God's Gifts and Calling Are Irrevocable

The Spirit Comes
Woven together in Love

Gifts of the Spirit

Romans 11:25-32  The Message

^25-29 I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what’s going on and arrogantly assume that you’re royalty and they’re just rabble, out on their ears for good. But that’s not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the outsiders so that we end up with a full house. Before it’s all over, there will be a complete Israel. As it is written,

A champion will stride down from the mountain of Zion;
    he’ll clean house in Jacob.
And this is my commitment to my people:
    removal of their sins.

From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Message, it looks like the Jews are God’s enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God’s overall purpose, they remain God’s oldest friends. God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded.

^30-32 There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God. But then the Jews slammed the door on him and things opened up for you. Now they are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in.

 

For Reflection

 As the early Christian movement developed churches and gained a foot hold in society many Jews did not convert.  Some were openly hostile to the Christian movement and to its converts.  As a result a strong antisemitism developed. Paul, in this letter to the Roman church denounces such action and belief about those that remained in the traditional Jewish faiths.

If one asks, "Are the Jews still God's chosen people?"  The answer is found here in Paul's letter.  Clearly, the answer is yes.  Soon as we merge our faiths, Paul writes, we will all walk through the door into God's kingdom and God will welcome us all.

Pray

prayers for the living God.  Pray for the unity of all God's people.  Pray that in spite of our individual differences, we all will see and respond to God who resides in us all.