Good Book Club 2019--Romans 8:9-17

In today's lesson, Paul writes about spirit and flesh. What does it means to be alive in the spirit? What does it mean to be dead to the flesh? I think that sometimes we read into lessons like that that our bodies--physical things--are somehow bad and the only good things are those spiritual things beyond the physical.

In church yesterday, we heard Paul in 1 Corinthians use the body as an illustration for what it means to be the people of God--what it means to be church. In Paul's image of all of us coming together to form the Body of Christ, he has an overwhelmingly positive view of the body. It is a marvelous, wondrous thing that allows us to do Christ's work in the world and live into the fullness of who we are. Through the body we can flourish and have joy-filled lives.

When Paul talks about "the flesh" I think he means those things which serve ourselves, whereas "the spirit" means those things that further God's plan. God's plan, seen throughout all of Holy Scripture, can be summarized into a world of abundance, peace, justice, and love.

Paul writes that "if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness" (Rom 8:10). Sin, that which separates us from God, has a death-like effect on us. Jesus, however, through the Spirit, restores life by reuniting us to God. In other words, we who have strayed away from God's plan of abundance, peace, justice, and love are brought back into that reality through Jesus' faithfulness in the cross.

For those of us who profess the love of God and of Jesus, we have a duty to live into that vision and share it with the world. What would the world look like if we really lived as if Christ's life-giving Spirit dwelt within us? What are some concrete ways we could live this way?

Good Book Club 2019--Romans 7:7-13

We're getting into the really difficult stuff now, folks! Chapter 7 of Romans completely captured the imaginations of early church fathers like Origen and Augustine. Through these lenses, particularly that of Augustine, the reformers of the Protestant Reformation also shaped much of their theology.


I was taught that when we read the works of the past, we should read them with generous eyes. After all, it would be arrogant to think that we're somehow smarter than our ancestors just because we live in later times. I base much of my belief on inherited tradition of the church on what I learned from the translators of the Authorized (King James) Bible. Writing of translators prior to themselves, the translators of the Authorized Bible wrote:

Nothing is begun and perfected at the same time, an the later thoughts are thought to be the wiser: so if we building upon their foundation that went before us, and being holpen by their labours, do endeavour to make that better which they left so good.

In other words, each of us owe what we have learned to the past, and we should have the humility to understand that future generations will stand upon our shoulders and reveal further truths through our labors. This is a progressive view of history that has deep, deep respect for the past.

As we've discussed in previous posts here and on the Trinity Episcopal Church Facebook group, there is a tradition of interpreting Paul as incredibly anti-Jewish. I, and all biblical scholars of good repute, reject this notion. Remember that Paul was a Jew!

Stanley Stowers in his dense but incredibly helpful book A Rereading of Romans argues that the entirety of Romans is directed to a gentile audience. These gentiles, possibly through exposure to Christ followers or through exposure to Judaism, came to adopt many of the teaching of Judaism and of Jesus. Perhaps most importantly, they would have known the Ten Commandments and most likely much, if not all, of the Torah.

Stowers interprets Chapter 7 of Romans as Paul's explanation that both the Law and Jesus provide a means of being in relationship to God. However, you cannot and should not subscribe to both. Mark Nanos goes even further in his essays found in Reading Paul Within Judaism in arguing that Paul believes that God intends for Jews to remain Jews and Christ-followers to be something new so that God's promise of blessing to Abraham might spread such that Jews bless gentiles and gentiles bless Jews. (I am greatly simplifying this argument and encourage interested parties to read Stowers and Nanos.)

Ok, ok . . . I'm being really technical here. Why does any of this matter to us?

The "I" that Paul writes in Romans 7:7-13 is not an autobiographical writing, but Paul using a common Greek rhetorical device of a kind of Everyman--in this case a gentile Everyman. Paul says that the Law is good in that it teaches us what sin is, but he also does not believe that the Law, for gentiles, cannot bring us into relationship with God. Only Jesus can do that.

For this reason, Paul can say that "the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good" (7:12). Sin, however, separates us from God. The Law can teach what sin is, and it can also have a dangerous effect, for Paul, of allowing sin to take root.

For those of us who are Christian, especially those of us who have never been Jews, Paul is teaching us that we do not need to become Jews to know the God of Israel--Jesus provides that link that adopts us into the family of God. Likewise, Jews do not need to become Christians--God covenanted with Abraham to make them God's people.

This makes Jews and Christians members of the same family. We know the same God, and we experience that God in different ways. Perhaps our differences reveal something greater about the loving nature of God.

