Let's look at this logo on the overhead:
It was used by Dr John Dixon when he was our Moderator a year ago
'Redeemed by Grace to relate with Grace'
What it is saying by the arm clutching the cross 
and reaching out to join another hand
is that the Cross has consequences ...
If we are welcomed and forgiven by Christ
then we are to welcome and forgive each other.
The cross in the picture is straight and perhaps harsh;
the arms that reach out are rounder and softer;
a reminder that although relating with grace may be difficult
it is a lot easier than hanging on a cross to bring our redemption.

Much is said these days about Christian unity
how necessary it is and rightly so; 
Jesus prayed for unity among his followers;
We can read in Romans 15.5 Paul's prayer that God would
'give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus'
But we need to understand the difference between
complete unity on the essentials, following Christ Jesus
that there is no other way but him,
that we find him clearly in the scriptures
that only his blood can cleanse our sin
and a loving acceptance of diversity
how different we can be on the inessentials.
We are called to be united on what is essential to salvation,
but there are many other issues of genuine and honest disagreement
where we are called to respect each other in our differences.
What Paul calls 'disputable matters' in 14.1

That distinction is crucial for health and harmony in the church.
Assuming that there is basic agreement
that we love and trust Jesus as Lord and Saviour;
then are we not bound to accept and welcome each other
in the fellowship of Christ
despite all the differences we will have
in temperament background, attitude, approach?

As Paul says in 15.7 we are to
'accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you
in order to bring praise to God.'
Or for 'accept' we could put 'welcome';
this is not a cheap and casual tolerance 
putting up with people that we don't like
this is a whole hearted welcome, a making at home among us

As it says in the Mission Statement
which we read together at Communion last Sunday
'God calls us to a shared life
in which we love, honour and are reconciled to one another
whilst respecting our diversity in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.'
There's a New Year challenge!

I do not propose to go into the detail
of the issues that were divisive in those days
eating meat or vegetables, which days to observe as holy days.
What I want us to do is to confront two issues
which are alive and often divisive among us today.
One is ecumenical relationships.
Some of you feel free to endorse closer relationships
with the Roman Catholic Church;
you affirm how much we do have in common e.g. in the great creeds
you know Roman Catholic people in whose lives you see Jesus.
And so you are glad to approve of ecumenical events.
Others are not so sure:
you see the vast differences at crucial points;
you feel that to get too closely involved
would be to compromise your witness
and leave essential truths blurred in an uneasy hazy half light.
This tension, these different approaches
occur in every Presbyterian church in the island.
How can we resolve them?
14.3 offers an answer
'The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not
and the man who does not eat everything
must not condemn the man who does
for God has accepted him.'
Paul is clear that people are to follow their own conscientious leadings
and not to judge or despise their brother or sister.
We each of us will answer to God as to how we live our lives;
we are not to condemn or control what each other does
in areas where Christians genuinely disagree.
So we could paraphrase 14.3 for our time as.
'The person who goes to ecumenical services
must not despise the person who does not
and the person who does not attend 
must not condemn the one who does.'
You have a strong opinion in either direction?
By all means follow your deep convictions
but not so as to write off or run down person next to you who disagrees.
The same thing applies in another area of dispute
again affecting virtually every congregation
regarding our favoured styles of worship.
Which hymnbook should we use?
Why don't we sing the metrical psalms any more?
Do we have to use an overhead projector?
Should we not use new and more informal styles of worship?
Debates rage which are painful for all who take part
because how we worship affects us very deeply
but it is a debate which cannot be ignored 
because we live in a changing world
and if we are to be relevant to the 21st Century
we cannot be limited only to the methods of the 19th Century
however much the message must remain unchanged.
After all none of us came to church today in a pony and trap
although our grandparents may have done.
None the less,
there are those of you who are most comfortable with a traditional style and there are those who prefer a contemporary style of worship.
This was illustrated at our special Millennium meetings last week.
We were privileged to have with us 
quite a few of our neighbours from Cork Christian Centre.
Problem: while we were singing
some of our Pentecostal friends unselfconsciously raised their hands
to express their praise of God.
That of course was more our problem than theirs.
If some of us Presbyterians felt uneasy at this enthusiasm
why should we feel insecure?
There was not so far as I could see any implication
that we were all expected to raise up our hands;
but there was (I hope) an atmosphere of freedom
and of mutual acceptance of different styles

We might paraphrase 14.5 like this
'One person praises God with arms held up;
another sings with arms tightly gripping the hymn book.
Each one should be fully convinced in his or her own mind.
The one who raises hands raises hands to the Lord
and gives thanks to God;
and the one who keeps his hands down keeps them down for the Lord
and gives thanks to God.
And just as with the ecumenical or any other divisive question
we are not to despise or to condemn each other,
because in the grace of Christ we have an equal welcome from Christ.
'Redeemed by grace to Relate with Grace'

What kind of welcome will we give each other this new century?
And especially to any strangers we meet.
there is currently a battle for the soul of this nation
in regard to the wave of refugees who have come
whether attracted by our new prosperity 
or maybe even because of the tourist slogan 'Ireland of the welcomes'.
I don't know how that battle will be won politically:
there is reason to fear that our natural selfishness
and resentment of people different from us
will drown out a conscience that should remember
how other countries have welcomed our emigrants
and how Jesus himself was a refugee as a baby
and teaches us to welcome the stranger.
And there is a battle for the soul of every church and each Christian.
Will we be Christ centred
redeemed by grace to relate with grace, welcoming each other, welcoming those who are different from us
making space for different outlooks and approaches;
or will we, God forbid, become self centred,
insisting that everybody conforms to our ideas and outlooks?

