27, 2010. For most of the summer I will be sharing ideas, thoughts, insights and questions culled from Paul's letter to the church in Rome. This week I am looking most carefully at Romans 1: 16-17 and 1: 23-25. Interestingly, just as I finished putting these notes together I received this You Tube clip that in non-religious language speaks of Paul's passion. Hmmm.... pretty wild. If you find yourself in Pittsfield this Sunday at 10:30 am, I would love for you to join us for worship. And if you are passing through the Berkshires for your summer vacation time, why not stop by - or give us a call - and we can share tea?There is an old, old story that periodically resurfaces among preachers that tells of the woman who found herself at the end of life standing before St. Peter at the Pearly Gates of heaven. “I want to welcome you to the eternal kingdom of God,” Peter said, “but before entering you have to answer a few questions – and score 100 points.”
• "So, t
ell me,” Peter begins, “how often did you go to church?" to which the woman says: "I went every Sunday and Wednesday." After a pause, Peter replies, “Ok, that’s one point.”• “One point,” she thinks to herself, “I thought all that time in church was worth more than that: wow!” Peter continues: “And when you went to church, did you make a financial contribution?” to which the woman said, “Oh my Lord, yes, I tithed and gave 10% of my income every week.”
• "Well, let's see," Peter says, "that's worth about 3 points. Did you do anything else that might help?” After a long silence, the woman finally says: "Well, right off hand, I can't think of a whole lot. I just did mostly what I thought I was supposed to do." Which prompts St. Peter to reply: “Ok, we’ll give you 5 points for good behavior – can you cup up with anything else?”
As you might imagine, by this time the woman is completely flustered and beside herself so she blurts out: "To be totally honest, I can't come up with anything else that I’ve done. It looks to me like no one can enter heaven except by the Grace of God!" To which St. Peter smiles, opens his arms wide and says: "100 points! Come on in!"
Grace – and God’s love in our lives – is what we’re going to talk about this morning because grace is at the core of what St. Paul wants us to gra
sp in his letter to the church in Rome. So as we go deeper into our summer long study of Romans – a series that we’ll continue until the middle of August – I want you to stay grounded in Paul’s commitment to grace and the radical sense of amazement it evokes in his ministry. Not only does he begin the book of Romans by telling us about God’s grace – in Christ Jesus our Lord we have received grace and a ministry of sharing this grace with others by faith – he centers his whole ministry in grace: “I greet you all with the generous grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” because – and here is the central message and focus of Paul’s ministry located in verses 16 and 17 of chapter one – because…
The gospel of Jesus Christ is news that I am most proud to proclaim – for it is an extraordinary Message of God's powerful plan to rescue (and heal) everyone who trusts God, starting with Jews and then right on through to everyone else! The gospel is God's way of putting people right and shows up in acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: "The person in right standing before God by trusting the Lord is really alive."
Are you with me on this? Do you follow the rhythm and logic of St. Paul’s proclamation? He is telling us that he has a joyful obligation to preach because he has experienced God’s grace in such
a way that not only brings meaning and hope into his life but also offers these blessings to everyone regardless of race, class or gender.
One of my favorite bible scholars – and yes, I know that makes me a church geek because it is true that I have some favorite bible scholars – well, one of them is Paul Achtemeier who used to teach at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. In his commentary Achtemeier unpacks these verses by reminding us that what Paul is doing here involves a series of questions and answers about what is most important to him. To a world that was ruled by blood lines and birth rights, Paul is saying that God’s love is bigger than nationality, political party or race.
In fact, God’s love is so big that you can find a way into the Lord’s heart by… faith. Achtemeier puts it like this:
• I, Paul, a slave to God’s grace, am under an obligation to share the gospel to the civilized and the barbarians, the cultured and the uneducated, the wise and the foolish which is why I am coming to Rome.
• Why Rome? Because I am not ashamed of the gospel and sense it needs to be shared even in the heart of the Empire. Why am I not ashamed of such an outrageous idea as grace? Because it shows God’s love and power for healing the world through faith, first to th
e Jews but also to the Gentiles and Greeks.
