paul is not saying that anything goes. He is not what theologians call “antinomians,” that is, people who have no law at all. As the saying goes, “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things charity/love.” Food and days of observance are not essentials, so latitude should be given to one another. If one wishes to abstain from particular foods, they may do so. However, they should not impose that belief on others. The same goes for particular days on the calendar. There is room for diversity in matters of adiaphora, but there should be unity in matters that pertain to God’s realm. Whatever one eats or celebrates should be done for the Lord. While the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist is not mentioned here, Paul might have had this in mind as well. Unfortunately, the Table has been a place of disunity through the centuries and continues to be a place of disunity (on the question of how open the table might be, see my book Eating with Jesus: Reflections on Divine Encounters at the Open Eucharistic Table, Cascade, 2025). This isn’t a question of tolerance, but rather of hospitality and welcome. Paul has a more active vision in mind here than simply letting us do our own thing without judging one another.

In verse 7, Paul brings his message home by telling the readers that “we do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.”  Instead, whether we live or die, we do so for the Lord. Thus, “For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living” (vs. 9). In making this statement, Paul is reminding the reader that the gospel is cruciform; it is rooted in the death of Christ on the cross and his subsequent resurrection. Therefore, followers of Jesus should live accordingly. Whatever we do, let us do it to glorify God.

As Paul makes his point about living for Christ, he addresses our human proclivity to self-centeredness. When we judge others, we usually do so out of self-centeredness. Paul wants us to act not out of self-centeredness but rather in Christ-centeredness.

The reading closes with a reminder that God is our judge. If this is true, as Paul believes, then why do we judge or despise our spiritual siblings? As Ron Allen and Clark Williamson note, “We are freed, then, to love others who are loved by God, whether they are vegetarians or meat eaters. God affirms us in our weakness; we should affirm our neighbors in their weaknesses” [Preaching the Letters without Dismissing the Law, p. 87]. So, once again, why do we judge one another? As it is said:

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall give praise to God.” (Rom. 14:11; Isa. 45:23).

Yes, why do we try to serve as judges of others when we will all bow before God, who is our judge, and to whom “every tongue shall give praise.”