On the Way to Wonder

^“11 For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:11)”

         Paul is writing to the church in Rome, the center then of Western civilization, multilingual and multicultural, a group of people practicing a minority faith tradition in its time.  He openly says he is not ashamed of the gospel as it gives him power and righteousness.  The reality of God is evident to all people by observing nature and to not acknowledge a god and respect it is a moral, not an intellectual problem.  Honoring God’s creation and not God is idolatry.

         In chapter two he is beginning to refine his point.  He focuses on the felt difference between the Jew and the Gentile.  He is focusing on our tendency to justify ourselves as opposed to “the other.”  At that time it was the Jewish-Gentile division but we have our lines we draw in the sand too.  The rich are blessed and the poor aren’t, we might think.  The healthy, young and able are more favored by God than us old, declining and less able elders – could be our temptation to think.  In other words, we accuse God of partiality, of liking some more than others, of blessing some more than others.

         Paul points out that accusing others of the very sins we ourselves do is hypocrisy.  Gentiles may break laws obvious in nature but Jews break the laws revealed in the Torah.  When we take God’s forgiveness for granted because we are a believer, we deny God’s justice.  Likewise if we are so afraid of his justice that we diminish his mercy, then we have a problem with faith.  In short, faith and works are both important and judging others is God’s job, not ours.

         Partiality is defined on the Internet as “unfair bias in favor of one thing or person compared with another; favoritism.”  Let us ask the Holy Spirit today to shine its light on our lives and bring to mind incidents when we might have shown favoritism among family, friends or even others and point out to us any ways that we might sulk and accuse God of favoritism.  It is good to be reminded that God does not show partiality.  Thank you that you are fair.  Blessings.

         Psalm 100 is our psalm reading for tomorrow and sets a tone for the sermon.  We worship a God we know as “triune,” the Three in One.  That means God is social within itself and with its creation.  It means communication is part of its character.  And as the supreme being it is important for us to obey and give it the glory it is due.  The God we know is working for relationship and health in its creation.

         A sneak preview for tomorrow:

¹Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!
  ²Serve the Lord with gladness; come into God’s presence with a song.
 ³Know that the Lord is God, our maker to whom we belong;
  we are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture. 
 ⁴Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving and the courts with praise;
  give thanks and bless God’s holy name.
 ⁵Good indeed is the Lord, whose steadfast love is everlasting,
  whose faithfulness endures from age to age. 

Here is a song that was inspired by this psalm. Engjoy!

¹ Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
    or sit in the seat of scoffers;
² but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
³ They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

⁴ The wicked are not so,
    but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
    nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
⁶ for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked will perish.

         King David in Psalm 1 compares good and evil and gives us a slightly different picture than Paul in chapter one of his letter to the Romans.  David pictures those who choose good, who seek the wisdom of God, and surrounds themselves with good people, these people are like trees planted by a river. We worked in famine relief camps in northern Kenya, in the desert.  We knew where the riverbeds were even in the dry season because trees would grow up along the banks of the gullies full of green leaves.  David describes these people as fruitful and productive.  They delight in the law of God and don’t spend time with scoffers.  Wicked people are like chaff that dries up and is blown away.

         Maybe a tree is not the image that comes to your mind when you think of the blessings of being in relationship with God.  Maybe being unashamed like Paul does not excite you either.  There are many images that speak to the power, the fulfillment, the being right with life and the giver of life.  What image works for you?  A beautiful flower in a bouquet?  A team of dogs racing in harmony in the Diderot?  Dolphins swimming and jumping out of the sea?  Pick an image and describe it.  Perhaps even sketching it in your journal would be a fun exercise.  What would be the opposite?  Thank God that you can call on him and partner with him through faith.  Blessings.

^“32 They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die—yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.”

Today we finish chapter one of Paul’s letter to the Romans.  Chapter one is kind of like the famous line from Tale of Two Cities –“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” On those mountaintop days we are not ashamed of the Gospel and we have a glimpse of the power we receive from that unseen God we worship and we know he has helped. We feel right with God through our faith.  But truly there are those days when we hold on with our fingernails and have to admit we blew it…yet again.  Thank goodness that God is not off in the clouds keeping track of our good and bad deeds but incarnated and went to the cross for us.  But many days are a mixture of good and bad and often like Richard Frost we stand and stare at “two roads diverging in a yellow woods” and we must choose which one to follow.

