The Spirit of Christian Community

Reading:  Romans 12:9-16
    
    The short, punchy sentences that comprise this section emphasize the spirit of their community.  “Let love be genuine.  Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Love one another with brotherly affection.  Outdo one another in showing honor”(Rom 12:9-10).  Christian community is full of sincere love and affection where we all seek one another’s good.  We are not fakers in our service to God or our love for each other.  We also have a passion for pursuing what is right and avoiding what is evil.  From this foundation comes a passion for the work of Jesus:  “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord”(Rom 12:11).  Christians are an enthusiastic, hard-working people.

    Christian community is mature and not easily swayed by difficult circumstances:  “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer…Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them”(Rom 12:12, 14).  There is a tight-knit bond that leads us to take care of one another (Rom 12:13), rejoice and weep with one another (Rom 12:15), and live in humble peace together (Rom 12:16).  All of this persists in the face of challenging circumstances (“tribulation” “those who persecute you”) and the personal slights that occur in any relationship (“live in harmony with one another”).  We do not always look, think, or act the same, but our hearts are together.  

    Christian communities are imperfect places.  None of them looks exactly like this ideal picture.  Yet as each disciple pursues this spirit toward his or her brothers, it grows.  Rather than lamenting what is not ideal in the Christian communities we observe, we should get busy changing ourselves and promoting the spirit of love, zeal, persistence, and peace in the places where we find ourselves.

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One Thing to Think About:  If the entire church had only my love, zeal, persistence, and peace, what would it be like?

One Thing to Pray For:   A renewed zeal to serve Jesus and my brothers
 

A Living Sacrifice

Reading:  Romans 12:1-8
    
    Paul transitions from his deep theology to more practical considerations here.  “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”(Rom 12:1).  Because God has shown such mercy to us in Jesus, we respond with devoted service.  Like an ancient worshiper bringing an animal to the altar, we present our bodies (see Rom 6:13, 16) to God as an ongoing sacrifice.  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect”(Rom 12:2).  As we remember our shameful past in sin, we reject the world and its ways and seek new ways of thinking and viewing the world.  Incapable of renewing our own minds, we allow God to daily refresh, rewire, and reshape our thoughts.  As we live this new perspective, we confirm that God’s way is “good and acceptable and perfect.” 

    Part of that renewal is humility.  “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned”(Rom 12:3).  Our sin and need for a savior remind us that we are not that great.  Instead, we acknowledge the gifts that we have “differ according to the grace given to us”(Rom 12:6).  None of us is a self-made man or woman.  None of us has precisely the same gifts as anyone else.  Rather than gloating or comparing, we use our gifts with gusto:  prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, contributing, leading, showing mercy.  By employing our talents to bless others and honor God, we offer up a living sacrifice to him.

    The animals Jewish worshipers offered to God were killed; Paul urges us to devote our bodies to God as a “living sacrifice.”  Every dimension of our lives—thinking, attitudes, words, relationships, behaviors, gifts—we devote to God.  Everything reflects our allegiance to him.  This is the only appropriate response to “the mercies of God.”

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One Thing to Think About:  How will I use my body to serve God today?

One Thing to Pray For:   Awareness of my gifts and a heart to use them for others
 

The Genius of God

Reading:  Romans 11:25-36
    
    Here Paul summarizes his teaching about the current state of Israel, his hopes for the future, and the God who has made all of this possible.  “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers:  a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.  And in this way all Israel will be saved”(Rom 11:25-26).  Since many Jews have rejected the gospel, Paul and others have gone to the Gentiles, who have been grafted into the “olive tree” of God’s people (Rom 11:17-24).  “In this way all Israel will be saved” does not mean that Paul anticipates God throwing out his message and simply saving unbelieving Jews.  God will fulfill his promises to save Israel, but it will happen in this way:  as a group of spiritual Israelites, people who believe in his Son, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles.  Paul simply hopes that as more Gentiles come to faith, Jews will be moved to jealousy and join them.  His stubborn hope for them is not merely personal, but is because “they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers” and because “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable”(Rom 11:28, 29).  God still loves and will accept them.

