Year A. 4th Sunday of Advent Romans 1: 1-7 December 23, 2001
Title: “God became a human.”
“The Letter To the Romans,” appears first in the Pauline corpus, the collection of letters either written by Paul or by a disciple of Paul, because it is both the longest and the most important. As such it has played a major role in the development of Christian theology throughout the centuries. It was written and sent from Corinth in the winter of 57/58AD to a long established Christian community composed of both Jews and Gentiles. Probably the gospel came to Rome from Jerusalem as early as the 40s and the Christianity lived and taught there was of the Jewish, more conservative, more versed in the Old Testament and Jewish heritage, bent rather than of the Gentile type we find in the churches Paul himself had founded. In the first century AD it is estimated that there were between 40,000-50,000 Jews in Rome. Throughout the Empire Jews numbered about 4,500,000 among a total population of about 60 million. Some proportion of these would also be Christian. Jews would have made their way to Rome, as to other cities, as merchants, immigrants, fugitives and even captives from the Palestine/Syria region. Some of these would also be Christians, bringing the faith with them to a new land.
While Paul makes the same points in Romans about justification by faith vs. the Law as he did in Galatians, he does so in a much more reasoned way, more respectful of Jewish ears and sensibilities. Paul intends to make a missionary trip as far west as Spain, having finished his mission in the eastern Mediterranean, and Rome would be an excellent base for that mission, much as Antioch and Philippi were for his work in the east. He wants to introduce himself and his theology to the Romans before he gets there. They might have heard of his letter to the Galatians. Some scholars would say Romans is the first “commentary,” on Galatians or even read it and entertained some doubts about Paul’s orthodoxy. Before going to Rome he was about to take a collection, raised from his Gentile churches, to Jerusalem. Given the connection between Roman Christians and those of Jerusalem, a friendly word from Rome would not hurt his cause if they were convinced he was not prejudiced against Judaism. Also, at Rome, as elsewhere, there was the tension between the “strong,” those who did not feel bound by the dictates of the old Law, and the “weak,” those who did, see Romans 14. Paul, ever the apostle, would feel a responsibility to do what he could to present the gospel as he had received it from the Risen Lord himself.
In verse one, Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ. A Greek would not refer to himself as a slave of a king or even a god. Since the time of Greek democracy in the fifth century BC that sort of thinking was frowned upon. Yet, a Hebrew would use such language not only to describe his relationship to the king but to God. Moses, David and the prophets from Amos on, all were called or called themselves “slaves,” of God. Paul is completely at his Master’s disposal.
Called to be an apostle. “Apostle,” like “slave,” is a somewhat technical term from Jewish culture. In Hebrew shaliah, “messenger, ambassador, apostle,” means “one sent.” Such a one was legally empowered to act, within pre-arranged limits, on behalf of the sender. Such as covered by the law of agent/principle today. In the Christian Church it could mean anyone of the large numbers sent out from Jerusalem and other places to spread the gospel or it could refer to the Twelve as apostles. Paul here equates his ministry with that of the Twelve. He is a special envoy with a special mandate. He is “set apart,” for the express purpose of proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles. Anything or anyone “sanctified,” or “consecrated,” was considered “set apart,’ “holy” in Hebrew as belonging to the sacred sphere, the property of God. Hence, a “slave of God,” God’s property, is to be used for God’s purposes and only for those purposes. The Greek word used here, aphorizo, would sound somewhat like the Hebrew root, p-r-sh, for “separate,” a root at the base of the word “Pharisee,” the separated ones.” Paul was a Pharisee before his conversion.
In verse two, promised previously through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Paul is not only establishing the legitimacy of what he preaches, rooted in the Old Testament revelation, but his own legitimacy to do so. He is saying, in effect: “I believe the traditional faith just like you.”
In verse three, descended from David according to the flesh. Here begins a creedal formula consisting of two lines in antithetical parallelism. Line one relates Jesus to the “flesh,” earth, his Davidic ancestry, his human origin; line two relates him to the “spirit,” heaven, his divine origin.
In verse four, established as the Son of God in power. The word translated as “established,” is from the same Greek root as “set apart,” in verse one. Christ belongs to two spheres, as do we as Christians, denoted by “flesh,” and “spirit.” These are not contradictory but complementary spheres. Though they are different one from the other, they cannot be “separated.” In history, Christ’s natural birth preceded his “designation,” being called, appointed, established by God as “Son,” Christ always was and is God. Paul is not saying Christ became God at some point in human history, but that he became human. It is not that a human became God but that God became a human. “In power,” means that he, who during his earthly ministry was the Son of God in weakness and lowliness, became by the resurrection, where and when the manifestation of God’s power took place, the Son of God “in power.” God in the person of his Son revealed himself in weakness, of the flesh, that humans might know him by faith, without the confirmation that comes from physical sight. Then, at the resurrection, he disclosed his formerly hidden power for all to see or, more correctly, for all who would see.
