Same, same but different (Romans 15:1-7)

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For everything that has been written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:1-7

My high school in Malaysia was next to Petaling Street (Chee Cheung Kai in Cantonese), a place famous for selling imitation goods. Every day, I walked past market stalls selling “Lolex” watches, “Channel” handbags and “Reehawk” sports shoes - fakes made to look like the real thing.

I remember a friend who got the real thing, saving up his allowance to buy a genuine designer t-shirt. The next weekend, his classmates went to Chee Cheung Kai to buy fake versions of the same shirt so that whenever he wore his expensive t-shirt, they would put on their cheapo ones. He was furious!

The Asian expression for this is, “Same, same but different.” What we see in Romans 15 is the Apostle Paul describing the church as “same, same but different.” It’s an important principle for us here at the Chinese Church where everyone looks the same, eats the same food and has the same haircut because the bible reminds us to love those who are not the same - those who are different from us.

Three things I want us to see from today’s passage:

(1) Same but different people

(2) Same but different endurance

(3) Same but different worship

Same but different people

The first thing we see are same but different people. Verse 1: “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”

A pastor once told me, “The most diverse church in this city is the Chinese Church.” I asked him what he meant. “Everyone is trying to plant international churches. ‘We have forty different nations gathered here,’ they say, but when you go to their meetings, everyone is a twenty-something working professional. Everyone is the same.”

“But when you come to the Chinese Church, you have restaurant workers sitting next to university professors. You have old aunties and young kids. You have people from Hong Kong, Singapore and BBC’s (British-born Chinese).”

People look at us here in the Chinese Church and think, “It’s easy for them to get along,” but that’s not true. It takes a great deal of humility and patience for us to live under one roof. And Romans 15 tells us why: The stronger must serve the weaker.

Verse 1: “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak.” By strong and weak, Paul is not referring to rich and poor (though elsewhere, he reminds the rich not to be arrogant in 1 Timothy 6:17); Paul is not referring to smart versus simple (though he says not many of us were wise by human standards when we were called in 1 Corinthians 1:26).

Rather, Paul is talking about those with strong and weak consciences. Here are two groups divided by a sensitive issue. According to Romans 14, they were divided over food sacrificed to idols.

When your non-Christian uncle serves you roast chicken that has been sitting in front of a statue of Kuan Yin, should you eat it? It’s still got joss stick ash on it. Some will say, “Of course! Don’t waste good food.” But others will say, “Oi, cannot! Pantang!” (Meaning: Forbidden!)

What does the bible say? Romans 14, verse 20 says, “All food is clean...” “Aha!” The strong Christian will say, “Christ has freed us from the law.” But that is not all that verse 20 says.

All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.

Romans 14:20

Paul is telling the strong to let go of their strength. He even suggests they stop eating meat or drinking wine or doing anything that will cause a fellow Christian to fall (verse 21). That might be hard for us to imagine but have you considered how your behaviour might be affect someone else’s relationship with Christ? Watching Star Wars on Sunday. Raising your arms in worship. Wearing a Transformers T-shirt to church. “But these are small issues,” you say. That’s the point. You can enjoy them but they are small, secondary joys you should be willing to lose.

Verse 2: “Each of us should please his neighbour for his good, to build him up.” That last bit - about building our neighbour up - is important. The reason we please our neighbour is not just to keep the peace, not just to avoid an argument, but because we want to our brother to get stronger. We do this for his good, to build him up.

Notice that nowhere does Paul say, “The strong have got the bible wrong. God forbids you from eating meat!” He doesn’t say that. Rather, Paul begins in verse 1 by siding with the strong. “We who are strong,” Paul says, “ought to bear with the failings of the weak.” It’s a very politically incorrect thing to say. But his point is: The stronger must serve the weaker. It is because they have stronger convictions that they must be sensitive to those with weaker consciences in Christ.

So if you get into an argument with a friend and you know that you are right - you know that you have won the argument - what must you do? Lose. Be the first person to say, “Sorry.” That’s hard, isn’t it? It’s the employee who says sorry to the boss. It’s the waiter who says sorry to the customer. But in God’s family, the strong must serve the weak. The tai lo must lose face to the sai lo.

