As some previous entries, this post is more notes and commentary than sermon – I referred to these notes as I preached, but the final format was much different.

This week, we’re going to cover a little more ground than we have been so far.  At this point, Paul gets into a discussion that certainly has theological value, but is aimed more for his audience in the Roman church.

He gets into a discussion about the place of the Jews in God’s plan.  And he talks about it for three chapters.  This was a difficult topic for the Christians of the early church – they KNEW that their religion had sprung from Judaism.  Jesus himself was a faithful Jew!  And because of this, they knew the history of the promise that God had made to the Jewish people almost as long as they had existed – that he would be their God and they would be his people.

And yet the Jews had rejected Jesus, and had been his primary adversaries during Jesus’ ministry.  So what was the relationship of the Jews in this new “Kingdom of God?”

Let me briefly sum up what I think Paul’s saying about the Jewish people and how it relates to us:

• 9:1-13 – God established a holy nation, but with Abraham he took that nation beyond just flesh and blood – so that all those who chose to believe God’s promises became part of God’s people – including you and me. This means that some of the descendants of Abraham can be excluded from the Kingdom, even though they are flesh-and-blood descendants of the promise.
• 9:14-33 – Knowing some of his hearers were Jewish, Paul reminds them that God is sovereign and can do things in any way he pleases – it’s not up to us to question his actions or motives. We cannot say that God is unfair, because we do not know what God is up to.
• 10:1-21 – Still, we should desire (as Paul does) that they can be saved. When God offered salvation through Jesus, he didn’t say it was only to people who weren’t Jews – even the Jews can believe in Jesus and be saved. So WE CAN NOT TREAT THEM ANY DIFFERENTLY.
• 11:1-10 – God has not rejected his people, so we should not reject them.
• 11:11-24 – Far from treating them with disdain, we should treat them with utmost respect because they are the “root” from which our faith springs!
• 11:25-36 – Then, almost as if to undo what he has said before, Paul says that in some mysterious way “all Israel will be saved” because of God’s plan! He ends with a exclamation of the great mystery of God – we do not (and CAN NOT) understand… and for that, we should give thanks.

The long and short?  Paul says, “I know you’re asking about the Jews and what will happen to them.  I can only speak to what God has revealed to me.  But in the end, I don’t know any more than you do!”

Yet, as much as the logic of these chapters seems to contradict itself, there are some very familiar passages that we should make note of this morning.

Stepping Out of Theology

The passages we know so well from these chapters shows us a very different side of Paul.  Paul is authoritative and confident, to be sure.  He has studied, he is very intelligent, and he knows that people are counting on him to explain God’s word.

And yet, his emotions get the best of him here – see how he speaks of his people in these verses:

9:1-5 – I speak the truth in Christ-I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit- 2I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!^[a] Amen.

Here, Paul reveals his feelings about his Jewish people – he loves them so much, he would even offer himself that they might be saved!

But he goes on:

10:1-17 –  1Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

5Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: “The man who does these things will live by them.”^[a] 6But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’^[b]” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7″or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’^[c]” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”^[d] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”^[e] 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[f]

14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”^[g]

16But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?”^[h] 17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

I’m not so sure that anti-Semitism is much of a problem here in Kenbridge – maybe I’m wrong.  But what’s more striking to me in these passages is Paul’s passion for these Jewish people.

• Among these are people that hated Jesus enough to crucify him.
• Many of these people rejected God outright for centuries
• Who promised to love him, and then stabbed him in the back time and time again. Then they came crawling back asking forgiveness!
• These are the people who saw what God could do with their own eyes – they watched him send plagues, part the sea, feed them in the wilderness, take them into the promised land to defeat enemies greater than themselves. God raised up a nation, rescued them time and time again. They watched Jesus do miracles of all kinds. And STILL they rejected him!

But Paul doesn’t reject them.  He LOVES them.  In fact, he loves them so much he’s willing to sacrifice himself for them in the most awful kind of way.  Paul’s not talking about death – when he says he wishes he could be “cut off,” he’s wishing he could be damned instead of them!

And Paul tells us why:  Because we are all the same.  If we expect God to reject the Jews because of their stubbornness, then we’ll have to expect God to reject US too.  Because we’ve done just the same thing.

• WE are the people just as responsible for Jesus’ crucifixion as the ones who drove the nails.
• WE have rejected God outright for al our lives.
• WE have promised to love him, and then stabbed him in the back time and time again, only to came crawling back asking forgiveness!
• WE are the ones who have watched God do all kinds of miraculous things in our lives, and still we don’t trust him to take care of our basic needs.

Do we have this kind of love for people?  Do we love our neighbors enough to give any price that they might be saved?  And all we’re really asked to do is to TELL them!

People of God, if we believe the hope we talked about last week, we have something to do about it.  We have to tell – everyone.  Not just the people we love… the people we tend to dislike as well.  That means people of other races, drug and alcohol addicts, prisoners, sex offenders… even people who don’t share our political or religious views!

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