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Tuesday 5 December 2017

"Before God... Proceed from Faith."

I ask for the grace to pray and meditate faithfully.  I ask to abstain from anger, compulsive behaviour, discouragement, and self-importance.  I ask for patience, tolerance, empathy, and compassion.  I ask for the grace to make space for the incarnation in my heart this Advent Season, to witness the extraordinary in the midst of the ordinary.  May my thoughts, words, and actions proclaim justice, kindness, and humility.


Romans 14:20-23
20Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; 21it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. 22The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve. 23But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.


1) "Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God;" "...it is wrong to make others fall;" "...it is good not to... do anything that makes your brother... stumble;" "...your own conviction before God;" "...Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves;" "...But those who have doubts are condemned;" "...whatever does not proceed from faith is sin;" "


2) I feel like Paul is building an argument for ignorance and a lack of self-awareness.  So long as one doesn't know that they are sinning, they are free to sin.  It's better to not know, than to doubt.  I'm not sure that's a way I want to be in the world.  It seems Paul is saying, let someone do whatever they feel their faith is telling them to do because it is most important to act from faith.  But someone's "faith" could tell them to do all kinds of outrageous things.  And in their ignorance, they could be oblivious to the fact that their "faith" is pulling the community apart, impeding with the body's ability to function as a body.  Paul is attempting to address what would seem an irreconcilable conflict in the community, to observe the dietary laws or not to observe the dietary laws.  In the end, those who observed the dietary laws were simply no longer welcome among those who didn't observe the dietary laws and vice versa.  Paul failed to reconcile the two factions.  The body separated... acrimoniously.  Would it not have been better to let the body separate peacefully?  Instead, we ended up with two communities killing each other for daring to differ from the other.


3) What is the invitation in all this?  there is a call to a profound humility in thinking any of us knows exactly what the work of God is and our part in it.


"Holy One, help us to reconcile when it is time to reconcile and to separate when it is time to separate."


Breathprayer: "Before God... proceed from faith."



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