What do you call this? A difficult love. A humbling love. The bible calls this God’s love.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

Same but different endurance

Or as Paul writes here in verse 3:

For even Christ did not please himself but as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”

Romans 15:3

Christ is the ultimate strong brother who took our insults on the cross. By the way, the quote from Psalm 69:9 is not talking about other people insulting us. It’s not that Jesus protects us from shame and ridicule. No, Psalm 69 is talking about our insults to God; our rejection of God. The bible is describing how Jesus took all our abuse upon himself when he died for our sins.

What we see here is a God who is the same but different from us. Not just in the sense of the incarnation - Jesus was God become man. That’s true but it’s more than that. According to Romans 15, Jesus knows what it means to serve others and not himself. God is not asking you to do something he hasn’t done himself. When he says, “Be prepared to lose face. Seek the good of your neighbour. Don’t take advantage,” these are not top-down commands from head office (“Do this because I said so!”) It’s the other way around. God is inviting us to join him in Christ’s lowliness and submission. He who was strong became weak for our sakes.

Which is why Paul keeps praying for endurance and encouragement in verses 4 and 5.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ.

Romans 15:4-5

To endure is to Teng Chu (Cantonese),  to Tahan (Malay) - that is, to bear up under a heavy load. It is a strange thing to pray for: “God, help me to endure the people in my church.” Earlier, Paul said that the strong should “bear” with the failings of the weak (verse 1). Another strange thing to say: “Put up with them.”

Last month, I was at a Christian retreat for three days with thirty plus people under one roof. For three days it was fun - singing together, living together, eating together. I said to someone, “If we stayed for thirty days, we will have World War III!” (Well, I hope not) My point was: Love is sweet in the short term. Long-term relationships, on the other hand, are long-suffering. It’s patience and sacrifice. That’s the kind of relationship Paul prays for the church, one that goes the distance.

What we see in these verses are the source and the mark of such an enduring love.

The source of this endurance is the bible. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us.” (Verse 4) The reason we have the bible and the reason why we read the bible is because God speaks to us through this book. He is teaching us about himself; about what it means to live for him. You can’t say that about a newspaper or your favourite movie. But when it comes to the bible, everything there is written so that “we might have hope.”

Hope is defined as our long-term relationship with Christ. (NB. Verse 12: “The Gentiles will hope in him.” Verse 13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.”) God reminds he is in this relationship for the long-term. Christ is the ultimate investment for each joy and sorrow, for each moment of our lives. In the bible, God’s says to us, “Christ is worth it.”

Secondly, the mark of this endurance is unity. “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the spirit of unity,” literally, “the same mind towards one another” in Christ Jesus (in verse 5). It is a change is character, not a change in circumstance. The different groups with different problems are still there, Paul is not saying those different circumstances go away. But what God changes is their attitude towards one another. They have the same mindfulness. They submit to one another as they submit to Christ.

Here in the Chinese Church, being one in Christ does not mean having one service or one language or doing the same one thing in the same location. Unity means having the same mind. We are in this together. You and I are just as sinful; you and I are just as secure in our salvation in Christ.

Again, such unity is a mark of godly endurance. It takes time investing in God’s word and God’s people for there to be unity in God’s church.

Same but different worship

Finally, we see a same but different worship.

So that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:6

We have already seen a same but different people, and we get that. It’s easy to love someone who loves the same things but the church is made up of very different people. Not all Chinese are have the same level of Chinese-ness but all who are in Christ are chosen and loved as God’s children.

We have also seen a same but different endurance. It means having the same love in the long term. You might love each other today but what will keep you loving one another ten, twenty years from today? Paul prays for God to change our hearts and minds to be like Christ’s.

Yet the most important sameness and difference we need to see is this last one: Worship. Why? Because it is the reason God gathers different people and causes them to love one another. So that He gets the glory.

So that He gets the praise.

Verse 6, “So that… you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In verse 7, we “accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, to bring praise (or glory) to God.” This theme of praise and glory carries on:

So that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing hymns to your name.”

Again, it says,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his peoples.”

And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and sing praises to him, all you peoples.”

Romans 15:9-12

If you are praying for unity here in the Chinese Church, God loves to answer that prayer but the reason is not simply so that we will get along. Unity is never for the sake of unity. It is so that He ultimately gets all the glory.

When you are planning the church picnic, when you are choosing the songs for Sunday, when you are counselling a married couple or when you teaching a bible passage on unity - you have to be very careful of thinking, “How can I get these people to like one another?” It is tempting to turn church unity into an idol, to use unity as an excuse to avoid conflict and to gloss over real issues like sin and ungodly behaviour. That is a fake kind of unity, the kind you get from Chee Cheong Kai, that looks the same but is very different from the real thing.

