A 4th grade boy, Travis Selinka, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He went to Houston for radiation and lost all his hair. After that, he was embarrassed to return to school. He was afraid what the kids would think. Some of his friends heard this from Travis’ mother, and made a very special plan. Fifteen of them went to the barber shop and shaved their heads. The day came. Travis anxiously came back to school, jamming his hat on. But then, he found that all the boys in his classroom were bald just like him. Since they did it, Travis hasn’t worn his hat. Travis said, “I want to thank them all very much for doing that. It has made it a lot easier for me.” And his mother said, “It was overwhelming and every time I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes... every one of them shaved their head for Travis.” The kind, self-sacrificial gestures have eased Travis’ transition back into school, something this fourth grader has come to appreciate and change.[1]
From Selfish to Sacrificial
Our Christian journey is to transform our hearts and minds from selfish into sacrificial. In a word, a journey of becoming more like Christ. In today’s scripture Paul begins his exhortation by giving us a practical principle for Christian ethics: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (v. 1). To be self-centered and self-seeking is natural to our fallen human nature. But when we did receive Jesus and believe in his name, God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom 5:5). And God has changed our hearts from being selfish to being sacrificial and concerned for the good of others. We call this “born-again,” or “transformation.”
Every born-again Christian has a before and after story. Before we thought, “This is my money. I worked hard for it.” But now, we look at our money as given to us by God to enrich and build up those without it. Before we related to people just like us or to people who build us up emotionally. But now, we love and reach out to people who are draining and difficult. Before we asked ourselves as we chose our residence, “Where would I be most comfortable living?” But now we ask, “Where could I be most useful to God and others?”
The October, 2012 Money magazine has an interview with Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, who is one of the most influential thinkers in management today. Professor Christensen, who was 60 at that time, shares that four years ago he had a heart attack. Then it was discovered that he had advanced cancer that put him into chemotherapy. Then two years ago he had a stroke. He had to learn to speak again one word at a time. He shares what he learned through these difficult trials: [2]
“The more I focused on the problems in my life, the more miserable I was. And then somehow I realized focusing on myself and my problems wasn’t making me happier. I started to say, ‘Every day of my life I need to find somebody else who I could help to become a better person and a happier person.’ Once I started to reorient my life in this direction, the happiness returned…”
“So if you look at retirement and you think, ‘Oh, finally I can focus on myself,’ you run the risk of becoming very bored very quickly. The most important piece of planning for retirement most of us need to think about—of course you need enough money to survive—is, How are we still going to orient our lives on helping other people become better people?”This is exactly based on the principle in today’s passage: Do not just please yourself; instead, help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord (NLT).
Christ Our Example
We may ask, “Why should we please our neighbor and not ourselves?” It is because Christ did not please himself (3). Instead, he gave himself up for us. He had equal status with God. He had the greatest right of all persons to please himself. But, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing and then humbled himself to serve and die for us (cf. Phil 2:6ff). And we, Christians, are called to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. We are called to live a sacrificial, atoning life.
How Can We Keep on Hoping?
This is the way. This is Christ’s way. But it’s not an easy way. It takes a lot of long-suffering, persistence, perseverance, endurance. As we serve the ungrateful, as we relate to people who are draining, as we wait on God without seeing any change in our circumstances for years, how can we keep going? In spite of all this, how can we keep on hoping? The answer is the Scriptures! In verse 3 Paul says, “For Christ did not please himself,” then he quotes Psalm 69, a messianic psalm: “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” Then he says, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through the endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (4). In other words, if used properly, the Scriptures will give us hope in hard times.
The Scriptures should give us hope because it shows us that God is faithful to his promise, in spite of our trials, in spite of what seem like unanswered prayers, in spite of unchanging circumstances. The Scriptures should give us hope because it shows us God’s perspectives on things. That biblical perspective changes how we think, how we process our trials, and it keeps us going in tough situations. The psalmist says:
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.About this time last year I was in the midst of the 40-day prayer, as both my family and the church were in transition. And I was seeking God’s guidance. I was praying the psalms. The following is part of my journal on Saturday, June 17, 2017 (Day 16) – Psalm 69.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.” (Ps 19:7-8, NIV)
“For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.” (9)- Remember me, O God! Remember my zeal to keep your house as your pure bride. I love you, Lord. Please let not those who hope in you be put to shame!
“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” (30)- Yes, Lord! I will never cease to sing praises to your name no matter what! I will sing with all my heart, and I will offer thanksgiving as my sacrifice day by day!
“For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.” (35-36)- Amen! Praise God! Yes, Lord, you will save your church (Houlton and Hodgdon UMCs) and build up your church. You will raise your servants and draw people to this place. And they will come and dwell in this place! Amen!
[Prayer adapted from Missionary Horace Underwood]
Lord, nothing is visible. I feel like I only see a little cloud like a man's hand. But now, Lord, what I do I look for? My hope is in you! Although I am as if standing on a desert with bare hands, I believe that the day will come when we all will rejoice with tears, realizing that they are one with our spirit in Christ, and that we all have one Kingdom and one Father in Heaven. Amen.
The Scriptures!
So how can we keep on hoping in hard situations? The Scriptures! During World War II, some men in a German prisoner of war camp received a secret message that Germany had surrendered to the Allies, but it was three more days before the Germans heard that news. During those three days, their miserable circumstances were no different than before, but their spirits were uplifted because they now had hope. The news was certain, but not yet realized.[3]
Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:23) So as we deny ourselves and seek the good of others, we face opposition and discouragement. Then, how can we overcome it? It’s hope that keeps us going in tough situations. And that living hope comes from the Scriptures.
Blessed is the man…
his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a treeplanted by streams of water,
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither. (Psalm 1:1-3)We need endurance. We need encouragement. We need hope. Where does it come from? It comes from the Scriptures! So sisters and brothers in Christ, let us meditate on God’s word day and night and also do the word. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit! (Rom 15:13)
[1] “4th graders shave heads to support
friend,” http://fox5sandiego.com/2013/06/12/kids-shave-heads-to-support-friend/#ixzz2WWEuBK8u
[2] Clayton Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life? (Harper
Collins, 2012), 142, quoted in Steven J. Cole, “Lesson 97: Me First or Me Last?”
(Romans 15:1-3), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-97-me-first-or-me-last-romans-151-3
[3]
Steven J. Cole, “Lesson 98: Why You Need the Old Testament” (Romans 15:4), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-98-why-you-need-old-testament-romans-154
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