“The Sacraments – Communion”

Scripture: Matthew 26: 17-30

Last week, we began to look at the power, as well as the significance, of Christian Sacraments. The depth of these celebrations will always be an unknown to us, even while Christ calls us to celebrate them. But we have to know that in receiving each of them, we are taking a vow of faith and making a promise of loyalty, which, incidentally, is the basic meaning behind the Latin word “sacramentum”.
Last week, we saw that the central theme behind baptism is the development of a relationship between us and God. The word “communion” has a similar connotation. It’s about examining our intimate relationship with Christ, confessing our unity in spirit with him, expressing and celebrating our common sense of faith – it’s about coming together as one in the Body of Christ to rejoice in our life with our Living God. It’s about experiencing the power, as well as the grace of God in our lives. It’s about celebrating all that he has done for us through his love, his teaching, his suffering, his death and his life in resurrection.
Today, we look at communion through the eyes of both Matthew’s gospel, as well as the others, and a United Methodist document titled “This Holy Mystery” (Adopted by the 2004 General Conference, GBOD, Nashville, TN, copyright 2003, 2004)

Read Matthew 26:17-19

Many phrases have been used to describe this sacrament – it’s been called The Lord’s Supper, the Last Supper, Holy Communion, Eucharist, and several others, with each one describing a unique aspect of this Holy Meal. We must also remember, as Matthew reminds us, that this was originally celebrated within the context of the Jewish Passover. Passover, as we know, is an event ordained by God, as a remembrance to Israel of all that he was able to do to bring about their freedom from slavery, and that his promise of a new and wonderful home was still theirs.
And in communion, this is our remembrance, too. The term “The Lord’s Supper” tells us that we have been invited by our Lord to participate in this holy feast. “Eucharist”, which means thanksgiving, reminds us that we come to the Lord’s Table, not out of obligation, but out of overwhelming gratitude. The term “Communion” tells us that we come, not as servants, but in a true and powerful relationship with Almighty God by faith in Jesus Christ, and that we focus our lives on the giving of himself, making this an occasion of grace and holiness.

We celebrate Communion remembering all that God in Christ has brought to us, the power and significance of his life, his death and resurrection, and the promise that, in Christ, there is freedom from the consequences of human death and his promise that the Eternal Home of heaven is still ours.

John Wesley once described the Lord’s Supper as “the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God.” (“Sermon on the Mount” – Discourse Six, III.11) Wesley was known to personally celebrate communion as often as he could, sometimes as many as four or five times a week. For both of the Wesley’s, communion was not only a celebration of life, it was their expression of life in faith itself.

Read Matthew 26:20-25

Betrayal. Have you ever known someone who refused to receive communion because they felt that they were unworthy? My response to that is a resounding “WRONG!” And that should be yours, too! Think about it – who were the people attending that Passover with Jesus? All twelve of his followers, and maybe even more than that. That included Judas who was about to betray him. It included Peter who, in a very few hours, would loudly proclaim that he had never known Jesus. And the others? As soon as Jesus was arrested, all but one would take to hiding, not even having the courage to be with the Lord at his crucifixion.
And as for Judas, the account recorded in Matthew’s gospel, as well as in Mark (14:12-26) and Luke (22:7-38) never even mention Judas’, or anyone for that matter, leaving the table. Luke 22:20 says that Judas actually was still present when the cup was offered, and in John’s gospel (13:21-30), Jesus simply tells Judas to do what he must do quickly. But Judas doesn’t leave until after he receives the broken bread, and everyone else stays with Jesus until the arrest.
Jesus never tells Judas, or any of the others , to leave their company, that they were unworthy to continue to be part of him - and only John’s account of the Lord’s Supper even reveals that Judas did leave. Jesus had announced to the entire assembly that the betrayer was among them, and that Peter would deny him (Mark 14:29-31), and that they rest would abandon him (Mark 14:27-28) and he never sent them away. Did you hear this?