Good Book Club 2019--Romans 6:1-14

"Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means!" (Rom 6:1-2 NRSV)

This seems like such an obvious statement to me, yet Christians throughout the ages have had to ask Paul's question of themselves many times. Paul asserts that in our baptism we are united to Christ's death and resurrection: "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his" (6:5). This assertion has led many Christians into conversations about salvation and how death and resurrection actually works. If we are baptized and united to Christ, can we ever do something so bad that we fall out of that grace? If we can fall out of grace, is baptism efficacious? If we cannot fall out of grace, does that mean that we can do whatever we want? 

I think the biggest problem with this means of thinking is that it takes a mechanical approach to salvation. If you follow steps A, B, and C, then you get to proceed. Remembering that our baptism is an entry into Christ's death, Paul writes that "our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin" (6:6). Does this mean that if we're baptized, we no longer sin? Judging just from my own life, from the age of 5 to 35, I have done some additional sinning. What this means for me is that I am no longer held captive by sin. In other words, I don't have to worry if I fall into sin because the grace of God has already been given. I don't read this as meaning that I can do whatever I want, but that I can dive head-first into life attempting to live out the kingdom of God without the fear that I will somehow fail. Paul says it this way:

No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness (6:13).

My task as a Christian, according to Paul, is to use my life--my very body--as a means of establishing God's righteousness. Because I am a human being and far from perfect, I will inevitably mess up sometimes. I will make wrong decisions, I will hurt people, and I will fall short of the glory of God. HOWEVER, because I have died and been risen with Christ in baptism, God's grace will far outshine my shortcomings. I can be an instrument of righteousness and peace, and the sins and mistakes I make out of my humanness will not enslave me.

This has incredible implications for our daily life. You've probably seen that meme going around that asks the question, "What would you try if you knew with certainty that you could not fail?" Paul assures us that with Christ, we cannot fail. Wow! Even if we do mess up, there is forgiveness and there is grace.

Attempt to spread God's love. Live like you believe it. When you mess up, ask God for forgiveness and learn from the experience, and above all, know that God's love for you never diminishes. 

Good Book Club 2019--Romans 2:17-3:20

God wants us to live abundant lives.

Over the past few days, we have read a bit of Paul's talking about "the Jews" who are not faithful to the Law because they do not understand the Law. This gets into some tricky territory. I like to think that Paul, the good scholar of the Hebrew Bible, is channeling the same sort of prophetic voice that we hear in prophets like Micah, Amos, and Isaiah. These prophets, Jews writing to other Jews, make the point that the Law and the sacrificial system puts us in right relationship with God only when we acknowledge the ways in which we have turned away from God. In other words, going to the temple begrudgingly in order to get a "get out of jail free card" doesn't cut it. The Law teaches us how to live in right relationship with God, and the sacrificial system is a means whereby we join the entire community in repenting of sins, turning back to God, and offering praise and thanksgiving.

If I think about this in our contemporary Christian context, I think about the ways we can make the sacraments transactional experiences for our own betterment rather than taking them as a means of channeling grace. I remember when I was a hospital chaplain, I encountered a woman who was incredibly upset because her leg was to be amputated even though the priest put holy water on it and she had taken Holy Communion every day. Now, I cannot imagine the trauma of having to lose my leg, so I meet this woman with sympathy and love. I also think that magical thinking that the sacrament of Holy Communion will keep us from physical harm does not get at the deeper mystery of the Eucharist.

Through lamenting with this woman, I was able to learn alongside her that the power of the Eucharist was greater than a magic pill that would save her leg. The Eucharist is a physical reminder and channel of grace whereby we become one with Christ and know that even in our suffering, Jesus is with us. Even when we do not feel whole, we are made whole in him.

This, I think, is Paul's major point that our faithfulness will not nullify the faithfulness of God (paraphrased from 3:3). God always remains faithful to God's people. God always loves us. Sin, however, keeps us from experiencing that love. It's not that God stops loving us, but when we wander far from God, we are unable to see that love. God wants us to have full, abundant lives. The Scriptures show this over and over again. Paul offers to us that following Jesus and living deeply into Jesus' teachings are not rules that we follow to get a reward, but, rather, a way of living that allows us to experience that abundance which God has set forth for us.

Good Book Club 2019--Romans 1:18-32

When Paul gives warnings against worshipping false idols and false Gods, he's making an incredible statement about God and the creation:

[They] worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator (1:25).