If I were to make a list of significant people in my life
the name of Bob Wyse would be among them
although I only knew him for 6 months
when I lived in England at the age of 18.
One Sunday Bob was praying that somebody new would come to church 
that night and join the after church fellowship.
That evening an awkward, critical, shy young man came to church
and was just about to leave after the service
observing that no one had spoken to him beyond the minister,
when Bob plucked up his courage and spoke to the strange visitor
and welcomed him and made him feel at home in a strange town.
I was that young man!
I've lost touch with him now, he would be 90 if he is still alive,
but I thank God for somebody I expect to meet in heaven
and who modelled for me the welcome of Christ.

If we could only get our welcoming and accepting right,
if we could give space to people we disagree with
if we could graciously relate even to people
we fundamentally disagree with

May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The attitude of our hearts is the filter through which we process the word of God and its claim on our lives. If we have hearts that are full of anger, pride, envy, selfishness or any other sinful attitude, then we are going to interpret and apply it in light of those attitudes. This will eventually lead us to use the word of God to control, damage and destroy others, and before we know it we will have established our own mini apartheid system. We become exclusive, we withdraw from one another, we foster a self righteous superiority, we judge people solely on external evidence. The heart of hermeneutics [interpreting the Bible] is the heart. We need to read the word of God with broken, contrite, submissive hearts, with no hidden agenda, the alternatives are too scary to imagine.

Alan Wilson in 'Lion & Lamb' 19 Winter 98199 p 2
We cry out to the Father: lead me through all the evil tendencies of my heart. Help me to overcome the temptations of my temperament. Change inside me the evil tendencies of my personality as it relates to other people. Protect me from the temptations of my own age group in the phases of life: passionate when young, cynical when middle aged, self pitying when old and lonely. Save me from the temptations of our culture, the modern world in which we live. For in all these realms and above all to my own sinful heart I am seducible James Houston

Romans 14. 1 accept him whose faith is weak proslambanw more even than 'receive or accept in one's society, into one's home or circle of acquaintances' it means to welcome into one's fellowship and into one's heart Philemon to Onesimus, Maltese welcoming the shipwreck survivors Jesus who promise to welcome his people into his presence in heaven Stott

Generous hospitality is not to offer love so long as the other person pays the price of believing all I believe, doing things the way I do them and feeling as I feel. It is the construction of a sense of welcome and safety so they can be different without fear of rejection

In hospitality we see ourselves, the hosts, as less important than the guests and we serve. We create the loving space for the other person by drawing back ourselves. There is a Jewish tradition that God created the world by self withdrawal. In the beginning he filled all space completely and there was no room for the created world. So, he withdrew himself to create space for the other. Time in Africa has taught me that the guest sets the agenda. We are there for our guest.

Hospitality implies encounter. When someone is invited into your private space, they encounter you, hopefully in as much reality as you can manage. Creating a free and safe space allows the host to be transparent and straightforward. An atmosphere of acceptance is the best place for both to open the cupboards, the ideal place to confront.

Fellow minister, by all means lead the charge, lay down the rules, make the judgements, tell the truth. Please also give your hearts to us, quietly build the greenhouse, create some safe, open, peaceable space, listen to us, wait at our table. Then send us on our way in peace with some provisions for the journey, a decent road map and gratitude for the hospitality G Cheeseman Lion & Lamb Winter 2000


We should resist the tendency to become judgmental in our relationships (14.10-13), sniffing out supposed error like some spiritual blood hound on the trail. We should always be generous big hearted people, always giving others the benefit of the doubt 1 Pet 3.8-9 Having said that, there must be limits to our flexibility or we will be in danger of embracing error with truth as though there were no difference between them. 


Accept one another then as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God These words imply that when we do practise this acceptance we bring praise to God. Bringing praise to God (glorifying him) is not just a matter of singing lustily in the church or putting a generous offering in the collection plate or teaching and defending sound doctrine, important as these things may be. Glorifying God includes such down-to-earth matters as welcoming strangers and accepting fellow Christians, not on the basis of race, nationality or dress but solely because they are in Christ. Conversely our refusal to accept into our Christian fellowship people whom Christ has already accepted not only fails to glorify God; it is a sign of arrogant presumption. ... an atmosphere of total acceptance within the church is of the utmost importance for the church's outreach into the world. If people who are not Christians see walls of prejudice, cliquishness and snobbishness they will certainly not be inclined to join such a church, no matter how sound or active or famous it may be. Genuine love and mutual acceptance of one another within the church is an indispensable prerequisite for an effective evangelistic outreach. People are bound to be attracted by a fellowship of Christians which is genuinely open, joyful and warm.