JESUS HAD ANNOUNCED TO THE ENTIRE ASSEMBLY (and that includes us!) THAT THE BETRAYER, THE DENIER, AND THE ABANDONERS WERE AS WELCOME AT THIS HOLY MEAL AS ANYONE ELSE! And who are these? Who are the unworthy ones? It is all of humanity. Do you understand that? It is all of us.
But what if someone was actually worthy enough to receive communion? The question would have to be “Why should they?” Would there be any reason that they needed to receive? Think about that. Communion is for the unworthy!

And John’s account of that night even focuses on many things that the other gospels don’t – primarily the washing of the disciples’ feet – ALL of them! And so are we.

This is why the United Methodist communion table is open to all who believe. (I believe that Judas had faith in Jesus - he just didn’t know what to do about it!) We turn no one away who would seek a new relationship with Christ. If all sinners were to be turned away, who would be left? And just in case you still aren’t sure of the answer, NO ONE would be able to approach this table.

Read Matthew 26:26-30

This is an addition to the Passover, and must have been very confusing to those in attendance. The Passover ritual hadn’t changed in a thousand years, and now Jesus was throwing all of these new and strange words into the meal. The unleavened bread was about Israel’s hurry to prepare to leave Egypt, not about consuming human flesh. The cup, presumably the third cup of the meal (Luke 22:20) was the Cup of Redemption, - it was about Christ’s sacrifice, not ours, and not some animal. But through it all, Jesus was making this age old tradition into something new.

“Take and eat; this is my body.” Again, this is not about eating human flesh – it is about spiritual nourishment coming to us from the Lord. Jesus wants us to receive him completely – without hesitation, without concern, without objection, but wholly in faith and trust and expectation of what he brings to our lives.
“This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The cup is about creating a relationship through the forgiving of our sin and the cleansing of our lives. I once read a story told by Rabbi Zola Levitt about the Jewish Covenant Cup. It was used as an integral part of a man’s proposal of marriage to his beloved.
He [the young man] would take his family’s Covenant Cup, fill it with wine, and place it before the young woman with these words: “I set my Covenant Cup before you, it is my blood. Take and drink this cup, and seal this covenant to be mine.”
The young woman then had two choices: take the cup and drink, thus sealing the covenant with the young man, or refuse the cup and wait for another groom.
—Beth Quick, “Commitment,” http://bethquick.com. Retrieved August 20, 2006.

Communion is about accepting a relationship that is unlike any other. It is a relationship that is so dear to Almighty God that if it was ever damaged in any way and to any degree, he would become the sacrifice – the only sacrifice – that could make it right again.

And the fourth cup of the Passover is Elijah’s Cup, or the Cup of Heaven - the one that Jesus said he would not drink until we can all be together in the Kingdom. In other words, Passover for Israel, and Communion for the Church, will not be completed until the day when Jesus returns to finish freeing his people from their slavery to sin and death.

Communion is about thanksgiving, and remembrance, and sacrifice, and the working of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of the Better Day that is coming. And it is about a proposal for a relationship that is so unique, that once it is accepted, it can never be taken away.
Take and eat;
take and drink;
and be new again.

“The Sacraments – Baptism”

Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12

For the next two weeks, we will be considering the significance of the two church rites, Baptism and Holy Communion, that United Methodism calls sacraments. Our Discipline tells us that a sacrament is “a visible sign or ceremony [that is] ordained of God.” And further, that “The sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about; but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same, they have a wholesome effect or operation;” (Article XVI of the Articles of Religion, Para. 104, 2012 Book of Discipline, pg 67)
The sacraments aren’t just something that we participate in because we think we should, or because others expect us to – they are acts that Jesus experienced, and then told us to do the same. They aren’t magical in nature, they aren’t intended to surprise us, and they should never be received in a light hearted manner, but instead, they are to become an important part of the life that God wants us to live - that we would be blessed by them, and that we should not only receive them in a respectful way, but that they should have a holy and life-changing impact on our lives.
And so we begin with Baptism.

