Day 52: The Weak and the Strong, Travel Plans, Greetings

The letter to the Romans ends with Paul weighing in on what seems to be a local controversy.  There are some among the Christians in Rome who are careful about what they eat, who practice abstinence of certain foods, and feel that this is part of how they are faithful.  There are others who feel that freedom in Christ means that they can eat anything they want to.  Paul seems to agree, in theory anyway, with those who feel that they can eat anything.  But "in theory" is a loaded phrase.  Paul tells the Christian community in Rome that just because they are free to eat anything, doesn't mean it's a good idea, especially if it's going to be harmful to the faith of their brothers and sisters.

So, what kind of food is Paul talking about?  Is he talking about people who keep kosher?  Is he talking about people who eat food which has been sacrificed to idols?  Or are there different dietary restrictions?  I don't know.

But what is interesting to note is that Paul's instructions are based on doing what is good, not for you, but for someone else.  It reminds me of someone who said that the question that always comes up at election tie, "Are you better off?" should really be this one, "Is your neighbor better off?"  That is Christian ethics.

Paul winds down his letter by talking specifically about his plans to visit the church in Rome, after he delivers the offering he is collecting to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem.  He is passionate about this offering, and what it represents.  It represents unity between Christians who are far away from one another.  It represents a unity of mission, even where there has been disagreement about practice.  Paul wants the Gentile Christians to be generous.

And then he sends greetings.  He sends greetings to specific people he knows, to those he has heard about and hopes to meet.  It might seem to be the least interesting part of the letter, except that there are probably fascinating stories (mostly that we don't know) behind every one of these names.  For example, there is Junia the apostle.  Junia is a woman's name.  Apparently there were some women leaders in the early church.  I would like to know more about Junia.

Paul closes his leader with a great and wonderful phrase about a secret -- the secret that has now been revealed.  I love the idea that the gospel is a secret.  It's been there, all along.  It's not that it's a new thing  It was just that it was a secret before, and now it has been spoken.  The grace of God has been spoken in the person of Jesus.

Day 51: Israel's Salvation, A Transformed Life, Living with Rulers

These three chapters appear to have nothing in common (and perhaps they don't, except that they are all a part of the letter to the Romans).  Chapter 11 completes Paul's thoughts about the salvation of the Jews, the promise of Jesus, and what he thinks will happen "in the end."  Paul exhorts the Gentile Christians not to think of themselves too highly; after all, if they could be grafted into the vine, they could most certainly could be cut off, and the original branches grafted back on!  He also muses that perhaps God has a purpose in the supposed hardness of heart of some of his Jewish brothers and sisters.  It is exactly so that God could show mercy to the Gentiles -- and then -- in the end -- all of Israel will also be saved.  At least, that is Paul's vision and his hope.

In chapter 12, Paul casts a vision of a transformed life and a transformed community.  He begins by speaking about the gifts people will share in this transformed community.  And then he goes on to share a laundry list of Christian excellence:  genuine love, hospitality to strangers, service to others.  Giving to  the needs of the saints.  Associating with the lowly.  This is what transformed lives look like.  And though it is easy for us to read the list and consider these as individual virtues (that is the way we think of most things in our lives), these are virtues practiced and honed in community.  This is the "rock tumbler" of Christian community, where we bump up against one another, and begin to shine.

And then, we come to the difficult chapter 13.  Why difficult, you might ask?  After all, Paul is simply asking us to consider civil authority as given by God, to obey the law, to believe that there is an order to the creative world.  God has put governments in place for a good purpose, to prevent chaos, and to make sure communities live (as much as possible) in peace.  It seems fair enough.  Even now, we encourage citizens to obey the law.

Except that there are extenuating circumstances.  Except that in Nazi Germany, church-goers used this particular chapter of Romans as an excuse for not standing up to Hitler.  So we need to read Romans 13 very carefully, respect the message and its limits.

Remember that Paul did not live in a democracy, where everyone had the same voice and responsibility.  Even so, remember as well that if rulers are given by God, they are accountable to God as well.  If they are not acting justly, we have the means, and the responsibility to hold them accountable, while at the same time respecting laws.

