Once again, lest we entertain the notion that it borders on folly to continue to bring the meal table into the discussion as we consider these chapters of Romans (and 1 Corinthians), we find ourselves justified in so doing as we see the fourteenth chapter begin with “Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him” (14:1-3). Separated from the meal table, this becomes a complicated exercise of mental abstraction, productive of all manner of opinions. When placed at the meal table, in full knowledge of the importance of the meal table and its social significance, this becomes an avenue for the expression of neighborly love (13:9-10).
We are forced to continue making sense of Paul’s words in this chapter in relation to the meal table, as we go on to read “The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God” (14:6b). Ideally, each person views the eating of the others at the table, not with eyes of suspicion, as if there is some type of pursuit of honor occurring (whether it is being attempted through eating or not eating), but with the eyes of love. It is these eyes---eyes connected to a transformed mind (12:2), that will allow all to put aside selfish notions and see the actions of others, whether this is completely true or not, as being part of their thankfulness to God for their being allowed to participate in His kingdom. Continuing in the milieu of the Christian meal table, and continuing to hear these words along with the original hearers who would have been hearing them while at the meal table (thus increasing the poignancy of the letter), Paul continues with “But you who eat vegetables only---why do you judge your brother or sister? And you who eat everything---why do you despise your brother or sister?” (14:10a) Remember, “Love does no wrong to a neighbor” (13:10a), and in regards to the social implications of the meal table, words like “Do not be conformed to this world” (12:2a) would still be freshly ringing in their ears.
Emphasizing his point and the crucial nature of the table of Christian fellowship, making for a tremendously useful hermeneutical structure that will serve us well when considering the Laodicean church, Paul goes on to write “I know and an convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself” (14:14a). This use of “Lord” in the phrase “in the Lord Jesus,” because of the conceptions associated with the use of “Lord” under Roman rule (the Caesar) is a clear reminder of the established kingdom of God. Its usage at this point reminds the hearers that all that has been said, and all that will be said, when prefaced or contexted by “the Lord,” or “Lord Jesus,” must be understood within the parameters of the universal Lordship of Jesus and His kingdom. When heard at a meal, or used in conjunction with references to meal practices, images of the messianic banquet are conjured to the imagination. Continuing on then, we read “still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean. For if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil” (14:14b-16).
By now, we should find attempts to extract these statements about food from their appropriate setting, which is the church’s regular practice of the messianic banquet, or of that which represents the messianic banquet, to be an impossibility. They must be understood, not as guidelines for eating, but as the outworking of self-sacrificial love that first seeks what is best for one’s neighbor, thus fulfilling the law (serving as an identity marker for the people of God, which was the way that Paul used and referred to “the law”). With our understanding of the social significance of meals, and of what meals communicated to those that were given the chance to view them, the church was forced to recognize that their conduct at meals was an extraordinarily vocal (though voiceless) witness to those in positions of observation, as those that identified themselves as citizens of a different kingdom, who indicated that they were subject to a different King, and who claimed to be able to extend this kingdom and the rule of its King in an entirely different way from that of any kingdom the world had ever seen, were given the regular opportunity to put that kingdom on display. That display was the meal table, as it was a microcosm of the community, and therefore, of the kingdom represented by that community. If love and preference for one another was on display, then those who observed (whether observing from afar or observing because they were invited to join in at the table) would see the goodness of that kingdom and its King. If battles for honor and shame, or false humility, or a lack of preferential treatment, or obvious judging in trivial matters was on display at that table, then what should be seen as good would end up being spoken of as evil, and the advancing kingdom would be stopped dead in its tracks.
The church was never to lose sight of the fact that their meal table was so much more than a meal table, but that it represented their King and the rule of His kingdom. It is for that reason that Paul would write “For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (14:17). Expressions of love, birthed out of the Spirit of God that is present whenever people are calling Jesus Lord, whether in word or deed, are what create a meal table (a communion). It is for this reason that “the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people” (14:18). To all of this, as he writes to this mixed audience of Jew and Gentile, Paul adds, “So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble” (14:19-21), with this stumbling connected to the expression of the kingdom of God through His people, rather than that brother’s cultivation of personal holiness (though holiness, as we tend to think of it, is a by-product of a constant concern for the compassionate expression of Christ’s rule).
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