February 7, 2010 Romans 10:18-11:6

But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says, “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Most people don’t like it when the weather forecasts rain or snow. Yet without rain or snow our plants and crops wouldn’t grow. We’d die of starvation. In spite of the complaints, God doesn’t listen to us. He keeps on sending our much needed precipitation. So also God works with His grace. Like it or not, want it or not; He keeps on showering it down.

The Grace of God Keeps Pouring

I. On people who reject it

Moses was about to die, but before he went the way of the earth he gave his final sermon in the book of Deuteronomy. In it Moses does a history lesson with the Israelites. He reminds them of how gracious the LORD was for them; and how they would respond. They would choose other gods; adopting the gods of the people that lived in the area and trying to worship them and the LORD. It was not a matter of if; it was only a matter of when.

Read through your Old Testament and you will see a pattern of the Israelites continually turning to other gods such as Molech and Baal. It wasn’t that the people weren’t religious; you could almost say that they were too religious. They wanted more than one god; they wanted a little bit of everything. It had become a part of the culture of the Israelites to have a zeal for all kinds of religion.

Read through the New Testament and you will find a large group of very religious Israelites who tried to fight against this idolatry and did all they could to keep the law. They read it. They memorized it. They interpreted it in such a way that they could methodically obey it as well as possible. Nobody could accuse the majority of the Jews of being indifferent towards religion. They were religious as well.

Paul encountered all types of cultures as he traveled throughout Asia Minor and he made note of the contrasts. The Cretans were generally a very lazy group of people. The Athenians were very religious with all types of gods. His own culture he labeled as being very zealous for the LORD. They were more than willing to study and listen at their synagogues and to do whatever duties were placed before them. He writes, Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” It reminds me somewhat of the Mormons who are very hard working and studious within their religion. The Hindus are also very zealous in trying to do the right things within their religions. Ten percent of Hindus actually claim to have Jesus as their god. Yet in spite of all of their studying and their zeal, what did Paul say of them – and not only Paul but Isaiah as well? “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.” In the end of all of their history, Moses’ predictions came true. The people continually were going to the synagogue, but in the end they were doing what they wanted to do. They were hearing, but not listening.

So the LORD compared it to holding his hands out to a child. Imagine the picture. You go to visit your grandchildren whom you haven’t seen in some time. You hold your hands out and say, “Come here Savannah, come give me a hug!” Savannah runs on by to play in the yard. An hour passes and Savannah comes in for lunch which you have prepared. “Come and give your grandpa a hug!” Savannah runs by to eat. All day long you hold out your hands, and Savannah hears what you are saying, but refuses to come into your grasp. She is too busy playing to be held by anyone. This is what God compared the Israelites to. They wanted to eat at the house and play at the house, but in the end they didn’t want to do anything that the Lord said, which was even more of a slap in the face of the LORD than someone who never stepped foot in the house in the first place.

The same runs true of all of the religious people who love to step their feet into a house of worship and hear the Word of God but take none of it to heart; to remain disobedient and obstinate. To be obstinate means to speak against the very things that the LORD says, to argue with Him. I think of the Jews who live in Jerusalem yet today. With hope and passion many look forward to the day they will be able to build a third temple and the new messiah will come to establish a new day of worship where the holy of holies once was. They study and memorize the Old Testament in the original Hebrew language. Yet through all of their studies they ignore the glaring passages that clearly point to Christ and absolutely end up speaking against His work. So while trying to grow closer to God they end up slapping Christ in the face. While trying to obey the law and do everything their rabbis tell them they refuse to repent of their sins and believe in the only true Messiah.