Read Matthew 3:1-6

Baptism, at its most basic level, is about exhibiting a relationship with Jesus Christ. Some see this as a preparatory form of church membership, but that was never the intent – it is not about our relationship with each other; it’s about who we are becoming in Christ. Others see it as a means to salvation, but the truth is that baptism should always come AFTER we accept Christ as Lord and Savior, and is the “outward sign” of claiming Jesus as Lord. In a paper titled “Not By Water Alone”, published in Good News, July/August 1991, Bishop William R. Cannon writes “[John] Wesley ... says a person is incorporated into the Body of Christ, not through the ordinances of the church – baptism included – but through holiness of heart.” Wesley understood that baptism does little for us in faith. In fact, he put far more store in being “born again” than he did in baptism!

And for John the Baptist, baptism was about repentance, which in and of itself, is about setting the sinful life aside and claiming the holy one offered by God. But some in his day simply saw it as another form of ritual washing which was nothing new to Israel. The ancient “mikvehs”, or purifying “baths”, were used before many religious activities. The community of Qumran, as an example, had a couple of mikvehs in their commune which are believed to have been used by each individual several times each day - before every meal, before study, and possibly before other acts and tasks. The Pool of Siloam, located at the south end of the Temple Mount, (John 9:1-12) was a very large form of ritual bath used by many of the faithful before entering temple to worship. And converts to Judaism were also cleansed in this same manner.
But John took this concept of washing to a whole new level. He saw it as a sign of repentance, or turning away from the worldly and sinful life, which signified the cleansing of evil in the individual’s life in preparation for the arrival of the Kingdom of God. Verse 6 tells us that the people “confessed their sins”, repenting of the life they had been living, and it was only then that they were immersed in the Jordan.

For John the Baptist, for John Wesley, and for us as well, baptism was and is the acknowledgement that a person’s life had changed for the better. It indicated that they were now prepared to experience the arrival of the Kingdom.

Read Matthew 3:7-10

It’s interesting that Matthew writes that John addresses his “brood of vipers” comments to “Pharisees and Sadducees, while Luke (Luke 3:7-9) reports that it was made to the people in general. Either way, the reference was to the evil and “poison” that inhabited the words and actions and life of all who were coming to him. It wasn’t a reference to sly and slimy lives, but rather to the people who spread lies and false teachings that would lead to spiritual death for all who believed those words. “And every tree [life] that doesn’t produce good fruit [produces evil] will be condemned to eternal destruction.” Baptism showed that the life had changed, and that the “viper’s poison” had been neutralized.

In this, John is saying that it is the personal act of turning away from the old ways, and claiming the newness that God requires, that prepares us to embrace the coming Kingdom, and that baptism is simply the sign that it has come to the person.
Wesley would agree with the Baptist. He wrote “baptism is not the new birth: … for what can be more plain than that one is an external and the other an internal work: that one is a visible, the other an invisible thing, and therefore wholly different from each other. … There may sometimes be the outward sign, where there is no inward grace.”
Bishop Cannon adds in his “Good News” paper that “infant baptism anticipates the response of the individual to the call of Christ” later in their life. In some instances of infant baptism, the very fear that Wesley expressed comes true – that the parents want their baby baptized without any expectation of continuing their Christian education and development. As a matter of fact, our baptism liturgy addresses this very point –the individual claims that they have rejected the power of evil in the world through the freedom and divine power of Almighty God, and that they confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. If that isn’t completely true, we see an example, on the part of anyone who takes this vow, of an outward sign with no inward grace.

Our two John’s would agree, I believe, that baptism is not the same as being born again, but that new birth is affirmed by the outward act of baptism.

