Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
4:1 What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor
according to the flesh?
4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before
God.
4:3 For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to
him as righteousness."
4:4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.
4:5 But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is
reckoned as
righteousness.
4:13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his
descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
4:14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the
promise is void.
4:15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
4:16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and
be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to
those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,
4:17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") --in the
presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into
existence the things that do not exist.
I've been working on a paper for my undergrad degree on John Wesley--as I look at this
passage from Romans--I can't help but get caught up in the age old struggle over faith and
works. Wesley emphasized the justification that comes through faith, but he also did not
negate the importance of works. How can we preach this passage without also
thinking of
James chapter 2? Clearly its is faith that saves us--but we must accept that grace of God
to be saved (acceptance--a WORK?) What does anyone else think? This doesn't seem to be a
popular text for this week, but it does stress the theme of faith--which is the theme for
this week's lectionary passage for this week D.D in N. Ala.
D.D. in N. Ala
A new friend just gave me a copy of Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, saying it changed his life. It IS powerful! p. 73: Repentance is not what we do to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven.
How quickly we clergy types and other religious people get into religious legalism, phariseeism, whether from the right or the left. We forget that God's grace is absolutely free. Yes, we must believe it before we can receive it. But if we have a hard time believing it, we can even ask God for that!
Be blessed!
Anne in Providence
It is such a powerful realization to discover that nothing I can do can earn me God's approval and love. That truth breaks down my defenses, frees me to live less judgementally (I'm far from able to be non-judgemental. Faith - the great risk of thanking and loving and following - lets me see and receive the gift of God's love. It is the work and will of God - revealed by Jesus, the Christ - to accept us and call us to respond by keeping the new covenant written in our hearts, to live as new creations, in a new land - the kingdom of God. Jim in CT.
A poet once wrote, “Oh Lord, you hammer on my tin soul... .” How is it we
become righteous? In faith? Yes, but what about doubt? Isn't doubt part of
faith? Doesn't doubt bring us to reconcile the people we are with the people God
calls us to be? Doesn't this passage tempt us to proffer cheap grace? Shouldn't
we struggle with our "righteousness, " and remain humbled by our human/fallen
potentials? "Oh, God you hammer on my tin soul." While I certainly appreciate
Isaiah’s potter and clay image, I also understand the perspective of the poet.
Sometimes I certainly feel less pliable than clay.
Sometimes I feel like a piece of cold, stiff tin. A potter’s hand will not
do. “Oh Lord, you hammer on my tin soul.” I was thinking just the other day
about some of the things I’ve done. I don’t mean things I’ve accomplished. I
mean, things I have done, done to others, done to myself. I recall David’s
Psalm, 51, and his declaration, “My sin is ever before me.” Now, I am quite
aware and trusting of God’s Grace to forgive my sin, but does God’s forgiveness
mean we simply dismiss our sin? I don’t think it’s that easy. I think simple
dismissal is cheap grace and illusion.
Cheap grace devalues the sacrifice of Christ. Illusion prevents us from
seeing the true depth of our constant need. As a sophomore in high school I once
hung my head out the window of my friend’s truck and shouted a cruel name at a
handicapped girl in our school as we left the school parking lot. It was a
vicious and unconscionable thing to do, but I did it–on a whim, for no really
good reason that I can think of. It was simple impulse. Now, I could pass it off
as youthful ignorance, over-exuberance, and/or plain stupidity, but the fact
remains that I did it, and here 30 years later that five-second indiscretion
still haunts me, hurts me, because once committed, I could not un-commit it.
It’s still before me because I am human, full of free will and ever-capable of
doing evil.
I was born this way–I know I have the potential inside me to hurt others, to
put myself first, and it is only by the Grace and presence of Christ in my life
that I don’t do it more often than I already do. “Oh Lord, you hammer on my tin
soul.” I believe we should struggle with the implications of our actions.
Although we are forgiven; forgetting should take longer.
Even forgiven sins teach us lessons, and remind us of our potential to do
evil apart from Christ. The Lenten season is a time for us to ponder God’s
amazing Grace, to ponder our distance from our Savior, and to ponder our own
potentials–good and evil. Perhaps too, to ponder our concept of grace and see if
the value we give it is just a little too cheap. After all, “GOD gave his only
begotten son.” Such a precious price he paid for us.
Grace and Peace,
Rev. D.
