Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Romans 9:1-5
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  August 23, 2020

Today I’m going to talk about roots. But I’m not talking about plant roots. I’m talking about people’s roots. Maybe you’ve heard the phrase, “Don’t forget where you come from.” That’s talking about roots! Your heritage, your lineage, your hometown. These are roots. And whether you are proud of your roots or not, they are important. They leave an indelible mark on each and every one of us. Your physical appearance, your perspective, your temperament all grow up from your roots.  Today, the apostle Paul talks about his roots and how they relate to God’s grace in Romans chapter 9. I’d like to draw out two important lessons for you today.

Paul starts out chapter nine, the second half of his great epistle, with startling words. He ended chapter eight with a triumphant conclusion in love’s assurance. But this is how he talks about his own roots. “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying—my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit 2 that I have great sorrow and continuous pain in my heart. 3 For I almost wish that I myself could be cursed and separated from Christ in place of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, 4those who are Israelites.” In a triple promise of truth, even putting the Holy Spirit on oath as a witness, Paul talks about his sincere sorrow and continuous anguish. These really are vivid words. This pain has to do with the ones that he calls his “brothers,” his “relatives according to the flesh.”  This is where he came from. This is his people, his roots.

Paul grew up as a prodigious Jewish student of Gamaliel. He called himself a Pharisee of Pharisees. In fact, before the Lord knocked him off his horse on the way to Damascus, Paul was overseeing a concentrated effort to persecute Christians because of his uncommon zeal for his heritage. And you can still hear that special pride beating in Paul’s heart as he writes in chapter 9,”Theirs are the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, came the Christ, who is God over all, eternally blessed. Amen.”

These are the great things Paul prided himself on for so many years! And certainly, they are special blessings! Paul mentions “Adoption”. This is reminiscent of God’s call to Abraham in the Old Testament. God chose the descendants of Abraham, the nation of Israel, as his chosen nation, to whom he revealed his plan of salvation. To what other nation had God said that? Paul talks about “the glory”. God had revealed himself to this people in special ways, visible manifestations of his presence took place. I think of the pillar of cloud that led them through the desert by day and the pillar of fire at night. I think of the voice which shook Mt. Sinai. I think of the dedication of the tabernacle in the wilderness, where the fire of God rushed out of the tent to consume the sacrifices. Paul remembers the “covenants”. God made multiple covenants with Israel, revealing a very special relationship which Israel, alone, had with God. Paul notes the “giving of the law”. At Mt. Sinai God gave his law directly to Moses, only Israel had the Word of God inspired by the prophets to learn and keep in faith. Paul says “the Worship”. To what other nation had God prescribed specific rites of worship? Their worship calendar with its festivals and sacrifices were given directly by God. Everything from the stitching of the tabernacle, to the garments of the priests, to the arrangement of the animals on the altar, these were all prescribed by God. There were the only people who had the sacred privilege of worshiping the true God in the Old Testament. Paul notes the “promises”. The promises not only of God’s protection and presence, but of the Savior. The “patriarchs”. The legacy of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was their heritage. And finally, Paul talks about “the Christ”. The promised Savior of the world, Jesus Christ himself, came through their line. He was a Jew, an Israelite! God’s grace had come to humanity through the roots of the nation of Israel!

And this is what makes Paul so sad. The very people who should have been set up to receive him, his brothers, were the very ones who had, by and large, rejected him. We heard in the Gospel reading how he walked on water. This was just one of so many demonstrations of his divinity that they overlooked. In the end it was the Jewish leaders who would incite the crowd that first Good Friday to shout, “Crucify him!” As John writes in his Gospel, “He came to those who were his own but his own did not receive him.” 

The problem wasn’t with the roots of the Israelites, the problem was that they trusted in their roots, not their Savior for salvation. They trusted in their heritage and lineage to make them righteous before God, not in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They trusted in their roots and rejected God’s grace. And in doing so, they turned what were meant to be great blessings into an idol all their own. John the Baptist once stood knee-deep in the Jordan River and said to the Pharisees, “Do not think you can say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9) This text is a reminder that our roots may be a great blessing, but they aren’t our salvation. 

