On the Way to Wonder

Romans 7:1-6

         Paul continues his reasoning in Romans 7 by comparing our faith we confess in baptism to the love we confess in marriage.  Ouch.  Many of us have been wounded by broken promises and commitments by people we thought we loved and whom we thought were committed to us.  Paul is comparing when we are married, the marriage vows bind us and define us in that relationship but if the spouse dies, we are free to remarry.  In the same way, Paul is saying that the Mosaic Law which was given to teach us how to live the good life and how to live into that “happy ever after” life, was distorted to become a tool of sin, of guilt and shame, an accountability measure of right and wrong.  When we choose to follow Christ, baptism symbolizes how we identify with his death, go under the water, die to the requirements of the law that kept convicting us of wrong, and come up to live a resurrected life in a relationship that is committed to us through death, to eternity.  After the funeral of our sinful self we are then united with Christ.  Justification resurrects us to relationship with God, grace, and not the law.  Here is the key verse as translated in The Message.

“When Christ died he took that entire rule-dominated way of life down with him and left it in the tomb, leaving you free to “marry” a resurrection life and bear “offspring” of faith for God. (Romans 7:4-6, The Message)”

         Most of us know the pain and disappointment of broken friendships.  What might be some of the qualities you would want in a “forever friend”?  Thank God for offering to be a “forever friend” and allow your thoughts to dwell in that relationship for moment and what you would like it to look like.  God wants a real relationship and not a relationship in name only.  Blessings.

by Carol Owens in the early 1970s

         This week we have been pondering Romans 5 and 6 and following Paul’s discussion he offers about Abraham, a foundational figure for Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  Paul posits that because Abraham “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness” when he was what we might call a Gentile or a heathen, his faith and not obedience to the Mosaic Law nor circumcision was the basis for justification, setting his relationship with God right.  It was a gift from God.  It is a model for all people.  Likewise our baptism or any of the other rituals and sacraments we do must all be an expression of faith in God’s faithfulness to fulfill his promises.  We have freely received the gift of salvation and we should freely share.

         Matthew 10:8, “⁸ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment,” was the inspiration for this song that many of us sang and were inspired by.  It’s kind of a “blast from the past.”  Enjoy and thank God for how he has carried you freely through the years.

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^“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (New Revised Standard)”

or

“Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (The Message)”

         This is one of those verses we have all been encouraged to memorize and keep tucked in our hearts.  Paul is encouraging us that when we believe in Christ and are baptized we are no longer under the power of sin.  Through baptism we have identified with Christ and accepted by faith his lordship in our life.  We are not controlled by sin because we have the Holy Spirit in us, guiding us and teaching us.  We have Jesus at the right hand of God representing us.  We have God on our side, walking with us.  I like the way the Message puts it.  Our pension is not death but eternal life.  We will make mistakes on our journey but that does not change the cash value of our pension, our policy.  That does not change the death benefits.  Using this analogy, the wonder of it is that it is a free gift offered to all.  No monthly premiums.  No cash or good deeds up front.  The thief on the cross was offered the policy not fully understanding much of anything, only pleading to be remembered.  Abraham did not know about Jesus but he believed God would keep his promises and acted on that.  Love from God to us and love from us to God drives our lives, not law and not fear.

         Like the journey through the wilderness by the children of Israel when they traveled from Egypt to the Promised Land and were transformed from slaves to a People of God, Paul is suggesting that as we live into our faith we are being transformed from slaves to sin, into free blessed children of God, free to obey out of love.

         Let’s tie this thinking down a bit.  We have five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.  Pick one sense that you would like God to transform and talk to him about it in prayer.  Blessings on your journey.

^“3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

(Romans 6:3-4 NRSV)”

“That is what happened in baptism. When we went under the water, we left the old country of sin behind; when we came up out of the water, we entered into the new country of grace—a new life in a new land!