So, these chapters are each very different, with a different slant.  The glue that holds 11 and 13 together, though, is the vision of chapter 12:  "let love be genuine. hate what is evil. hold fast to what is good."  And the whole thing is held together with the glue of God's mercy in Christ.

In a sense, each chapter has something to say about our calling, our irrevocable calling, which is completely based on the grace and mercy of God to us.

Which is these chapters hit home the most for you?

Day 50: Israel, the Church, God's People

Paul is Jewish.  Paul is a disciple of Jesus.  Paul loves Judaism.  Paul loves Jesus.  In chapters 9, 10 and 11, Paul tries to speak about all of these things in away that is true to God's promises through Jesus, but also true to God's faithfulness to Israel as the chosen people.

One of Paul's statements is that God chooses the ones he chooses, and hardens the hearts of others, and who knows why.  An imaginary opponent poses the question, "How can God blame someone for a hard heart, if he hardens the heart?"  Good question.

Paul has nothing but praise for his Jewish brothers and sisters' zeal and how religious they are.  He respects them, and doesn't really have any idea why most of his brothers and sisters have not joined him in the community of Jesus.

But, Paul asserts:  God chooses.  God chose Abraham, and Jacob, and Joseph.  And God is choosing now, and is choosing Gentiles to also be a part of his chosen people.  God is in charge, and somehow this is happening.    That is the greatest good news of all.  God chooses.  God loves his people, both the ones he is choosing now and the ones he chose long ago.

And I believe, at the end of Romans 10, when Paul writes, "How can they hear without a preacher?  How can they preach unless they are sent?" he is particularly speaking to Gentile Christians, to make sure they are speaking and sharing words and grace and faith that they have been given.   Make sure you are good witnesses to the grace of love of Jesus, he is telling them.

He has an interesting thought:  Maybe, if we make a really good community, and are really good witnesses of what life in Christ is like, we will make them jealous.

Paul's thoughts are to be continued, in chapter 11....

Day 41: Controversies, Arguments, Imprisonment: The Grace of God

So Paul and his companions have been finding some success preaching the gospel of Jesus among the Gentiles, when there appears a competing group who also preach Jesus -- plus circumcision.  This development leads to the first church convention, where the topic at hand is:  What should we do with all these non-Jewish people who want to be Christian?  Some people thought they ought to be circumcised; others (including Paul) did not.

Success has its price.

As well, note that even at this early date, there were disagreements among believers.  In this case, after heated discussions, the church came to an agreement about what they would ask from the Gentile believers:  not circumcision, but abstaining from eating blood, and food sacrificed to idols, and sexual immorality.

Having dodged this bullet, however, Paul and Barnabas somehow couldn't fix a rift that developed between the two of them.  We really don't know much about the rift, except that it had to do with John Mark.  Barnabas wanted to take him along with them; Paul did not.  On the basis of something as simple as this, Paul and Barnabas part ways.  Paul teams up with Silas, and eventually Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman and a Greek father (interesting that he has Timothy circumcised because of the company with whom he expects to be traveling.)

It's sort of sad that the church could come to an agreement with respect to the first controversial issue they faced, but that Paul and Barnabas couldn't come to an agreement with regard to John Mark.  But that's the way it is in churches sometimes, isn't it?  It is the (seemingly) little things, the rifts between individuals, that catch us up, oftentimes more than the big and controversial theological issues of the day.  it is the arguments about which songs we sing and who distrusts who that end up generating the heat, even now.

That being said, Luke is still pretty clear that it is the Holy Spirit that directs or impedes their progress.  The Holy Spirit leads them to Macedonia, where Lydia hears the message of Jesus and believes.  Later on, though, Paul casts an evil spirit out of a young woman.  This good deed is rewarded with time in prison for Paul and Silas.  (it seems that the evil spirit was a source of revenue for the owners of the young woman.)

As has happened before, a way for the apostle to escape from jail presents itself:  an earthquake!  but this time, instead of escaping, Paul and his friends stay put, and in this way confess their faith in the one who has set them free.

There is more than one kind of captivity
And more than one way to be free.

The Acts of the Apostles..... are to be continued.