Devotion for Saturday, April 4

Lessons from the Daily Lectionary – Saturday, April 4, 2009

Psalms 111, 124; Jeremiah 31:27-34; Romans 11:25-36; John 11:28-44

Meditation: My Facebook friends invited me to take a survey to find out which Reformed theologian I most like. I ended up with the renowned twentieth century theologian Karl Barth – and it’s all because of today’s lesson from Romans 11. Barth’s most famous writing is called Church Dogmatics. Some day when I’m retired, and have a couple of years or so, I’m planning to read it. It’s in four parts but includes fourteen rather large, volumes. I’ve actually read Part 1 which is on the authority of the Scriptures. But it’s Part IV that I want to read. It’s entitled Reconciliation.

Romans 11 is all over “reconciliation.” When we speak of reconciliation, we talk about making up with a loved one we may have hurt or vice versa. Reconciliation is a wonderful intimate offering of forgiveness and love, often accompanied by tenderness and energy for a new beginning. These personal images of reconciliation are important to have in mind when reading Romans 11. All of the forgiveness, tenderness and energy should stay with us as we read about God’s care for both Jews and Christians. Keeping it personal in this way, we should be ready to see Paul writing about such things about peoples, cultures and societies. Karl Barth sees God’s heart open in an amazing and large way.

Paul is often misunderstood as a divider instead of being seen as a reconciler. That’s because he saw the love of God expanding beyond the people of Israel into the larger world. This expansion isn’t just about who should be included. It also contains a plea for people who once had little regard for one another, to now embrace one another as brothers and sisters.

But what if not everyone receives the message of Jesus? The Jews are a special case for Paul. They are beloved because of God’s promises to this people given as a blessing to Abraham and Sarah, as well as through Moses and the people who escaped oppression in Egypt. Paul, a Jew, wishes that his people could believe in Jesus as he does, but he also knows how to turn lemons into lemonade. If they didn’t believe, this gave God the opportunity to take the traveling Gospel show out on the road where others could hear the message and come to faith.

For many that leaves a mess. Who’s in? Who’s out? Paul goes right to the verge of answering this sharp-edged question. All have messed up. All are in need of the offered mercy to God. But just when one expects a definitive answer, Paul goes from rational argument to doxology. Doxology means “a study in praise to God.” Paul shifts to this because he knows when his place is that of a witness to something wonderful rather than a lecturer who over does it.

God’s love has the character of the tenderness of the reconciliations we know in our personal lives. For God, this personal tenderness is extended to all. As we become those who are “a study in praise of God,” may Paul’s witness lead us to find ways of living out such reconciliation as well. May our witness speak in as many volumes as Karl Barth.

Prayer: God lead us in reconciliation. Where we have animosity towards others, let us set these things aside and seek a better way. Jesus came to show how you give us such a calling. May we find his spirit in us this day. Amen.