Love and Liberation from Paul's Letter to the Romans (Daily Office 5/8/15)

Daily Office for 5/8/15 includes (Romans 14:13-23):

This passage struck me today as being very rich in spiritual wisdom. First, we hear a command we rarely follow: “Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.” I would like to take a moment to reflect on how different this ethic is from what we see in our culture today (and not just ours, it is a human habit). “Let us not pass judgment on one another,” is morality of liberation. We liberate ourselves and others from our expectations; when we don't judge, we usually observe and listen to others. When we don't judge we can value the “other.” In psychology we often hear our judgment of others comes from our judgment of ourselves, or likewise “when I am hard on myself, I am hard on others; when I become disgusted with myself, I become disgusted with others.” I know I project a lot of my internalized emotions (both good and bad) onto others. What Paul is commanding us to do here is be rid of the condemnation of both. With that load off of me, peace is possible.

Paul continues: “Resolve instead to never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another,” and later, “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself.” Paul often gets a bad rap from liberal Christians and his upheld by more conservative Christians as maintaining a firm support for “holiness,” but here we see a statement that goes beyond both ideologies. In the first quote I hear “don't crush another person's spirit, encourage the cultivation of their person-hood and faith.” The word Satan has its original meaning in the Hebrew Scriptures as an obstacle or a stumbling block (it also was both a good and bad thing in the Hebrew Scriptures); Paul tells us not to be one of those, don't be a Satan. We see here a reiteration of his consistent commandment to the Roman Church: “Love one another.” To not be a stumbling block we have to recognize the other, cherish the other, and hope for the best for the other apart from our own expectations of them. The second quote, “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself,” is extremely provocative coming from a former Pharisee and it is a game-changer from religious ethics.

We have here a clear sign of how Jesus of Nazareth changed the Jewish Tradition. What you eat, what you do, is now of less importance to the How and Why you do something. In the Christian context ethics becomes more than mere action, but focuses on transformation. Later we read, “Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve.” In this context we see a reiteration of “all things are permissible, not all things are beneficial.” In essence Paul declares liberation of humans from following arbitrary laws. The law now is Love, and the expression of that is left to the creativity of the individual. But before we delight in a “free-for-all” we again are reminded, “resolve instead to never put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another,” so that we may “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” You are free, but don't be an a**.

In conclusion I believe this reading from Paul, a man who is often given a bad rap for grace, is extremely radical for spiritual liberation. Know for yourself as all things are permitted, nothing is unclean in itself as God made all things (including you and me), the Law of God is Love, that is your motivation and guide. Do not condemn yourself and you shall not condemn others; rather create ways to cultivate and support them and yourself. Peace be with you!