Life at PazNaz

Abraham Believed God (4:1-8)

- We must again remember the primary issue that Paul is addressing in Romans – the division between the Jewish and Gentile Christians over the issue of obedience to the law and circumcision in particular.  In chapter three Paul describes the righteousness of God as unmerited favor apart from obedience to the law.  Now, in chapter four, Paul will use Abraham – the father of the Jewish faith – as an example of faith preceding obedience to the law.

- Tradition held that Abraham was just a typical “pagan” before he was called by God to follow him and be conformed to his will and his way in the world.  Abraham, therefore, started where all people start, distant from God.  Separation was where God met him, but it was not where he left him.  So Paul’s main point is that Gentiles come to God in the same way that Abraham came to God, by faith.

The Father of Both the Circumcised and the Uncircumcised (4:9-12)

- In these verses Paul returns to the primary point of contention – circumcision.  His argument is fairly straight forward: Genesis 15 (when God establishes a covenant with Abraham) comes before Genesis 17 (when circumcision is given to Abraham and his descendents as a sign of the covenant).

- So the question is posed, how do people enter into this relationship of covenant with God?  By faith or by flesh?  Obviously Abraham entered first by faith.

The Promise (4:13-17)

- In Genesis when God covenants with Abraham he promises him that he and his descendents would inherit the land know as the land of Canaan.

- For Paul, however, and indeed for the whole New Testament, the idea of a holy land, in terms of one strip of territory over against all others, has simply vanished.  In its place are the beginnings of a completely transformed idea of land: that the whole world – in Romans 8 the entire creation – is claimed by God as “holy land,” and is promised to Abraham and his family as their “inheritance.”  God’s covenant justice been oriented toward setting the whole world right.

Hoping Against Hope (4:18-25)

- Central to the story of Abraham and Sarah is the reality of barrenness.  They were physically incapable of fulfilling the promise on their own.  “Hoping against hope” they put their faith in the God who promised apparently impossible things.

- What Paul is saying is that in Abraham’s faith, and in faith of the same kind, human beings are put back together again and enabled to rediscover what a genuinely human life is like.

- Humans ignored God, the creator; Abraham believed in God as life-giver.  Humans knew about God’s power but did not worship him as God; Abraham trusted in God’s power.  Human beings did not give God the glory he was due; Abraham gave God glory.  Human beings dishonored God with their bodies; Abraham discovered in God, new life in and through his body.

Reponsive Reading
Week 2 - The Nails

Leader:

We lay before the cross today the nails with which we pierced the hands and feet of the Son of God.  Nails are usually used for construction.  They strengthen the joints of a building so it can stand against the elements.  These nails, however, were used for destruction.  They forever symbolize our attempt to destroy God’s holy temple.

Congregation:

Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy upon us.  Forgive us for our violent rejection of your revelation. Help us to say “no” to destroying one another.

Help us to say “yes” to the cross.

Leader:

Jesus was crucified because he did not fit our expectations of holiness.  He died between two criminals because we considered him a law-breaker, a threat to our traditions, and a friend to sinners.

Congregation:

Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy upon us.  We are so prone to self-righteousness and legalism.  We too easily create boundaries that eliminate from our fellowship the people you cared about the most.  Help us to say “no” to all forms of spiritual pride. 

Help us to say “yes” to the cross.

Congregational Prayer:

O God, whose glory it is to always display mercy: Be gracious to us in the midst of our self-centered piety.  We have worn ourselves out trying to attain a righteousness formed in our own strength.  May our confidence be only in the crucified Christ.  May we receive by your Spirit a holy life that exceeds our capacity to be holy.  Transform us by your grace we pray.  Amen.