^3-5 That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water, it is like the resurrection of Jesus. (The Message)

Today we cannot skip over the next couple verses that bring up the topic of baptism that has divided Christian theologians through the centuries.  We debate if baptism is to be by emersion (our whole body being put under water as we imagine the Jordon experience was at the time of John the Baptist) or is it sufficient to sprinkle water on the recipient?  We debate between ritual and sacrament.  We debate infant baptism or adult baptism.  We debate, and many are confused by our debates.  Mysteries are so hard and the Bible does not clearly give us rules surrounding baptism.

         Paul seems to be connecting baptism as an outward expression of personal faith.  He has presented an argument that shows Abraham’s faith that justified him was before the Mosaic Law was given and before circumcision was given.  Faith in God’s promises is the foundation.  Salvation is through Christ’s death on the cross and baptism is a way we tie faith and works together.  I laid the Message, a more modern translation next to the NRSV as I think it explains the symbolism clearer.

         It is our tendency to dismiss the marriage ceremony as a piece of paper today as we seek to be independent, free, and live our lives our way.  But rituals and sacraments tie us to the core of our faith when we go through trials and when clouds cover the presence of God from our eyes of faith.  My husband would call it anthropologically a rite of intensification.  Paul talks about it as raising us to “newness of life” as we or our parents stand before witnesses and confess faith and as the community promises to love the person into maturity, during good and bad times.  Baptism is a “boundary event” or a “defining moment” in our spiritual life.  Martin Luther encouraged us to revisit and renew our baptismal vows daily.  Even as marriage is not just the ceremony but also the relationship must be lived into on a daily basis, so too baptism is not just the church experience but also the beginning of that new life in relationship with God.

         How does the reality of your baptism or lack of it impact your life? Let us spend a moment in prayer thanking God for the gift of faith.

“6 What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?”

         Which way are you leaning spiritually?  Paul shifts to another question as chapter 6 opens.  He does not want us to misunderstand his statement in Romans 5:20 that we pondered yesterday.  Adam’s disobedience resulted in all people living outside the Garden of Eden but Abraham’s obedience had a ripple effect of multiplying grace beyond his personal impact.  We compared it to George Bailey in “It Was a Wonderful Life” realizing that his work in the loan business impacted the course of history of a whole town.  Paul does not want us to take sinning, disobedience, lightly because we know there is forgiveness.  We call that “cheap grace.”  It is kind of like leaning, expecting another to catch us when we fall.  We do not have the right to sin more so God has more opportunity to forgive and show mercy.  That is leaning away from God’s grace.

         When we assume another will not be offended by our disregard for them, we have made a grave mistake.  If I assume you will treat me to dinner because you are rich and I am poor, I have diminished your generosity and closed my heart to gratitude.  No one wants to be an assumption.  I have had long discussions with some of my children because they assume it is my job as “parent” to make their life work and specifically finance it. 

         We do not want to sin by diminishing another but the challenge is to call out the potential in another and invite them to live into their better selves.  We want to help them lean on God.  Faith leads us to lean into relationships with God and others rather than assume forgiveness and acceptance.  It’s not easy.  We call it a spiritual discipline, a spiritual muscle that we learn to use just like going to the gym.

         So let us ponder how we are leaning on our relationship with God.  Are leaning towards God and learning to trust or are we assuming God is there to make our life work?  Perhaps there is another relationship with a person we need to evaluate how we are leaning.  How do we “lean into” relationship rather than treat someone’s acceptance as an assumption?  Enjoy this oldie-but-goodie hymn about leaning and perhaps let your body sway with the song!  Blessings. 

Romans 5:12-21

^“18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all.”

         Paul now presents two opposite examples to show us the wonderfulness of God’s grace.  He compares Adam and Jesus.  (Perhaps it might be of interest that Paul points to Adam and not to Eve in this passage.)  Adam did not obey the teaching he had from God in the Garden, Genesis 2:15-17 and his family was driven from the Tree of Life.  A separation from God’s presence resulted.  It is not dissimilar to refugees fleeing to new countries because of war and loosing connection with their birth family.  The result of Adam’s punishment is that we as children of Adam are born physically separated from God.  All people die physically separated from God.  But because of Jesus, the Messiah, who obeys God, Jesus reverses not only the reality of physical separation from God but also reverses spiritual death because by faith we can live with God for eternity.  Adam’s death resulted in physical death.  Jesus’ obedience resulted in eternal life and spiritual life.

