31 July 2005

Unceasing anguish for one's own family

Romans 9:1-5

Randy Aly wrote: A deacon sent in his apologies for the Sunday morning service, claiming that he was ill with the flu. One of the members, however, said he had seen the deacon on his way to a ball game. After the service, the minister went to visit the deacon, "Brother," he said, "I have information that you were not sick at all this morning, but went to watch a ball game." The deacon protested: "That's a vicious lie! And I'll show you my FISH to prove it!"

Poor deacon! Jerome K. Jerome wrote: "It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar." Unfortunately for the deacon he was not that good of a liar.

Besides the lie, why would you lie to a Pastor? If you do not want to come to church, but go fishing instead, don't lie about it. I wouldn't mind having a full weekend to spend with my family once in a while. Given our busy life style, I think we all could use some time away from the city. I would not expect a deacon to lie to me and you would not expect me to lie to you. Lying is something we do not expect from each other.

This is why the verses we have read in Romans 9 are somewhat strange. Romans 9:1 read, "I am speaking the truth in Christ- I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit." Twice Paul defense himself "I am speaking the truth... I am not lying." In his defense he uses Christ and the Holy Spirit. He speaks the truth in Christ. And, his conscience is clean and confirmed by the Holy Spirit. Now why would Paul defend himself this way? Why would people think he is lying? Was he not a respected man of God? These are good questions. Moments before he wrote, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." These are some powerful words! Were people thinking he was lying about Jesus Christ and what he can do for us? Actually, perhaps they were.

As you recall, Paul was writing to the believers in Rome. Some of them were Jews others Gentiles who had believed in Jesus Christ. In the previous chapters we have talked about the role of the Law of Moses in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Salvation from Death and Sin was no longer based on keeping the Law, because the Law was limited. In Romans 8:3 ff, we read, "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us..." The just requirements of the Law are not fulfilled by our own doing, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the Law, and all those who are in Jesus have benefited from what Jesus has done. In other words, are hope is no longer in trying to fulfill the Law; our hope is in the belief that Jesus has fulfilled the Law. In Romans 10:4 we read, "For Christ is the fulfillment of the Law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." Paul believed that for Salvation one should no longer try to fulfill the Law, but believe in Jesus Christ. And the belief in Jesus Christ and the salvation we can obtain through Him, no one can take away. No one, no thing (including the Law) can "separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

As you can imagine this was not well received by the Jewish community. No longer trusting in the Law raised all kinds of questions about God and God's own personal relationship with the Hebrew people. After all, it was the Law that separated them from the rest of the world.

For the Jew, the Shema stood as a written contract that say, "I the LORD will be your God, and you will be my people." The Shema reads, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise" (Deuteronomy 6:4-7, see also Deut. chapters 5, 6). In fact we can read all of chapter 5 and 6 of Deuteronomy to get the full picture. Simply leaving the Law behind was not as easy as what Paul argued for.

No, the Law was more than a set of regulations- "dos and don'ts." The Law was a written covenant between God and Israel. For a good Jew, leaving the Law meant leaving God, and many were not ready to do that. In light of what Paul was saying, some questions surfaced, "what is going to happen to the Jews who keep trying to fulfill the Law and do not accept Jesus Christ?" And, more importantly, "has God changed His mind about the Law and His people? Has God broken His covenant?"

This is why Paul had to say, "wait a minute, I am not lying to you. Things have changed, and I wish I had an easy answer for you, but I do not." In chapter 9:2,3 Paul writes, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh." Paul here assumes the worse for his own people, his kindred according to the flesh. If he could give himself up as accurse to save his family, he would.

Yet, Paul still had to answer the big question: Has God changed His mind about the Law and His people? And, if He did, can God be trusted? In verse 6 he writes, "It is not as though the word of God has failed." In verse 14 he writes, "What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God's part?" Paul answers these questions by saying First that "not all Israelites truly belong to Israel" (v.6b). In other words, Paul's main argument will be that God's convent with Israel has not changed. However, he first had to argue that not all Jews are Israelites; meaning God's covenant was not with individuals, but with Israel as a group of people. His first supporting example is the story of Abraham. John E. Toews, an Anabaptist scholar writes, "Paul distinguishes between ethnic Israel and true Israel on the basis of the Abraham story. Not all of Abraham's children are seed, as God's promise did not mean the "salvation" of all his descendants... Salvation is based exclusively on the call of God. God never promised to save all ethnic Israel, so the rejection of Messiah Jesus by the majority of Jews does not undermine the integrity of God's word. Paul's argument suggests that this rejection is a sign that Israel stands outside the Abrahamic covenant and thus the people of God."