    Paul sees a final irony here:  that Jews and Gentiles seem to have switched places from disobedient to receiving mercy (Rom 11:30-31).  “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all”(Rom 11:32).  Now all people are united by their experience in sin and need for the mercy of God.  Paul steps back from these considerations and marvels:  “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”(Rom 11:33).  God cannot be predicted or put in a box; he will keep his word yet continually surprise us.  God is genius.

    For centuries the Jewish people anticipated the coming of Messiah, who would deliver Israel.  Paul argues that Messiah has come and has begun that deliverance through death, resurrection, and spiritual rebirth.  Israel’s deliverance has also included the participation of non-Jews who have submitted to Messiah’s reign.  It is no surprise that many were caught flat-footed by this transition.  God’s genius humbles us.  We should not expect to always grasp his goals and plans, yet we can trust that he has a plan that is always for our good.

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One Thing to Think About:  Am I amazed at the brilliance of God?

One Thing to Pray For:   Gratitude that God has revealed his mind to us
 

God’s Olive Tree

Reading:  Romans 11:17-24
    
    Paul now turns his attention back to the Gentiles.  “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches”(Rom 11:17-18).  He pictures God’s people as an olive tree, each branch connected to the root of the tree.  Some of the Jews have been broken off (by rejecting Jesus) and now the Gentiles have been grafted in in their place.  Paul warns them against arrogance based on their newfound position of grace and glory.  “Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’  That is true.  They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith.  So do not become proud, but fear.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you”(Rom 11:19-21).  Gentiles have attained a place of blessing due to God’s grace.  The danger is that this grace will breed complacency and pride; Paul encourages fear instead.  

    Paul’s picture teaches us about the nature of God:  “Note then the goodness and the severity of God:  severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness.  Otherwise you too will be cut off”(Rom 11:22).  The story of salvation reminds us that God is good but also just and severe.  This means we can both trust him and fear him.  Paul also looks forward to the possibility that more Jews will rejoin fellowship with God:  “For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree”(Rom 11:24).  If God made Gentiles to fit among his people, how much more naturally will his own people fit?

    The image of the olive tree is fitting.  Like branches, we only survive as we have a connection to the roots, the source of life.  Faith—ongoing trust and commitment to service—is what keeps us connected to God.  When we begin to think that we are sufficient on our own or better than others, our connection to God is threatened.  

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One Thing to Think About:  Am I thankful that I can be a part of God’s people?

One Thing to Pray For:   Humility and gratitude in light of the grace I have received
 

Producing Holy Jealousy

Reading:  Romans 11:7-16
    
    Paul starts to draw some conclusions here about the Jewish situation.  “What then?  Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking.  The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day’”(Rom 11:7-8).  Israel has by and large rejected the gospel because they were seeking righteousness by works (Rom 9:32), so God has hardened them (Rom 9:18, 11:7-8) and caused them to stumble (Rom 11:9).  Yet Paul is extremely optimistic that this is not the end of the story for Israel and the gospel.

    He contends that God has allowed this all to happen to induce jealousy in Israel (see Rom 10:19).  “So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall?  By no means!  Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous”(Rom 11:11).  The name of their God is on the lips of Gentiles.  His word is being taught and lived.  People are changing their lives to follow Yahweh.  Yet they are not a part of it.  This produces jealousy in them—a passionate desire to return to God’s favor.  Paul even talks up his own preaching work to stir up jealousy:  “Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them”(Rom 11:13-14).  This hardening is not permanent or irresistible (Paul hopes to save them, v. 14) and he dreams of a future “full inclusion”(Rom 11:12) and “life from the dead”(Rom 11:15) for both Jew and Gentile.  Paul has faith that God is not done with his people.  

    Paul has an inspiring vision of God and his power.  Despite all the slights he has experienced at the hands of his countrymen, he longs for them to come to faith in Jesus.  He is confident that God can even use the current unpleasant situation to bring about something even greater.  Jealousy is a way to describe a holy passion to be a part of God’s plan and working.  God is capable of using anything that excites that passion within us to draw us closer to him.

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One Thing to Think About:  Would people be jealous of my relationship with God?  Why or why not?

One Thing to Pray For:   More people to come into a right relationship with God