August 17, 2008 Message

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
“Mercy On All”

Coming home from Pleasantville Friday night, we were listening to songs on the radio. Our daughter-in-law was changing stations, as the grandchildren took turns selecting the music they wanted to hear. Both like the ‘old songs’ and classic rock – and so most of the time their selections were really pretty good. Listening to one of the Beach Boy hits of sixties, I was transported for a moment back in time, as if nothing had changed. Once again I was riding in the car on the way home, full moon and stars overhead, listening to the Beach Boys singing about things an Iowa boy could only imagine. Music can do that. It can make things seem just like yesterday – even when yesterday was a long time ago.

Brian Wilson – one of the original Beach Boys and no doubt the genius behind the group - turned 66 this summer. That’s as old as my grandfather was when I tried to harmonize on “I Get Around” whenever it came on the radio. He wrote most of their hits – songs like "Good Vibrations", "California Girls”, and “Little Deuce Coup.” But he also wrote lesser-known songs like “Love and Mercy,” which speaks of what people need most in this world. And in that song, he writes of observing people’s loss and hurt and loneliness in places of escape (“crummy movie” theaters), withdrawal (“in my room”) and crowdedness (“standing in a bar”). And like God, who is there to see our pain and suffering, he sings,
“Love and mercy that's what you need tonight
So, love and mercy to you and your friends tonight”

We live in a world in which nothing is forever. Not the beach Boys, not Brian Wilson; not cruizin’ on a Friday night. Few things are final. We love changing our minds and second chances – that’s who we are, right? And when it comes to our stuff, there isn’t anything we can’t throw out or replace. You don’t like the food in a restaurant, just say something to the manager and they will bring you something else at no charge to make up for it. You don’t like what you type on your computer, just go to Edit menu and UNDO.

Little is permanent. Little is irrevocable or final. But there are some things: Once fired, a bullet cannot go back into the gun; once squeezed, too much toothpaste won’t go back in the tube. Once claimed by God, you are a child of God forever. It’s a done deal. God doesn’t take things back. There are no “do-overs.”

For those of you who watched Seinfeld the first time around, or have seen the reruns on cable, remember the famous cigar store wooden Indian episode? The episode plays off of the phrase “Indian giver,” where Jerry uses an un-‘politically correct’ phrase when his Native American friend wants a TV Guide back that she gave to Jerry. The idea is that when we give a gift to someone, it should be irrevocable. There shouldn’t be the chance of it being taken back. Somebody gives you something; it’s yours.

Today’s text says God is a God of certain “irrevocables” – of things not taken back.

Romans 9-11 presents several challenges to our understanding of scripture. What is Israel’s role in light of the good news of Christ? Who are the people of God — Israel, the church or both? Will there be a special salvation for Jews beyond the gospel of Christ?

In today’s text, Paul talks about two important things: God’s people are all people who would follow him, and God continually extends his mercy to more and more people. Salvation has come to the Gentiles (11) and to the question, “Has God rejected his people,” Paul responds, “By no means!” (1)

In 1957, the great theologian Karl Barth preached a sermon titled “All” based on Romans 11:32, “For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” The sermon was focused on the part about God’s mercy on all of us; God says yes to us; God is on our side – no matter what. There are no ‘redos or ‘take backs.’ God has taken care of things for us once and for all in Jesus Christ.

Barth noted in his sermon that this “all” is without qualification. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you believe in God or not, whether you’re a Christian or something else. And then he said we must all be careful of excluding anyone from the “yes” of God’s mercy. “All are prisoners, all are shown mercy.” We have all disobeyed God… so now, God can show mercy to all of us.

Barth ended by saying, “Joy is born when you renounce any attempt to be anything more than one among all “the disobedient” – giving up all attempts to climb the mountain to where God is, and letting instead God to come down to you. Joy is in realizing it’s God work and not your own

You see, God has chosen us all to be a people of mercy… and that does not change. Rains come and go. Crops boom and bust. Riches can be short-lived. But the irrevocable gift of God is here linked to one of his attributes, not merely his actions. Despite their disobedience, he still offers his people mercy. “So that he may be merciful to all” (11:32). God’s heart is a heart of love; a heart that longs for relationship over punishment; a heart that puts more stock in the future than in the past.

And neither does our having been chosen to be a people of mission. Genesis 12 records the choice of Israel as God’s people: “I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing ... in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (12:2,3).” Blessed to be a blessing, to be family for the ‘not-yet’ family, to be God’s people to extend God’s people. Israel was to be a people with a mission, as were the early Christians, as are we today.

God doesn’t play favorites, but he does favor people — all people! And his plan to favor all people is what our life is to be about. That mission remains. It has not been taken back, from the Jews or the early church. Paul reminds us God not only desires our fellowship, but wants us to be in mission as well. It’s part of our DNA and part of God’s plan for us.

Today’s text is about God. It always is. The gifts of GOD are irrevocable. The calling of GOD is irrevocable. (11:29). We are a people of mercy and then, mission. Pastor Dennis J. Meaker perhaps put it best when he wrote that what we learn here is that “God does not give up on his commitments simply because they do not seem to be working out as planned.”

That IS good news for all of us.

God is God, who responds to our disobedience in perfect harmony:
“Love and mercy that's what you need tonight
So, love and mercy to you and your friends tonight”