Today, Terri were in Hutchinson, Kansas staying with Terri's family to see her grandmother who recently broke her hip and to go to a Family Reunion for her dad's family. As an added bonus, we went to Terri's home church, Grace Bible Church, which is one of the best places I've been to hear God's Word preached. Anyway, I was not disappointed. I got a full five pages of notes.
Anyway, they've been going through Romans for about 3 years now and have reached Romans 11:1-5 this Sunday (only 5 more chapters to go ;). <rant>I think it's pretty sad how the "modern" church tries to get through Bible books in a hurry and it's refreshing to see a church that's still willing to listen and a pastor that's willing to preach at this steady rate. If you cover a chapter, or even a dozen verses a Sunday, you have to skip so much. It's better if you stop and listen to the Bible and stop flitting around trying to just finish the book.</rant> This was a large section for Rick to hit in a single Sunday, but it was a breaking point that fit the passage. The major technical difficulty, which he addressed pretty well, was the fact that this is one of a series of points in a passage and involves a number of cross-references.
The main point of the passage is that God doesn't back out of promises and we shouldn't lose hope because we can't see what He's doing.
I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? "Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life." But what is the divine response to him? "I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. — Romans 11:1-5
So what was God trying to tell us through Paul? First, God has not rejected his people. The term "May it never be!" is used to state the triple negative in the Greek, meaning "abso-freakin'-lutely not." Just because not many are coming to Christ doesn't mean that God isn't meeting his promise to save Israel because his promise is to save Israel as a nation, not every individual member. Paul's first verse then says, "Uh, duh! Who am I? A Jew! See, God is still saving some from the Jews."
Then, he recounts the story of how Elijah after having a huge "mountaintop experience" (both figuratively and literally) where he's just mocked the prophets of Ahab and Jezebel whom worship Baal by burning them up in fire from heaven. Immediately following this experience he runs and hides in a cave for fear that Jezebel will find him and kill him. He then asks God why he's all alone. God's response? "Nope. Not alone. I have seven thousand faithful men other than you." Elijah's pride led him to a pity-party for himself where he isolated himself rather than basing his own perceptions on the promise of God.
Paul uses this as an implication to say, just as Elijah wasn't alone in his day, neither are the remnant of Jews. God will have for himself a group of saved Jews because God doesn't back out of his promises. Rick put it this way, "God could have saved one [Jew] and been faithful, but God has extended far beyond that." And thus, "God's choice of a believing remnant is not an anomoly." God chooses to have a remnant for Himself, so there are some whom have been redeemed.
In pitying ourselves, we isolate ourselves and take pride in false martyrdom. In reality, "The way is narrow, but it's never as small as you think." "Paul is letting us know that He's not done with Israel as a nation." While this is specifically directed toward God's promise to the Jews we can rejoice in the same promise that He will save whom He chooses. We might feel alone, but we're not, we're just indulging in self-pity. "Feeling alone is simply a lack of faith." "We judge our situation by outward appearance rather than the promises of God." Romans 5:6,15,20-21 all give us the promises we should live by. "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6) "But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many." (Romans 5:15) "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 5:20-21)
Therefore, we should not take pity on our hard circumstances. I disagree with the church philosophy of my own church. Yet, I know that God has placed Terri and I in this circumstance for a reason, even if it means that Terri and I must work harder to stay optimistic in our situation. "Living in a wicked culture inclines us to pessimism." Christians can lose their jobs for being "religious" at work. Christian students are sometimes even arrested for praying on their high school campus. Pastors are frequently kicked out of communities because they want to preach the word because doing so is unpopular and the Bible doesn't promote our vaunted rights and capitalism. Show me a passage that does and I'll show you a passage taken out of context.
And yet, we need not be concerned with the wicked acts of the world. As the old adage goes, "it will go the way of all things." Eternity is a long time and the achievements made by this world in evil deeds of sinfulness and self-indulgence will be a feeble blip on the timeline to come. As such, we should look to God's promises, which He always fulfills in perfect faithfulness. That should be our optimism. Don't let circumstances drag you under, let God's promise to be good (Romans 8:28) be enough. It will get better; He promised.
N.B. Any un-cited quotes above are quotes as I transcribed from Rick Goertzen during the morning sermon at Grace Bible Church on August 7, 2005. While this document follows the outline of his sermon today, it is my extrapolated thoughts on the subject.