But Romans 15 is clear. Christian unity that is authentic results in God’s glory. Real Christians might still disagree with one another and there’ll always be some niggling issue that hasn’t been resolved. And yet, it glorifies God when these same believers love another because the biggest issue of our sin and God’s approval has been resolved in Christ.

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:7

The ESV has, “Welcome one another.” I like that word “welcome” because Paul is saying something practical at this point. We glorify God not simply by singing at the top of our lungs or preaching a sermon. We can glorify God by asking a brother out to lunch. By helping someone with homework. By taking an interest in what’s stressing them out.

When Paul say “accept” or “welcome” one another, he is saying, “Make this person a part of your life.”

The opposite of acceptance is rejection. It’s saying, “Not interested, go away.” We take it for granted when the pastor says, “It’s time for a friendship break.” After two minutes of asking what college you’re from or what job you’re doing, you don’t expect to see that person again.

Paul says, “Think of Christ’s acceptance of you.” He sought you out when you didn’t know him. He died for you while you were rebelling against him. He reminds you of his love, pouring out his grace into each moment of your lives. Do that for your brother and your sister in church as your worship. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.”

This is a same but different kind of worship. People get preoccupied thinking about what they can do to worship God. “What gifts do I have?” “What can I do to serve?” But really the question to ask is not what but who. Who is my weaker brother? Who gets on my nerves sometimes?

Who is God calling me to accept with Christ’s love today? Do this to the glory of God.

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:7

By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 13:35

A Christmas nobody (Luke 2:8-20)

Are you a Christmas nobody?

It’s not that you hate Christmas or that you’re alone over Christmas. But you just feel insignificant this time of year. No one would notice if you walked out of the room. They would still be celebrating, drinking, watching the Dr Who special. But you? You’re expendable. Like a sprout rolled under the tree.

The thing is, being a Christmas nobody might not be such a bad thing.

1. The nobodies of the world

And there were shepherds living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Luke 2:8-10

Shepherds were nobodies. Five times we’re reminded what their job was: Sheep-keepers. They looked after smelly sheep. They had a reputation as weirdos - the Jar Jar Binks of the ancient world. They were nobodies in the world.

But not to God. “Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you,” the angel says to the shepherds in verse 11. “This will be a sign to you,” verse 12.

When God sat down to write the first Christmas card, he wrote on the envelope: “Shepherds.”

Not “Prime Minister” nor “Archbishop of Jerusalem”. God wanted the first people to hear about the first Christmas to be nobodies, not the somebodies of the world.

Why?

Years later, Jesus would call himself the good shepherd (John 10:11, 14). You see, the way that shepherds care for their sheep - “living out in the fields near by, keeping watch over their flock,” verse 8 - was the way that God cares for his people. Looking after sheep isn’t glamourous. Yet the great leaders of old - Joseph, Moses, King David - learned the ropes by leading sheep. It taught them humility. Practical love. Jesus came to be that kind of shepherd king. That kind of humble Saviour born in a manger.

It takes a nobody to recognise Somebody special. God knew that shepherds would recognise their Saviour.

But they weren’t alone. There is a second group of nobodies: The angels.

2. The nobodies of the universe

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to men
on whom his favour rests.”

Luke 2:13-14

It might seem strange calling angels nobodies. I doubt the shepherds would dare do that. They were terrified! (verse 9) The angel had to tell them, “Do not be afraid.” (Verse 10)

Furthermore, the “great company of the heavenly host” appearing in verse 13 is not a musical choir. We get that from “O come all ye faithful” - the line from the carol which goes, “Sing choirs of angels, sing in exaltation” - but that is far from what verse 13 is talking about. In reality, it is describing an army. In the same way that the “Lord of hosts” in the Old Testament is better translated the “Lord of armies,” so here, the “heavenly host” refers to the armed forces of Almighty God.

Think less Sister Act and more GI Joe.

Yet these armies appear - “suddenly”, verse 13 - not to fight a war, not to defeat an enemy. Rather, God sends his generals, warriors and footsoldiers on a mission of peace. Verse 14: “...And on earth, peace to men on whom his favour rests.”

