On the Way to Wonder

         Paul now signals change of topic as he is writing to the church in Rome that he hopes to visit.  The church there was most likely an urban, multicultural, multilingual, and multi-socioeconomic group of believers.  Learning how they do church would be interesting to Paul, and us.  So Paul is writing a letter to present himself.  He has shown us that the traditional Jewish division of the world into Jews and Gentiles with the Jews being the chosen people and the Gentiles being the outsiders just does not seem to work as Rome has created a universal language and roads have created travel.  Paul reasons that all know God from nature and their problem is not ignorance of God but moral rebellion against God.  We have all sinned.  Just because the Jews have the laws of Moses does not make them more special because they fail to keep the law.  We all fall short.

         “But now” in chapter 3 verse 21 indicates a light bulb moment.”  “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, though testified to by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

God has spoken to the whole world through nature and we all sin “but now” God is going to help the whole world through Jesus Christ.  We are all condemned by our own actions. We do not always live out our better selves.  We are guilty as charged.  But justification comes now notfrom becoming better people and better fulfilling the law but as a gift, an unmerited, divine gift that only God can give.  Using court language, God, the judge declares us not guilty.  Using slave language, God, the buyer declares us redeemed.  Using Old Testament language, God, the supreme spiritual being, accepts the blood of Jesus as atonement for sin, sprinkled on the mercy set in the Holy of Holies.  So when Paul talks about righteousness he is referring to God who is himself righteous and who makes all believers righteous.

         We are now “not guilty,” “redeemed,” and “atoned.”  Spend a few minutes meditating on those three words.  Which word speaks to your heart right now?  How has your life been changed by these aspects of salvation?  Thank you, Lord, for the free gift of justification through faith in Jesus.

         Paul in verse 9 of chapter 3 of Romans returns to his question.  “Well, then, are we better off?”  Are the Jews, or the Christians for that matter, better off for having the revelations of the law as well as nature?  Maybe another way of saying this is to ask if being “chosen” or “elected” or “enlightened” makes us a more special person than someone else less fortunate. I love the scene in “Fiddler on the Roof” when Tevya is walking home from the celebration of his first daughter’s first engagement and is informed that there would be a slight demonstration.  He looks to heaven and says, “Dear God, did you have to send me news like that today of all days?  I know that we are the chosen people but once in a while couldn’t you choose someone else.” 

         God’s revelation of law, of how life works best, like having the manual telling us how our car works, is an advantage but my inability to follow the instructions does not make me any better than the person without a manual.  The car, life, doesn’t work at its best.  We all fail.  “Enlightenment rather than enablement is the principal function of the Mosaic law,” wrote the authors of a commentary on Romans.

         I am blessed because of my relationship with God but if I do not value that relationship that is revealed not only in nature but also more specifically in Scripture and if I don’t grow that relationship then it does me little good.  I feel we have camped on this point often now.  But perhaps even as we never tire of hearing how people love us, God never tires of hearing how we value him, and it is always good to review the advantages of faith.  Write an acrostic of the word faith and choose a word that is an advantage for each letter.  For example F:  God helps me deal with FEAR, A:______, I:_______, T:_______, H:______.  Thank you Lord for revealing yourself.

         Paul’s next arguments in chapter 3 of Romans sound a bit like trying to explain to a child the error of his ways.  People who sin may reason that they give God the opportunity to show the world how merciful he is and therefore the sinners should not be held responsible and punished.  They are only the stage that allows God to show off his character.

“v.5 But if our wickedness provides proof of God’s righteousness, what can we say?  Is God unjust, humanly speaking, to inflict his wrath?”

The argument is kind of like saying that my stealing your cookies helped your diet and so I should not be punished.  Or perhaps my fudging on my tax returns gives me more money to spend and put money into the economy.  Paul does not even try to deal with that kind of twisted thinking.  Perhaps our hero here is Robin Hood who stole from the rich to help the poor.  Prince John who was himself corrupt was in continual conflict with Robin.  It made great childhood stories as we cheered for Robin and his band of thieves.  Paul would say it is flawed thinking.  What would you say?

         Ponder for a minute if there is an area in your life where you compromise your values or ideals for the “greater good” you hope is being accomplished.  Let us pray for integrity in our people of leadership and wisdom as they make decisions that impact sooo many lives.

         Paul opens chapter 3 of Romans by asking a reflective question.  If we all know about God from nature, then what is the advantage of being a Jew or Christian?  I thought, I value a direct interaction, face to face, over a third party communication that opens the door to misunderstanding.  Also, I always thought hearing what the other wanted for Christmas was clearer than guessing how to please that person.  Perhaps your answer was different.  Paul, in verse 3, asks another question — Does my inability to live up to the law mean that God does not have to live up to his promises?

