The Wednesday after the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 23, 2024 by under
Scripture: Romans 14:4-12 (NKJV)
14:4 Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.
5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Devotion
Sometimes two differing practices can be allowed by God and be pleasing to Him. As examples, St. Paul mentions differences in observing holy days and in dietary habits. One may attend different days for worship than another. One may eat all things; another only vegetables (Rom. 14:2). These practices are indifferent (adiaphora) if they are neither commanded nor forbidden by God.
The temptation of our flesh is to judge others for their choices in indifferent matters. For example, because we wear our “Sunday best” for church, some might think that one who does not dress up is irreverent. Or because we fast during Lent, one might consider those who do not fast to be impious. Paul instructs us that we should not judge our brethren on account of such differences. Instead, let him who observes one custom observe it to the Lord. And let him who omits the same custom also omit it to the Lord. Let us do all things out of faithfulness to God, who freed us from the condemnation of the Law and made us children of God through faith.
At the same time, we should not use our freedom in the Gospel to cause offense. Our choices in matters of adiaphora must not become a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. The following principle should also govern our freedom in these matters: “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40).
Collect: Lord, we beseech Thee to keep Thy household, the Church, in continual godliness; that through Thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve Thee in good works, to the glory of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
