Paul’s Lament for His People—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 10A (Romans 9:1-5)

 Romans 9:1-5 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own brothers and sisters, my own flesh and blood. ⁴ They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; ⁵ to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

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                When Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome, he was introducing himself and his message to a fledgling community of Christians. He wanted to introduce himself because he was hoping to visit this community for the first time. Unlike many of his other letters, he wasn’t writing to a community he had helped create. It’s likely the community in Rome had heard of Paul and his ministry but may have had questions about his message. Since this community, like the ones Paul had been part of, likely included both Jewish and Gentile believers, it’s not surprising that he decided to speak to his views on the subject. Here in the season after Pentecost in Year A, the Revised Common Lectionary has provided preachers and students of Scripture several readings from the Book of Romans. This includes several readings from Romans 8, the last of which comes from Romans 8:26-39. In that passage, Paul speaks of our connection as humans to the entirety of creation but also reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, the passage offers us a message of universal restoration that includes all of creation, since its redemption will accompany the redemption of humanity.

While Romans 8 offers us this word about universal redemption that includes creation, a question remains regarding God’s relationship with the people with whom God had covenanted. This would be Paul’s own people, his fellow Jews. Although Paul understood his mission to include proclaiming the good news about God’s realm among Gentiles, that doesn’t mean he had forgotten his roots. He was a Jew, and even as he worked to bring Gentiles into this new community of believers, he also hoped that his own people would embrace the message. With that in mind, Paul devotes chapters 9-11 to the question of how the Jewish people fit into this new mission. Aspects of this message seem to lead toward an anti-Jewish or supersessionist view, such that with the advent of Jesus, this new community replaces the Jewish people as God’s covenant partners. Even if Paul did not believe this to be true, as time passed, what he had to say about Jews and their connection to Jesus was used by Christians in anti-Jewish ways. This is true even in Progressive Christian circles. Of course, at the time Paul was engaged in his missionary work, the community had not yet become predominantly Gentile. As Sarah Lancaster reminds us, Paul did not know or foresee “that Christianity and Judaism would eventually define themselves in contrast to each other, that Christianity would become the religion of the empire, and that Christians would use that power to persecute the Jews.” Therefore, because our situation is different from his, “his insights about Judaism have to be considered in light of the history that we now have” (Lancaster, Romans: Belief, p. 155). Since we are living at a time when antisemitism is on the rise, even as actions on the part of the nation of Israel relating to Palestinians living in the occupied territories have raised the stakes. It is right to condemn Israel’s actions while not blaming Jews in general for those actions, especially in light of the history of antisemitism that Christians have engaged in.

With this extended introduction, we turn to the Second Reading for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Romans 9:1-5. This brief, even truncated, passage speaks to Paul’s concern for his own people who seem unwilling to embrace the message he had been preaching. He begins with an oath of sorts, declaring that he is being truthful in Christ, his conscience affirmed by the Holy Spirit, that he has “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” because his people haven’t embraced this message, which has been so life-changing for him. He goes so far as to declare that he wished that he was accursed and cut off from Christ for his people. In other words, he would gladly offer himself up as a sacrifice if that would help bring them into the fold.

                Having offered up his lament on behalf of his people, whom he wished to draw into the circle of Christ, he moves in verse 4 to affirm Israel’s covenant relationship with God. To them belongs adoption, something Paul had spoken of earlier in chapter 8, where he suggested that not only Jews, but Gentile believers had been adopted by God, so that they might become children of God. In fact, because they are God’s children, they are joint heirs of God’s promises with Christ (Rom. 8:12-17). Not only are Paul’s Jewish kin adopted children of God, but to them belongs “the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. That last word, the one concerning the Messiah, is important to Paul, because it is a reminder that the one whom he represented, Jesus, is also the Jewish Messiah. This is true, even if most Jews did not recognize him as their Messiah. So, to anyone who would question Jesus’ Jewish identity, here is Paul’s reminder that he was, according to the flesh, Jewish. With that, the reading ends. Of course, Paul’s letter doesn’t end here. To understand this opening word, we need to keep in mind the larger context of Romans 9-11.

                Whereas Paul laments the response of his fellow Jews in this opening reading, if we continue reading into chapter 11, we come across a reference that suggests that Paul still believes that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:29). But, even if that is true, in the intervening chapters and verses, Paul creates considerable ambiguity. In fact, in the verses that follow our reading, Paul suggests that not all Israelites truly belong to Israel. He seems to suggest that there are descendants of Abraham according to the flesh who are not his descendants according to the Spirit (Rom. 9:6-8). This is where we find the seeds of supersessionism, such that followers of Jesus are the true spiritual descendants of Abraham, and thus they replace the descendants according to the flesh. So, perhaps Paul does believe the rejection of Jesus as messiah has its consequences, which is why Paul is grieving. At the same time, he doesn’t shed his Jewish identity and appears to suggest that in the end Israel will be saved. Why? As Paul writes in verse 6 as he continues his lament, the Word of God has not failed. We might also return to that word about nothing separating us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Could it be that even though in Paul’s view Jesus is the mediator of that love, it could extend even to those who had not embraced him as Messiah (Rom. 8:38-39)? That is, if the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. So, might we believe that Gentiles could be adopted into the people of God without replacing Jews? After all, as Paul states, it is from the Jewish people that the Messiah comes forth, so that we might share in the blessings of God’s love.

Ultimately, is it not true that God doesn’t belong to the church? Because we do not possess God, God transcends our grasp. Therefore, we don’t get to control access to God. As Grace Ji-Sun Kim puts it: “God remains in control and will accomplish God’s redemptive purposes. The missional life of Christians is expressed by how we live, share, and work for justice with others who are also God’s people” [Preaching God’s Transforming Justice, p. 344]. Although Paul is not always easy to interpret, I think we can embrace this message.