Read Matthew 3:11-12

These last 2 verses refer to John’s act in the here and now, and the Lord Jesus’ actions which will occur in the Judgment. Remember that John’s baptism was about repentance – the preparation for the Baptism that Jesus would be bringing. With our new life by faith in Christ, the Judgment will bring us baptism by the Holy Spirit, but without repentance, without being “born again” (John 3:1-7), that final baptism will be destruction by holy fire.

And just a final thought on the Articles of Faith statement that the sacraments, and in particular Baptism, should be received in a worthy way, and then used in a like manner. In the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, he says that unless we are born again, we cannot see the kingdom of God. He doesn’t say that we must be baptized, but rather that we MUST be born anew. Later in that conversation, the Lord refers to being “born of water and the Spirit”. His use of the phrase “born of water” is not about baptism, but rather our first birth. We must be born twice – once in a human way, and then in a divine way.

It is this second birth that makes us worthy to receive baptism, and it is our second birth that leads us to use the sacrament – this “outward sign of an inner grace” - in our lives. And how are we to use the gift? We not only receive that “outward sign”, but we become an “outward sign” to the people of the world. In coming for baptism, we are claiming to be the “living stones”, or memorials, that we read about in Joshua 4:1-7.

Are we totally committed in faith? Are we “all in” for Jesus? If we truly are, we will be sharing our “inward grace”, as a paraphrase of the famous John Wesley quote says, “as often as we can, with as many people we can, in as many places we can”, and so on.
Baptism occurs in a moment within the church, but it symbolizes a life changing event that continues to bless us and others for the rest of our life.

“Pursued by Righteousness”

Scripture: Romans 9:27-33

Today ends our mini-series in Romans. We began 7 weeks ago with this promise - “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2). Today, we conclude with the thought that “Israel pursued a law of righteousness, and has not attained it.” (Romans 9:31) In these two chapters, contained in one of the world’s greatest pieces of evangelical literature, we have, over and over again, been called to seek the righteous life through faith in Christ, and not by our own good but wholly inadequate efforts.
So what is wrong with following the law? What is so bad about doing good things? Absolutely nothing! But Paul, and actually all of the writers of scripture, tell us that it isn’t our goodness that accomplishes anything – it is the goodness of Almighty God that completes our lives and brings us to his righteous and Godly way. Over and over in the Hebrew texts, the prophets warned the Israelites that the worldly ways they were following would never work, and that they had to start all over by trusting and obeying Yahweh.

Today, Paul reminds the people of what Isaiah told them hundreds of years before, that even though they had been chosen by God to become a blessing to all the tribes of earth, when the final day comes, there will only be a few who will receive the eternal glory. And with that, we turn to Paul’s thoughts in Romans 9.

Read Romans 9:27-29

The first reminder that Paul offers is found in Isaiah 10:20-23. The prophet has just finished telling the people that Assyria will be destroyed, but only after the northern kingdom has suffered the same fate. (10:12-13) It wouldn’t matter that they were “chosen” by God to be his people, it wouldn’t matter that the Lord had promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, (Genesis 22:17-18) –the Lord would remain faithful to his promise and love for Israel, but it would be their complete lack of obedience to God that would lead to their downfall.
The people probably didn’t have a clue as to what Isaiah was talking about, though, as his prophesy was offered years before the exile actually occurred, and he was talking about only a remnant returning from “who-knows-where”. But it is interesting to note that the prophet says that the few who do come home will do so by relying on “the Holy One of Israel”. In other words, they would be leaving the old ways far behind, and would give faith in Yahweh a chance to work in their lives. Obedience to God’s Way would be the only way!

How many people do you know who are still trying to live their life by doing what they think is right and good, instead of surrendering it all to Christ, and letting his goodness do the working? I expect that there are quite a few who still think that their “goodness” will be good enough. The problem with that approach is the fact that we don’t get to make the rules, and we don’t get to make the final decision regarding sufficiency. They think that scripture is too confusing, too constrictive, too restrictive, too narrow, too “something”, and so they decide to change all the rules to fit their own limited view of life. Unfortunately for them, it isn’t their decision to make – it is Almighty God’s, and his alone! And because of this “minor” caveat, only a remnant will experience glory.

