IN THE SILENCE

Lord, I’m confused. As usual.

In Romans 14:5-6, St. Paul says "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it."

In the context, it sounds like we have a choice to have a holiday or not. It’s up to us one way or the other. Birthdays, anniversaries, Columbus Day, saints’ days, Christmas, New Year’s. I know that some celebrate all kinds of days, while others, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, celebrate almost no days at all. And by this verse I gather that that’s okay one way or the other.

But what about Sundays? Most people now ignore the command to rest on the Sabbath. I’ve had to work Sundays, myself, when the desk schedule called for it. And lately, with my mom and all, pretty much Sunday is no different from Monday--except I have to remember to put the garbage out on Monday.

Now Romans 14:2-3, 6, 17 says: "One believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. . . . He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. . . . For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

That’s plain enough. Vegetarians and meat-eaters shouldn’t get on each other’s cases. I can deal with that. And if someone wants to eat meat on Friday or during Lent and someone else prefers fish, that’s fine. Or if someone eats pork and bacon and another doesn’t, "happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth." (Rom. 14:22)

Now eating fish on Friday is a manmade rule, but avoiding pork is one of Your rules, Lord. So there is a difference, but Paul is saying it’s okay for Christians to eat pork as long as they don’t see any offense in it. Right? We’ve always believed this to be so anyway.

Now, back to the Sabbath. This involves more than just one of Your rules. This involves one of Your Commandments. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." (Ex. 20:8) I feel like this is heavier territory here. And St. Paul says--in Romans 13--that we should obey governments and all Your Commandments. Are You saying that we can break the Commandments the same way we eat pork? Jesus did say, "the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath" (Mk. 2:27) and that it was okay to do good on the Sabbath.

What about the other Commandments?

"Thou shalt not commit adultery." (Ex.20:14) That one’s kind of gone by the board, too, I guess, judging by the number of people getting divorced and remarried, practicing premarital and extramarital sex, or just living together, regardless of whether or not one or both is married to someone else. We used to say they were "shacked up with someone" or "living in sin."

"Thou shalt not steal." (Ex. 20:15) Pretty much everybody thinks that’s okay, too, judging by the way office supplies disappear, income taxes are cheated on, and stamps get soaked off and reused, not to mention the people in stores who think nothing of handing their children a candy bar and concealing the wrapper at the checkout.

"Thou shalt not kill." (Ex. 20:13) Unless it’s in the line of duty as a police officer, or during a war, or in self-defense, or executing criminals, or whatever. Abortion? That's a hot issue! Waco, Texas and the people on both sides--those who put the lives of innocent children on the line and those who killed them in the name of protecting others.

Is there anything left of Your Commandments?

"Honour thy father and thy mother." (Ex. 20:12) Well, unless the parents abuse their children. I read the other day about parents who locked their son up in a windowless closet for seven years and only fed him garbage scraps once a day. Should he honor them? I don’t think so. Where is the line between Solomon’s not sparing the rod and locking your children in a closet or beating them or starving them to death? Should a starving child honor his parents?

Are the Commandments then reduced to the level of wearing or not wearing hats in church? I’ve actually heard people refer to adultery, having illegitimate children (we used to call them bastards), and homosexuality as being on that level.

Where are the limits, Lord? Are there any? Can we do whatever we like as long as we are convinced it’s okay?

"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. . . . Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth; yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. . . . For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. . . . Why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. . . . Let us not therefore judge one another any more. . . . To him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. . . ." (Rom. 14:1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 14)

And then of course the capstone. "He that doubteth is damned . . . for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Rom. 14: 23) And "who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?" (Prov. 20:9)

So, where are we? Where am I?

Jesus gave the answer. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." (Matt. 7:12) And His Two Commandments: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt. 22: 37-40) And in Romans 13:10, Paul said, "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."

Can practicing Christianity be this simple? And this hard!

{From A Journal of the Spirit, a Journey of the Soul, by D.C. Ice, Oct. 15, 1994.}