Reflection on Romans 15:1-7 for Mission Group, 1-23-09, Peter Gathje
Romans 15:1-7,
1 We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. 3 For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Paul was writing to a faith community torn apart by division between Jewish and Gentile followers of the “way.” Each side saw itself as somehow superior to the other and Paul’s letter makes two basic points. First, “none are righteous no not one.” Second, all are saved, made whole, by the transforming faith in and of Jesus Christ. By the time the letter is entering this 15th chapter, Paul is wrapping things up and encouraging both groups to live in unity.
I find this background is of some help in thinking about this particular passage in relation to my practice of hospitality at Manna House. The divisions of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, addiction, and mental illness, are all as powerful as the division between Jew and Gentile in the ancient world.
Following Jesus means working to transcend those divisions, not through a new super-identity, but rather a mutual recognition of being broken and sinful and in need of love. This is an identity made by receiving love freely from God, along with realizing our shared humanity and shared salvation.
So, the results of this new identity are immediate and powerful. Whatever strengths I have are not for oppressing or harming others, or for protecting myself, they are rather to be put at the service of the weak. They are for the upbuilding of the neighbor. And this is to live in the spirit of Christ. Such a service of love is not easy to do, but God is with us in this work, encouraging us, strengthening us, giving us hope.
This brings me to the line in Romans that I love and that is foundational for hospitality as I see it at Manna House, “Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7).
The greatest act of hospitality is God’s embrace of me in my brokenness and sin, and this embrace is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I know the evil within myself and I'm as mystified by it as I am by the evil I encounter in others; as Paul said in Romans, “The good I want to do I don’t do and the evil I don’t want to do, I do.” There is some power in our lives as humans that propels us into evil, I think that's the symbol of the snake in the garden, and still there is some element of choice. But whatever that mystery of evil, there is a greater mystery, and that is God’s love that endures forever, that redeems us, makes us whole, transforms us. God transforms us not by force or fear, but by love.
So, I seek at Manna House to embody that love. I don’t seek to “fix” people. I seek to welcome them as God in Christ welcomes me. What encourages me is not that people get better by getting sober or getting a job or even housing (though I celebrate when such things happen), but that people become more loving. I know that transformation in love is more enduring and more deeply enlivening than anything else in our lives.
So, I can celebrate the transformation I’ve seen in several of our more difficult guests since last summer. I can celebrate one of our guests asking for forgiveness and his asking me to help him come up with a list of what he can get from the clothing room because as he said, he gets flustered and angry when he can’t remember what he’s supposed to get. I can celebrate another guest asking yet again for forgiveness for flying off the handle and accusing someone of stealing something he left behind in the shower room.
And I can celebrate that I’m better with some of our mentally ill guests than I used to be thanks to their patience and Kathleen’s example one day with a guest I had had great difficulty in communicating. In other words, I’m getting healed and transformed by love too, not quickly but slowly.
I know I’ll keep failing, keep sinning, and I’ll keep struggling not to, but I also know that God is not done with me and neither are the guests and the other volunteers here at Manna House. Somehow together in this place God lovingly welcomes each of us, and in that loving welcome we can lovingly welcome each other. And slowly that love ends the divisions, and brings us together in a God-given harmony, a beloved community, a taste of the kingdom of God.