evening and morning: Sunday
Romans 5:1-8
Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
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This is our Second Lesson for this morning, beginning several weeks of our second reading being from Paul's epistle to the Romans. It's loaded with Paul's theology that becomes core doctrine of the Christian church. Written in the late 50s or early 60s (tradition is that Paul was killed in Rome in 62 or 63 AD), Romans is regarded by many Bible scholars as Paul's final letter, his newest letter that we have, his first being First Thessalonians, the oldest writing in the New Testament.
It's early Sunday morning here in 7H, and I want to post this, so I'll be quick, and briefer than if we were in the parish Library with our adult Sunday School gathering. It's been our custom to meet right on through the summer while everyone else breaks to a different schedule; but world events and that we are having a 9:15 worship service in the Pavilion this summer means our contact will be online not face to face for the Duration. It may not seem ideal to us, but it's healthy and responsible!
A few points about the Romans reading before I come back to what especially interests me.
First, the final paragraph is a statement of what came to be the Church's principal doctrine, that Paul asserts over and over again in his writings, "Christ died for our sins". It is sad that for much of the Church for most of its history this has degenerated to making Christianity a quest for personal salvation with self-satisfaction about being "Saved" and certitude into the afterlife. That would astonish Jesus with his gospel about God's kingdom on earth in which agapé love would prevail.
In the second paragraph, "suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us". Okay, suffering does produce endurance, and endurance character; but like to hear it or not, hope CAN and DOES disappoint, devolve into hopeless despair, beyond impatience into frustration and the violence that has been raging in our streets in recent weeks. My fear is that anger will run its course and everything will calm down and nothing of substance will change, because we on top do not want or intend to suffer change. The character that comes of constant suffering will become determination to overthrow by any and all means, chaos and anarchy into whatever America is after this. In an evil age of memory a telling slogan was "Triumph des Willens".
Working back to the Romans reading's opening, that we are justified by faith. Justified means that we are treated as righteous even though it ain't so. Abraham is often the prime and shining example of this regardless of his sometimes disgusting character, because Abraham obediently left his comfortable life as a wealthy young man about Haran, probably a lawyer or stockbroker, to strike out on the adventure of life into which God called him.
Scripture repeatedly says Abraham believed the Lord and he was counted righteous, it was reckoned unto him as righteousness: his belief manifested in obedience, not going on about life certain he was Saved and as sure for heaven as if he were already there, but repenting: changing everything about himself to live the Lord's will and share God's dream for him.
So, we are justified by faith, where faith is belief and how we live because of it.
Do you believe ... ?
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?