December 9, 2007 - "Crossing the Divide"

Title: “Crossing the Divide”
Text: Romans 15:4-13
Day: Advent 2A
Date: December 9, 2007

Frankly, I don’t know how he did it…Paul, I mean. This was a man who was well-educated. He could have done pretty much anything he wanted to. He was a Roman citizen which gave him some status in society. And yet he became one of the premier Christian missionaries of the early church.

This was a man, supposedly short in stature, who eeked out a living by working from a makeshift leather stand. That was his day job. His other life, however, was a builder of churches. He traveled all over the Mediterranean ON FOOT! He spent most of his adult life going in and out of prisons because he often spoke too much against the Roman empire. And when he came into a new town or village, he would seek out the local synagogue. He knew that this was a place ripe with people who would be interested in hearing his message about Jesus the long-awaited Messiah. And from these meager beginnings he built some of the most lively churches in the empire.

What’s most amazing, however, is that he was able to build these churches, and then manage their problems from afar. Most of the letters we have from Paul today are responses to these problems. The letter to the congregation in Rome is no exception. This was a congregation that was basically divided into two groups. Let’s briefly recap who made up this church in Rome and why it was prone to so many arguments…

On one side of the church you had all of the Jewish Christians – people of the Jewish faith that came to believe in the message concerning Jesus Christ. These Jewish Christians were the ones who held all of the leadership positions in the churches. This group held the numerical majority. They were the ones who clung to the tradition of the Jewish faith, and who thought it was proper that in order to become fully Christian, one had to become fully Jewish.

On the other side of the isle was the minority group in the church – the Gentile Christians. These were people from secular Greek culture who came to the Christian faith through evangelism efforts of the existing Christian community.

Well, it just so happened that in the late 40’s the emperor of Rome sensed some trouble with the Jewish community and he exiled all the Jewish people from the city of Rome, Jewish Christians included. That obviously left the Gentile Christians to run the churches. But then, a few years later, the Jewish people were allowed back into the city. As the Jewish-Christians came back to their old stomping grounds, they sought out their church community. But they came back to a very different kind of church: one in which they were not necessarily “in charge,” and in which they were now the minority.

Now besides being in the minority, these Jewish-Christians – who have nonetheless been baptized into the Christian faith – they have a very different idea of what it means to be part of the Church than do the Gentile-Christians. That made for some interesting – and rather heated – debates within the church community in Rome. They had become a divided community. The task of helping these two groups come together was a daunting task for Paul.

Divisions are not uncommon for us today. Sometimes I think we actually LIKE divisions, separating one group from another. I think sometimes they make it easier for us to identify who we ARE and who we AREN’T. Are you Lutheran or Episcopalian or Catholic or Methodist or Presbyterian or some other Christian breed? Are you an early bird or a night owl? Are you a jock or a geek? Do you prefer Jay Leno or David Letterman? Are you an 8:30 or 10:30 worship go-er?

Sometimes these divisions are actually pretty superficial, but sometimes they can be the cause for massive disputes, heated arguments and long-lasting breaks in relationships. I’m sure that all of us here can name some of these divisions that can and often do cause harm or deep division.

In our country today, it is unfortunate that one of the biggest divisions – or at least the one that seems to get the most press – is the division between Republican and Democrat. We have the freedom to be one or the other, but often our elected representatives spend so much time bickering and debating over their parties political agendas that the real issues that are plaguing our society and our WORLD go unheeded.

Likewise, deep divisions similar to this exist even in the Church between the so-called Religious Right and the so-called Mainline denominations. The Religious Right look with suspicion on mainline denominations, accusing them of not being fully committed to their faith, not talking about Jesus enough, or being too liberal on issues that – to them – seem black and white. The Mainline denominations look at them, however, accusing them of being far too simplistic, or conservative when it comes to difficult issues that don’t have a black-or-white solution.

These are just a few of the issues that plague our society, causing massive rifts between us and our neighbors. Sometimes we look at these divisions or listen to their debates and we wonder how the divide will ever be bridged. Will there ever be a time when these two opposing groups will be united?

This was a question I’m sure was running through Paul’s mind as he wrote to that congregation in Rome. But he was a fantastic pastor. He was able to get to the heart of a matter and put things into perspective in such a way that was not offensive to either party. So Paul writes, “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

Did you catch what he did there? He addresses the two groups at the same time. He acknowledges the rift that has developed between them, and he swiftly and artfully reminds them of the bridge that connects them together: the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who is the common denominator. In him, they are united. Therefore, they are encouraged to welcome one another on that basis.

Would that Paul would be able to speak a similar word into our divided world today, huh? Wouldn’t it be great if Paul could help us to see the hope in the midst of our greatest divisions? Then our world might look something like the vision that we hear about in our Isaiah text this morning. Isaiah in his vision sees Jesus ruling the world with righteousness and equity. “The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.”

What a vision, huh? This is a vision of a world without divisions, a world where peaceful relationships reign. Obviously, this vision is still not reality, but every now and again we are able to see glimpses of it. Just one example might be the work that is being done by the ELCA to bring Christian denominations together for the sake of the Gospel. After years of talks and discussions, the ELCA now is in full communion with five other denominations: the Moravian church, the Reformed Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Episcopal Church, and the United Church of Christ. AND the ELCA is currently in discussion with many other denominations, including the African Methodist-Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church and even the Roman Catholic Church! Here is at least one place where we are beginning to see that divisions are being bridged.

This is a brief glimpse of a world without divisions. And this is how we are called to live. Jesus bridges our divided world and welcomes us, and we are called to do the same.

Amen.