According to the spirit of holiness. This refers to the Holy Spirit. It is a very Semitic way of doing so, using a descriptive genitive rather than an adjective. This must have been a very early Christian formula for the Holy Spirit and Paul must be quoting it, most likely to show the Jewish-heritage-friendly-Roman-Christians that he is orthodox. It is the only time in his letters that Paul uses this pre-Pauline, pre-Gentile Christian expression.
In verse five, through him we have received the grace of apostleship. All Christians are “apostles,” in the sense of being sent by God to do his bidding, to represent him on earth. That is given by grace, the grace who is Jesus Christ. Christians take him with them into the world. The first ‘apostles’, the Twelve, the seventy-two, and all the others might have received that “grace,” through their experience with the earthly, fleshly Jesus. But not Paul and not Christians who have come after the original band of disciples. Like Paul, all Christians now receive that grace through the divine agency of Jesus, even if it be through humans who do the preaching and give the good example.
To bring about the obedience of faith. That is, believing obedience, obedience to Christ by putting trust in him, “for the sake of his name” or on behalf of his name.
Among all the Gentiles: The scope of Paul’s vision and work is the entire known world regardless of race.
In verse six, you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ: As Paul is the property of Christ, his “slave,” so also are all Christians. All Christians are “set apart,” from the world, even though still in the world, “made holy,” that is, of the very nature and character of Christ, the “beloved of God,” as Christ is his beloved Son, called to be holy.” They are singled out as the people of God because of God’s love for them, not because of any qualities they have.
In verse seven, grace and peace: This is the typical Christian greeting Paul gives in any letter he writes to Christians. It recalls Numbers 6: 24ff, the priestly, Aaronic, blessing. Greeks would typically greet one another with chaire, “rejoice,” from which the very loaded Christian term charis, “grace,” comes. Hebrews would typically greet one another with shalom, “peace.” Both terms carry the full theological sense of the favor of God to humans, the cause of the reconciliation between God and humans, with peace as the result or effect.
From God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: These benefits come not from Paul, although through Paul, but from God. Jesus Christ is joined in parity with God as equal in status. This is the germ of the Trinitarian doctrine of Christianity. Paul has now introduced his letter, himself and his “gospel.”
Sermon
The term “Pharisee,” means “Separated.” Paul was a Pharisee before becoming a Christian. When he was a Pharisee, like so many of them, he thought of himself as “separate and unequal,” unequal to the hordes who did not observe the Law as he did. They were “unholy,” not in line with God’s character. Now that he has become a Christian he realizes that ‘separate,” does not mean “above,” others, only “apart,” from those still “fleshly,” those who are still trying to live their lives on their own power. Paul has lost the condescending attitude that a self-righteous person typically has. If God in Christ could “condescending,” to enter into humanity by becoming a human himself in order to save the “unholy,” then Paul, his slave, has no cause to be haughty. He, too, was saved, not by his own good works, but by God’s good grace.
For Paul Jesus was Lord, his only Lord. As such he was a slave. “Lord’ describes one who has undisputed possession of a person or thing, the master, the owner. Yet, Jesus was a unique Lord. He actually gave himself up out of love for Paul and for all others. Because of that Paul believed he no longer belonged to himself, was no longer his own master, but belonged to the Lord. As such Paul did not think of his life in terms of what he himself wanted to do, but in terms of what the Lord wanted him to do. Paul’s plan, Paul’s dreams, Paul’s daily agenda were no longer his, no longer regulated and determined by him. The Lord sent him wherever he willed to do whatever he commanded. Paul was a slave and a very happy slave at that. For he was a gifted slave, given grace, undeserved and unearned favor, from and by his Master. He put aside trying to earn his way by good works of the Law into God’s favor. He already had God’s favor. In the light of what God had already done for him in Christ, Paul’s only question was: “ What can I do for you, God?” If the Law laid down what a person must do, the gospel tells of what God has done. That changes “good works,” from things done to get “grace,” and favor to things done because grace has already been gotten, out of gratitude for favors received.
