Scripture Text (NRSV)
Romans 15:4-13
15:4 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.
15:5 May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to
live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus,
15:6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed
you, for the glory of God.
15:8 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,
15:9 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";
15:10 and again he says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people";
15:11 and again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all
the peoples praise him";
15:12 and again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse shall come, the one
who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles shall hope."
15:13 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.
Comments:
"Abounding in hope." Any idea what that means, what it looks like?
I'll take a stab, but I will appreciate others' comments as well. To
abound in hope means to see an uncertain future, but to believe that
the future is in God's hands. To abound in hope means believing in our
own future, that with God's help, we can be people who can make a
difference. Some early thoughts. -Dale in Chattanooga
Abounding in hope. If there was ever a time in your life that that you
knew that you had no hope. Perhaps family problems were overwhelming
you or you lost your job and there was no way out of your despair or
you realized that all that you thought was real was only vanity and
fantasy. Then by the grace of God you receive new meaning to your life
and new hope you are born again given a reason to live and abound in
new life to me this is abounding in Hope. For me this is abounding in
the Grace of God that we find in Jesus Christ. When we have been there
“lost” then we understand. Dale I think you are very much on track
Samuel
Driving into New Haven several months ago, Yale New Haven Hospital had
a large billboard. It had a picture of a young woman with these words:
"Diagnosis - Breast Cancer, Prognosis - Grandmother." This is a simple
message of the hope that people are looking for. The Gospel of Jesus
Christ offers even more hope. Pastor John in CT
I read the book. I know how it ends. We win! How is that for abounding
hope? Pastor John in CT
Sorry, John in CT, but that does nothing for me.
As an ending, I would prefer, "God wins!"
R
The message of Hope, Christ Jesus came not only for the Jew but for
the Greek, not only for those who have but for those who have not. The
message of hope and unity in Christ is the message we need today and
the message that I will be preaching Sunday. Samuel
Thanks R. I'll keep the comments to myself next time... PJ in CT
To R - I changed my mind.
My wife just finished leading a retreat this weekend. One of the women
serving with my wife is five months pregnant and lost her husband in
one of the twin towers on 9/11. We have suffered much loss here in NY
& CT. Saturday evening of the retreat this woman was found dancing one
a chair. Her only hope to go on with life came from the love she has
found in Jesus Christ. I can't think of a better time or a place where
we need the hope that Jesus Christ offers. I would hope that in God
winning, we too are victorious. Otherwise I cannot offer any comfort
or hope to my congregation in this particular difficult time. My book
clearly states, we win. In that we can all find hope. PJ in CT
To R - I changed my mind.
My wife just finished leading a retreat this weekend. One of the women
serving with my wife is five months pregnant and lost her husband in
one of the twin towers on 9/11. We have suffered much loss here in NY
& CT. Saturday evening of the retreat this woman was found dancing one
a chair. Her only hope to go on with life came from the love she has
found in Jesus Christ. I can't think of a better time or a place where
we need the hope that Jesus Christ offers. I would hope that in God
winning, we too are victorious. Otherwise I cannot offer any comfort
or hope to my congregation in this particular difficult time. My book
clearly states, we win. In that we can all find hope. PJ in CT
Comments so far have been great-- I am finding hope for a sermon! For
some reason just couldn't do another one on John the Baptist.
But I'm wondering if I can also put a positive spin on the whole idea
of repentence as something that gives hope too-- what allows us to be
forgiven and start over with a clean slate.
forgot to sign out--Jo in VA
PJ,
Thank you for NOT keeping your thoughts to yourself!
Your story of the widowed mother is a brave story, which I am glad to
hear. I see that as a hint of God's victory being radically lived out
by her in the middle of a horrendous reality. Good for her! Good for
you!
Part of my response to your first posting was a(probable knee-jerk)
reaction to abuse I have seen with people claiming a "we win"
attitude. "Since we are Christians, we will beat all of our enemies."
"Since God is on our side, we will win whatever war we happen to be
fighting." "Since we believe so strongly, our team will win the World
Series." You get the idea.
I do NOT say you are saying these things (especially now that I have
heard some of your background)! "I would hope that in God winning, we
too are victorious." Amen! THAT'S good news, because THAT'S the
promise! God will share the victory with us, not just in some future
heaven, but also on retreats where widows find it given to them to
dance.
Pax. R.
A hope that brings a peace that passes understanding ... If it passes
understanding, then how can we describe it? I'm thinking of a hymn in
our (UM) hymnal: "How can we name a love?" Is it possible. I'm
preaching an Isaiah-Romans combo and the title is "If you only knew!"
In recognizing that we don't know, perhaps we paradoxically know a
little more clearly.
