We’re continuing a series through Paul’s letter to the Romans. “By Grace Through Faith” is my ongoing title, as it summarizes, not only the book of Romans, but really the message of the whole Bible. It’s always been about God’s grace, from Genesis to Revelation and everything in between.
One of the most pressing concerns in the first century church was the simple but profound question: “What about the Jews?” Had God given up on them? This was a very personal issue for the writer of Romans, the apostle Paul. These were “his people.” His family, friends, loved ones, his heritage. “What about the Jews?”
So today you’ll get a brief overview of Romans 9-11, which can be summarized into three sections: Grace, not Race; Power Goes Sour; and Shoots, not Roots. We’re going to begin with today’s gospel reading for the Sunday after Easter, though, so open your Bibles to John 20:19-31, and we’ll dive in.
John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
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By Grace Through Faith (Romans 9-11)
Introduction
Hello, welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org. This podcast is being recorded for Sunday, April 16, 2023. We’re continuing a series through Paul’s letter to the Romans. “By Grace Through Faith” is my ongoing title, as it summarizes, not only the book of Romans, but really the message of the whole Bible. It’s always been about God’s grace, from Genesis to Revelation and everything in between.
One of the most pressing concerns in the first century church was the simple but profound question: “What about the Jews?” Had God given up on them? This was a very personal issue for the writer of Romans, the apostle Paul. These were “his people.” His family, friends, loved ones, his heritage. “What about the Jews?”
So today you’ll get a brief overview of Romans 9-11, which can be summarized into three sections: Grace, not Race; Power Goes Sour; and Shoots, not Roots. We’re going to begin with today’s gospel reading for the Sunday after Easter, though, so open your Bibles to John 20:19-31, and we’ll dive in.
John 20:19-31
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Peace be with you
“Peace be with you!” Jesus says this three times in just a few verses. That is still an important word to receive today. Dear listener: peace be with YOU. Maybe you are super busy, or stressed out, or depressed, at the end of your rope. School is overwhelming. Too many health issues to even name. And that doesn’t even take into account what gets shown on the news—people getting shot for knocking on the wrong door or pulling into the wrong driveway. Here in Shelton on Saturday night, we had police officers parked in our front yard, wielding flashlight looking for a shooting suspect. Uff-da!
Peace be with you, Jesus says. And as the Father has sent me, now I send you. In other words, Jesus now says you and me—we’re all sent to preach God’s word—promise, invitation, hope—“Peace be with you.” (And also with you).
The chapter ends with a sort of summary statement, that this and “all these things” were written down and passed along, from one preacher to the next, so that you and I, even today, 2000 years later, might believe that Jesus is who Jesus says he is, and thereby have life in his name. So we read the story. We tell the story. Peace be with you.
Romans 9:1-5
And the book of Romans is part of that story. All this spring we’ve been studying, digging into this letter from the apostle Paul, to the people at a church hundreds of miles away, in Rome.
Back in chapter 8, Paul proclaims the real good news about Easter: no one, no thing can separate us from the love of God. Not sin, not suffering, and not even death. Hallelujah! But before he can move on to the next section, he realizes there is one more suspect out there: what about religion? Can a religion separate us from God’s promise? What about the Jews? As I said, the apostle is invested in the question, because he himself is Jewish. He loves his people, his culture, and his heritage. You can hear the love and longing in his heart in Romans 9:1-5.
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
Grace, Not Race
Through the rest of this chapter Paul wrestles with the question about the Jews. Being Jewish was never about genes or genealogy, he argues. It has always been about God’s grace and mercy. Grace, not race. God chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and that ragtag group of slaves in Egypt because of God’s mercy. The Ten Commandments start with God’s promise: “I am YHWH, your God, and you will have no other gods but me.” In Romans 9:15-16, Paul quotes the book of Exodus, with God declaring that “I will have mercy on those on whom I have mercy.” The people of God are and have always been the people of the promise. “It does not depend on human desire or effort,” he concludes, “but on God’s mercy.”
In Romans 10, Paul says that Israel didn’t lack zeal for God, they just got sidetracked. Israel got stuck on things like preserving their culture and keeping the law, instead of living according to God’s promise and mercy. It was always supposed to be grace, not race or obedience or purity. It was never about doing it right. It was about shining the light.
Israel had been set aside to be a light and a blessing to the world, to all the nations, because God is God of the whole world, not Jew OR Gentile. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, Paul says in Romans 10:12-13. No insiders. No outsiders. “The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him… and everyone who call on the name of YHWH will be saved.”
And for Paul, the primary duty of God’s chosen people is to preach it.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? He asks in verse 14. And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”(Romans 10:14-15).