The second reminder that Paul offers is from Isaiah 13:19. It’s interesting to note that if you read Isaiah 13, you will quickly discover that the prophetic judgment is being offered against Babylon, not Israel! But Paul has turned the prophecy around, and instead of Babylon’s complete destruction being like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is Israel who would be facing that same judgment – if, that is, it weren’t for the faithful few.
But is the Hebrew nation today numbered as plentifully as the grains of sand on the beaches of earth? I would contend that they aren’t! So who is making up the difference to match the sands of earth? The reference must be including the adopted children of Israel, those who have gained their inheritance by faith in Christ Jesus. When Paul says that the Lord has left descendants for Israel, he is including the Church. The descendants of Abraham, who have been blessed to be a blessing to the world, include you and me. We aren’t the genetic offspring, but we are part and parcel of the family just the same, (see Galatians 4:1-7) and as such, we not only hold the benefits of inheritance, we also have the obligations of family and inheritance.

Read Romans 9:30-33

Righteousness is a nebulous thing, at best. We think we understand it, we try to live it as well as possible, some even proclaim that they have gained it! But Paul seems to imply that our best approach will be to set the goal of attaining the righteous life aside, in favor of a simple faith in Jesus. I guess he’s saying “Let the first thing always be first!”
Can we ever gain faith through living a good and right life? I don’t think so – faith must always come first, and we must let that bring about a righteous existence. Remember the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20? First, become a disciple of Jesus Christ – that’s the faith part – and later we are to learn to live the ways and commandments of the Lord – the righteous part.
Paul’s point, I believe, is that we can never gain righteousness by seeking it. We can never gain God’s favor by chasing him. We can never gain faith in Christ by pursuing him. We must remember that the Divine Life pursues us (John 15:16) and our task is simply to accept it and claim it. And not only can’t we gain it for ourselves, we can’t escape it either!
In the late 19th century, Francis Thompson wrote a poem called “The Hound of Heaven”. It’s about a man who initially tries to escape from God, but never can. The Lord relentlessly pursues him at every turn and in every place, and never gives up. And then, as the man begins to come to grips with God’s desire for him, he makes attempt after attempt to try to discover the Lord’s grace and glory for himself – and never quite does. Instead, he only reveals his own sinful inadequacy. By the end of the poem, though, he gives up his quest completely, and it is then that God tells him to “Rise, grasp my hand, and come.”

Paul is working on this very theme. Israel, and quite honestly, the people of earth, have always been trying too hard to gain Almighty God’s pleasure by the things they are doing. Worship, sacrifice, following the law, living “perfect” lives – nothing was working for Israel, so they tried switching to other gods – the gods of earth, the gods that others told them about, the cold wooden and stone gods, the ineffectual gods that could never do anything for them. Israel tried everything except trust and obedience to the One and Glorious Lord, and so do the many and varied peoples of earth today.
But the Gentiles that Paul lifts up to are the ones who would surrender their chasing of false and hopeless gods, and instead give their lives, in faith, to the Living God in Christ. In Acts 17:22-28, Paul tells the people of Athens that out of all the objects of worship on display, the only one of worth is the one they have labeled “The unknown god”. And then he begins to tell them just who the Unknown is, and that they can’t allow him to remain unknown any longer. He is telling the Athenians “Stop chasing all the rest – just let your life settle on the only one who will be true to you, and don’t let him be unknown any longer.”

Christ is that unknown Stone that we all stumble over in our headlong rush through this life. We try so hard to prove how worthy we are, how righteous we are, how loving we are, how just we are, and in all our efforts, we never even come close to realizing the Lord’s pleasure. But Paul, in quoting the prophet Isaiah again (Isaiah 28:16-19), tells us to stop trying so hard, and begin trusting for a change.

Putting your trust, your faith in Christ is the only way. Stop running so hard, and let faith in Christ give the Lord a chance.