• Are you saying that God’s grace is available to everyone? Yes, the ancient scriptures teach that those who are in right relations with the Lord will know the essence and meaning of life. Well, how can that be? Here’s the deal: God shares divine wrath with those who choose evil or dishonesty in their souls.
• What does wrath mean? It means letting people experience the essence of their sins. God suppresses truth and hope for those who choose wickedness – not really to punish them – but to help them want the alternative of grace. For when human beings act like they are God – creatures who act like they are the center of the universe – God let’s them experience the fullness of this mistake.
• In fact, God gives them up to the foolishness of their selfish minds and habits and deeds in the hope that after living for a while like animals or reptiles they might want to reclaim the image of God born within them since before the beginning of time.
That is what energizes and motivates Paul: he has seen people live like anim
als! He has seen what it means for human being created in God’s image to experience God’s wrath – and it is ugly, terrifying and fearful. I love the way Achtemeier puts it:
When we exchange serving the Lord for following our lord… we have handed ourselves over to some creature instead of the Creator. Ignoring the clear evidences of God’s presence, human beings instead chose for themselves other lords. And inevitably, one comes to resemble that to which we give our devotion. If we give ourselves to God and the gracious love made flesh in Jesus Christ, we will come to resemble Christ… otherwise we begin to become bestial. (p. 38)
What do you think about that? Can you think of examples – personally or in the news – where serving another god leads to idolatry or even the bestial? Achtemeier offers these closing words:
Will anyone who reads contemporary newspapers or watches real news programming deny that our society – and world – shows signs of bestiality? Does that not reflect the idols to which we give our devotion? If in our desire to overcome a competitor in whatever area – whether as a business man or woman – we take as our model the rapacious drive of the beast of prey, sweeping all aside in our desire to overcome, is it any wonder that our society becomes bestial? If our goals are se
t with no final regard for the will of the true God as expressed and made flesh in Jesus Christ, is it any wonder that we become less than we as human beings made in God’s image out to be? Do we not in fact come to resemble the idols to which we devote our lives? (p. 39)
In Paul’s day – and our own – sharing the gospel and spreading God’s grace is a mission of mercy, yes? And here’s the other insight for today: because without being grounded in God’s grace we will experience God’s wrath. And how did the old preacher talk about God’s wrath?
• Not as thunderbolts of punishment from heaven or hellfire and brimstone but… the absence of God.
• I’ve mentioned this to you before, too, but it also warrants a summer refresher course. When we give up living as those who follow God and start serving ourselves as if we were God, the Lord says: ok, have it your way.
That we are totally incapable of functioning as our own creator, and hence as our own Lord, does nothing to hinder us. Thus we show our incorrigible ignorance: substituting the darkness of our own desires for the Light of God as Lord of creation, we grope about, lashing out at all who hinder our desires… and this is why Paul is so urgent: the root of human suffering and malaise is the substitution of something other than God as the lord of our lives. (p.39)
It could be alcohol, it could be drugs; it could be sex, it could be greed; it coul
d be arrogance, it could be power; it could be war, it could be hatred. There is no question, you see, “of whether or not we are to have a lord over us. As creatures of the Creator, we have no choice in the matter. The only real question is who is lord?” What God do we serve? And does this lead us to hope and light or addiction, fear and darkness?
I love the way St. Bob Dylan put it in one of his best ironic songs about sin called “Everything Is Broken.”
Broken bottles broken plates - Broken switches broken gates
Broken dishes broken parts - Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken: everything is broken.
I tell you, Dylan just NAILS the heart of sin – and then he keeps hammering home his point:
Every time you leave and go off someplace things fall to pieces in my face
Broken hands on broken ploughs - Broken treaties broken vows
Broken pipes broken tools - People bending broken rules
Houn
d dog howling bullfrog croaking: everything is broken
That is the heart of Lent and the message of St. Paul on sin all wrapped up in a little self-deprecating humor coming in at less than three minutes! And BECAUSE everything is broken when we are enslaved to sin… Paul is impelled to show us God’s way out.