You see, Christmas Day made these angels, well, redundant. Because Christmas means an end to the war. Christ is born. His birth marks an end to our rebellion against God.

Jesus once told his disciples, “Don’t you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53) He said this to friends trying to prevent his arrest by soldiers with swords. With violence. He was saying, “Cool it, guys. I’ve got the Heavenly Avengers on speed dial.” He was talking about the same angels we meet here in Luke 2.

The Trinitarian Terminators. The Jehovah Jedis.

Jesus could snap his fingers and the full military might of the universe would be at his disposal.

So why didn’t he? Because the way to win this fight was to lose his life. No angel, however awesome, can take your punishment for sin. No friend, however sincere, can take your place of judgement. Only God can do that. And on the cross, he did. He died in our place.

Christians call this the gospel. It’s the “good news” announced by the angel in verse 10. It is good news for bad people that God has forgiven our sin. It is good news for all peoples that God has defeated our sin. It is good news for you and me that Jesus Christ is Lord. This was a message delivered by angels to shepherds.

This was a message delivered by shepherds to Mary, the last nobody we meet in the Christmas story.

3. Nobody but God

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:16-20

We see two reactions to Christmas. Both good. But both different.

Some people are like the shepherds. They hear the news. They see the baby. And they “returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.” (verse 20) It just makes sense!

But others are like Mary, who “treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (verse 19) It’s those quiet moments when nobody is in the room, when the turkey’s in the fridge and guests have gone home, when you ask yourself, “Is this really true? Did God send his Son to save me from my sins?”

Of all people, you would think Mary got this instantly. After all, she gave birth to the Messiah. When she was pregnant in Luke Chapter 1, the angel appeared to her, calling her highly favoured, saying her son would be the Son of God (Luke 1:28, 35). Mary is a model of faith. “I am the Lord’s servant,” she says in Luke 1:38.

Yet Luke Chapter 2 reminds us this was a process, even for Mary. She treasured up the moments and pondered them in her heart. The phrase occurs again at the end of the chapter (Luke 1:51), meaning, she was constantly pondering over what it meant for Jesus to be to be her Lord and Saviour.

I suggest to you that Mary did this all her life because (and I want to be careful how I say this) Christmas isn’t enough to make sense of Christ. It’s a good start, don’t get me wrong. Christmas says Jesus was born for us but it is the cross that says Jesus died for us. The cross makes sense of Christmas. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Mild he lay his glory by,
Born that man no more may die.

Like Mary, it might not be such a bad thing to be alone during such moments. To think. To pray. Because friends, the times in life when we are most aware of our own insignificance isn’t, I don’t think, when we’re lonely or depressed, but when we are in the presence of something truly marvellous and awesome. When God enters our lives, when we are most awed by his holy presence, those are the moments when we are most aware of our sinfulness, most humbled by our lowliness and most surprised by his grace.

Do not be afraid.

I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you;

he is Christ the Lord.

Paul the apprentice (Acts 11:25-26)

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.

Acts 11:25-26

A plumber from Peterborough - who was expelled from school at age 15 - is this year’s winner of the Apprentice. In his final interview, Joseph Valente was asked why he should be Lord Sugar’s business partner. He replied, “What you see, is what you get. I’ve got experience... I’m driven, passionate, hardworking.” Those of you who watched the finale will know that Joseph was shrewdly quoting the title of Lord Sugar’s book (entitled, “What you see is what you get”), identifying himself with the business magnate’s humble beginnings. (Lord Sugar, too, left school as a teenager.)

Still, it did remind me of how even the Apostle Paul began his ministry as a humble apprentice. Yes, Paul did have a miraculous call and conversion on the road to Damascus - struck blind, meeting the risen Lord Jesus, preaching powerfully in the synagogues in Acts Chapter 9. But then he disappears off to Tarsus, his hometown, never to be seen again until Chapter 11 when an enterprising pastor named Barnabas took the initiative of seeking Paul out (verse 25) and bringing him back to lead a new church plant in Antioch.

Barnabas was the guy the apostles knew and trusted. In verse 22, Barnabas is the official representative sent from Jerusalem to check things out in Antioch. (The last time they did something like that was back in Chapter 8 where two of the apostles, Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem to assess the situation in Samaria). And in verse 24, Luke goes out of his way to describe Barnabas as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” On the other hand, no one knew Paul. But for some reason - we don’t know why - Barnabas decided he needed to bring in the new guy. Maybe it was part of his encouraging nature (Acts 4:36 tells us his name Barnabas means “Son of Encouragement”). Maybe he was humble enough to ask for help. But whatever it was, Barnabas took a chance and travelled all the way to Tarsus to brought Paul back as his partner and apprentice.