When you think about the glory and beauty of nature, it makes sense that people might be in awe of these sights and confuse them with God. An eagle soaring on the wind, a colorful sunset, even the human figure all contain awesome beauty. This beauty, however, points beyond the thing itself and toward the creator. God's "eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made" (1:20). Paul writes these words in order to move people away from false idols toward the one true God. I also think that there is an invitation here to know God better through the creation. We cannot see God face to face, but we can know something about God through the eagle, the sunset, and through one another.

At Old Swedes Church in Wilmington, we have a labyrinth that I like to walk when I need to think or pray. I love being outside and hearing the sounds of the city mingle with the sounds of nature around the church: squirrels running, leaves rustling, birds singing. Through meditation on the creation, I find myself closer to God. The same can be said of any activity that utilizes our senses. God can be found in the taste of a ripe strawberry. God can be found in the softness of a warm blanket. God can be found in the scent of someone we love lingering on our clothes after a hug. Each of these things, especially when considered collectively, leads us to a fuller image of God.
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The Good Book Club 2019--Romans 1:8-17

Two things come to mind when I read the "thanksgiving" portion of Paul's letter to the Romans.

• The incredible love and trust Paul places in people whom he has never met
• Paul's summary statement on the role of faith and salvation.

Paul says that he is "longing to see" the faithful in Rome (1:11) in order that they "may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith (1:12). Wow. Think about that. Paul doesn't know these people at all. Certainly he has heard stories or perhaps conversed with some of them who have traveled to places where he was, but he never has visited their church. Imagine if your church received a letter that read something like this:

Dear Trinity Parish,

I am so sorry that I haven't been able to come and worship with you. I've seen your Facebook, and I even followed you on SoundCloud to listen to the beautiful music and hear the sermons. You are clearly such people of incredible faith. A friend of mine was going through Wilmington and said she joined a group of you in preparing a meal for the women who live at Friendship House. I just know in my heart that if I came and spent some time with you, I would learn so much about what it means to follow Jesus. I, too, have been proclaiming the Gospel, and I think we could learn a lot from each other.

I imagine that if I were reading Paul's letter as a member of the church in Rome, I would be incredibly flattered. Furthermore, I would see that Paul's zeal for spreading the Good News somehow resonates with what we had been doing in our church. What exactly is the connection between our faith professed and our faith lived out?

Moving to the second point, I don't want to say too much except that I believe that Rom 1:16-17 provides an summary thesis statement for the whole letter. It's worth reproducing:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”

As we continue reading through the book, this statement gives us some key themes to look for:

• What is the role between faith and salvation?
• What is the role between the Jews and the Gentiles?
• What does it mean to live by faith? (Perhaps also the role between faith and works.)
• What is the righteousness of God? 

The Good Book Club 2019--Romas 1:1-7

The Good Book Club 2019

Romans 1:1-7

Today begins our Epiphany journey reading through Paul's Epistle to the Romans. In these first seven verses alone, Paul lays out who he is:

"A servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God" (Rom 1:1 NRSV)

 who Jesus is:

"descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead" (1:3-4)

and what Paul's mission is:

to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of [Jesus'] name (1:5).

That's a lot for just seven verses! It also is preview of the density of this letter. It requires careful, prayerful reading, which is why I am so happy that we can undertake this task together.

Be not afraid!

This group reading should be marked by 

JOY!

It is appropriate that we begin this journey the day after Epiphany. Our weekly lectionary juxtaposes Matthew's account of the Wise Men with Paul's letter to the Ephesians wherein Paul lays out his belief that through Christ, the Gentiles are adopted into the covenant with Israel. Put more simply, those who are not Jews may know the God of the Jews through Jesus. This in no way invalidates Judaism--if anything, it heightens the importance of it! The Jews are already in relationship with God, but Gentiles could not be because the covenant was made with Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 17). Paul, writing to Gentiles in Rome, wants to stress that:

1.  They are now part of the covenant with Israel
2. Jews and Gentiles are not enemies, but family

A few things to remember as we read through Romans:

• Unlike many of the other letters of Paul, this letter is addressed to a group of people whom Paul had never met. He is thorough (and sometimes complicated) because he has not had a chance to visit them and teach them. He's starting from scratch.
• There has been a tradition within Christianity of reading antisemitism into the text. Taken along with the entirety of the Pauline corpus, this is not a valid reading. 
• Romans does not stand alone as a complete theology. It is one of many letters of Paul (not to mention all the letters, sermons, and teachings we no longer have). We must understand the letter in the light of the other Scriptures.

A few resources for the journey:

• An introduction to Paul: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/people/main-articles/paul
• The Good Book Club website: www.goodbookclub.org
• Trinity Episcopal Parish's facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/587124081740370/