“Creator and the Created”

Scripture: Romans 9:19-26

Last week, we considered the ways of God – that not only are they not our ways, but that they are so far above our understanding as to make them appear to be strange, at best. In Jesus’ parable of the Workers in the Harvest (Matthew 20:1-16), he addresses this very issue. The landowner hired three groups of workers for his vineyard. The morning group is promised a denarius for the day’s work, the noontime group is promised a “fair wage”, and the evening group is simply told to go and work. When the end of the day arrives, the master pays ALL of the workers the same amount, and of course, the group that worked all day started complaining that they should have been paid more.
The master replies that they had received what was agreed upon, and what difference did it make if he was generous to the others – it was his money to be generous with!

This parable is about compensation and reward, and is just one example of the Lord’s un-human ways! His are not ours, and ours can in no way even come close to his!

St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a 12th century French abbot, wrote:
What is the highest, most exalted act of intelligent life? It is to love. Love seeks no cause, no end, no reward beyond itself. I love because I love; I love that I may love.
--Cited in Henry Osborn Taylor, The Medieval Mind (London: MacMillan, 191* 1:429.

Maybe that’s the difference between us and the Lord – that he knows how to love, and we are still learning!

Read Romans 9:19-21

“Why does God still blame us?” Paul may be referring to the Exile, that time when Israel was set aside for 70 years, so they could reflect on the previous 500 years of sinful disobedience. It’s pretty good question, but one that is nonetheless pertinent to the lives of many folks today.
We’ve all heard it - Why is God doing this to me? Haven’t I suffered enough? Why is he so angry with me?
We question God all the time, and we even reject his answers when they don’t suit us! And Paul’s response to this is “Who are you to talk back to God?” Good question! Who are we to question the Lord, to doubt him, to intentionally go against his word? Who are we to expect to understand his ways, to have them make sense within our own context? Who are we to demand that the Lord work in ways that are compatible with our human ways?
Remember Isaiah 55:9? “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” The apostle reminds us that we have no right to appeal God’s decisions and actions, and we definitely have no right to talk back to him! We are to accept his ways, not to try to correct or improve them!

And Paul uses the concept of a potter’s work to illustrate his point. My cousin’s husband is a skilled potter and artist, and has a shop called "The House of the Potter”. I wish I could get Bill to come and explain his craft to us, but in his stead, I’ll take a crack at it. First, it is the potter’s decision as to what he makes out of each individual lump of clay. Bill has made innovative chess sets, fine dining pieces, every day mugs and cups, funny pieces (I have a pitcher he made that has a face, 2 arms and 2 left hands on it!), and even my communion chalice and paten were made by this skilled artisan. The clay had no say in the production, and quite honestly, neither did I! I simply use the pieces I received.
And when the piece is finally formed to meet the potter’s standard, each and every one must be submitted to thousands of degrees of heat in the kiln, to harden and set it in this perfect shape and purpose. There is no changing the creation that the potter has made, even if the clay could want to be different, or could think that it should be different! The potter’s will is paramount!

Read Romans 9:22-24

So whether in wrath and power or love and compassion, whether in peace and presence or exile and separation, God is always God in every way. Why is he like that? Only he knows, but Paul offers that it might be to reveal “the riches of his glory” to all who he would show mercy to. This sounds like a pretty good reason, but it still doesn’t take away our answer from last week – it is still “Just because!” We still don’t know why he would want to show his glory and mercy to some and leave others caught up in their condemnation, and why he offers Jesus Christ as the means to receive his glory and mercy.
The truth is that our being good is never enough, that attending worship and becoming members of the church is never enough, that loving others is never enough, that being a Jew is never enough, that even desiring his glory is still never enough. God prepares us to receive his all by offering humanity a relationship with "his all" in Jesus Christ. And when we claim that relationship, we receive his glory and mercy and grace and hope and promise of eternal life – all in one “fell swoop”!