The same rings true of any religious system that even references Jesus, but only uses Him as a step ladder to somehow get right with God. Jesus becomes their example and the role model through which to get God’s grace. If they get baptized like Jesus did, take the Lord's Supper like He said, give to the poor and love the weak, then this system of religion will make God love them more and work through them more on the pathway to heaven. If you try to tell them that their best of works are only like filthy rags in God’s sight, they will only argue and ignore your pleas to repent. I recall very vividly describing to a Mormon missionary that Jesus did all that was necessary for his perfection. He said, “I wish it were true, but I can’t believe that.” He was so convinced that his system would work. He couldn’t believe that righteousness and holiness and forgiveness could be given to him all at once through faith and through baptism. In the same way, the Jews of Paul’s time and many of them just wouldn’t cling to the one true LORD. Time and again they sought to go outside the boundaries of God’s Word and break the First Commandment.

II. To people who don’t know it

How did the LORD respond? Moses told the Israelites exactly how the LORD would respond to their rejection. “I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.” The LORD would turn His attention to the Gentiles and send His prophets and apostles to them. When Jonah was asked to go to the people of Nineveh he was absolutely outraged at the thought. He ran in the exact opposite direction towards Spain. Not only were the Ninevites violent enemies of the Jews, but by going to them Jonah also knew that the LORD was turning away from His people. He was moving on. The picture of Ezekiel has the fiery glory of the LORD lifting up from the temple and moving away. The LORD was not going to be treated like a desperately lonely individual who will wait forever for a spiritual date. Even though the LORD had worked hard to establish the people of Israel and let them know who He was through His Word, He was not going to just stand by and watch His people go after other gods. He was going to move on. He would find other nations and tribes to establish a completely new relationship with. He would be willing to start from scratch and introduce Himself openly court all languages and tribes.

We are a result of their rejection. Some people might be offended at this. In relationship terms it is sometimes referred to as “sloppy seconds.” It makes us seem so secondary, so leftover as a race and a tribe. Does this make God a racist? Does this make Him somehow partial to Jews? Not at all. Paul later on says in Romans 11:32 that, “God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.” The very fact that God would want to have a relationship with any of us; whether he chooses us first or second or last; it is an honor and a privilege. The fact that the holy God would look at us poor miserable sinners and slaves of Satan say, “I want to make you my child. I have sent my Son to pay for your sins. Now I will bathe you in His righteousness. Now I will send my Holy Spirit into your heart. Now I will make you my property; and take Satan’s grips off of your soul.”. . . Who of us can claim to have earned such an honor? Who of us would dare to complain when or how God did this for us? This would be like being invited to a dinner at the President’s house and then complaining because you were not the first one invited or if you did not get the best seat.

The amazing thing is how the LORD made us His children. Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.” This idea among Christianity today that every person has the ability to find God if they just ask Him into their hearts or if they just make the right choices; it is all so contrary to the Word of God. Or the idea that we have to somehow put ourselves on the market and make ourselves available to God; it flies in the face of what God says. We were born in darkness; hostile to God (Romans 8:7). We weren’t seeking Him. Yet in His mercy He decided to bring Christ to America, Japan, Russia, Africa and beyond and show us our salvation without our asking. In our infancy God’s Holy Spirit washed into our souls and opened our minds to who the true God is; born, crucified, and risen from the dead for the salvation of the world. He said to us, “Here I am, the only true God! Here I am, dying on a tree. Look no further. Find me hidden in this crib and at this cross and in this grave, living and dying for you!” This is how Epiphany takes place. God reveals Himself to us without our asking. Who would have thought that we who live two thousand years after Jesus and live thousands of miles away from His birth and death place would come here on a weekly basis to hear about this God? We never would have found this truth were it not for the LORD reaching out to us and finding us and showing us the truth. This had nothing to do with our choice or our work. It had everything to do with God’s mercy. It always does.

III. For people who don’t deserve it

Now that the LORD has “moved on” from the Israelites, what does this mean for them? Paul answers this question. I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Paul first of all uses himself as an example. If the LORD didn’t give up on him even as he went to persecute Christians, then the LORD hasn’t given up on the Israelites either. Even in the most godless times; when Elijah had to face over 450 prophets of Baal on his own; the LORD never gave up on the Israelites or completely rejected them. When Elijah thought there was no one left the LORD had still reserved seven thousand to the true faith. These people were hidden from Elijah’s eyes and dispersed throughout the thousands of Israelites; but they were there. Throughout the history of the Israelites we never see the whole nation being saved; but always a remnant being saved. Even in the most blatant unbelief the LORD never completely rejected His people, even though He knew them very well. He still loved the Israelites and wanted them to be saved, just as He loved the Gentiles and wanted them to be saved. It’s never been a matter of either-or. It always has been a matter of both-and.

