Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The Epistle reading for August 20, comes from Romans chapter 11, verses one through to a 13 through 15. And then 28 through 32. Here we go. I asked then has God rejected his people and by no means for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin, God has not rejected his people whom He foreknew so then it skips down to verse 13. Now I am speaking to you Gentiles in as much as then I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world. What will their acceptance mean, but life from the dead? Then it skips down to verse 28. As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For just as you were at one time, disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience. So they too, have now been disobedient, in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy for God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Here ends the reading. What an interesting reading this is, and our lectionary doesn't do us any favors by dividing it up. It really is trying to give us a flavor of the whole thing by cutting out all sorts of pieces, but we lose quite a bit. So it begins with St. Paul writing. I asked them has God rejected his people, by no means for I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. Now in Romans, chapter nine and 10, St. Paul has been raising the question, What about Israel? What about God's chosen people now that the word of God has gone gone out to the Gentiles? So he says, obvious question, Has God rejected His people. And he points to himself, he a believer in Christ is also an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, and a member of the tribe of Benjamin. And then he says in verse two, God who has not rejected his people whom he for knew what he happened, what he says, then is that in the rest of the text, there is a, a sort of jealousy that is being given for the Jews, and a fall so that the Gentiles can be saved. And he goes to verse 13, now I am speaking to you Gentiles in as much as then I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world. What will their acceptance mean, but life from the dead? So it's interesting, when St. Paul went out and did his ministry, every place he would go, he would begin by teaching in the synagogue, he would go there, as a as a guy, Rabbi, teacher, he would often give sermons that would point out that Jesus is the Christ and the Savior. And then he would get rejected. And so he would go from synagogue to the Gentiles. And he sees a sort of pattern of the Jews, God's chosen people, Israelites reject their God. And then it is that message then moves out to the Gentiles. So it's almost like the the rejection of Israel leads to the bringing in of the Gentiles into the church. And so here he says, Well, if God's promises are going out to the Gentiles, maybe that will make them jealous, the Israelites so that they become Christians, too. So let's move on to the next section of text. As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but as regard to election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers, for the gifts in the calling of God are irrevocable. So it is interesting here that At St. Paul is threading this line where he says, with the Gospel, the people who reject Christ are persecuting you. That's what they did with Paul, they would persecute him from town to town. But yet we can't say that there is no connection. They are beloved, because of the forefathers. That is because of the the patriarchs of the Old Testament. Because the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, God's call still goes out to all of Israel to be saved, come to be with Christ. He continues, for just as you were at one time, disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience. So they too, have now been disobedient, in order that by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. So what it's saying is, their disobedience means that the message of the gospel went out to the Gentiles. And now he is praying that the disobedience would lead to mercy to the Gentiles that would then lead to Mercy to Israel. When he goes in verse 32, for God is consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. This is just pointing back to the basic theme that all are sinners, and the only thing that can save us is God's mercy. What are our reading skips over is a really interesting metaphor for understanding what is going on in the relationship between Old Testament Israel and the New Testament Church. He uses the metaphor of an olive branch broken off and onto a tree. The the olive tree is Old Testament Israel that God planted, it's a it's a good tree that produces good fruit. And what God does then in the church as he takes Gentiles, and he grasps the Gentiles onto the branch of the good tree, and so all who believe in Jesus Christ are grafted into the promise of Israel, the promise of Abraham, the Jews, the people of Israel, who reject the promise of Abraham and reject Jesus Christ are cut off like branches that are cut off from the tree. And so St. Paul is showing how the promise of Israel is still continued through the church and the church is inheriting the promise given to Abraham now that we are the true Israel through Jesus Christ. What he's hoping is that by bringing this message to the Gentiles, that the branches that were cut off, might be grafted back on again. St. Paul is hoping and praying that his brothers and sisters of descent in Israel might come back to Christ and be brought into him. That's the end of our reading today. Hopefully, we'll see you on Sunday.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai