Sermons

Septuagesimae Romans 9, 14-26
Pastor Alexander Mielke 20.01.2008 MLC

¹⁴What then are we to say? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. ¹⁷For the scripture says to Pharaoh, “I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. ¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use? ²²What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction; ²³and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” ²⁶“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they shall be called children of the living God.”

Dear Congregation,

Martin Luther has said: “It is not possible for a person to determine the end and the beginning. This is said in opposition to the free will, that it is not ours to be masters of time. Therefore, people trouble themselves in vain, and, indeed, they gain nothing, before God has set the time and the hour.”

This is the fundamental statement also of this paragraph of the Letter to the Romans, in which Paul emphasizes: God is the Lord of history. He grants special times, during which his call can be heard and his grace can be experienced. This lies in God’s hand, not in the hands of us humans.

The theme of these verses from Romans 9 is often called “Predestination” of “God’s Election, God's Choosing”, which is not easy to understand. My sermon shall have two parts today. The first, which deals with this theme on principle. A second part, in which I want to report how I could experience God’s way of calling and choosing the people of the Massai.

Paul points out that the free will of a human has no power before God. He cites Exodus 33, as God says: 

“For he says to Moses: ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." (Roman. 9,15)

And then Paul underscores: (V.16):

“So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy.”

The predestination teachings have played a large role for the Reformers. Always for Johannes Calvin, which has greatly influenced the Reformed Church. In Martin Luther’s case in the beginning, but less later on.

When Luther composed his famous paper against the great humanist Erasmus „On the Bondage of the Will”, he emphasized here that a person is totally dependent on God, that God’s choosing is everything, beside it, the will and the good works of people have absolutely no importance. But in his two catechisms he hardly wrote anything about these, even though they should represent the basis of the Evangelical faith.

The big question that was posed, was: What is the relationship between Romans 9 and 1. Timothy 2, 4, where it says:

“God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.“

If God desires that all men come to believe, then a part of them cannot really be rejected! If the human will has no power before God, why, then, do not all people find faith?

The Lutheran answer to these questions is briefly stated, in contrast to Calvin and the Reformed Churches: Choosing and rejecting are, for God, not equivalent alternatives, which are secretly hidden in him. God's eternal choice for salvation has the precedence; and where we come to the faith in the gospel, there we may be certain, that we are chosen.

So it is formulated in the Book of Concord, the doctrinal foundation of the Lutheran Church from 1580, in article 11:

“The Scripture, with this teaching,

> wants to direct us to the Word of God;

> guide us to penance;

> strengthen our faith;

> and assure us of our salvation.”

Another quotation:

"The eternal choice of God is a cause which creates and promotes our salvation, so that the ’portals of hell’  are powerless against them’: as is written: “And no one is able to snatch them out of my hand.”

According to the Lutheran understanding, the teaching of God’s eternal choice has nothing to do with fear of rejection or damnation. It should work two things in us:

1. That we are humble before God. When we find faith, when we can do something worthwhile for God and for people – then we must confess: It is God’s strength which does this within us. We alone would not be able to do this, it is God’s grace which grants it to us and uses us.

2. That we have confidence in faith. Our salvation is not founded on our often weak faith, but on God’s choosing. God has chosen us as his beloved children, and he will keep us, lead us and help us, far beyond our weak and inconsequential faith.                                                                                                                              

And that means – as Paul points out here in Romans 9:  There are particular times of grace in the life of humans and peoples. Let us just think of our own life. There were certain moments, when our faith has opened up. When we understood what faith can mean in our life. Because people have particularly testified to that through word and deed. Because we have had experiences in our life, sometimes very dramatic and painful, through which we have realized how valuable faith is. And these were decisive moments: Are we going to give in to faith? Are we going to listen to God’s Word? Will we let God guide us now? Or will we refuse all this? Do we want to continue a life without Jesus? The moment of grace is also the moment of decision. Where God lets us experience his grace, there we become free to say Yes or No to his grace.

