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Romans 9:1-5
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
New International Version (NIV)
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What is your highest wish for America? Is it for physical healing from the Coronavirus? It is political, that a particular group will control the government? Is it financial – that the economy would be restored and people would get their livelihoods back? Growing up in Germany gave me a different perspective on being an American than my cousins and friends who grew up in the United States. With my dad, my family represented the United States military in Germany only 24 years after the end of World War II. The people there were very kind to us. My churches were comprised of Americans with a few Germans who joined us. Every day, I woke up and dreamed of going “home” to America. So after four years we arrived in Washington D. C., just in time for Watergate. It was the most boring year of television in history for an eleven year old who had gone four years without American television. On the other hand, we found a good church with a sixth grade Sunday School teacher who loved Jesus and cared about his students. After one of the most painful years in the life of my family, we went back to Germany for four more years. Once again I marked the calendar waiting to go home.
Was the Apostle Paul a patriot for Israel? It is an interesting question. He calls himself a Hebrew of Hebrews. He grew up going to the synagogue in Tarsus, part of a Jewish family scattered around the world. As a boy he dreamed of going to Jerusalem to learn to become a Rabbi. When he left home, he joined the school of the Pharisees and studied under Gamaliel. Paul was a Jew for his whole life. He was also a Roman citizen by birth. Ultimately, he wrote to the Philippians and said, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20).
Right after the great crescendo describing God’s love at the end of chapter eight, Paul expresses his heart’s desire for his fellow citizens of Israel. Paul’s heart was broken for his people. More than anything Paul wanted his fellow Jews to come to know their Messiah Jesus. They had every opportunity from his point of view. God did so much for Israel giving them adoption, glory, covenants, the law, the temple worship and the promises. Somehow most of them did not recognize Jesus as their Messiah. Paul so badly wanted them to be saved that he said he would give up his own salvation and be accursed if he knew they would be saved.
Each of us has a unique experience of America. True, we share so many great privileges as citizens of this great country. But recent weeks have revealed again the profound brokenness and pain of so many in our country. When our founding Fathers wrote about equality and freedom, the ugly institution of slavery eliminated those very things for many in our country. To this day, economic advantages are not equally available to every person in our country. We do not all start in the same place with the same experiences. I am reading a book by a young African American woman whose parents gave her a white man’s name so that when she applied for jobs she would be more seriously considered for employment. Friends tell me conversations they must have with their kids about interaction with police. My parents never had those kinds of conversations with me, nor I with my sons.
With Paul, my great prayer for America is that we would come to know Christ as the center of our lives and as the answer. So many in our country still do not know Christ. Even some who claim to know him deny him by our lives. I have medical, economic and educational hopes for all people in our country. But I have a greater spiritual hope for our country. I pray that we will so love God with heart, soul, mind and strength, that we come to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. I pray that Christ will be the center and we will live what we believe. Will you join me in that prayer?
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Pray with me:
Father, how we thank you for the blessings of being in this country. We ask that those who claim to follow you would put you first in every area of our lives. Deliver us from the evil of systemic racism. Help us to lament the wrongs done to others, by others. Reveal to us if there is an iota of hatred in our hearts for anyone. Let your amazing unconditional love permeate our lives and saturate our souls. Let our hearts be broken by the things that break your heart. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Join us in memorizing the Word. Scripture for this week:
Matthew 6:1-2
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.
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| Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan. Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week. In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year. Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.
Joyfully,
Duane
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