“3What if some are unfaithful?  Will their infidelity nullify the fidelity of God? 4 Of course not?  God must be true, though every human being is a liar, as it is written: That you may be justified in your words and conquer when you are judged.’”

         As I am now in the role of caretaker of a spouse with dementia, whether it is really necessary to visit everyday, as it is difficult to know many times whether I am recognized, is a question I am often asked.  I first answered that if my husband was faithful during nine months of pregnancy four times round when I was fat and awkward and needed help then I owe him at least nine times four or 36 months of visiting before I entertain that question.  We laughed. My husband was faithful despite my awkwardness.  More recently I have changed my thinking.  I am not faithful because he was faithful.  I am faithfully visiting because that is the sort of person I want to be regardless of his response to me.  I believe God is constant in his character regardless of how I treat him.  He is faithful, loving, and fair.  He always speaks the truth whether it makes me happy or not.

         So today let’s think of just three characteristics we would like people to identify when they think of us.  Ask God to continue to build those characteristics into your being.  Thank God for the Holy Spirit’s help.  Blessings.

Paul has spent the first two chapters in his letter to the church in Rome, introducing himself.  He is not ashamed of the Gospel and is looking forward to meeting them and sharing about faith.  Paul understands himself to be a “slave” of Jesus and the Gospel is power for him and righteousness that deals with his colorful past.  Other people come to faith for a variety of reasons.  He can learn from this international, multicultural church that is a minority in Rome.

         Paul argues that all people should be convinced by nature that there is a god.  To worship the creation rather than the creator is idolatry.  People have moral problems not intellectual problems when dealing with religion.  All people can know there is a god through nature.  The Jews have special revelations through Abraham and Moses but they too fail to keep the truth revealed to them.  We as Christians admit that we too are unable to live up to the truth we know revealed through Christ.  We do not always live up to our better selves.  We fail to walk the talk.  We do rituals that mark our lives but then we have our days when we fall short.  And so we come to chapter 3.  What’s the value of the rituals and laws?  It reminds me of the people who claim –  Why marry?  It’s just a piece of paper.

         Before we go further, let us think right now how we would answer that question. What are some of the advantages of being a person of faith?

“3 Then what advantage has the Jew?

Or what is the value of circumcision? (Romans 3:1)”

List the advantages of your denominational system in your journal and thank God for the foundation it provides for your life.

“Psalm 69 Turn to the Lord”

Francesca C LaRosa

         The Psalm for tomorrow’s readings comes from Psalm 69.  The Gospel continues in Matthew 10 as Jesus prepares his disciples to go out and represent him.  God does not want his people to be like sheep helpless and harassed without a shepherd so Jesus shares his authority over illness and all afflictions with the disciples and sends them out.  He warns them that they will encounter rough times.  This worship song picks up Psalm 69 and reminds us to turn to God when we are in need.  I note it was recorded Feb. 21, 2020, right before Coved hit.  Enjoy!

²⁶ For just as the body without the spirit is dead,

so faith without works is also dead.

         This week we have been reading Romans 2 and pondering Paul’s thesis he is presenting. One of the problems of quoting Scripture is that a verse can be pulled out of context to prove almost anything.  At the trial of Jesus “witnesses” claimed Jesus said, “I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days. (Matthew 26:61)” The priests understood Jesus to be talking about the actual Temple but Jesus was predicting his crucifixion and resurrection.  In Romans 2 Paul is arguing that circumcision of the body needs to indicate a circumcision of the heart.  Paul is talking about a spiritual experience. Checking to see if another author in the Bible gives the similar argument helps to confirm that Paul is discussing this same principle.  And it applies to us.

         James, a half brother of Jesus and leader in the early church makes a similar argument as Paul only James talks about faith and works.  A common idiom we say today is that “Your actions speak so loud, I don’t need to hear your words.”  Both Paul and James, coming from different backgrounds, would argue that our words should reflect the truths of our heart – integrity.

         James opens his chapter 2 by showing how “partiality” or favoritism, giving good seats to the wealthy at church and the peanut gallery to the poor, does not reflect the heart of God.  God values all, rich and poor.  James then looks at Abraham, the father of the faith and shows how his actions were “counted to him as righteousness.”  Even before the Torah and codified Judaism or Christianity, he lived faith.   Not only Abraham, the hero, but Rehab the Harlot put her faith in the unseen God and was justified.  James concludes that faith without works is an oxymoron, does not carry water.  My faith must find expression and my expressions must speak to faith.

