Good morning. Have you ever been in a situation where you were given something to eat or to drink that you really didn’t want, but you were afraid that to refuse it would be an insult to the person offering it to you? I remember a situation from the early days of my ministry when I was called upon to visit a home “to the north.” This was back in Staples, MN, and when someone said that a home was “to the north” it meant that they were people who lived in the thick woods and didn’t come out much. It was rare for those folks to invite a stranger into their home, so I felt a bit unusual as I made my way through the nasty gravel roads and eventually found the place. It was a sight. I don’t know if it had ever been painted, but I doubt it, and there certainly wasn’t a trace of paint showing on the old grey heap of boards that they called home.
As I got out of my car the elderly couple that lived there came out on their porch (porch is probably a stretch, but you get the idea) and waved at me in a welcoming fashion. The old couple were as weathered looking as was their house but had broad smiles that showed their teeth (all six of them). They invited me to sit down at their table and offered me a cup of coffee. Now at that time, I wasn’t yet a coffee drinker. But even if I had been addicted to coffee, I still would have been eager to say, “no thanks!” The coffee pot sat on an old wood stove, but what really got my attention was that it seemed as though none of the coffee cups, or any other dishes for that matter, were ever cleaned. They just sat on the boards that served as a counter waiting for their next turn to be used. I knew that to refuse their hospitality would be seen as a statement of “no, I would never want even a sip of your coffee.” To say “no” would have been sure to close their hearts and minds to what I had to say, which was an opportunity to share the good news of Christ Jesus. So, my answer was a cheery, “Yes, please!” She looked around the boards/counter and chose three cups. She turned them over with a clap and dead flies were left behind from each. I am not kidding. She filled the cups and announced that the coffee was a few days old, but still good. Yay! I drank their coffee and lived to tell the story. I shared the gospel and it seemed to be well received. That day I learned a lesson about acceptance and respect that has stayed with me for nearly 40 years.
We read in Romans 15:7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. The word translated as “welcome” is the Greek word proslambanesthe, that in actuality best translates as “accept.” The literal translation would be: Therefore accept one another as Christ has accepted you, for the glory of God. But this is one of those cases where even a more literal translation doesn’t sufficiently share the intended meaning.
The first use of this Greek word that we would best translate as “accept” is in reference to food that is offered to you. If you were a traveler in the ancient world, especially one from a Jewish background, you could often find yourself in a situation where you were tired and hungry, but the food offered to you by a kind host or even a merchant would, for a variety of reasons, be considered “unacceptable.” For the Jew, unacceptable might mean that it was in violation of kosher law, therefore unacceptable meant “no!” without any chance of exception. For the Greek, the food in question may have been offered to a god who was in opposition to the god you chose to serve, which made it unacceptable. In either case, the answer would be “no.” It could also be true that you found the offered food unacceptable because of a problem you had with the person(s) who offered it, and you would rather go hungry than to violate your beliefs or your pride. “Accept” meant to push aside those feelings and reasons and to take whatever was being offered.
How does this apply to Romans 15:7? Therefore accept one another as Christ has accepted you, for the glory of God. This verse is powerfully commanding us to set aside every outside influence and reason to refuse hospitality or friendship with another person when, in the name of Jesus, they are extending the hand of fellowship to you. Every other distinction that would separate us is invalid and inconsequential compared to our shared faith in Christ Jesus as Lord. That means politics, race, ethnicity, gender, Packers fans, you name it! Nothing is as important as our faith, so let nothing from the world outside push you away from one another! Jesus didn’t let anything prevent Him from accepting us, nor should we allow anything to prevent our joyful acceptance of one another.
Love well today!
Vern