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.