The promise of God is meant to be preached. After all, a promise can only be trusted if it is heard. It can only be heard if somebody preaches it. And a preacher can only speak for God if she or he is sent by God. Faith comes from hearing the message, Paul says. And the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).
Power Goes Sour
It’s about God’s grace, not race, and that gets us through chapters 9 and 10. Now we get to chapter 11, and Paul has has two more points. The second part of Paul’s argument, Romans 11:1-10, is that “Power Gets Sour.” Paul’s reasoning is this: Power goes sour. Humans are always corrupted and distracted by power. So God had chosen Israel precisely because it was small, powerless, and insignificant. A remnant of a remnant. Paul recalls Elijah lamenting that he was alone, that no one else in Israel trusted God and God’s faithfulness. God tells Elijah that there are still 7000 in Israel who called upon God’s name. Faith is like that, Paul reasons. God shows up among the underdogs, the ne’er do wells, and out past the edges.
Paul could have referenced the story in the book of Judges (chapter 7) about a hero named Gideon. God promised Gideon to give his army the victory over Israel’s enemies. So, Gideon mustered up a few thousand foot soldiers, and God told him to send most of them home. And with an army of 300, God gave Gideon the victory. God knows that if the army is powerful, then the army will get or take the credit, instead of giving the credit to God. Power goes sour, always has, always will.
And that is why the church of Christ will always be a remnant, small, impotent, and nothing much to look at. “We have this treasure in jars of clay,” Paul writes elsewhere, “to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Romans 11:5-6 says it this way: “So too there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works (or merit or virtue or good looks), for if it were [based on works, then] grace would no longer be grace.”
God meets us in weakness, not strength. Like the cross. Like in suffering or shame or mortality. God’s power is made perfect in weakness, Paul says to the church at Corinth, so that, when I am weak, then I am strong. No, Paul says, we shouldn’t be surprised that our numbers are small. Power, after all, always goes sour.
Roots and Shoots
And finally, Paul imagines the kingdom of God as a tree or vine. God is the Root. You and me? We are shoots. In John 15, Jesus describes himself as the true vine. “I am the vine, you are the branches,” he says. “If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” God is the root. I am a shoot. The church is a shoot, not the root. That means, Paul argues, when the Gentiles are being grafted into the vine, they aren’t replacing the Jewish folks. We’re all shoots. There is plenty of room in the tree of life. And who gets grafted on is the Farmer’s department, not ours.
In fact, Paul hopes that God is playing the long game here: Paul imagines that maybe the sight of Gentile believers growing and thriving by the grace and kindness of God will ultimately inspire his Jewish sisters and brothers to receive and trust the promise of the faithfulness of God that was theirs in the beginning, and thus be re-grafted into the True Vine, the Tree of Life, the kingdom of God.
Sin, suffering, mortality, even religion: there is no effective difference between Jew and Gentile. “God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that God may have mercy on [us] all.” Not even religion can thwart or hinder the grace of God.
Romans 11:33-36
Does that make sense? Maybe, maybe not. Paul gives it his best shot though, then ends his case with a shrug of the shoulders, and gives it all over to the mystery of God:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?”
36 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
Takeaways
1. Grace, not race. Somebody first told you and me the story of Easter, the risen Lord Jesus, so that we might believe and have life in God’s name. As the Father sent Jesus, as Jesus sent that preacher or Sunday School teacher or grandma or camp counselor to you, now Jesus sends you and me to be preachers. Tell the story. Share the peace of Christ. And declare the forgiveness of sins. When Jesus talks about forgiving and retaining sins, he mostly means that a person can’t receive forgiveness unless someone forgives them. Peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven in the name of Jesus. You don’t have to have a podcast to be a faithful preacher. It’s all grace, not based on gender or race or anything else. The world is dying to hear this good news. So we gotta preach it.
2. We’re shoots, not roots. That means it is above our pay grade to try to determine who is welcome in God’s house, and who isn’t. No litmus tests. As people of Faith, we strive to treat each and every person with the same kindness and mercy that God has shown us. It is by grace that any of us is saved, through faith, apart from works of the law, so that no one can boast.
3. Think manure. Someone once described Christians as manure. Pile a bunch of us all in one place and we raise a stink. Spread us out in the field, and we do some good. Power goes sour, right? So let’s spend less time trying to figure out how we can acquire more power and influence and big crowds of people, and more time following Jesus into the world, spreading, preaching the good news: peace be with you. Your sins are forgiven. Christ is risen, he is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Conclusion
Thanks for listening today. I hope this podcast series is helping you fall more deeply in love with the God who created you, who loves you, and has a purpose for your life. To learn more about Faith, go to our website, www.faithshelton.org. Please “like” us, subscribe, donate, or sign-up for our newsletter. You can subscribe to this podcast on most podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple, and Google. Chas, thanks for your production work on this podcast every week. All glory…