A Word to the Saints of God—Lectionary Reflection for Advent 3A (Romans 1:1-7)

El Greco, St. Paul

Romans 1:1-7 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, ² which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, ³ the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh ⁴ and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, ⁵ through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the gentiles for the sake of his name, ⁶ including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

⁷ To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

                ****************

                The Gospel of Mark (not the Gospel reading for the day) opens with the words “The beginning of the good news (gospel) of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). This is the basic Christian message—Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and this is good news. It is a message that Paul felt called to deliver to Gentiles (non-Jews). In fact, he calls himself an apostle set apart by God for this purpose.

                Advent is a season that too often gets bypassed as we race from Thanksgiving to Christmas. I admit the Christmas carols are a bit spritelier than the Advent hymns, which often have a more somber tone. I am, however, one who appreciates the Advent hymns. How can you not sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” during the weeks leading up to Christmas?

As we gather on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and therefore the final Sunday in the season before the arrival of Christmas on Christmas Eve, we have before us this opening passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans. Because Paul had never visited this community, he wrote this letter to introduce himself, letting the people in Rome know who he was and the nature of his message. He did this because he expected to visit them before too long. While we can’t date it precisely, it appears that Paul wrote this letter before his final visit to Jerusalem, which, according to the Book of Acts, led to his arrest and subsequent imprisonment in Rome. At this point, which was probably around 57 CE, Paul was still free and hoping to not only visit Rome but head further west to Spain.  

                The letter begins with Paul introducing himself as a servant/slave (doulos) of Jesus Christ. The NRSVue translates doulos as servant, which is softer in the minds of many than slave, but slave is likely the better translation. The use of servant suggests Paul volunteered for this job of preaching the Gospel, whereas slave suggests that this is an involuntary calling. In his view, he didn’t have a choice. This was God’s doing.

Not only is he a slave of Christ, but he is an apostle. God had chosen and called him to be an authorized, credentialed witness to the Gospel. Thus, as Michael Gorman notes, in Paul’s view of his calling, “Having seen the resurrected Lord (1 Cor 9:1; 15:8-9) and having been commissioned by him seem to be the two basic requirements for apostleship in Paul’s view. He summarizes his apostolic ministry as being a witness to, and agent of God’s amazing grace and peace (1:7)” [Romans: A Theological  & Pastoral Commentary, p. 60].

Finally, he declares that he had been “set apart for the Gospel of God.” In Galatians 1:15, he suggests that God had set him apart for his ministry before birth, cementing his claim that this wasn’t a choice on his part.  Beverly Gaventa writes:

Here Paul describes his “set-apartness” with the bare phrase “for the gospel of God,” the emphasis falling on the gospel itself rather than on the special task assigned to one set apart. Like the word “apostle,” “gospel” (euangelion) also is an ordinary term for “good news,” and the exact nature of that good news Paul will introduce in the lines that follow and then unfold in the letter as a whole. The only specification is that the gospel comes from God. [Gaventa, Romans (New Testament Library) (Kindle p. 111)].   

The focus then is not on Paul, but the message itself.

                As Paul continues, he identifies the message (gospel) he is tasked with delivering as one that had been promised by the prophets of old in the Scriptures (Old Testament). With this affirmation of a connection with the earlier Scriptural tradition, Paul brings into the conversation what may be an early creedal statement concerning the identity of Jesus. Thus, the good news that Paul is commissioned to proclaim speaks of God’s Son, who is also descended from David “according to the flesh.” If you are a theological traditionalist when it comes to the identity of Jesus as being fully human and fully divine, this statement will resonate. It suggests that Jesus has a dual identity that involves descent from God and David. The latter supports his messianic identity, for the messiah is said to descend from David.

                In verse 4, Paul proclaims that this gospel he proclaims concerning God’s son and descendant of David is “declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.” However, we understand this sonship of Jesus, Paul speaks here of God’s vindication of Jesus’ divine sonship through the resurrection of the dead. Thus, we have revealed here the exaltation of Jesus. As to whether this involves the preexistence of Jesus, that is not revealed, though what is said here does not preclude it. In other words, we need not read this in an adoptionist way, such that Jesus’ sonship is due to the resurrection rather than inherent in his identity.

                Karl Barth, of course, has something to say about what Paul reveals here. Writing in his commentary on Romans, Barth speaks of two planes intersecting. There is the known and the unknown, both intersecting in Jesus, who descended from David according to the flesh. Barth writes that “the name Jesus defines a historical occurrence and marks the point where the unknown world cuts the known world.” The period of Jesus’ lifetime marks an “era of revelation and disclosure; the era which, as is shown by the reference to David, sets forth the new and strange and divine definition of all time” (The Epistle to the Romans, p. 29). It seems, following Barth, that in Jesus the divine intersects with the earthly. While this disclosure could have occurred at any point in time, it takes place in this moment when Jesus “has been declared to be the Son of God.” Here lies, Barth writes, the “true significance of Jesus,” that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the end of history. He goes on to suggest that “as Christ, Jesus is the plane which lies beyond our comprehension. The plane which is known to us, He intersects vertically, from above” (Epistle to the Romans, pp. 29-30). Barth recognizes that this declaration is beyond history. It is something we receive by faith.

                Not only does Paul make this confession concerning Jesus divine Sonship and Davidic lineage, but it is through Jesus that he received divine grace and apostleship, so that he might bring about the obedience of the Gentiles for the sake of Jesus’ name. That includes, he tells the church in Rome, them, such that they also had been called to belong to Jesus Christ. When Paul tells the church in Rome that they belong to Jesus, that has important implications for who they are and how they live in the world. As Michael Gorman notes, in making this claim, Paul is letting them know that Jesus is the one who has “inaugurated God’s salvation, righteousness, and justice in the world.” Therefore, “such claims are implicitly a challenge to Rome, with its own claims to being the good news of universal sovereignty, salvation, and justice, embodied especially in its own royal figure, the emperor” (Gorman, Romans, p. 63).

                While Paul addressed Christians living under Roman rule, reminding them that they belonged to Jesus, to whom they owed their ultimate allegiance, might we hear a similar message, especially those of us living in the United States? Many have embraced the message of “America First,” which seems to suggest a nationalist call for allegiance to a particular nation, and at times, a particular leader. Does the Advent message not call on us to consider again to whom we belong? Paul called himself a slave of Jesus. Is this not our identity as well? While I love my country of origin, I believe Paul would want us to recognize that there is a higher calling than allegiance to country, a flag, or a leader.

                Our reading concludes with a brief benediction offered to all of God’s beloved who dwell in Rome, those who are “called to be saints.” While this is the opening of the letter, it has the feel of the benediction when Paul writes: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (vs. 7). Yes, grace and peace come to us from God and the Lord Jesus.  So, we sing:

                O come, O come, Emmanuel,

and ransom captive Israel,

                That mourns in lonely exile here,

until the Son of God appear.

                                Rejoice, rejoice,

 Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel

                O come, Desire of nations,

bind all peoples in one heart and mind;

                Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;

                Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace

                                Rejoice, rejoice!

                                Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

The day of Emmanuel’s arrival is near at hand!