Paul speaks of such a moment of grace. The gospel goes out to many peoples. At that same moment, many in Israel refuse to believe in Jesus. And now it happens outside of the Jewish people, what Paul describes in verse 26:

“And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people’, there they shall be called children of the living God.

That means, Paul is witness to a moment of great mercy: God’s choosing goes beyond the area of Israel, it goes into the wide world of the peoples.

On Tuesday, I spoke with my Deacon David Tin of the Rhenish Church in Markham, who says: Presently, there is such a moment of grace in China, many people find faith in Jesus Christ, there are fast growing Christian congregations.

Ten years ago, I was able to experience this in East Africa. Among the people of Massai, there were many who found Christ; a wide opening for the church came into being.

My family and I lived in Tanzania from 1993 to 1999, about 100 km south of Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. In my area, I mainly worked with two tribes: the Pare, a group of mountain farmers, and the Massai. They are cattle nomads, tall, slim figures with their bright red cloths, pictured on many African photos and posters. They were always proud of their traditions, and even though there have been missionary efforts devoted to them for over 100 years, only few people were open minded towards the church.

In the eighties, this, however, changed. And when I drove into the steppe on Saturday and Sunday, to conduct a Church Service, I could baptize at least ten people every time. Many children, of course, for Africa continues to have the highest birth rate world wide. But also many youths and adults. Once we had a Christmas celebration with an absolute top count of 50 baptisms in one Church Service: 30 children, 10 older adults and 10 young people.

This has many causes. Later on, I can tell you more about it. Now I just want to say: it was wonderful to experience the enthusiasm of the people for Jesus, to be present at this time of a new start, particularly in comparison with the Church in Germany, where the membership declines, where the daily church life is fraught with difficulties.

And the experience was just as Paul describes it in Romans 9 (V. 25+26):

God says: “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people’ they shall be called children of God.”

We were of different ethnic origins, and still we all came together in one church service. Blacks and whites, Massai and Pare.

I was not only there as development aid worker or government expert who helped them or advised them in some factual issues, although projects like health centres, alphabetize programs and women’s groups played a large role. As a white man, I was allowed to be their Pastor and counsellor, we prayed together, they entrusted me with their worries, we celebrated communion together.

The Massai herdsmen and the Pare farmers had been enemies in earlier times. I have a book with stories about the Pare people; many tell of raids by the Massai worriers on Pare villages, where many people died and the livestock was stolen. But Jesus brought those former enemies together. Becoming reconciled through Jesus who died for their guilt on the cross, they could sing and pray together, celebrate communion, be the loved and chosen children of one God. Truly a moment of grace in the history of these peoples.

Among the Massai, there used to exist a problematic  belief of being chosen. Formerly, they told the following story: In the beginning of the world, when God created the world and the animals and the people, there were first three brothers. To every one of the three first human brothers, God gave a certain item and thereby a special responsibility. To the first brother God gave a hoe, and he became the forebear of farmers. To the second he gave a bow and arrow, and he became the forebear of hunters. To the third he gave a shepherd’s staff and said, “To you and your descendents all livestock on earth shall belong.” He became the forebear of the Massai, who looked down on the farmers disdainfully, because they had to work hard digging in the earth, who ridiculed the hunters, because they had to run a long time after wild animals. And when the Massai raided neighbouring villages, stole the livestock and killed people, they believed to be in the right, for God had chosen them as the rulers of East Africa, and, according to God’s will, all livestock was their possession.

This was a very problematic selection belief. A very different selection belief we find in a Suahili song in the Tanzanian songbook:

Ee, watoto njooni,

njooni Golgota,

mtazameni

Yesu aumizwavyo!

This means in translation: “Children, come, come to Golgotha, see what suffering Jesus is taking upon himself for us!”

Being chosen means in the New Testament: All people are God’s children, the message of salvation is valid for all, all are called into the community of the reconciled, all are invited, to lead a life trusting in God the heavenly Father.

Paul speaks of this being chosen in his letter to the Romans, and being chosen is our hope, the hope for the entire world! Amen.