Real Life: Community
God Makes Us One
Romans 14:8-12
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. Sept. 13th, 2026
Every community has a core. A reason for being. Something that defines it as this community and not that community. Every community, then, creates insiders and outsiders. Those who belong and those who do not. This is definitional and unavoidable. A community will always have boundaries, the question is where those boundaries lie and how strict they are patrolled. And those boundaries will have something to do with a community’s reason for being, if it is a healthy community.
Not too long ago I went to a Packer game at Lambeau Field. Most of the crowd were fellow Packer fans, and we were united around a common love (and in some cases a common ownership) of our team. There was an implicit trust of one another even over something as silly as a sports team. During the game we all knew the same chants, cheered the same players, and stood at the same time. There was a clear and effortless camaraderie.
But a few years back I went to a game at Ford Field. Most of crowd were Lions fans. And they were loud. It really felt like I was thrown into the Lions den. No one had to say anything and I knew, intuitively, that I did not belong. I did not know any of the chants. I did not know that song they play when they score a touchdown. And it didn’t help they didn’t score until garbage time in the second half. There was no attempt to make me feel welcome. On the contrary. I was made to know in no uncertain terms I did not belong.
Even if fans in my section were more welcoming I would have known I do not belong to that community. I don’t share its core purpose. I do not love Lions football. That particular game the boundary was policed in stark terms. In other contexts it would be policed in more generous and gregarious terms. Perhaps with knowing humor and jabs at various failures on the parts of both of our respective teams. But we would still not be recognizable as one community.
The Church, too, is a community. And it is this community and not that community. So there must be a reason for being, a core purpose, that allows us to understand what the boundaries of the Church are and how permeable those boundaries should be.
Is the core purpose of the church that she is a shared culture? That is to say, that we share a series of stories and practices that make us a people of love? Or is the purpose of the church that she contains a certain list of doctrines that help us understand the world and our place in it? Or is the purpose of the church to show love for the weak and the outcast through outreach and missions?
These are all aspects of church life. And if we place them at the core of what the church is it would suggest where we place the boundaries. If the purpose of the church is that she has a shared culture then people would need to know our hymns, our stories, and our common practices to be Christian. Or if the purpose of the church is the proclamation of doctrine then we would all need to agree on a shared confession down to the letter. Or if the purpose of the church were outreach then we would all need to volunteer our time in some capacity for the benefit of others, and those who do not would not be able to call themselves Christian. Is that what the church is? Is that what our life together amounts to?
Paul broaches the subject this morning by addressing a controversy in the early church.
He says some believe in eating anything, but the weak only one to eat vegetables. Some think there are special days, others treat every day the same. He’s exaggerating a bit, I doubt the “weak” only ate vegetables and the “strong” ate anything they could fit in their mouths. And we do know the early church celebrated on Sunday mornings before the sun rose. But what he’s talking about are Jews and gentiles. Jews who keep kosher and celebrate the sabbath, and gentiles who lack food laws and do not keep sabbath.
Christianity started as a Jewish movement but very early on welcomed gentiles into the fold. But there wasn’t much agreement, at first, on how to welcome these gentiles into the fold. Some remained opposed. Others thought the gentiles could join if they became Jews. Others, like Paul, thought gentles were being welcomed into the church precisely as gentiles. If they were to become Jews they would be second-guessing the grace of God.
While Jews may keep kosher, celebrate the passover, keep the sabbath, and uphold purity laws. And while Gentiles may ignore these things there is one very important thing they hold in common, according to Paul. “Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat, for God has welcomed them.”
Here Paul lays down what he takes to be the core of the Church, this strange assembly God has created out of Jews and gentiles, slave and free, male and female. We are those who have known the grace and the mercy of God. We are those who have been welcomed first and foremost by Christ. The rest is of secondary importance.
If you want to keep kosher then keep kosher. If you want to eat bugs then eat bugs. But don’t make that a reason to quarrel. If you want to listen to contemporary christian music then listen to contemporary christian music. If the Gaither Vocal Band is your jam then listen to the Gaithers. If your heart is in missions then pour yourself out into missions. If your heart is for evangelism then pour your heart out into evangelism. But what draws us together is a common calling, a common Lord, for whom we live and for whom we die.
That is our purpose, and that is where the line is drawn. The Church is not ours, it is God’s. And we who are gathered here belong to the Lord who summoned us. Whatever we do, let us do it for the sake of him who loves us.
This means, of course, we will run into strange people. Some of us talk a little funny, dress a little funny, and may even believe some strange things. There will be all sorts of differences among us. Because God calls all sorts of different people. But let us remember it is God who calls us. God who makes us one. And for God it is a joy to draw us together.