This, of course, brings us back to grace: we do not have to live addicted to idolatry nor do we have to live in the frightening and ugly absence of God’s wrath. Jesus was abrupt and to the point in this morning’s gospel text when his crew seemed almost willfully dim:
"First things first, man: Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God's kingdom… I’m not interested in wasting time or life so no procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day."
And that, dear people, is not only enough for this morning it is also the good news for today for those who have ears to hear.
credits: I found myself particularly taken with the artist C. Robin Janning at Gramercy Galleria this week.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is news that I am most proud to proclaim – for it is an extraordinary Message of God's powerful plan to rescue (and heal) everyone who trusts God, starting with Jews and then right on through to everyone else! The gospel is God's way of putting people right and shows up in acts of faith, confirming what Scripture has said all along: "The person in right standing before God by trusting the Lord is really alive."
Are you with me on this? Do you follow the rhythm and logic of St. Paul’s proclamation? He is telling us that he has a joyful obligation to preach because he has experienced God’s grace in such
a way that not only brings meaning and hope into his life but also offers these blessings to everyone regardless of race, class or gender.One of my favorite bible scholars – and yes, I know that makes me a church geek because it is true that I have some favorite bible scholars – well, one of them is Paul Achtemeier who used to teach at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. In his commentary Achtemeier unpacks these verses by reminding us that what Paul is doing here involves a series of questions and answers about what is most important to him. To a world that was ruled by blood lines and birth rights, Paul is saying that God’s love is bigger than nationality, political party or race.
In fact, God’s love is so big that you can find a way into the Lord’s heart by… faith. Achtemeier puts it like this:
• I, Paul, a slave to God’s grace, am under an obligation to share the gospel to the civilized and the barbarians, the cultured and the uneducated, the wise and the foolish which is why I am coming to Rome.
• Why Rome? Because I am not ashamed of the gospel and sense it needs to be shared even in the heart of the Empire. Why am I not ashamed of such an outrageous idea as grace? Because it shows God’s love and power for healing the world through faith, first to th
e Jews but also to the Gentiles and Greeks.• Are you saying that God’s grace is available to everyone? Yes, the ancient scriptures teach that those who are in right relations with the Lord will know the essence and meaning of life. Well, how can that be? Here’s the deal: God shares divine wrath with those who choose evil or dishonesty in their souls.
• What does wrath mean? It means letting people experience the essence of their sins. God suppresses truth and hope for those who choose wickedness – not really to punish them – but to help them want the alternative of grace. For when human beings act like they are God – creatures who act like they are the center of the universe – God let’s them experience the fullness of this mistake.
• In fact, God gives them up to the foolishness of their selfish minds and habits and deeds in the hope that after living for a while like animals or reptiles they might want to reclaim the image of God born within them since before the beginning of time.
That is what energizes and motivates Paul: he has seen people live like anim
als! He has seen what it means for human being created in God’s image to experience God’s wrath – and it is ugly, terrifying and fearful. I love the way Achtemeier puts it:When we exchange serving the Lord for following our lord… we have handed ourselves over to some creature instead of the Creator. Ignoring the clear evidences of God’s presence, human beings instead chose for themselves other lords. And inevitably, one comes to resemble that to which we give our devotion. If we give ourselves to God and the gracious love made flesh in Jesus Christ, we will come to resemble Christ… otherwise we begin to become bestial. (p. 38)
What do you think about that? Can you think of examples – personally or in the news – where serving another god leads to idolatry or even the bestial? Achtemeier offers these closing words:
Will anyone who reads contemporary newspapers or watches real news programming deny that our society – and world – shows signs of bestiality? Does that not reflect the idols to which we give our devotion? If in our desire to overcome a competitor in whatever area – whether as a business man or woman – we take as our model the rapacious drive of the beast of prey, sweeping all aside in our desire to overcome, is it any wonder that our society becomes bestial? If our goals are se
t with no final regard for the will of the true God as expressed and made flesh in Jesus Christ, is it any wonder that we become less than we as human beings made in God’s image out to be? Do we not in fact come to resemble the idols to which we devote our lives? (p. 39)In Paul’s day – and our own – sharing the gospel and spreading God’s grace is a mission of mercy, yes? And here’s the other insight for today: because without being grounded in God’s grace we will experience God’s wrath. And how did the old preacher talk about God’s wrath?