         Paul might be presenting an argument above my pay level.  I do understand, though, that decisions we make to obey God or disobey have consequences that affect the history of our families and ultimately our world.  “It Was a Wonderful Life” is a story that presents the idea in a picture we can understand.  Because George Bailey made decisions that prevented him from going to college and traveling the world, his community grew in a way it could not have had he not been born.  Clarence, Angel Second Class, shows George what life would have been like had he not been born.  Adam chose for self and we live in the shadow of that story.  Christ obeyed and we now have a whole different future open to us.

         So let us think today of a decision we made that impacted the course of our lives.  Perhaps it was a marriage or a choice of career.  Then again it could be a bitterness or guilt we carry for the sins of our youth.   Let us thank God for the blessings we have experienced and how he has even taken our rough times and led us to a new future.  Thank you, Lord, for being with us on our journey of faith!

^“11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5: 11)”

         Paul opens chapter 5 of Romans by looking at the benefits of being justified by faith.  He talks about being able to boast.  We can boast because, by believing God’s promises and trusting him, we come into right relationship with God.  He is the creator, the “boss,” and we are the creation.  He knows how his creation works best, perhaps not as rules we get punished for breaking but guidelines when obeyed and followed reap relationship and rewards.  God could have made robots to run his universe but he created people who have free will to accept or reject his kingdom.  When we accept his way we have hope for our future because we know God is fighting for us and with us.  We can boast about that.

         We can boast also because we know suffering has purpose and is not God playing games with us.  But now Paul adds a third boast, a third dimension to salvation.  We are saved not because of our works but because of God’s gift.  We are reconciled through Christ.  God loved us so much he incarnated, lived by our rules, died on the cross, and walked through death for us.  God cares about you and me.  That the God of the universe loves us is boast worthy!

         The Internet dictionary defines reconciliation as, “restore friendly relations between.”  It reminds me of the story in the Old Testament of the relationship between King David and his son Absalom.  Absolut killed his half brother Ammon because Ammon raped Absalom’s sister Tamar.  Absolut was forgiven but banned from seeing King David.  That was not reconciliation.  Friendly relations were not restored.  Sometimes we express it by saying we forgive but we don’t forget.  It is easy to bring up “dirty laundry” when the next offense occurs.  God does not act like that.  We are now free to be in respectful relationship with God.

         The Living Bible translates “boasting” as “rejoicing.”  The Message says we can shout our praises.  I like the texture those give.  We can rejoice because we have received a wonderful gift through faith that we did not deserve, that gives us hope and strength during tough days and that confirms God loves us.   It’s hard to get your heart around.  Today let’s take a moment to thank God and pray for grace to grow in understanding as we continue to read Romans.  Blessings. 

Tomorrow we will read Psalm 65 responsively.  The psalm thanks God for his faithfulness.  The first four verses focus on the forgiveness that God offers.  Verses five to eight thanks God for his involvement in our lives and our world.  The last four verses, nine to thirteen, King David thanks God for his provisions.  Let’s prepare our hearts for tomorrow by reading and agreeing with psalm in thanking God for his presence, even when the sun is not shining and God seems to be hiding behind a cloud.  The long internet reference is to a nice worship song based on this psalm.  Enjoy!  Blessings.

Psalm: Psalm 65:[1-8] 9-13

Your paths overflow with plenty. (Ps. 65:11)

