Worship Opportunities

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15

These instructions to the church at Rome have been a living reality for our church this week. A couple of days after celebrating a precious-to-us family’s upcoming ministry move to a new state, a dear young woman who I was meeting with weekly was called not to a new earthly home but to her heavenly one. Rejoicing and weeping. Weeping and rejoicing.

All of it brings on a collision of sorrow and joy. So much so that I’ve found myself rejoicing one minute, saddened the next minute, then saddened and rejoicing simultaneously. Then sleeping. Copy, paste. Copy, paste. The sequence has run over and over on repeat this week. 

I’m to the point where my mind is a little blown by the strange beauty of it all.

I think that might’ve been part of Paul’s purpose in his writing to the church at Rome: to have this mind-blowing, beautiful unity created because of Christ’s work, played out in the lives of believers. Divided over differing opinions regarding feasts, practicing tradition, foods and other controversial matters, Jews and Gentiles in the church at Rome didn’t always get along. 

But Paul calls them to unity under the barrier-breaking realities that Christ’s life, death, and resurrection offered to both cultural backgrounds. 

In chapters 1-11 of his letter to the church at Rome, Paul reminds these believers of Christ’s work in and for those who believe. At the pivot point in chapter 12, Paul shifts from “education to application” (Davey). He lays a foundation for the practical outworking that promotes Christian unity. One of those is this verse above: Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).

Remember this is a letter written to a church. The fact that Paul gives instructions to match the tone of what’s going on in another’s life, to link arms and feel what another is feeling, is an indicator this probably hadn’t been happening. 

Maybe some were jealous of those who were rejoicing, wanting the joy for themselves instead of celebrating it for another. 

And maybe those who were weeping were snubbed or ignored by fellow brothers and sisters in Christ… maybe a behind-your-back kind of Roman-eye-rolling, thinking “it’s about time to quit weeping now…”

But what Paul is calling the church to here is a unity fueled by Christ’s finished work, stoked and sustained with faith-driven acts of love. The instructions given are not simply a list of Christian do’s and don’ts. They are to help the church function as one unified body. 

Joining together in this spectrum of emotions – from joy to sorrow – breaks down barriers. It moves us to lay down our lives for others as we bear each other’s burdens.

This week has reminded me that a church powerfully reflects Christ when we step into each other’s joy and sorrow. It’s messy, and it’s emotional, but it’s a unifying testimony of His work. As we rejoice and weep together, Christ knits us into one body — the kind of unity Paul longed to see in Rome. And for that, I am deeply grateful.