Again, most of us assume (or at least I did for the longest time) that a powerful figure like Paul was always in the forefront of ministry, leading the team and setting the pace. Didn’t Jesus say of Paul that “he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and children of Israel”? (Acts 9:15) Wasn’t his preaching so persuasive that he “confounded the Jews” (Acts 9:22)? And yet, at the end of that same chapter, we meet none other than Barnabas introducing Paul to the leaders in Jerusalem HQ. Why? Verse 26 tells us, “And they were afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.” You see, it was Barnabas who stuck his neck out for Paul before the brothers and said, “Listen to what this guy has to say.”

Barnabas is doing the same thing here in Chapter 11. I once heard Mark Dever say, “We should advance trust the same way we advance credit.” He was talking about what it meant for older ministers to entrust responsibility to younger leaders. It’s an investment. There will always be an element of risk. But we advance trust the same way we advance credit - not expecting an immediate return on our investment.

In the case of Barnabas, that investment began all the way back in Chapter 9. When everyone was afraid of Paul, when no one would dare to speak to Paul, Barnabas was the one guy who stood up for Paul. He does the same thing here in Chapter 11. If you were hiring a new pastor, you want a guy like Barnabas. He’s the right age. Everyone loves him. (With a nickname like “Son of Encouragement”, who wouldn’t?) He is “full of the Holy Spirit and faith” (11:24). And yet, the first thing Barnabas does is in his role as the senior pastor is appoint a guy - whom either the church in Antioch had never heard about (or if they did, they would have heard really, really bad things: “That guy used to persecuted Christians!”) - to be their associate minister.

Of course, when we read in verse 26, “For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people,” we immediately see the investment paying off. Paul was, after all, a gifted scholar, preacher, theologian and apologist. We might be tempted to think, therefore, that Paul was in his element. He would immediately be recognised for his gifts and come into his own. Today, someone like Paul would go off and start his own church and develop his experience elsewhere.

But that isn’t the case with Barnabas and Paul. Read on the following chapters - 12, 13, 14 and 15 - where Luke, the author, keeps referring to them as “Barnabas and Paul.” That is, Barnabas is always named first in the partnership. In Chapter 13, for instance, Barnabas is first in the leadership roster at Antioch (and Paul is referred to at the very end of the list - number 5, in fact). Even the Holy Spirit says, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 11:2) In a rather odd situation recorded in Chapter 14, the people of Lystra mistake Paul as the Greek god Hermes after he miraculously heals a crippled man. Even so, they call Barnabas Zeus, the chief of the gods, and the priest of Zeus comes out to offer sacrifices to them (Acts 14:11, 12).

The point is, Barnabas was still the first of equals. And Paul was still the apprentice. It could be that Barnabas was just more well-known and possibly, much older than Paul, and hence, more respected. Furthermore, these same chapters record the sermons that Paul gave, not Barnabas. Paul was clearly the one used by God to preach the message of Jesus to the Gentile world. Undoubtedly, Paul was the gifted one. Having said all that, Paul was the apprentice and Barnabas was his mentor, at least for this season of ministry.

There are so many points of application from these verses. Barnabas’ humility in bringing in Paul to help him out and Paul’s humility in serving under Barnabas’ leadership. Barnabas’ wisdom in investing so early in a young preacher right at the beginning of his ministry and Paul’s wisdom in taking those initial years out to prepare for ministry in Tarsus.

But the one thing I take away from this is their relationship. Barnabas stuck his neck out for Paul way back in Damascus and he never stopped looking out for him. He was more than a nice guy, a spiritual guy or an encouraging guy. Barnabas was intentionally gracious and loving and encouraging towards Paul. It was an intentional relationship. An intentional investment in one person. And we see the same pattern in Paul’s ministry approach in his later years when he takes Timothy under his wing. This is a much more laborious way of raising leaders compared to, say, running a course and awarding a qualification. It takes much longer. And it is painful. But unlike Lord Sugar, our investment is not money that we deposit into someone’s bank account, but our time, our lives and the gospel which we pour into someone else who is willing to do the same.

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Philippians 2:17-18