Romans 11

 Good morning again!

Great comments and thoughts form yesterday's reading! We seem to have really hit some points that people are passionate about! One of the most common responses was about teaching/preaching about God. "How can I know unless someone teaches me?" has been stuck in my head for several days now. How do we get that message out to "those" people; how can we "do" the Great Commission if we stay inside the church- Jesus clearly says, "Go!"; how can we gain a spiritual relationship with God (not religious like Cindy pointed out) and then transmit that relationship to others? So much to think about and so much work to do! That will preach some day!

Chapter 11 is a tougher one, still focusing on Israel and the grace and mercy God shows to all- even those who rejected Jesus. Let's see how this goes!

Paul's first question (v 1) definitely makes sense based on the last few chapters and its a question that we have asked the last few days- has God excluded the Israelites? Definitely now- and now Paul will try to explain this!

The first explanation Paul provides is from the prophet Elijah (v 2). Things were going so bad for Elijah, he prayed to God against his people; Elijah wished them gone for what they were doing. Elijah states that he (Elijah) is the only good person left! God comes back with "Oh silly Elijah, there are at least 7000 people that are still mine." God works through small faithful remnants of Israel (not the entire nation). Faithfulness was a question brought up yesterday in one of the comments (Donna?). There were many Jews that were faithful to God, but, as in the Elijah passage shows, there were many that lost faith in God too. God works with the faithful group. We think God needs a huge group to do God's work, but small faithful groups of people can do lots of work!

There is a small group of people listening to God and they are offered God's grace. Paul reminds us (v 6) that grace is a free gift- not based on the works we do. The work we do doesn't give us more grace or less grace- it cannot be earned. Now some tough words, the elect among Israel received God's grace and responded to God's mercy, the others were hardened by their rejection (v 7). I really struggle with this passage- my God accepts and gives grace to all people; my God doesn't "elect" some people and reject others. This is definitely a point Paul and I would argue! Paul goes on using passages from Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and Psalms to drive home his point (vv 8-10). These pieces make it look like God is saving only a certain small select group to be in God's favor. I guess we could argue that God is God and God can do what God wants- but I don't like that argument!

Some translations have "When the Jews stumbled, did they fall?" (v 11a); my translation (NCV) says, "When the Jews fell, did that fall destroy them?" The point Paul is saying is that they stumbled, but did not fall completely from God's grace; you can recover form a stumble- but not so easily recover from a fall. God is still working through a remnant of Israel today, but the "sinning majority" is not lost forever...there is hope! In the stumbling process of Israel, the gospel was offered to the Gentiles (v 11b- 12). The Gospel message was given to the Gentiles after it was rejected by the Jews. Remember, in many cities that Paul went to, he visited the synagogues first and when he was rejected, he then went to the Gentiles. Also, keep in mind- it wasn't the Jewish rejection of the Messiah that saved the Gentiles, their rejection allowed the Gospel message to be presented to the Gentiles- not all Gentiles accepted the message either- we may get the idea that all Gentiles scooped it up quickly! The jealousy that Paul talks about (v 11b) is a good jealousy- motivating them to accept Christ. The flip side is that we (Gentiles) have to make Christianity "look good" (for lack of better words) to make that jealousy happen. When we use Christianity to promote hate, injustices, bigotry, fear, prejudices- we aren't making Christianity look too good are we?!

The first piece of bread (first fruit in some translations) that Paul mentions in v 16 is a reference to the first Christians- likely Jewish converts. This "first harvest" was seen as holy and good for "the church"; now imagine what it would be like if all Jews (the entire harvest, he entire loaf) is brought in! Paul then changes his analogy to olive trees. Paul reminds the Gentiles that it is by God's grace that we were grafted on to the tree of God, the root of Israel. When an olive tree becomes old and no-productive, one remedy was to cut away the branches and graft on some "wild" olive shoots (vv 17-21). The result was a growth spurt in the original old tree. We (Gentiles) are the wild shoot grafted onto the "original tree" (Israel). Gentiles shouldn't be proud and boastful (v 18) as we are dependent upon the nutrients supplied by the root (Israel)- the roots support the branches- not the other way around (this is brought up in the gospels a few times too). We are reminded (vv 19-20) that it is because of our faith that we are grafted on- if we lose faith, we can be cut off- just as the other branches were!

Paul continues to stress God's goodness and mercy (v 22), but that can be retracted if we fall into disbelief. And the Jews can be re-grafted onto the main shoot of they begin believing. Perseverance is key- there is no assurance in the Gospel unless we continue in our belief (v 22-23). If we, wild branches, can be grafted onto the root stock- there is no reason why the "natural" branches can't be grafted back on. If we produce good fruit and are from wild stock- imagine what the original stock can produce (v 24)!

And now some sobering words from Paul (v 25+) The reason behind Israel's "blindness" was to open the door for Gentiles to come to God. Once the Gentiles are there, the blindness will be removed from the nation of Israel, and they will then be free to join in God's salvation (v 25- 26). God is not finished with the Jews! God's plan was to turn the Jews away so that the Gentiles could be accepted and then once they were accepted, the Jews were back on (v 28). The best analogy I can imagine would be reconciliation between a parent and a child after many years of an estranged relationship.God used Israel's disobedience to show mercy to the Gentiles; God will use that mercy shown to the Gentiles as a way to show mercy to the Jews (vv 31- 32).

I think v 33 really sums up our thoughts: "Nobody can explain what God does!" God has a plan and we shouldn't really question that (although I always say "Question everything!"). Who could have devised such a great (?) plan...alienate the Jews so the Gentiles are attracted so then the Jews are envious of what the Gentiles have so that the Jews will come back?! Wasn't there an easier way?

This chapter ends Paul discourse on the acceptance of Israel into God's plan. The next few chapters deal with living a Christian life. I am sure that will stir up some conversation!

Have a good day!

Shalom+
Pastor Paul