         Paul ends with a checklist of characteristics of the evil that draws us down that rabbit hole of separation from God that we talked about yesterday. Paul gives us a checklist of signs that we can look for that indicate the evil one is trying to distract us,
         “²⁹ They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are   gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful inventors of evil, rebellious towards parents, ³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”

Most of these qualities are extremes but some we recognize, like jealousy, envy and coveting.  Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount was clear that murder begins with hate and adultery begins with lust.  Gossip is a temptation for all of us and it is fun to share about our successes.   Perhaps the question that helps me most is to ask if what I am doing draws me closer to God and good or does it put a wedge between God and me?

         May our prayer be as we now enter chapter two that we too like Paul may not be ashamed of the Gospel.  May we listen to our conscience as the Holy Spirit seeks to guide us.  May we be reminded each time we enjoy the beauty of nature around us that there is a God who blesses us and seeks relationship with us.  Thank you, Lord.

         I think the modern idiom is “I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole.”  When we encounter a temptation or a topic of conversation or anything that draws us into “the dark side,” draws us into depression and discouragement, we know we are on a slippery slope.  My husband would say, “Are you chewing on that bone again!” and I would know I am revisiting a topic that my mind cannot seem to resolve and therefore my emotions become darkened.  Paul in Romans 1 argues that all people know there must be a god as he reveals himself clearly in nature – the beauty of creation and created life.  When we choose to deny that and give credit God deserves to something other than God, we call it idolatry.  The children of Israel making the golden calf while Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments would be a Biblical example.  We can make idols out of human talent, science, government, and almost anything.  We draw our sense of value, our sense of identity from that thing that is not God.  When we become confused like that, the result is that other areas in our life become out of balance also.  He says in verse 22, “²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools; ²³ and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.”  We become sheep following the wrong shepherd. 

         We tend to think of God zapping us when we are bad, not unlike getting a spanking from our parent.  I wonder if that fender bender is God punishing me for something I did wrong.  Often, though, my problem is the result of my own error.  I should not have been texting and driving.  I should not have stayed out late partying.  Of course I then was tired and caught a cold. 

         Paul talks of another way though that God deals with sin. “God gave them up to their lusts…”  Modern day English might say, “I wash my hands of this,” or “Learn the hard way then.”  God does not force us to obey and does not force us to love him.  We have agency.  God did not make robots but people made in his image and we have the choice to live in partnership with him.

         Sometimes we say that our conscience is bothering us.  The Holy Spirit nudges us.  We have to admit we really were snarky and snapped at a friend.  We stubbornly ate that dessert.  We knowingly sped knowing we were late.  As Paul has said, this is a moral dilemma not an intellectual challenge.  At that moment, our will is having the light of the Spirit of Truth shown on it.  Let us pray today that when we have those moments of truth, we will submit our will to the wisdom of God.  Lord help us not to go down the rabbit hole of stubbornness and rebellion. Open our eyes and ears to hear your voice today.

^“19 For what can be known about God is plain…”

Romans 1:19

            We are pondering how Paul, in his opening in the letter to the Romans puts “the wrath of God” as the opposite of his experience of the power of God for salvation and his experience of the righteousness of God through faith.  He’s “not ashamed of the gospel.” God’s wrath, on the other hand, he presents as God’s anger for the sins we willfully do to destroy God’s creation and God’s creatures.  God is not upset with ignorance but moral rebellion.  Our problem is not intellectual but moral.

              “Natural revelation” is Paul’s argument that God has revealed himself clearly to all people through nature.  No one can say after watching a sunrise or sunset or seeing the birth of a baby something that life is accidental.  Nature itself cannot be explained without considering the possibility of a god.  Paul is not saying Christianity is obvious to all but he is saying nature reveals the existence of God and to deny that takes willful rebellion and denies God the glory he is due.

            So let’s sit with that idea for a minute this morning.  Choose a natural event that you enjoy like a sunrise or a favorite piece of music or a special person who has blessed your life.  Enjoy that memory for a moment.  What does that memory reveal to you about God?  Try to list perhaps three characteristics and then thank God for revealing those aspects of his character to you.  Let us not harden our hearts to God’s presence in our lives today.  Blessings.

^“18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.”

Romans 1:18

         Paul starts his letter to the church in Romewith a positive thesis.  He is not ashamed of the Gospel for it is power and righteousness.  Paul, who considers himself a “slave,” finds in relationship to Christ power not from his own natural ability but from relationship with the God of creation.  Now he turns to the other side of the coin, wrath. 

         We think of wrath as anger about something.  Paul sets God’s anger against sin.  We say, “God loves the sinner but hates the sin.”  Paul is talking about “wickedness”, evil, that “suppresses truth.”  He is not talking about ignorance of truth.  Ignorance is different than choosing to do evil and ignore truth you know.  Paul is dealing with evil as a moral problem growing out of a person’s will, not an intellectual problem coming from the brain.