Could it really be that easy? That in accepting Jesus Christ, and all that he is and stands for, it could complete God’s preparation of us for glory? Yes – it really is that simple. Creator and created can actually have a relationship with each other by our accepting the Lord Jesus as Savior and the purpose of life that he has placed in us. All are welcome, regardless of our life, regardless of our past, regardless of who the world tells us we are, and regardless of personal failures or, for that matter, our successes. The Potter will take the “clump” that we bring to him from this life, and will remake us in his perfect and incredibly wonderful way. Nothing in all creation is too ugly, or too sick, or too far gone for him to “make over” in his glory!

Read Romans 9:25-26

These two quotations from Hosea are found in Hosea 2:23 and 1:10. The book is an analogy of Israel’s impending exile. The Lord uses the comparison of an unfaithful wife and the marriage relationship that she tries to destroy, to the way that Israel has treated their covenant with Yahweh. Hosea’s wife, Gomer, will leave him for quite some time, but after years of searching, the faithful husband finds her in slavery, and buys her back to resume her life as his beloved. The past mistakes wouldn’t count against her; the abandonment of faithfulness wouldn’t matter; her life with other men would be forgiven; and a new life would begin without all the burdens and failures and betrayals that had plagued her in the past.
The first quotation that we just read is telling the people that their God is about to welcome others into his grace, and the second promises that Israel, once again and after the separation that is about to occur, will be invited back into the relationship that they had once denied.

And that promise is ours, too. The strangest and most unexpected people will be welcomed into God’s mercy; those who we have always found objectionable will know this new call and relationship; and the ones who denied the love of God in Christ Jesus can finally know it in fullness for themselves. And it will happen right in the middle of where we are – sinful, unwashed, condemned, and hopeless, and in Christ, all will be made new for us.

Are you ready to stop blaming God for all your failures? Do you want the struggles of this life to end? Then turn it all over to Christ Jesus and the great Potter, and let him remake you in a whole new image – one that will not only receive glory, but one that will radiate the glory of Almighty God to others.

“Justified by the Call”

Scripture: Romans 9:10-18

Have you ever thought about your life, and tried to figure out why God has called you into a relationship with him? If you have, I expect that you are still trying to come up with an answer! The truth is that the Lord’s ways are so radically different than ours that we will never understand them. And that’s OK. We like things nice and tidy - logical, sensible, and we like to see things in a natural and normal manner. But God works in his own way, and in Isaiah 55:8-11, the prophet tells us that the Lord’s thoughts are not only not our thoughts, but that they are totally out of reach of our standards. We need to just give up trying to make sense of God, and just rejoice in whatever he brings to our lives.
But there are still many folks who, when they try to figure God out and can’t, they attempt to make their ways prominent and God’s ways subordinate. Their attitude appears to be “If it doesn’t make sense to me, then it must be wrong!” Of course, that is so far from the truth, it shows that it is their attitude that doesn’t make sense!

In our text today, Paul lifts up several issues in the life of Israel that, quite honestly, don’t make a lot of sense. And the answer to each is that “God will do what God will do.”

Read Romans 9:10-13

Last week, Paul raised up the question of why his chosen would only be the descendants of Jacob, and not all the descendants of Abraham. And the obvious answer is “Just because!” And now the issue of the third generation in Jacob and Esau comes to the fore – Why wasn’t the eldest twin to be favored, instead of the younger? And the answer is the same – so that God’s purpose can be satisfied. It had nothing to do with whether Jacob was deserving, or that Esau was not, it had nothing to do with which brother was smarter, or more handsome, or more faithful. The Lord’s promise to Rebekah came before the boys were even born! (Genesis 25:21-26) It was simply God’s will! As a matter of fact, Jacob would be the cheat in the family – he would use his brother’s exhaustion and hunger to get him to trade a bit of food for the birthright, and would deceive his nearly blind father to get the blessing that was rightly Esau’s! (Genesis 27:1-40)
Why would God allow his plan to flow though such a man as this? Why would, essentially, a thief be so blessed? Again, it’s one of those questions that has no answer! It just is. And it always seems that God works great wonders in divisiveness and conflict. Not only with the brothers in this early part of Genesis, but between Moses and Pharaoh, with the prostitute Rahab, Saul and David, the Persian king Cyrus, Herod and Pilate, Saul of Tarsus, and many, many others. Is there anything that God can’t use to his purpose? The answer to that is also very simple – There is nothing in all of creation that can stand in his way!

