Exhortation: The weaker brother
Psalm 11:2-3
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures forever.
Good morning and Welcome to our covenant worship on this Lord’s Day.
I have been considering these last few days the implications of Paul’s writing to the Corinthian church about the weaker brother.[1] This led me to think about our denomination. We are part of a very young denomination; a denomination that continues to show significant signs of growth. We are also a people with many convictions. We believe strongly in an explicit Christian education, we are committed to Biblical worship, we believe in the goodness of God in baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And I could probably go on and on. We have these convictions because we believe in the centrality of the Word of God in all that we do. But we also realize that we have many brothers and sisters in the faith, whether family members, co-workers, friends who do not share these same convictions. In Paul’s words, we are to take care that we do not cause a weaker brother to stumble. It is very easy to look at our weaker brother and say that they are infantile because they do not eat what we eat, drink what we drink, but my brothers and sisters, these are the brothers for whom Christ has died. Let us remember that Christ has shown patience, grace and mercy. So let us show patience, grace and mercy to those in the household of faith. Let us pray.
O Lord, hear our prayer. We thank you that you are our Lord. The idols of this world are nothing, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. Give us wisdom as we love our brethren and cherish together one Lord, one faith and one baptism. Unite us O Lord, as you are united with your beloved Son Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. This is our prayer, O Lord. Amen.
[1] I Corinthians 8.
