Romans 15:4-13; Cross Cultural Welcoming in Romans I

"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6 so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing praises to your name”; 10 and again he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people”; 11 and again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him”; 12 and again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse shall come, the one who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Introduction

We often look at the salutations at the beginning and the exhortations at the end of Pauline letters as little more than "fluff," i.e., words that almost need to be added in order to make the letter a "letter." It is like the "pardon me's" or "very nice to meet you's" that we utter all the time, when we probably couldn't care less that we just met the person to whom we profess it was nice to meet. But, in fact, that isn't the case for Romans at all. The closing section, of which our text is a part, is significant because it brings together themes which Paul has been developing throughout Romans. And, even more significantly, it makes its major point (welcome---v.7) through the use of an "objectionable" characterization of Christ, that Christ literally was a "servant of the circumcision" (v. 8). Paul has something very specific on his mind, then, in this passage, and it is to develop a philosophy of "cross-cultural welcoming" which is rooted in the example of Christ and builds upon the central meaning of the Christian faith.

Paul uses the Epistle to the Romans to develop his philosophy of "cross-cultural welcoming." He has never visited the congregation at Rome but rather than letting that be a liability, Paul embraces this absence as an advantage. How? By developing a theology which gives a significant and necessary role for both Jew and Gentile in the people of God. In the first three chapters of Romans Paul "brings the Jews down a peg." That is, he not only shows the need of all humans for the Gospel, but he firmly points out to his fellow Jews that they had all the advantages and didn't recognize the Christ (Rom. 2-3). This was, indeed, God's purpose--as shown forth in the life of Abraham (Rom. 4). God's desire is to establish a principle of membership in the people of God that makes membership available to all and is not simply related to one's parentage or heritage. Faith, glorious faith, will be the anchor concept of Christian faith (Rom. 5-8).

But, what about the Jews? Have they been thrown to the side as unnecessary since the basic principle of Christianity, faith, is available to all? If it is available and easily accessible to all, why not discard the Jews? If each individual can invest in the market him/herself without requiring a broker to buy shares, why even have brokers? (this might cut too close to home to some!). Paul's words in Rom. 9-11 stress the vital and continuing importance of the Jews in the plan of God. Though he was seemingly ultimately wrong in his hope ("all Israel will be saved"--Rom 11:26 (Paul means through recognizing Christ as Lord)), he restored the historical and theological priority of the Jews in the scheme of God in Rom. 9-11. Thus, by the time we arrive at the "exhortation" section of Romans (Rom. 12-15), Paul has all the building blocks in place for a theology of mutual need--Jews need the Gentiles to show them the eagerness and unencumbered nature of faith; the Gentiles need the Jews to give them (us) grounding, depth and perspective on the Scriptures and theology. This mutual need lies at the basis of his exhortation to welcome each other in 15:7.

If I were pointing out three points from this passage, I would probably call them: (1) Christ's Example; (2) Cross-cultural Welcoming: and (3) Christian Patience. But the point which moves the entire passage is a very simple one--and it is expressed in the difficult-to-translate verse 8. It is worth taking some time to get at the translation, however, because the point buried in the verse is potentially revolutionary for congregational life. In short, it will be that Jesus became a most objectionable person, from the perspective of the Gentiles, in order to win over the Gentiles. How can this be? Well, let's look at the text, and at the next essay.

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