Romans 15:4-13 (NRSV)

⁴For 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. ⁵May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Gospel for Jews and Gentiles Alike

7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. ⁸For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, ⁹and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
‘Therefore I will confess^* you among the Gentiles,
   and sing praises to your name’;
¹⁰and again he says,
‘Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people’;
¹¹and again,
‘Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
   and let all the peoples praise him’;
¹²and again Isaiah says,
‘The root of Jesse shall come,
   the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
in him the Gentiles shall hope.’
¹³May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Barclay points out that these verses reveal what Christian fellowship should be like.

In the first instance, fellowship should be marked by a study of Scripture. When one studies Scripture we receive the much needed encouragement because we are provided with two things: (i) we are given a record of how God had dealt with a nation in history and this shows that it is always better to be right with God and suffer than to be wrong with others to avoid trouble. The history of Israel revealed that ‘good’ wins out in the end. Scripture reveals that God’s ways are never easy, but in the end it is the only way that makes life worthwhile both here in time and also for eternity. (ii) The Scriptures also provide us with the promises of God and God never breaks His word. Barclay suggests that “... they are tremendous things to go out to meet life with. In these ways Scripture gives to the man who studies it comfort in his sorrow and encouragement in his struggle.”

Christian fellowship is also marked by steadfastness. Barclay once again uses one of his favourite words ‘fortitude’ which he defines as  “... an attitude of the heart to life ...” It is more than patience, and is rather a triumphant adequacy that can cope with life; it is the strength that not only accept things , transforms them into something good and wonderful.

This all leads to hope. While we should always be realists, we ought never to be pessimists. But our Christian hope is not a cheap hope, not is it an immature hope because it does not see difficulties because it has not encountered the difficulties of life. Barclay explains: “The Christian hope is not hope in the human spirit, in human goodness, in human endurance, in human achievement; the Christian hope is hope in the power of God.”

Christian fellowship should also be marked by harmony. No matter how beautiful a church or cathedral might be irrespective of how wonderful the music might be or how perfect the processions etc. or how generous the charitable giving Barclay suggests that ‘... it has lost the essential of a Christian fellowship if it has lost harmony.’ Of course there must be difference of opinion and argument and debate, but it is essential that, throughout all this those within the Church ‘... will have solved the problem of living together ...’ because the Christ that unites us is greater than the differences that divide us.

The whole essence of being Church should take its pattern and example from our Lord, Jesus Christ who did not seek to please himself, but chose to serve others and so he ‘... sets the pattern which everyone who seeks to be his follower must accept “⁶so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. “

 The people within the Church should be bound into one irrespective of anything: race, class, status; those strong in the faith and those who are week. Paul quotes from the Old Testament to give strength to his argument, most notably from his favourite books: Psalms (18:50 and 117:1); Deuteronomy (32:43) and Isaiah (11:10). When we look back to these passages we find that our translations of these passages vary. This is because our Old Testaments are based on the original Hebrew and Paul was using the Septuagint (LXX) the Greek translation.  But the message is the same. This makes me think that, while accuracy matters, it is more the essence of Scripture that is important and not too much emphasis on literal precision – another reason why fundamentalism is so ill-advised. When the Book of the Law was discovered on return from Exile, and Ezra read it from dawn to noon, the Levites gave’... the sense so that the people understood the meaning ...’ (Nehemiah 8:8)  When they understood the meaning they were united together and were blessed. Meaning is what matters and people today will be united together when they understand and share the meaning of the Gospel. Here the meaning is quite clear the Church of Christ must be an inclusive Church. It is such sadness that the Covenant between our Churches, signed in 2003, seems to be so little acted upon, and a new covenant has been deemed necessary to keep Anglicanism together. Have we lost the ‘sense’ of scripture and the Gospel?

What follows are Barclay’s reflections on verses 7-13: Paul continues to re-state the Gospel.

It is a Gospel of HOPE: There is something in Christian hope that nothing can kill ‘... and that something is the conviction that God is still alive. No person is hopeless so long as there is such a thing as the grace of Jesus Christ ...’

It is a Gospel of JOY: There is a big difference between pleasure and joy, but the world seems to have forgotten this important distinction. Christian joy is not dependent upon things outside a person, it is something that comes from within or as Barclay puts it: “... It comes from the consciousness of the living presence of the living Lord, the certainty that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Him.”

It is a Gospel of PEACE: Life is always going to be filled with challenges, difficulties and worries from time to time, so Christian peace is not an escape or an inoculation from any of these, so Barclay explains: “Things will happen that we cannot understand, but if we are sure enough of love, we can accept with serenity even those things which wound the heart and baffle the mind.

It is  Gospel of POWER: It is not as if we do not know what is good and right and beautiful, what we lack is the ability to do it and so Barclay concludes: “Only when the surge of the power of Christ fills the weakness of man can we master life as we ought to master it. By ourselves we can do nothing; but with God all things are possible.”