10th Sunday After Pentecost, August 17, 2014The Epistle: Romans 11:1-2a; 29-32

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

Reflections: The context of this passage is St. Paul’s painful struggle to understand what it means that the Jewish people do not see Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, but the Gentiles do accept him. The Jewish people had been given the “Law” by God, a sign of God’s love and special relationship with them. To be “under the Law” was a sign of grace that was not shared with Gentiles—everybody who was not Jewish.

          Paul argues that God does not reject his people—even though the Jews refuse accept Jesus as Messiah. In fact, their disobedience by rejecting God’s messiah is the door that opens God’s mercy to outsiders.
          This (to us) tortuous reasoning is characteristic of the rabbinical style of the time, and Paul was a master. Today, however, we do not share the same assumptions, and we use a different type of logic. As a consequence, Paul’s argument can sound bizarre—especially to those not brought up in the church.
            Does this mean that St. Paul’s message is irrelevant to the people of today? To quote the man himself, “By no means!” In fact, in a world reeling from the loss of its Center, it is even more important. But if we’re not familiar with the theological language of today, what words can we use? The message of Christ is too deep and rich for any words. That part of it that strikes your heart today—that’s it. And if there are not words for that, all the better: your life is your witness.