         So again today we are challenged to take our integrity temperature.  Do I walk the talk?  To get our hearts around this, let’s pick a Biblical or social hero or heroine that you admire.  Draw a line down the center of the paper and on one side list the works or deeds of that person that inspire you.  On the other side, list words of the person that point to core values.  Let us again pray for integrity in our lives between our faith and our works.  Help, God!  May you get the glory!

²⁹ Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God. (Romans 2:29)

            Generally people recognize outward symbols as representing important internal commitments.  For example, a ring on the fourth finger of the left hand for Americans is supposed to represent a marriage.  Widows or widowers often continue to wear their rings and so it can be confusing.  I have found that asking a person about his or her tattoos often surfaces a very interesting story about deeply significant experiences.  Many Christians wear crosses as symbols of their faith.  The six-pointed Jewish star necklace is the same.

         Paul, at the end of chapter two of his letter to the Romans presents his argument that the Jewish tradition of circumcision means nothing unless the person has made an inward commitment to Judaism.  Ethnic genealogy or surgical operations may impress people but God looks at our hearts.  Just wearing our wedding rings does not prevent divorce.  We must work at that relationship to keep it alive.  Wearing a cross necklace does not make us a Christian but a relationship with the God of the cross does.

         So let’s think of some of the symbols that are important to us today.  Perhaps name some of the rituals you practice to make your inward reality outwardly observable.  Prayers at meals?  Jewlry?  Communion? Baptism?  In your journal write about one of those rituals that intensify your faith and that is important to you as an act of integrity.  Blessings.

         Paul seems to now be pointing out in Romans 2:17-29 how easy it is to talk but “walking the talk” is a lot harder.  He is talking to the Jews and how proud they were of their history of being blessed with the Law given to Moses on Mt. Sinai and with the covenant of circumcision given through Abraham.  They are misplacing their confidence and having a sense of superiority that does not stand the test of deeds. We can feel superior to others for many reasons – beauty, ethnicity, wealth, and education.  Paul points out that having the law is no good unless their lives demonstrate an internalization of the law’s truth.  Likewise for us Christians, it is easy to become falsely confident because we have been baptized or confirmed or take communion.  We go through a ritual but Paul asks us if it has changed our lives.  Are we walking the truth we have been given and that we confess?

^“23 You that boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? (Romans 2: 23)”

         When our lives are incongruent with our professed beliefs, we present a mixed message to others.  If we claim to be forgiven but are unforgiving, it is confusing.  When we talk about a God of love and we are unloving, we fail.  I could go on but the point is that we cannot live lives that are totally good because we are flawed.  Our better selves don’t always show.  Our confidence is not in our history or our actions, our confidence must be found in God’s forgiveness and mercy.  Let me not get ahead of Paul though.

         Let us spend time today thanking God that it does not depend on us doing our thing perfectly.  Let us thank him for the Holy Spirit that can use our feeble efforts to God’s glory and can translate our smallest efforts like a smile, into a blessing.  Let us pray to live by our beliefs with His help.  Thank you, Lord.

            ^“Justification” is a big word in all religions.  By definition the “god” of any religion is “other” and perfect and we as human are imperfect.  In Christianity we say we are sinners and God is holy.  Doing good deeds, thinking good thoughts, and improved life styles all are ways to reach out to that unseen deity or “force.”  So the question of justification is a question of how we become “just as if I hadn’t sinned,” how do we become able to relate to the unknown? 

         At the beginning of chapter two, Paul claims that God is impartial and does not play favorites.  He deals with non-Christians by natural law, by how we live in response to the truth of the realities of life we perceive, either through our religion or through nature.  Jews have the Torah.  Christians have the Gospel.  And somehow others have natural law written on their hearts.  Rebelling against our awareness of what we know is right and chasing false gods is idolatry and condemns us.  Verse 12 says that just hearing truth, just going to church, just knowing is not good enough.  We must be doers.

^“12 All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. ¹³ For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” 

         But likewise being a “do-gooder” is not good enough.  Many think that because they have been nice to their friends that they have fulfilled the Golden Rule, do onto others what you would have them do unto you, or love your neighbor as yourself.  It seems to me that this kind of thinking makes God into Santa Clause, rewarding us with coal or goodies by our track record.

         Let’s think today how we believe we become “justified”, come into right relationship with God.  Perhaps it helps to ask ourselves what makes someone our good friend?  Do we like people just because they do nice things for us?  Can our friend speak truth to us when they disagree with us?  What is the bottom line in our friendships?  How does that translate into your relationship with God?  Blessings as you reflect.