• Not as thunderbolts of punishment from heaven or hellfire and brimstone but… the absence of God.
• I’ve mentioned this to you before, too, but it also warrants a summer refresher course. When we give up living as those who follow God and start serving ourselves as if we were God, the Lord says: ok, have it your way.
That we are totally incapable of functioning as our own creator, and hence as our own Lord, does nothing to hinder us. Thus we show our incorrigible ignorance: substituting the darkness of our own desires for the Light of God as Lord of creation, we grope about, lashing out at all who hinder our desires… and this is why Paul is so urgent: the root of human suffering and malaise is the substitution of something other than God as the lord of our lives. (p.39)
It could be alcohol, it could be drugs; it could be sex, it could be greed; it coul
d be arrogance, it could be power; it could be war, it could be hatred. There is no question, you see, “of whether or not we are to have a lord over us. As creatures of the Creator, we have no choice in the matter. The only real question is who is lord?” What God do we serve? And does this lead us to hope and light or addiction, fear and darkness?I love the way St. Bob Dylan put it in one of his best ironic songs about sin called “Everything Is Broken.”
Broken bottles broken plates - Broken switches broken gates
Broken dishes broken parts - Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken: everything is broken.
I tell you, Dylan just NAILS the heart of sin – and then he keeps hammering home his point:
Every time you leave and go off someplace things fall to pieces in my face
Broken hands on broken ploughs - Broken treaties broken vows
Broken pipes broken tools - People bending broken rules
Houn
d dog howling bullfrog croaking: everything is brokenThat is the heart of Lent and the message of St. Paul on sin all wrapped up in a little self-deprecating humor coming in at less than three minutes! And BECAUSE everything is broken when we are enslaved to sin… Paul is impelled to show us God’s way out.
This, of course, brings us back to grace: we do not have to live addicted to idolatry nor do we have to live in the frightening and ugly absence of God’s wrath. Jesus was abrupt and to the point in this morning’s gospel text when his crew seemed almost willfully dim:
"First things first, man: Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God's kingdom… I’m not interested in wasting time or life so no procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day."
And that, dear people, is not only enough for this morning it is also the good news for today for those who have ears to hear.
credits: I found myself particularly taken with the artist C. Robin Janning at Gramercy Galleria this week.
1) Holes to Heaven @ http://popartmachine.com/blog/2009/08/page/8
2) The Good to Come @ http://godssecret.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/
3) Surrounding Heaven @ http://www.gramercygalleria.com/Art.htm
4) Compassion @ http://www.gramercygalleria.com/5) My Blue Moon @ http://www.gramercygalleria.com/
6) Measures and Means @ http://www.gramercygalleria.com/
7) Mothers of the World @ www.gramercygalleria.com
8) Green Moon @ www.gramercygalleria.com
2 comments:
It is written: A woman shall compass a man and create a new thing in the earth (Jer 31:22), the man is Satan(Isa 14:16), the new thing is now delivered to the world. There is no hell fire for any child of God. Satan has deceived the whole world (Rev 12:7), until the heel of time(Gen 3:15). Check out the bruising of Satan by his lies being exposed at http://thegoodtale.blogspot.com.
Is there a way to use one or more of these images to project at church in a public setting? Any chance they have a creative commons license? It would be for this weekend 7/16. Please contact me directly at dhartzheim [@] gmail [.] com. Thank you!
-Daniel
Post a Comment