Second, Paul argues that only a remnant of Israel has been able to maintain connected to God anyway. And therefore, only a remnant will be saved. In 9:27, he writes, "And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel. 'Though the number of the children of Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved; for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth quickly and decisively."

So what are we to do with Paul and Romans 9? How are we to apply it to our lives? It is a mistake to think Paul did not personally wrestle with this issue. It is clear by the style of writing and the effort put into the entire book that Paul spend a great deal of time thinking about the Law and Jesus Christ and what it all means to Israel. Furthermore, it is clear by the first verses of chapter 9 that Paul is hurting. He has told us that he has "great sorrow and unceasing anguish in (his) heart." This is a man that is truly wrestling with the unthinkable, the eternal consequences of those who reject Jesus Christ. To think what could happen to those who reject Jesus Christ is something we post-modern Christians do not think about. We would rather believe that all good people, somehow, would find themselves with God. We do not like to think of a God that can reject anyone. Paul is inviting us to think a little more, to wrestle a little longer with this issue, to feel the sorrow and anguish he was feeling. How are we to apply Roman 9 to our lives? First, we should not dismiss the idea that some will not join God for eternity just because it makes us feel uncomfortable. We too should wrestle with Paul. We too should wrestle with the Law and Jesus Christ and what it all means for the world.

Second, we should guard our hearts from any sense of pride. We are not saved because of something we did. There is nothing special about us. We did not earn our salvation. All the glory belongs to God. It is Jesus Christ that made all of this possible, not us, not our education, not our piety, not our good character, not our nationality or ethnicity, and certainly not our good works. All the glory and honor belongs to our God. Paul wrote in 11:18, "You will say, 'Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.' This is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe." Let us not be proud of our salvation, but let us stand in awe, in total humility and thankfulness. We have earned nothing. The salvation that we have has been freely given to us, in spite of who we are and what we have done.

And finally, we should proclaim the gospel we know and the truth we know. After reading and studying the book of Romans for a couple of months, I believe Paul would want us to see salvation as liberation from Death and Sin through Jesus Christ, and not see salvation only as winning heaven. In other words, why not see the gospel not as a free ticket out of hell, but a life changing experience that can help us overcome the evils of this world today? In other words, Paul spoke not of heaven, but of liberation from Sin (capital "S"). Why not preach liberation instead of condemnation?

I think we should share the truth we know, to everyone we know, regardless of who they are. Sharing the truth we know is not about answering the questions: Am I right and they are wrong? Am I wrong and they are right? Aren't we all right? Aren't we all right and wrong? Sharing the truth we know is not about who is right and who is wrong. It is about sharing with others the live changing experience we have had with our God. It is about saying to whoever listens, "Jesus Christ changed my life and he can do the same for you." No judgment and no condemnation.

Paul lived proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord. For him, sharing Jesus Christ to his family was more difficult that we can ever imagine, but he said, in the same letter, "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" (1:16). Paul shared the truth of the gospel even though, at times, it was extremely difficult for him. He was able to do it, and so can we. We should not shy away or be ashamed of the truth we have received.

Let us therefore, wrestle with Paul. Let us think a little more about the Law of God, Jesus Christ and what it all means for the world. Let us not dismiss the idea that some will not join God for eternity just because it makes us feel uncomfortable. Let us wrestle with Paul and feel his sorrow and pain.

Let us therefore, guard our hearts from any sense of pride. We have not earned our salvation. Nothing we have done, except belief in Jesus Christ has given us salvation, not our education, nor our piety, nor our good character, nor our nationality or ethnicity, and certainly not our good works. What we have has been freely given to us. Let us therefore, not be proud of our salvation, but let us stand in awe, in total humility and thankfulness.

And, let us therefore, proclaim the gospel we know and the truth we know. Jesus Christ changed our lives, it change the lives of so many people throughout history. The good news, the gospel, of Jesus is what Paul preached to both Jew and Gentile even though at time was extremely difficult. Let us therefore, be not ashamed of the gospel we have received of the truth we know.

Amen.