Winding down. Romans 15.

In chapter 15 of Romans Paul seems to be winding down in his message. Whether it's his writing, or my reading, I have a sense that the pace has slowed, and Paul is just tying up a few loose ends. They are important ones, but gone is the tight wording of his arguments from earlier, the raising of objections to his statements and the refutation of those objections. He has unburdened his heart for his fellow Jews in chapters 9-11, and delivered most of his practical considerations for what a life in Christ should be like.

There's a thread running through chapters 13 and 14 that Paul closes out in chapter 15 that I want to look at for a minute, and then, like Paul, begin winding down. In verses 1 and 2, Paul writes, "But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up." This is pretty much Paul's last word on relationships between Christian brothers and sisters, especially when considering levels of maturity between them. In the next verses, Paul says be like Christ, Who has accepted each of us, and acted as servant to God's will to bring praise to God.

The thread really starts in 13:10 (or maybe even in chapter 12), when Paul writes, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." All through these chapters, Paul is spelling out some ways that loving one another is lived out. Accept the ones whose faith is weak. Don't sit in judgment. Rather, and this is really cool, use your judgment to help those whose faith is weak. Don't be a stumbling block. Do what leads to peace and growth and unity. Finally, bear the failings of the weak. For their benefit.

And we seemingly need to be reminded often that this is for God's glory, by God's power -- "Now may the God of endurance and comfort give you unity with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 15:5,6).

If you felt any sense of relief from the intense thinking required in the first part of the letter of Romans to follow Paul's line of argument, there is no letup in Paul's calls to right living according to the "law of Christ". The implication of what it means to be a living sacrifice requires thought and effort on our part all the time, and the ongoing assistance of God's Spirit within us.

In the last part of Romans 15, Paul does begin to deal with practical matters. Starting in verse 14, Paul talks about how he arrived at the place he is now, and what he hopes will happen next. In the process he affirms what he said at the beginning of the letter: he wants to come see the believers in Rome. He also wants to eventually go to Spain where he can begin a new work. Paul definitely knew what part of the body, the church, he was called to be. He was the pioneer, the evangelist, the church planter, not the long-term shepherd, or the one who comes behind the pioneers.

What I notice here is that the practical thing he advises the Roman church to do for him is to pray. In recording Paul's plea for prayer, I think the NIV translation is somewhat misleading, in that it implies that Paul wants the Romans to pray for him about some struggle that lies ahead. No question that there is a struggle ahead. But here's how the NASB reads in 15:30: "Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, ... " In other words, the struggle, the striving is in the prayer.

Think about what it means to struggle or strive in prayer. No, really, think about what it means.