For Paul God became what we are, human, a descendant of David according to the flesh so that we might become what he is, and thus become a beloved child according to the spirit of holiness. We are to become, in terms of function, what we already are, in terms of essence. Thus, Jesus was no ordinary man. In fact, he was no merely extraordinary man either. He was both man and God. If Jesus had lived an exemplary and exceptional human life, which he did, and then died, that would have been the end of it. He would have been numbered among and sung in history as one of the “greats,” a heroic figure, larger than life. But, he would have been one among many. History is filled with such examples. Jesus’ uniqueness lies in his resurrection from the dead. The others are dead and gone, now only a memory. Jesus lives on and gives us his presence, living and powerful presence here and now. His grace and peace are indeed with us always. Paul’s “blessing,” was no mere wish to the Christian Romans. It was a statement of fact, religious fact, invisible in itself, but made visible every time a Christian opened his or her mouth or acted. The “difference,” between Christians and others is not that Christians are morally superior or endowed with human characteristics others are not. The “difference,” is the presence of Jesus Christ in every action and interaction. There’s the power. Christians “see,” it; others sense it. Some are so attracted by it that they “become,” what Christ has made it possible for them to become. Others turn away or pass up or postpone the opportunity, the kairos. Paul was determined to reach as many people as he possibly could before it was too late for them. As slaves of the Lord and his apostles as well, that should be the mission of every Christian. Paul did not let the dailiness and drudgery of life quench the sense of urgency, the enthusiasm for life, real life, and the joy the divine presence brings. He disciplined himself to be aware of Christ’s presence and that awareness made his life different, a difference he wanted to share with others, calling it a “blessing,” when speaking to fellow Christians and “the gospel,” when speaking to future Christians.
By Baptism Christians belong to Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is simultaneously human and divine.
Jesus Christ rose from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Through the power of Christ’s Holy Spirit now dwelling within the Baptized, Christ still lives on earth sanctifying all who receive him and faithfully obey him.
Through the Baptized Christ continues to give divine grace and peace to all who are open to him.
Belonging: We rightfully think that any human being who is happy to consider himself or herself a slave of anyone or anything to be deluded or demented. Slavery still exists in our world, though, thankfully, it is not nearly as widespread or acceptable as it once was. However, very few, if any, of those slaves are happy about being so. Slavery goes against the human grain and is wrong. Moreover, people who are “slaves,” in the sense of being addicted to a substance like alcohol or mood-altering drugs or food or sex or religion or relationships are hardly happy. Yet, Paul speaks of himself, happily, as being a slave of Christ. In 6: 15-23 he expands on what he means by being a slave “of righteousness,” rather than a slave of sin, a slave “of God,” that leads to sanctification. Clearly Paul is using the term in a different way than the world understands it. Being a slave of God or Christ is a free-will relationship one freely enters into, not really enslaving at all in the commonly understood sense of the term. Also, in 8: 17 Paul calls Christians “heirs,” the opposite of slaves, of God and “joint heirs with Christ” because they are “adopted” children of God. Finally, Paul has stated that in Christ there is “neither slave nor free person” (Gal3: 28. See also Col3: 11). When we allow the rest of Scripture, or, in this case, the rest of Paul, be the operating principle, the hermeneutical principle, whereby we interpret what a particular verse of Scripture or Paul, means, we come away with a different sense of it. Paul is using “slave,” as a metaphor for one aspect of our relationship with Christ. In its fullness that relationship can be compared to slave, to child, to apostle, to minister, to disciple, and to a variety of functions Paul calls “charisms.” In this metaphor, namely, that of slave, Paul wants to express how much we belong to Christ and how important free-will obedience to Christ is. True, we are friends with Christ and true, he is our brother, making us all brothers and sisters in the Lord, but true, also, we are his servants and slaves. In the ancient world a slave owned nothing, not even himself or his body. He or she was property, not even legally a human being. In being a “slave of Christ,” we not only are human beings, not only are free, we are also and at the same time, property, the property of God. Now, God owns everything and everyone anyway, so it should come as no surprise to us that we are owned by God. But, until we die, we are not owned and operated by God, unless we acquiesce. God gives us more freedom than other human beings do. He lets us decide for ourselves whether or not we will obey him or obey Satan. From this perspective, we are either slaves of God or slaves of sin. If a slave has no property of his or her own, no rights as such, neither does a slave really have a name of his or her own. Masters rename their slaves at will, in order to stress that their identity is related to their master not their family. In Baptism, we are named by God, and what is most important is not who we are, but whose we are. Our identity is intricately and inextricably related to the identity of God. All this happens to us, thanks to Christ.
One Christ: While there is only one Jesus Christ, his Spirit is now free, thanks to his death and resurrection, to be within every Christian. In this way, Christ can still walk the earth and be heard and see, only now through Christians who represent him and who re-present him. What Christ gave to others when and while he was confined to his earthly body, he now continues to give through the body, bodies, of his Church. We, Christians, are now the arms, hands, legs, mouth, eyes, ears, head, and heart of Christ in our world today. Through us Christ continues to bestow the grace and peace of God our Father, his own peace, his Spirit’s peace. Amen.
