10:30 am, Sunday, August 6, 2023

(Gen 32:22-31; Romans 9:1-5; Mtt 14:15-21) FBCA, J G White

Here we are, together for worship of the Living God. We bring ourselves, and put ourselves in this place together, no matter what else is going on in life. We bring our lives before God, together. We start a new week with new hope. For we have our own anguish and anxieties, not only for ourselves, but for those near and dear to us.

Today, we peek again into the New Testament book of Romans, presented to us as a long letter from the apostle Paul. At this point in the letter, Paul is looking back to his Jewish people, with their traditions, their history, their faith, which go back hundreds of years. Paul is in anguish over them, so upset that so few have recognized the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. “For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my siblings.” (9:3)

With Paul’s deep feelings, I could just as easily have called this sermon ‘Semitic Sorrow,’ or ‘Hebrew Heartache.’ I called it ‘Aramaic Anguish’ for the sake of alliteration.

It can be important to express anguish over those we want to have faith. We each have different experiences of wanting more for those we love. It can be as simple as longing for someone to ‘see the light’ and get connected to God through Jesus, like we are. The Baptist tradition is rooted, partly, in evangelicalism, with its deep concern for people to be saved by Christ, and be assured they will live for God here in this life, and the next. But our faith also believes so strongly in individual human freedoms, including the freedom to choose to be a follower of Jesus, or not. So we pray, and we find the best ways we can find to show The Way.

There are many people who had experience in churches, but do not take part in any community of faith now. What is the number of young people who spent time in these hallowed halls, or those of Trinity-St. Stephen’s, and are no longer youths, but are no longer practicing Christians? The deep longing that is akin to what’s in Romans 9 is a genuine concern for people to have a better life. It is not so much about making our Church congregations more successful; it is about the people who could use a faith community.

There is also the anguish over loved ones who are simply going a wrong way in their day-to-day lives, as we see it, and we wish they would find the right path. I think of a young man I met in Amherst this past winter. I had known him back when he was but a child. It was good to get reacquainted. I’m not sure what he has been doing, where he’s been living. His grandmother is a long-time friend of mine. I know she is concerned about him: is he taking care of himself? Is he taking his medication? Is he finding work? Is he keeping in touch with immediate family, or not?

Sometimes people wish they could do something, even give up something to help someone they care about; a bit like the apostle Paul. He seemed willing to do anything to convince his fellow Jews that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Paul said so. And we confess our anxieties for those dear to us. This also leads us to prayer.

A second thing I pondered this week, from Romans 9, is this simple fact that our religion comes out of Judaism. Remember: our Faith is built from another, older tradition. More pages of our Holy Bible are the Hebrew Bible than the New Testament. Seldom do we notice, or acknowledge, that we took their Holy Book, claimed it as our own, and added to it. Perhaps if we saw it more often in its original Hebrew language and Aramaic language, we’d remember the deep roots of our Faith.

It is important to remember from whence we come. It is so valuable to have some deep roots to grow from, and not be simply creating and inventing our own spirituality in this century. Looking in to the Hebrew Bible, we see how they valued their history - or, needed often to be reminded of it, for the sake of living well!

For instance, thousands of years ago, when they got into their promised land, they were to worship and make their first offerings of their first harvest by reciting a speech that began with this:

A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populus. (Deuteronomy 26:5)

With a brand new start, they were to remember their ancestors. The Arameans, by the way, were people from a region of the Middle East, including the ancient Hebrews, the Jews. In some Bible times, the Aramaic language was spoken; words of this common language pop up in the scriptures, and a big part of the Old Testament’s book of Daniel was written down in Aramaic.

From the wandering Arameans, Abraham and Sarah, to his contemporary Jewish rabbis and leaders, Paul understood and respected the faith, the traditions, the beliefs the Jews had. Their life with God was rich; their stories dramatic and dynamic. From this fertile ground the Messiah arrived, and the new faith in Jesus grew. A thorough study of our book of Romans will teach us the place of Jews in the plan of God on earth.

So this brings me to a final observation from chapter 9. There is so much in Christianity, passed on to us from Judaism. Our spirituality is rich and full. So, remember all the aspects of faith, such as those Paul listed here. I could play with words again, and name them all starting with the letter A. From our Hebrew faith roots we gain

the Adoption

the awesomeness (glory)

the agreements (covenants)

the axioms (laws given)

the adoration (worship)

the assurances (promises)

the ancestors (patriarchs)

and the Anointed One (Messiah/Christ).

The holy glory of God is shown in the story of the Hebrews. The covenants between God and people grow and blossom thru history. The giving of the law - as a gift to people - is celebrated. The worship of almighty God develops and evolves in Judaism, and keeps growing in Christianity. The promises of God are there in the past, and fulfilled in bright new ways by Christ. The ancestors, the patriarchs, have their stories still told: like that today of Jacob wrestling and getting a new name, Israel. And from Judaism comes their Messiah and ours, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God, our Saviour, Teacher, Master and Friend.

And there are so many other facets of the diamond we call Christian Faith! No wonder we have a sermon every week. Speaking of this, in the next Sundays, I am going to move ahead to Romans chapter 12, and stretch it out over four weeks. It is a rich chapter that can influence our community building.

Until then, we express our own anguish - to one another and to our God - and find that a sorrow shared is halved, while a joy shared is doubled. May it be so; in the name of God the Parent, the Sibling, and the Spirit. AMEN.