The Resilient Dynamic of Self-Salvation
- davidwperk
- Jul 12, 2024
- 8 min read
Devotional Reflection, Friday, July 12, 2024
Proper 9, the week of the seventh Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
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.
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 975)
AM Psalm 16, 17; PM Psalm 22
Deut. 31:7-13,24-32:4; Rom 10-13; Matt. 24:15-31
Today we celebrate the Feast of Nathan Söderblom. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
On the basis of Paul’s autobiographical statements in Galatians 1 and 2, we usually think of him primarily as a missionary apostle to the Gentiles; yet, his passion for his fellow Jews to know Christ also comes through in his writings. The Epistle to the Romans presents his most mature thought on issues with which he had wrestled in the eastern ministries in Syria-Palestine, Asia Minor, and Greece (earlier expressions of some of the content of Romans can be found in 1 and 2 Corinthians and Galatians). Two dominant issues in that eastern ministry were Jew-Gentile relationships (as in Galatians, expanded in Romans 1-8) and issues arising from the encounter of Christianity with Gentile religion and culture (as in Corinthians, and in Romans 14-15).
In Romans 9-11, he confronted the issue of Israel's rejection of the Messiah and of the Christian message. The Jesus movement, already in the 50's, was meeting stiff resistance within Judaism to the presentation of Jesus as Messiah. Paul had come to see himself as part of a believing remnant within Judaism. If God had promised salvation in Abraham through the Hebrew peoples (Genesis 12:1-3), how could God be said to be faithful now that many of the descendants of Abraham were excluding themselves from the fulfillment of that promise while that promise was being experienced by a growing number of nonJews?
As Paul put it in Romans 9:6, "It is not as though the Word of God had failed." His answer is threefold. In chapter 9, he states that salvation had always been experienced by a remnant within Israel, and he numbers himself and other Jewish believers within that remnant. For them, God's faithfulness has been realized. In chapter 10, he argues that salvation is and has been by faith and that many within Israel have excluded themselves by rejecting the way of faith in Jesus. In chapter 11, he maintains that Israel's rejection is temporary, that there will be national conversion. Again, to quote a key verse, "all Israel will be saved" (11:26).
As you read these chapters, you will find some of Paul's ways of arguing and using Scripture strange in a twenty first century cultural setting. Even the issue itself feels foreign to our concerns. Also, you will notice the consistent use of the pronouns "they" and "we" and "you." When he says "they" or "we" he refers to Jewish believers. "You" refers to Gentile believers. Yet, though his ways of arguing may be culturally determined, his key concern about how one responds to God’s saving work in Christ remains central.
The Daily Office for today, Romans 10:1-13, comes at the hinge point of these three chapters and is a ringing affirmation of faith as the way of salvation. In the first 4 verses, Paul uses the word "righteousness," a term from the legal system, which in this context means to be set right with God, to be in right relationship to God. He bemoans Israel's determination to pursue that relationship with God apart from faith in Christ.
For Paul the concept of Law is a complex matter. He is arguing that Jesus fulfills the entire Jewish legal system. To place confidence in anything other than Jesus is to attempt to ascend to heaven. Rather, what we must understand is that Christ has come near us in the preaching of the Gospel (v. 8), and that is God’s approach toward us in Jesus. That preaching stimulates our faith response. (Romans 10:17, "Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.").
We can be guilty of misreading Paul’s teaching that Judaism as a religion of works apart from faith. Hebrew Scripture teems with the understanding that faith in God is central and that God is forgiving and merciful (See, for example, Genesis 15 and Hosea 11). That’s not Paul’s point. Rather, he argues against the universal human tendency to seek salvation on our own terms.
What a refreshing concept, that in the preaching of the Christian message, Christ himself draws near us and invites us to faith. And, in the words of that message and in the presence of Christ a spiritual energy works that can stimulate our response, that can awaken us from our blindness and hopelessness and ignite a spark of hope and trust within.
These words speak to us as believers who need to believe more fully. They encourage us whose tendency is to seek to control our spiritual destiny, who keep trying to ascend, as it were. They challenge us turn loose of our own ways of struggling with God and with theological ideas as though somehow that struggle would bring God nearer, as though God would respect our "holy sweat" and be indebted to do something for us that otherwise God would not do.
I can only smile at this insight of Ernst Käsemann, German New Testament scholar and say, “Yep, he got me.” Käsemann observes:
The message of God's righteousness is a very dangerous affair. It injures our human pride and contradicts all reason when it bases earthly salvation on grace alone, once more making of us the clay the Creator must mold and help to take on life.. . . It is very annoying to hear and learn in every moment that of ourselves we are incapable of doing good. +
Consider verse 12, " the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call upon him." Even to us in our spiritual stubbornness and self sufficiency, God draws near in the preaching of the Word and invites us to receive God’s saving love and renounce yet again our pride and self sufficiency. That resilient tendency to self salvation will demand our ongoing vigilance.
A poem by Denise Levertov makes the point quite well.
The Avowal
For Carolyn Kizer and John Woolbridge,
Recalling Our Celebration
of the 300th. Birthday of George Herbert, 1983
As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.*
*Denise Levertov, Collected Poems. Ed. Paul A. Lacey & Ann Dewey. Intro., Eavan Boland. (New York: New Directions, 2013), p. 728.
+Ernst Käsemann, "The Righteousness of God in Paul," in On Being a Disciple of the Crucified Nazarene: Unpublished Lectures and Sermons. ed. Rudolf Landau. trans. Roy A. Harrisville. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), p. 21.
Collect of the Day, Proper 9, the week of the seventh Sunday after Pentecost
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to your with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 230-31)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Nathan Söderblom, archbishop of Uppsala (died 12 July 1931 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Nathan Söderblom
Almighty God, we bless your Name for the life and work of Nathan Söderblom, Archbishop of Uppsala, who helped to inspire the modern liturgical revival and worked tirelessly for cooperation among Christians. Inspire us by his example, that we may ever strive for the renewal of your Church in life and worship, for the glory of your Name; who with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Of the Holy Cross
Especially suitable for Fridays
Almighty God, whose beloved Son willingly endured the agony and shame of the cross for our redemption: Give us courage to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (BCP, 253)
A Prayer for Light
Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 280)
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 Offices in the Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 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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