Several weeks ago when I first asked Caitlyn Mortus if she could be with us I did not know we were going to be in the book of Romans and I had no idea we would be looking briefly at this particular passage this morning. I’ll not say any more about that but as soon as she begins to tell her story you will realize as I did that you just cannot plan things like this. Over the last several weeks we have looked at Paul’s developing case for both Gentiles and Jews being equal in God’s sight. They have different roles and responsibilities but are all included in our…

Last week we looked at Paul’s argument for God concluding all men under sin that he might include them all in grace. There is the law of the Gentiles written on their hearts and the Law of the Jews given by Moses. Both Jew and Gentile are accountable to their own laws but while there can be moral uprightness by obedience to each neither one can bring righteousness. Righteousness and a reconciled relationship with God comes from God alone – apart from both laws – and it comes only through faith. So, as he says in other places, there is no difference now between Gentile and Jew because all have…

1.  This is the defining event in the history of Israel. Through no fault of their own and not due to their sin they are enslaved for 430 years. A new king has no regard for Joseph and the contribution of the Hebrews to Egypt. He is afraid of them and their lack of loyalty to the State religion. It is also the experience that – along with the Babylonian exile – formed their character as a people. In the Exodus we also find some of the literary elements that are present even today. The first several chapters of the book are lasting examples of Jewish humor. It’s not vaudeville…

For most of us, we sketch out what we want to say, edit it, scratch out things, rearrange and reorder and only then do we come up with the final form. Others, like some claim for Shakespeare, write without edits or drafts and so quickly they can produce enormous amounts of material in their lifetime. I would like to know what it was for Paul. Did he draft and edit before sending? Did he practice what he wanted to say before reducing it to writing? Were these sermons and teachings he had given many, many times and it was only when he wrote these epistles that we see them almost…

Last week we left Paul as he described the chilling process of wrath that leads to death. It is not merely a laundry list of sins with each becoming worse than the last. It is a path with gateways that leads in a direction toward a particular destination. Just as there is a journey of sanctification there is a journey of destruction. And what is at the end of the passage that sums up the degree of their sin? What is the thing that completes the cycle? “They not only continue to do those very things but also approve of those who practice them.” What is detestable becomes normal. What…

When we left Paul last week he was in Corinth and had just finished telling the Roman church that he was looking forward to seeing them. He opens with his calling as an apostle even though much of the leadership of the early church thought of him as an outsider and someone pushing his way in. And then he reiterates his special calling to the Gentiles and we looked at all the years he had spent unsuccessfully preaching to the Jews. But, we also said it is often the case that those very things we might consider failure and wasted effort might well be God’s way of keeping us occupied…

When I was in the Navy there was one thing you could count on doing constantly. It was the paint detail. While I was never on a ship I served in a number of hard places that were surrounded by the sea ­ Italy, Bermuda, Key West ­ and every surface was subject to corrosion from the salt air. Yes, there were times when we did paint detail just to keep us busy and out of trouble but, on the whole, it was necessary because of our environment. We added layers and layers of paint to surfaces that were painted over for years. There was never any arguing with the…

Nicky Gumbel, the Rector of Holy Trinity Brompton Anglican church in London says, “Movements grow from the intersection of a personal story and circumstances.” It’s true, isn’t it? Movements cannot be explained in any other way. They do not begin without an extraordinary individual but that person must come at just the right time and under the right set of circumstances that make change possible. It’s interesting to watch the movement growing around Donald Trump right now. Conditions and personality are in perfect alignment. Erik Erikson in his book titled “Young Man Luther” said this, “Ideological leaders, so it seems, are subject to excessive fears which they can master only…

1.  Nothing ever seems to be easy in Paul’s life. Every journey is punctuated by hardship, opposition, riots, persecution, and obstacles of all kinds. I have a friend who reminds me of Paul. None of us will travel with her because the unimaginable always happens. One year she planned a trip to China to attend a conference and somehow instead of taking a plane that was going in that direction she boarded a plane going in the opposite direction. You know how these things tend to cascade with one mistake leading to another. She ended up spending five days on planes and only made the final day of her conference…

Last week we looked at Paul’s accommodation to the Council in Jerusalem – James, Peter and the other apostles and elders. Rather than confront them he agrees to take four men to the Temple for the rites of purification. As the elders say, “Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.” Paul takes them to the Temple and then waits almost seven days in Jerusalem with no incidents. But then there is a sudden storm and that is where we pick up this morning. Let’s look at the story from several perspectives – the…