And as for the statement “I have loved Jacob, but Esau I hated”, the New Interpreters’ Bible implies that this isn’t so much a case of liking one of the brothers more than the other, but more that God’s love would shine though one more than it would the other. After all, how could God “hate” his own creation? The truth is that the Lord hates sin, but loves sinful people. This is just one more example of conflict and contention being the means that God uses to work his great acts.

Read Romans 9:14-18

God’s justice is a tough thing to get a hold on. In the statement in v. 15, the Lord is telling Moses that mercy and compassion will be meted out to whomever is chosen to receive it. Moses was about to experience the backside of God’s glory as a sign that the Presence of God would always be with him and Israel. (Exodus 33:13-23) It has nothing to do with the Lord’s being random in his bestowing of grace, nothing to do with goodness or unfairness, nothing to do with an arbitrary attitude toward our lives, nothing to do with our weak and inadequate attempts to understand his ways. It is simply because God is.

Paul even reminds us that Pharaoh could have so easily been taken out of the way even before the plagues began – The Almighty didn’t need the plagues, but he chose Pharaoh and his hard heartedness to allow his great and glorious power to be displayed. Was that mean – to keep Pharaoh from letting the people leave, just so his might and authority could be experienced by the world? Not at all – the Lord God is anything but vindictive. But Israel had to know just who was leading them through the wilderness, and that they could, and must, trust him. And Pharaoh would be the means for them, and for us, to learn that lesson.

But some lessons are not so easily learned, and we’re no different than Israel. Why does it take us so long to decide to trust God explicitly? Without hesitation. Without concerns. Without doubts. Without fear.
Haven’t we heard enough about his limitless power? Haven’t we seen his power and authority in action? I’m not suggesting that we should have any understanding of his power – just that we should believe in it and trust that it will work to the good of those who he chooses to bless.

So who does God choose, and why does he choose them? In the case of Israel, he chose the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to carry out his will in that time and place. In our case, he chooses those who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and to do the same today. It’s not an arbitrary decision in either case. He chooses those who, in his infinite wisdom, will satisfy his plan. And when his “chosen” try to go against the Plan, the Lord prevents it through the setting of obstacles and hardening. So was the case with Pharaoh. So was the case with Israel. So is the case in our own lives.
And the opposite is also true. When his “chosen” need encouragement and renewing, his mercy comes into play. Are we beginning to doubt? Mercy! Are we beginning to stray? Mercy! Are we beginning to fade in faith? Mercy! Are we beginning to slip in our actions? Mercy!

Whatever our need, the Lord is there to fulfill it. And it is in his actions that we are justified in our relationship with him. Now understand that this use of the word “justify” is slightly different than when John Wesley talked about Justification by faith. Wesley referred to Justification as the Lord’s act of salvation in the moment when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But I believe that every time that we respond to God’s call on our life, every time that we seek his lead for life, every time that our faith grows a little stronger, it is then that we are being renewed and strengthened in Christ. When the Spirit gives us the courage to take that next difficult step, we are being justified – we are being made right in the Lord.

Why? Only God knows! “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9). There is no way that we will ever understand God, and we have to know that this is OK. It is enough to know that he is, and that he does, and that he always will.

That’s the blessing of mercy and hardening – we can never appreciate the how and the why, we just rejoice that they are and that God is God, and Jesus is Savior, and he has called us to made us right in him.