In the name of God ☩ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
In today’s passage from Romans, St. Paul writes to a fractured Christian community. There were fights about the proper style of worship and who was right about issues of faith. People were casting judgment upon one another, calling each other names, threatening to leave their congregations or kick others out of the congregation. They quarreled over little things that didn’t matter so much while ignoring the more important issues like unity, taking care of the needy, and being humble. And I’m just so thankful that in the 2,000 years since then, that we’ve figured out how to live together in harmony and concord. Isn’t it so wonderful that Christians all get along with each other, that no one in the church is ever passive-aggressive, that forgiveness and forbearance is a hallmark virtue of all Christians, and that we never judge each other?
I get that some people have a different philosophical worldview and find some of the claims of the Bible to be difficult to grasp, but I really don’t understand the people who say “The Bible is such an old book, it no longer speaks to our modern world.” Maybe those people live in a different world than I do because I find Paul’s words here in Romans to be as prescient and relative today as they were centuries ago. We’ve certainly come a long way in 2,000 years: we have people living on a space station in orbit, we’ve cured hundreds of diseases, and the internet enables us to share information instantly. But we still struggle with showing mercy, with being humble, with being deferential to those with whom we disagree. So much for progress.
This is the final Sunday in our journey through the book of Romans. The lectionary has given us fourteen weeks of readings from Romans. During Paul’s time, it’s not as if there were different congregations in Rome in the sense that we think of it today. Rather, there were various house churches scattered throughout the city – and each house church had different leaders, different styles, different concerns. And there were quarrels among these different house churches. Paul’s major concern in writing this letter is to stress the importance of Christian unity, despite the fact that they were members of different house churches.
Some of these house churches included very prominent and wealthy members of Roman society while others had more of what we would call the “working class” as members. Not surprisingly, those with prominence in society brought a sense of entitlement to their faith. And those without as many financial resources were a bit jealous of those house churches that had more money – and they judged them for not being as generous as they thought was required of a person of faith. There was plenty of blame and criticism to go around, and the end result was that the message of the Gospel was being weakened on account of all of this dissension.
The reason why some scholars call Romans Paul’s most theological letter is because he painstakingly lays out his case for Christian unity. Paul doesn’t see the Gospel as a plan for better living. The Gospel isn’t about social justice, it’s not about making the Empire great, it’s not about having your best life now, it’s not about finding a purpose driven life. No, for Paul the Gospel is about one thing: the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And for Paul, this event is not just something that happened in history, but it is something that actually changed history. Paul, and really all of the Bible, sees there being two eras of history. There is the age before Christ, an age where all of Creation was captive to the Powers of Sin and Death. And then there is the age of the Messiah, sometimes called the “Kingdom of God,” which began with Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection. And in this current age, though we still feel the effects of Sin and Death, they have lost their power to rule over us. The war is over, but there are still skirmishes as the peace of God has already come, but is not yet fully here.
But for Paul, salvation, because it has already been accomplished by Jesus, is not something that happens only after death or at the end of time. Instead, the salvation of God is present and active here and now. Living in the Kingdom of God is a viable option today, just as it was when Paul wrote this letter to Roman Christians.
So, Paul writes, “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” In this statement, there is a radical sense of equality. There really are only two certainties in life – we are born and we will die. And in both of these certainties, Christ is present; and in both, we find our being is rooted in God.
We were all captive to Sin and Death, and Jesus saved us all. Earlier in Romans, Paul put it this way: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” We are all the ungodly. None of us deserved our salvation, just as Israel did not deserve to be made God’s chosen people. But just as God chose Israel to be the instrument of salvation for the whole world and was faithful to that promise, so too has God chosen to save all people from the dominion of Sin and Death and is faithful to that promise in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.
Paul writes to make sure that Christians know that Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection have given us a passport of sorts. Though we still live in this world, we have been given citizenship in the Kingdom of God. And we can participate in the peace, mercy, and love of God’s Kingdom now. Though, it’s important to remember that what God gives to us isn’t something we have to accept. Our salvation comes not because we accept God, but because God has accepted us. So faith isn’t about thinking the right things, or doing the right things, or saying the right things. Just as an American, simply by virtue of their birth, is an American, so too, by virtue of God’s saving act in Jesus are we given salvation. So Paul doesn’t write to tell us about how to accept our salvation, rather he writes to show us what is possible through our salvation. He’s telling us that we have the opportunity to take full advantage of our citizenship in God’s Kingdom.
But having dual-citizenship is hard. It means we have to deal with competing values, competing priorities, competing allegiances. In human societies, whether it’s Rome or America, wealth, prestige, and status are things that we chase after. In God’s Kingdom what matters most is humility and being with the least, the lost, and the last. In Rome, people struggled with having a foot in two worlds, and we know this struggle as well.
The place where this struggle is manifest is in dealing with each other. There’s some truth in that old prayer – O Lord, I’ve been nice to everyone I’ve seen today, I haven’t interrupted anyone, haven’t judged anyone, haven’t harmed anyone. But in just a minute, I’m going to get out of bed and I’m going to need some help.” We’re all going through life – and life isn’t easy. Things never always go our way, we don’t get to make the rules, and it seems as if we are rarely given the benefit of the doubt. And so because we’re anxious about something at work, we snap at our spouse. Or because we’re nervous about being judged, we stay silent when we have a good idea.
A little mercy can go a long way. This is what Paul means when he says “Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. So then, each of us will be accountable to God.” We have all received forgiveness. We were all dead in Sin. We were all saved by the love of God. If God has accepted us, then who are we to reject each other? If God has judged us all as being worthy of God’s love, then who are we to judge each other more harshly than that?
And if Paul’s not enough, then consider what Jesus said today in Matthew: Forgive not seven times, but seventy-seven times. The world says, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” But the Gospel says “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Do any of us want to be like the wicked slave who was shown mercy but was not merciful to others in Jesus’ parable?
It’s a question of our outlook. Do we look for reasons to grow deeper in our relationship with God and others, or do we look for reasons to leave? Do we look for reasons to be understanding, or for reasons to be offended? Do we look for opportunities to be generous, or for reasons to be tightfisted? Do we look for chances to be forgiving, or do we look for reasons to be judgmental? Do we look for ways to love, or for excuses to hate? Do we strive to seek ye first the Kingdom of God, or do we lapse into living for ourselves?
Through the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, God ushered us into the realm of God’s peace, mercy, and love. Whether we live or whether we die, this salvation is ours and God’s desire is for all of us to thrive in this abundant life. Because God has taken care of our salvation, because God’s love is what gives us our worth, we don’t have to worry about becoming our own saviors. Instead, we are freed to live in the love of God in unity with each other.
Through the sixteen chapters of Romans, this is what St. Paul has set out to convey. I’ve really enjoyed diving deeper into Romans than I ever had before through these past fourteen weeks, and I hope and pray that you have as well. Go ahead and read a chapter of Romans each day for the next two weeks and let this message of hope and mercy wash over you. And as you do, you might think of people that you ought to work towards forgiving, you might think of situations for which you should seek forgiveness, you might pray for God’s Spirit to help you to be more merciful, more compassionate, more understanding, more humble.
As Paul is concluding the letter in chapter 15, he summarizes this all, and using Paul’s words is a great way for us to close this journey through Romans. “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen.