         When my kids were learning to drive, they kept an eagle eye over my shoulder watching my speed when I drove.  “Mom, you’re speeding.”  Not seeing a speed limit sign was a very weak excuse for we had both studied the same rulebook.  Suppressing the truth is convincing myself I can still drive when I know I have done too much partying.  I deceive myself and endanger my passengers.  Going into a big credit card debt for that special thing I just have to have but which I am not sure how I will pay for is a problem.  My wants always convince me I can diet tomorrow.  God does not like to see us hurting others or ourselves and deceiving ourselves that it’s ok. 

         Ignorance and deceit are two different things.  Perhaps today we need to shine the flashlight of God’s word on our hearts and ask if there is an area where we are deceiving ourselves.  Maybe there is someone with whom you have a grudge but actually it is partially your fault and you need to let that person off the hook and practice forgiveness.  Sometimes we get angry with God when we have just plain been willful and selfish.  During Pentecost, the flashlight of God’s word turns on our hearts.  Pentecost means the Holy Spirit is present and helping us be our better selves.  Let’s do it!

         This week we looked at Paul’s introduction to his letter to the Romans.  He had not met them but they were on his “do meet” list.  They were people he had prayed for and now was longing to meet in person.  He is convinced that as they shared their stories of faith he would hear how they too were not ashamed of the Gospel in a culture unfriendly to Christians and he would hear that the Gospel was the power of God for salvation in their lives and produced the power of righteousness through faith.

         As I pondered what hymn carried that deep desire to walk closer to God and God’s people daily, growing in grace and faith, I came up with two of a similar title.  Day by Day (and with each passing sorrow) and Day by Day (dear Lord I pray).  Enjoy.

         Paul presents his thesis to the church in Rome in his opening chapter, Romans 1:16-17;

 ^“16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel;

 it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 

¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’^”

Paul, who identifies himself as a “slave,” proposes the idea that faith in Christ aligns him with the “power of God.”  A powerless slave finds power in a master who enables him to live by wisdom in this world.  The world does not understand.  He no longer answers to the whims of people but has found the God of the universe who has all power and is willing to come to his slave’s aid.  God is not a taskmaster sitting off in the clouds evaluating his work but a being that incarnates and empowers him to be his better self for his own fulfillment and for the betterment of the world.  Gospel, which we often call the “good news”, tells us that God has come to us and we have power as we believe.  Perhaps power is not your thing but being valuable enough to help is a desire in all our hearts.

         Paul also talks about the righteousness of God that is found through the Gospel.  Righteousness is being “right” with God.  We use the word forgiven.  We could also say whole, having our record wiped clean, having no barriers between the eternal and myself.  God is not out in the clouds offended by my humanness but partnering with me, as I will allow him, to make life better.  The slave has been given voice and vote in the relationship with the Almighty.  The Gospel is the good news of available relationship, as we believe, faith.

         “Faith” like love or peace or joy is one of those words we can only see in action.  It is relational, not theoretical, and not contractual.  Faith opens the door to relationship with a God who shares power and righteousness with his creation.  Today we might think of the places where we feel powerless or unrighteous.  We can invite the God of the universe to help us cope and clean up those areas.  That is good news for sure.  We are not in this alone.  Blessings.

         Today we read in Romans 1:16-17 one of the favorite verses people memorize from Romans and the theses of the letter Paul is writing to the people in the church in Rome.  He’s introduced himself, thanked them for their ministry that is talked about around the empire, and now he makes a foundational statement that resonates within us, reminding us of our core identity.  We are people who profess a gospel, good news that we believe. 

^“16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’^”

         Paul is not ashamed of his faith.  Mass media today has identified Christian faith with so many causes and beliefs that a profession of being a Christian can be embarrassing.  Or at least we think twice before saying it as we evaluate how the other might interpret our statement.  Many identify it with ultra conservative political beliefs that might even advocate violence.  Others can dismiss Christians as just do-gooders, trying to save the ecology.  And there is a whole host of other baggage that people connect to a profession of Christian faith.

         Paul says he is not ashamed because the gospel is the power of God and the righteousness of God.  I suspect today in our culture we might say we are not ashamed of the gospel because it is the love of God through faith or we might identify it as the forgiveness of God through faith – for all, Jews and Gentiles, Americans and nonAmericans, men and women…all people. 

         Let’s take a minute and honestly ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts.  Are we ashamed of the Gospel?  When we think of the Gospel do we think of power, righteousness of God, love or forgiveness?  What is core to the Gospel that gives us courage to share with another?  Blessings as you reflect.