Preserving a Painful Tension
- davidwperk
- Apr 8
- 8 min read
Devotional Reflection, Tuesday, April 8, 2025
The week of the fifth Sunday in Lent
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Romans reading:
10:1Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. 3For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
. . . .
10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
You will find the full text of today’s Romans reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 956):
AM Psalm [120], 121, 122, 123; PM Psalm 124, 125, 126, [127]
Jer. 25:8-17; Rom. 10:1-13; John 9:18-41
Today we celebrate the Feasts of William A Muhlenberg and Anne Ayres. (See below.)
David's Reflections
I am struck in this passage by Paul's sense that his fellow Israelites were at risk spiritually outside of a relationship with Jesus the Christ. This text does not arise from some anti-Semitic perspective. It is not easy for us to grasp how fully Jewish Paul himself was. He had facility in Hebrew; he knew his tribal genealogy (tribe of Benjamin); he was a strictly pious Jew of the sect of the Pharisees; he was a persecutor of the new Christian movement prior to his conversion. (See Galatians 1 and Philippians 3 for Paul’s own statements on these matters.) His conversion was not from Judaism. He maintained his Jewish identity throughout his life; rather, he became a Jewish follower of Jesus.
As a Christian, Paul continued to honor his Jewish roots. He attended the synagogue. He ate kosher when with fellow Jews. He made pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the pilgrim feasts. Paul was no anti-Semite. Chapters 9-11 of Romans preserve his agonized grappling with the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by many of his fellow Jews. God promised in Genesis 12 that a great people would descend from Abraham and would be God’s way to bless all. Yet, that people had rejected Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation.
Would that we shared more fully with Paul his sense of compassion for those without faith, that urgent concern for their spiritual well being. Paul was no sentimental universalist who could shrug his shoulders easily and without struggle conclude that people without faith would be OK in the end. He took the realities of sin and of Jesus' death for our sins too seriously for such casual sentimentality.
Yet, there are passages in Paul (and in the writings of his closest followers) that hold out hope for the ultimate salvation of all or most people. In Romans 11, he says of recalcitrant Israel, "All Israel shall be saved." And, in that same chapter he says that God had shut up all to disobedience so that God could have mercy on all. In Romans 5:18, he says: "Just as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man's act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all." And, in the next verse, "Just as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."
If you ask me what happens to people who do not believe in Jesus, I will answer, "I do not know." Jesus said, "Judge not that you not be judged." These ultimate decisions belong to God. I could say what my best guess, after years of agonizing, would be. I believe that the statements of triumph in the New Testament will be honored, that all or most people ultimately will be brought to life with God forever. God will triumph in his saving work with us.
Both in Paul and John, statements that point toward salvation for all stand alongside statements that those without faith will be judged. And, those two sets of statements are never reconciled. Perhaps those earliest believers share our plight. They want to affirm salvation for all but also see people at profound risk. Perhaps living in that tension would be our best course, rather than opting for an easy universalism. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I affirm that all will be saved. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, I lean toward conditional immortality, the view that those apart from faith (a minority) will simply cease to exist after death. On Sundays, I take the day off from that tension.
Even conservative evangelicals now acknowledge that the Bible does not speak with one voice on the fate of those without faith. The book Four Views on Hell, originally published in 1992, now is in its second edition, published in 2016. In each edition four conservative scholars articulate differing views on the fate of those without faith on the basis of different biblical texts.
However, the desire to share the faith with people has a more immediate urgency than what happens to them at death. What will happen to them tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, apart from the love of God? They will be deprived of forgiveness, divine love, human relationships in loving Christian community, comfort in death, transformation into God’s image in Christ, healing in sickness, meaning in life, and so forth. Even if all people ultimately ended up in heaven, we should be driven to share with them because of their desperate need for God in their lives today. How crass to take a passive stance because we believe they will be all right after death (even if we knew that for certain). What an unfeeling way to hold out on those we love. What an insensitive way to protect ourselves from the risks of serious conversation about our faith.
OK, I know. This is a devotional reflection. Why, then, the heavy theology? It seems that any deep reading of the Romans passage takes us there. Better to face the theological dilemma while living in the spirit of the Collect for Mission printed below, a prayer written by missionary bishop Charles Henry Brent.
Collect of the Day, The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 219)
Collect for Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent
Almighty God, through the incarnate Word you have caused us to be born anew of an imperishable and eternal seed: Look with compassion upon those who are being prepared for Holy Baptism, and grant that they may be built as living stones into a spiritual temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Weekly Eucharistic Propers, p. 41).
Today we celebrate the Feast of William A Muhlenberg, priest (died 8 April 1877 CE).
Collect of the Feast of William A. Muhlenberg
Open the eyes of your church, O Lord, to the plight of the poor and neglected, the homeless and destitute, the old and the sick, the lonely and those who have none to care for them. Give to us the vision and compassion with which you so richly endowed your servant William Augustus Muhlenberg, that we may labor tirelessly to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Today we celebrate the Feast of Anne Ayres, religious (died 9 Feb 1896 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Anne Ayres
God of justice and truth, do not let your Church close its eyes to the plight of the poor and neglected, the homeless and destitute, the old and the sick, the lonely and those who have none to care for them. Give us that vision and compassion with which you so richly endowed William Augustus Muhlenberg and Anne Ayers, that we may labor tirelessly to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy; through Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect for Peace
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of
any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 99)
For Young Persons
God our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that following you is better than chasing after selfish goals. Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth, but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 829)
A Prayer for Light
Grant us, Lord, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in us and shed its light on those around us, and that by its brightness we may have a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP, 101)
Daily Office Epistle, Romans 10:1-13
10:1Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. 3For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. 5Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that ‘the person who does these things will live by them.’ 6But the righteousness that comes from faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down) 7‘or “Who will descend into the abyss?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame.’
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Daily Prayer Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, p. 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p. 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
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