I think it would be pretty hard to find too much disagreement across the Christian church about these things.

Transcription

1 Romans 15: Christians might disagree on a number of things about our God, but can we agree on several key things? Can we all generally agree that the work of God includes caring for the helpless, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked? Do you think we can all generally agree that the work of God includes caring for all that God has given us, all of creation and everything good that is in it? Can we also generally agree that the work of God includes raising people from the dead? I think it would be pretty hard to find too much disagreement across the Christian church about these things. But here is another question: Where is it exactly that God does all of this wonderful and miraculous work? Where is it that all of this work needs to be done? Through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 65, God promises "to create new heavens and a new earth." In Revelation, John proclaims, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God [to earth] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God '" The home of God is with us. Earth is where God's best work is done, and God has chosen the church of God's son, Jesus Christ to be partners in this work. Now we must not kid ourselves and begin to think that the earth is the full manifestation of the kingdom of God. Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians? "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face." But John the Baptist's proclamation today is that "the kingdom of heaven has come near." We hear all throughout the Old and New Testaments that it is right here on earth where God's promise of redemption and the creation of an eternal universe begins.

2 Romans 15: We see in the scriptures a faithful God that fulfills all of God s promises, promises to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to David, to Ruth, to all of Israel through the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and all the rest. Of course, we finally see those promises fulfilled ultimately in the stories of the gospels in which we hear about God giving the world his only son Jesus Christ. That's why Paul says in Romans today that all scripture "was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope." And not merely hope in the world we are promised after we die, but hope in the world God created, loves dearly, and sent us to live in before we die. Paul uses all kinds of Old Testament scripture, including part of our first reading today, to remind them of God's vision for life on earth, of the unity and harmony of all people in the hope God gives us through Jesus Christ. And Paul was not writing this letter to a congregation simply fighting over where to put the coffee pot in the kitchen or the color of the new carpeting. The Roman congregation Paul was writing to was wrangling over the deeply theological issue of whether the uncircumcised (and there were lots of them in Rome) should be admitted into their Jewish Christian congregation. The Roman Christians knew that Christ was welcoming, but, really, the uncircumcised? Was Jesus really that welcoming? To us, the plight of the uncircumcised in the Christian church might not sound like too much to get excited about. But, don t we have our own outsiders, too? Of course we have the poor, the mentally ill, and so many others with whom we find it difficult to be unified and in harmony. But, also, what about those who have left the church, or who resent the church? What about those who don t give financially or who only worship 2 times a year? What about those who have sinned against us?

3 Romans 15: And none of this is to even mention, yet, what really divides this country conservatives or liberals what about them? What about Catholics, Muslims, or Atheists? What on earth does it mean to be in unity and harmony with them? Paul s vision here starts to sound, to our modern, weathered, even cynical ears, like nothing more than a pipe dream. Thanks, Paul, for the dreamy vision but I live right here in the real world. You know, the real world where we work all week at our stressful lives and our stressful jobs, enduring and dealing with jam-packed schedules, impossible demands at work, commission meetings at church, broken relationships, sick kids, loved ones who need to be cared for, an economy that remains sluggish and unstable, serious national conflicts with the likes of Iran, Syria, and others. It's no wonder that it might be difficult to buy into Paul s vision of unity and harmony. It s no wonder that we often then turn to the Bible or come to church expecting to find an escape from the world an escape from our troubles, from our busy, ordinary lives, from all the people who make life so complicated. Like in Pastor Rick Warren's best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life." In the introduction to the book we find this promise, "Having this perspective will reduce your stress, simplify your decisions, and increase your satisfaction." Or, in Max Lucado's best-selling book, "Cure for the Common Life," the common life is treated like something that we need to be cured of. Lucado has a prescription for escaping from your common life and finding what he calls your sweet spot. "And when you do," he says, "both you and God will smile," as if God doesn't smile on the common life. But the Bible doesn't allow us to escape the world or ourselves or our lives.

4 Romans 15: The Bible keeps pointing us back to earth, back to the grieving and the poor, back to the settling refugees, back to one another, to outsiders and all those people who are so different from us. In scripture, we hear stories about a kingly savior sent by God who is really a suffering servant that ends up crucified, about God s chosen nation, Israel, who ends up conquered and exiled from the land God gave them, and about the most prominent apostle in the Bible, Paul, who ends up persecuted and imprisoned, and, the last we hear from him, awaiting his execution. We hear stories about people and whole nations who suffer and die just like you and I do here in the real world. And although God doesn't promise stress-free living and complete satisfaction in life, what God does promise and gives us in scripture is hope a real and certain hope about our future, not just in eternity, but also here on earth. Israel is taken back home to Jerusalem, Paul, despite his suffering, spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ all around the Mediterranean world, and Jesus, through his humiliating service, brings genuine new life to a world in the desperate throes of death itself. Theologian Jurgen Moltmann once wrote, "Far from leading human beings away from earth and heaven, the Christian hope leads them to the Kingdom of God, which comes on earth." Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done where? In Matthew 11, from prison, John the Baptist sends messengers to Jesus asking him if he is the one promised by God. Jesus sends the messengers back saying, "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them." You won't find blind, sick, poor, and dead people in heaven.

5 Romans 15: Amen. But, you and I both know where we will find them. Right here on earth. And it's on earth that God's work in Jesus Christ is meant to be accomplished for the sake of the redemption, of not only our souls, but of the whole world and everything in it. So when Paul says that the scriptures bring us hope, and it is this hope that will unite all people to live together in harmony here on earth, what do you make of that? Is it just an irrelevant dream of a naïve zealot writing in ancient times? Or do we take God's promise to create a new earth seriously and dare to hope that God, with you and me, will make it happen? May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.