[ ¹You are to be praised, O God, in Zion; to you shall vows be fulfilled.
 ²To you, the one who answers prayer, to you all flesh shall come.
 ³Our sins are stronger than we are, but you blot out our transgressions.
 ⁴Happy are they whom you choose and draw to your courts to dwell there!  They will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the holiness of your temple. 
 ⁵Awesome things will you show us in your righteousness, O God of our salvation, O hope of all the ends of the earth and of the oceans far away.
 ⁶You make firm the mountains by your power; you are girded about with might.
 ⁷You still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the clamor of the peoples.
 ⁸Those who dwell at the ends of the earth will tremble at your marvelous signs; you make the dawn and the dusk to sing for joy.
 ⁹You visit the earth and water it abundantly; you make it very plenteous; the river of God is full of water. You prepare the grain, for so you provide for the earth.
 ¹⁰You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges;
  with heavy rain you soften the ground and bless its increase.
 ¹¹You crown the year with your goodness,
  and your paths overflow with plenty.
 ¹²May the fields of the wilderness be rich for grazing,
  and the hills be clothed with joy.
 ¹³May the meadows cover themselves with flocks, and the valleys cloak themselves with grain; let them shout for joy and sing.

“God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

         Paul concludes verse 5 of Romans 5 linking God’s love with the gift of the Holy Spirit.  When we read this, we immediately think of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. Also there was a similar event with Cornelius and his Gentile household when Peter shared the Gospel.  Both events are linked in Christian thinking with water baptism and our beliefs surrounding this ritual/sacrament.  Paul continues to clarify,

^“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. ⁸ But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”

Christians debate the how much the person being baptized needs to truly understand what is happening but this passage is clear that the Holy Spirit is a gift, undeserved, while we are still sinners God reaches out and justifies us.  In receiving baptism we act out our faith in God’s promise.  “While we were sinners” God brought about justification.  It is not something we have to be good enough for, understand enough for, or believe enough to receive.  It is a gift offered by God.  We need only receive with both hands, palms up and empty.

         When I am down and discouraged about my inability to live up to what I think faith requires, I remember this verse.  God loved all of us not because we deserved it or earned it but because his nature is love and he wants to be in relationship with us broken creations of his.

         How to make this seem real?  Perhaps today draw a stick figure of yourself.  Which part of that figure is broken and needs attention. Or perhaps you have a loved one who now suffers with dementia and no longer recognizes himself or a challenged child or a wayward child.  Put a bandage on your picture and write, “God’s love, I am baptized and the Holy Spirit is healing me!”  Wow.

“Domino theory, also called domino effect, theory adopted in U.S. foreign policy after World War II according to which the “fall” of a noncommunist state to communism would precipitate the fall of noncommunist governments in neighboring states. The theory was first proposed by Pres. Harry S. Truman to justify sending military aid to Greece and Turkey in the 1940s, but it became popular in the 1950s when Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower applied it to Southeast Asia, especially South Vietnam. The domino theory was one of the main arguments used in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations during the 1960s to justify increasing American military involvement in the Vietnam War.” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/domino-theory)

         Many of us played Dominos as children.  We lived through the strategy popularly called the “Domino Effect”.  We now see commercials showing complicated patterns of dominos set up so that when the first domino falls a whole string of events or patterns unfold.  In Romans 5:3-5 Paul posits that there is a spiritual domino effect that is as true as our geopolitical theory.  Paul places his dominos like this:  suffering develops perseverance that produces character that produces hope because God’s love is working through the Holy Spirit in the domino events of our life.

“knowing that suffering produces endurance,

 ⁴ and endurance produces character,

 and character produces hope,

 ⁵ and hope does not disappoint us,

 because God’s love has been poured into our hearts

 through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

         We believe that just as surely as the geopolitical outcome of the future of democracy is tied up in the world’s response to Ukraine/Russia conflict, our response to suffering will impact our future.  Christians believe that the sufferings we find ourselves in challenge us to forgive, to pray, to share resources, and to live in faithful obedience to kingdom values that will impact the future of our world.  No one wants suffering for themselves, for loved ones or hopefully not even for strangers.  When suffering comes, though, how we respond starts a domino effect that impacts our ability to persevere, that shows in our character and helps us become people of hope.

         It is so easy for me to sit and feel sorry for myself about the unfairness of life.  Sitting during reflective times and looking for God’s hand in the event helps me not sink into victim thinking and helps me regain advocacy in my life and attitude.  Take just one difficult situation you are in right now and ponder how hope could be the end product as God helps you weather the storm.  Blessings.  You are not alone.