Passing Judgement

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Romans 14:1-12

Passing Judgment

So many have been set aside
they did not fit the idea in our heads
we who think we know best have cast
the lovely aside.

God knows our hearts and our fears
we do not walk alone
let us love for the day is short
and hurt is harbored too long.

The young can scare us
their language and their signs
the old who are bent and full of dreams
still frighten us from welcome.


God knows our hearts and our fears
we do not walk alone
let us love for the day is short
and forgiveness and welcome are our aim.


We know how to behave and yet fail
we are weak and think ourselves better
we bend others to our wills
so we don't have to show our vulnerability.


God knows our hearts and our fears
we do not walk alone
let us love for the day is short
making room for strangers to become friends.


Many stand outside aching for a home
aching to be invited to the banquet
hoping to have a community of friends
that accepts us as we are.


God knows our hearts and our fears
we do not walk alone
let us love for the day is short
and we know the sting of isolation.

Those rejected will be elected
those who were shunned are known to God
those who come in need will leave in power
and we are called to make room today.


God knows our hearts and our fears
we do not walk alone
let us love for the day is short
for God loves those we fear
and calls us to invite
passing no judgement but
loving from the heart of God.