Sally in GA
To PJ and R, isn't what you have just done a reflection of the Advent
message? You took the time to listen to one another, and maybe as
Isaiah says about the coming one, not with ears and eys, but with
"righteousness", and that my friends in Christ is what leads us into
the fullness of peace. For me, more than anything, is the hope we
express this Sunday, a hope of finding a way to make peace, keep
peace, and live peace with and for one another and for the world
around us. Last week I focussed on Romans and would like to keep doing
so. Thanks for the imput. I find that Isaiah and Romans to very
compatible for this message of hope and peace. That keeps us also in
tune with the symbolism of the Advent Candles we light for this second
Sunday of our Advent journey. Blessings. Rev. Tim, South Central
Ontario, Canada
to PJ in CT
Can you tell me more about what "dancing on a chair" means in regard
to the twin towers mother.
The alliterist in me is chiming hope, harmony, hospitality, and
happiness.
But my attention is on welcoming him as he welcomed us. Sounds like a
good way to do Advent. Keep the inspiration coming. jrbnrnc
I've been reading Barth's "Epistle to the Romans," and was struck by a
sentence: In bearing the infirmities of the weak, do we "... secretly
rejoice in our strength and freedom?"
In my conference newspaper was an article about an increase in retail
sales of products that blend (American) patriotism and (Christian)
religion. More disturbing than the Billy Sunday-esque confusion(wasn't
he the one who made no distinction between Christianity and American
patriotism?) is our tendency to be tempted to believe in our
superiority - morally, religiously, ethically, nationally, militarily
... Is this the self-emptied servanthood Christ demonstrated?
Sally in GA
Previous:
Hope! Hope reverberates in the text! It begins in verse 4 with an
apologetic for Scripture, a reason to trust the authority therein...
hope! And it ends with the power of the Holy Spirit, a power that
abounds in... hope!
Advent, Hope! Hope, Advent! They're intricately linked, purposely
joined. One brings the other.
Why can't we confess this hope to our family, friends and neigbors?
Why can't we welcome the lost, with joy and hope? Church, rise up!
Christ is coming... Hope is on it's way...!!
Rick in Va
Right on Rick! Hope for all that is to come and hope because of what
we already have... the God of hope -even when the stock market is on a
rebound- even when all the morality of today seems crazy by biblical
standards- even when.... -we have hope - advent is glorious - Christ
is coming again! the message is: Turn to Christ and be gathered in as
something of great value! Malcolm in TX
What kind of hope do we have? I agree with you that hope is at the
center of this text, and at the center of our faith, but look at the
gospel text. The hope we have is linked to judgement. I'm not looking
forward to the winnowing fork, yet hope still abounds. But be careful
what we hope for, we just might get it! Hope, Pam in San Bernardino
I find it amazing that so many verses are quoted about Gentiles.
As all scripture would be learnt by heart, and not looked up in a book
as required, these verses show that the author must have known the
whole of Scripture, not (as we may have done) picked out the most
significant and just learnt that.
I imagine if we were Jews, these verses about Gentiles would not be at
the top of our priority list to memorise!
When I first read these verses I was drawn to the following: "May the
God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony
with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, that together you
may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
After the postings of the last few weeks, I was heartened by Rick's
return - and the above quotation reinforces for me that we all need to
live (and post) in harmony together
Mary in Australia
I wonder how many people in our congregations are "hoping" for a
welcome? Paul's concern for the Gentiles in Rome and our concern for
the "gentiles" in our places of worship are parallel in some ways. One
of the commentaries mentions that Paul has to be read as an
apocalyptic writer- looking for the Parousia. Advent is a time for us
all to be apocalyptic and to see how what we are doing is preparing
for the same as what Paul (and Jesus) urged people to prepare for.
When we live, speak, act with the welcome that comes from our hope in
God's actions through Christ we are taking a stand for hope, for God's
grace. GF in SC
I want to focus on Paul's phrase--"so that you may abound in hope" I
wonder --isn't abound in hope , too strong for us, especially at
advent. We hear these fantastci promises from Isaiah, and we look at
our world and even our lives, and these promises seem beyond us.
Carl Hollady describes hope this way--" We all realize how fragile
hope can be. We wonder whether it is an illusion. What might be
competes with what never will be. Hope dances on the edge of wishing,
comes close to expercting, but retreats to wiishing.. We do not want
to be disappointed so we wish instead of hope. The one flirts with the
future, the other flings itself toward the future." How many time have
we heard or used the phrase "Don't get your hopes up." Do we believe
that hope is that fragile. As long as we wish about the future, the
future doesn't demand a thing of us. One could wish for money,
happiness, or to stop drinking without putting themselves on the line.
Wishing is safe, wishing doesn't change things, wishing doesn't endure
difficult times. Hope does. John in PA