This is so important to understand, especially in today’s world. It’s what makes the statement of Pat Robertson so theologically bad; to think that the LORD just gave up on a whole island of people because their leaders somehow made a pact with the devil to be freed from French tyranny. He doesn’t just give up on families, nations, or tribes. All day long He holds out His hands, as long as the sun still shines and hasn’t fallen from the sky.

If you’ve done some awful things, never think that it’s too late for you; that God has given up on you; that He no longer wants you any more. If you know someone who has gone down the dark road of drug abuse, lies, and sexual sin, don’t think that it’s too late for them; that God doesn’t want them any more. Even as God reached out to the Gentiles He was still thinking about the Israelites, wanting to rouse them to jealousy. You might compare it to someone who has gone through a divorce after many years of love and devotion due to the unfaithfulness of a spouse. This happens to Christians as well. They move on in their lives after it becomes evident that the spouse has gone off of the deep end. Yet even in moving on, with an indescribable Christian love, they hope and pray that their ex-spouse will come to a realization of how foolish he or she has been. The problem is that after the jilted spouse has been remarried there is never a chance to reestablish that first relationship in marriage. But with God there is! Even though God is the wronged party; even though He did nothing wrong; even though He moved on to the Gentiles; He was still willing to take the Israelites back and remarry them as well. He truly wants all to be saved.

So how can this relationship be mended? How can those who have been unfaithful really ever hope to mend such a long lifestyle of sin and rejection? Some come to church and Christianity and want ways to make up for what they have done; they seek ways to try and make right what they have wronged. If a church offers a system, a choice, a series of loops to jump through; they think to themselves, “Finally, I can make up for my sin.” But this is not the true path to remedy. Paul said, So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace. Rather than pointing rebels to choices and works they can accomplish to get right with God, Paul simply points them to the grace of God. God has always been patient. God has always been forgiving. God has always been kind and loving. Just look at the cross and tell me God is not gracious. Look at the cross and tell me your sins have not been paid for. This whole salvation of Jews and Gentiles has always relied on one thing and one thing alone; the grace of God in Christ.

This is the greatest and most far spreading Light that the LORD has to offer to the world. No matter who you are, Jew or Gentile; no matter where you have been or what you have done; the grace of God in Christ is for the sins of the world. God’s love is for the unlovable. If you have been acting with hatred towards God, then His love is for you. If God could be patient and kind and forgiving to Paul who persecuted and participated in the death of Christians, then what worse could you have done? If God still wants Jews to be saved after their long history of turning to idols and rejecting Christ their own Messiah, then why would you think that God couldn’t or wouldn’t forgive you and want you into heaven? This is what salvation is all about; grace – not works. Salvation is never dependant on what you can do to make up for what you done. It has always been dependant on what Jesus did to make up for what you’ve done. If you have done the most miserable things imaginable then God’s grace can and will look all the more glorious on you. This is what He wants!

Weather men and women are paid to try and forecast whether it will rain or snow; what the degrees will be and how hard the wind will blow. It must be a frustrating job and humbling job to try and predict where the clouds and winds will go. Many times they have to change their predictions several times within a day. After watching the weather for years it is easy to see that the weather is in many senses unpredictable.

So it is with our gracious LORD. His grace keeps on pouring like a cloud of rain from one place to another; and we really can’t predict how and where it will work. As the LORD shifted gears from the Jews to the Gentiles, some may have thought that His forgiveness and grace would never be offered to them again. Yet if there’s anything we learn from this lesson is that God’s grace is unpredictable and it is very generous. So never give up on people. Don’t be afraid to water the earth. Never give up on sharing the Gospel. You never know how and where His grace will grow. Amen.