Remember you can’t read Romans 9 until you’ve read Romans 1-8 in which Paul tells us that all have fallen short of the glory of God; that it wasn’t just the Jews who crucified Christ, it was all of us. All of us stand condemned before a holy God. Not one of us deserves to be in heaven more than another, regardless of where we’ve come from or what we’ve done! Salvation is the gift of God, undeserved, unconditional love, not by works, so that no one can boast. On your final day, God will not ask you whether you were a member of a church or not, he won’t ask you if your family was Christian, he won’t even ask you if you are WELS. He is going to ask if you credit Christ, your Savior Jesus, as the only reason you belong in heaven. He is going to look into your heart to see if you trust his grace for salvation, not your roots or any earthly status. My friends, your roots may be a great blessing, or they might be something difficult  to think about. But in either case God has used them to bring you here today to hear about his grace. Our roots are all about God’s grace too!  That is our first lesson today. Your roots are not your salvation, it is all about God’s grace in Christ.

Which leads me to our second lesson, which is inescapable, as Paul reflects on his roots. I’d like to introduce this lesson with the practice of scourging found in the Beth Din,  the synagogue court in ancient Judaism. According to Deuteronomy 25, no more than 40 lashes were given for various offenses, one of which would be meted out in full for any negative biblical injunctions, i.e. in their mind, saying that Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law. The whip itself was made of a strip of calf leather strung with small metal tacks or thorns.  They would whip the person 39 times just to be sure they didn’t go over 40, a number which, if exceeded, could often kill the person. So if you were found guilty in the Beth Din, you would feel the whip 26 times on your back and 13 times on your chest.

Did you know that in every city that Paul traveled to on his missionary journeys, he always started in the synagogues? Knowing what he would risk walking into those synagogues, he always started with his brothers. He argued persuasively that Jesus had come in fulfillment of the Old Testament’s promises and had won the world’s salvation. He started in the synagogues because he loved his people. He could have just been dismissed by Gentiles, but he went back to his roots and he would endure severe persecution from his own. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 11: “I have been in prison… I have been flogged severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned…I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen…”

After all that, what are his thoughts now? What did he say? I almost wish that I myself could be cursed and separated from Christ in place of my brothers! Would he really do that if he could? What love could cause him to say this? Do you remember how someone else felt that way? Someone else who wanted to take on the sin of others and suffer in their place? Someone who was cursed and separated from God for those who rejected him? Paul is reflecting the heart of Jesus here, isn’t he? I think of this quiet moment in Luke’s Gospel, right after Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem for the last time. The people all shouted Hosanna, waved their palm branches, and laid their coats on the ground. It was this grand celebration. But after the cheers faded and the crowds went away, Jesus looked over the city and began to weep. He said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” (Luke 19) This is the same soul-splitting sadness that the apostle Paul experienced for those who would not trust in Jesus.

What is your first reaction to those who dismiss Christ? Are you annoyed, angry at them? Are you just mad that they are sinning and setting bad examples? Are you mainly concerned with how they are treating you? Do you just want them to leave us Christians alone so we can continue our ministry in peace? Are you only willing to reach out if they are kind? Examine your heart. My friends, let’s face it. We live in an area where acceptance of the message of Christ as the only Savior of the world and the submission of people to the commandments of God is not common. People are rejecting the message of God in Scripture and the Savior that he has sent. These people are your brothers and sisters in humanity, fellow souls for whom Christ died. Do you feel pain over this? Does your heart break? Many days I fear that people of God are not concerned about this. Many times I’m afraid that we are hoodwinked by the devil into believing that there are bigger issues, more time-worthy problems to deal with than people who are dying and going to hell. May Paul teach us a lesson on having passion for the lost! Even after he was so mistreated, his heart still broke over his lost brothers and sisters and he did all that he could to convert them. 

I will say it again, you aren’t allowed to read this verse until you’ve read through chapter 8. Because only if your heart is so melted by God’s grace would you be able to consider giving up your own salvation for someone else’s sake. Just like Paul, if we wish to foster a love for the lost, we need to focus on our Savior. Through his love, the Holy Spirit will protect you from both despair and apathy concerning those who do not love Jesus. He will work in you a tenderness that seeks to reach out to anyone you can with the Gospel all the while rejoicing in the grace of God which is yours forever in Christ.

Amen.