Do It for the Lord

The Sunday morning message given in the Onida United Methodist church on August 6, 2023 and in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on August 13, 2023.  The Bible verses used are Romans 14:1-18.

            You’re probably aware that there are disagreements going on within Methodism right now.  Some churches have left the United Methodist church, and others are considering it.

            One thing we need to remember, as we think about this, is that there’s nothing new about it.  There have been disagreements within Christian churches since Christianity started.  That’s why the Apostle Paul wrote the things he did in our Bible reading for today.

            The things people disagreed about back then may not seem important to us now, but they were hugely important at the time.  “One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another…eats only vegetables.”  The Jewish dietary laws were very important at the time.  There were things religious Jews simply could not eat, under any circumstances.  As Christianity began to spread beyond the Jewish community, the question of whether non-Jewish Christians had to follow those dietary laws became a major controversy.

            “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike.”  We’ve talked about this before, but keeping the Sabbath was also really important at that time.  You probably remember the times Jesus got into trouble with the Pharisees for breaking the Sabbath laws.  So again, as Christianity spread beyond the Jewish community, the question of whether non-Jewish Christians had to follow the Sabbath laws also became a major controversy.

            And Paul responds to these controversies.  He says two things about them.  First, he says, look, this is not stuff we need to be arguing about.  If one person says he’s only going to eat vegetables, that it helps him feel closer to God to do that, then fine.  Let him.  He’s not hurting you.  If someone else says he’s going to eat whatever he wants, that he can feel close to God without limiting his diet, then fine.  Let him.  He’s not hurting you.  You’re not supposed to judge each other that way.  Let people eat whatever will get them closer to God.

            He says the same thing about the days.  He does not specifically reference the Sabbath day, but he says, look, if one person thinks some days are more sacred than others, if it helps them feel closer to God to make some days more sacred, then fine.  Let him do that.  He’s not hurting you.  And if someone else says all days are equally sacred, if that helps them feel closer to God, Paul says, let him do that.  He’s not hurting you.  Again, Paul says we’re not supposed to judge each other that way.  Let people treat the days in whatever way will get them closer to God.

            So that’s the first thing.  We’re not supposed to judge each other for what we need to do to get closer to God.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  Paul was not saying “anything goes”.  Paul was not saying anything anybody wants to do is okay.  What Paul was saying is, look, you don’t need to be paying attention to what other people do.  You need to be paying attention to what you do.  You need to make sure you have your own life in order.  It gets back to what Jesus said:  Don’t look at the speck in someone else’s eye until you get rid of the plank in your own eye.

And that gets to the most important point Paul was making here.  He says, “Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord.  Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.”

            Paul says that whatever we do, we need to do it for the Lord.  Wherever we eat, do it for the Lord.  Whatever we think about the sacredness of days, do it for the Lord.  Whatever we do about anything, do it for the Lord.  Everything about our lives is to be done for the Lord.

            In other words, Paul is saying that it’s not so much what we do that’s important.  It’s why we do it.  It’s our attitude toward it.  If we do things, even good things, to bring glory and honor to ourselves, God is not going to be impressed by that.  If we do things, even good things, to impress others and try to get them to think well of us, God is not going to be impressed by that.  If we do things, again, even good things, for any purpose other than to bring honor and glory to God, it is no credit to us at all.

            And Paul applies this to everything we do.  From the time we get up in the morning to the time we go to bed at night.  It’s all supposed to be done to bring honor and glory to God.

            The work we do, regardless of what our job may be, should bring honor and glory to God.  Our time with friends and family should bring honor and glory to God.  The time we spend just relaxing and having fun should bring honor and glory to God.  The meals we eat, the clothes we wear, the car we drive, the place we live–everything about our lives should bring honor and glory to God in some way.

            Now, two things about that.  One is that you may be sitting there thinking, how can all those things bring honor and glory to God?  And certainly, sometimes the way something can bring honor and glory to God is more obvious than it is at other times.  

But there is some way in which everything we do can bring honor and glory to God.  Because everything about our lives involves choices we make.  Choices about how we’re going to spend our money.  Choices about how we’re going to spend our time.  Choices about who we’re going to spend our time with.  Choices about where we’re going to be and what we’re going to do while we’re there.  And all of those things affect our ability to bring honor and glory to God.  Sometimes they affect it positively.  Sometimes they affect it negatively.  But they all affect our ability to bring honor and glory to God.

The second thing about that is that I’m not standing here telling you that everything about my life brings honor and glory to God.  It does not, and you know me well enough to know that.  This is something I need to work on.  This is something we all need to work on.

And in saying we need to work on it, I’m not saying that we need to earn our way into heaven.  We cannot do that.  It’s impossible.  No one could ever be good enough to get to heaven.  As Jesus said, no one is good except God alone.  If we have to be good to get to heaven, God would be the only one there.  We get into heaven by our faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior, not by being good.

But Paul is not writing about how to get into heaven.  Paul is writing about how to live out our faith.  If we believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior, the way we live our lives should show that.  And that means, again, that everything we do should be done for the Lord.  Everything about our lives should bring honor and glory to God.

            So take a look at your life.  And I need to take a look at my life, too.  Let’s think about the things we do every day.  Do we do those things for the Lord?  Do those things bring honor and glory to God?

            For most of us, I suspect, the answer is, well, sometimes.  There are times we do things for the Lord.  There are times we do things that bring honor and glory to God.  I know some of the things that you do that do that.  This church would not be here if not for the dedication of many, many people who are here.

            But, for most of us, I suspect there are times when the things we do are not done for the Lord.  There are times when the things we do don’t bring honor and glory to God.  And it’s not because we’re horrible people.  But we are people, and that means we’re imperfect.

            Now, we need to acknowledge that we are imperfect.  But we also should not use that as an excuse.  We should not say, well, I’m not perfect, and just continue to do what we’ve been doing.  The attitude we need to have is, I’m not perfect, but I’m going to get as close as I can.  I’m going to do as much as I can to see that everything I do is done for the Lord.  I’m going to do as much as I can to see that the things I do bring honor and glory to God.

            That’s not easy.  But look at what Paul says at the end of our reading for today.  “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

            That’s how we do this.  That’s how we do everything for the Lord.  That’s how we do everything for the honor and glory of God.  By praying for God’s Holy Spirit to come into our hearts.  By praying for God’s Holy Spirit to bring us peace and joy and righteousness.

            It probably won’t happen overnight.  It could–nothing is beyond the power of God’s Holy Spirit.  But for most of us, I suspect it will be a process.  Some of us have probably already started that process.  And in that process, we’ll move forward sometimes, and we’ll slide backward sometimes.  We’ll do better, and then we’ll slip back.

            But if we keep praying for God’s Holy Spirit, I think we’ll find that we do make progress.  We’ll move farther forward that we move backward.  And when we do slip back, the slipback period will be shorter.  We’ll get ourselves headed in the right direction again, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit.  It will happen, if we consistently and frequently pray for God’s Holy Spirit to help us.

            Let’s live our lives for the Lord.  Let’s live our lives to bring honor and glory to God.  And let’s pray for God’s Holy Spirit to help us.  And feel that peace and joy and righteousness that God’s Holy Spirit will give us.