Rom 9:14-29 "Mercy Elects"

Most of us were only 4 or 5 when we learned to quote “with liberty and justice for all”.

How do we determine “just”? Commentaries I read this week substituted the words fairor consistent.

Major league Baseball umpires are now being judged by cameras regarding their accuracy. I have heard that for many pitchers the first two innings is committed to determining the Umpire’s strike zone—will he give the corners of the strike zone to the pitcher or the batter?

I have seen in multiple sports where fans become frustrated when an infraction is not called during the entire game, until the final seconds. Then the talking heads are forced to admit “according to the letter of the law, that is an infraction” even if their sense of fairness claims it should never be called with this much time left on the clock.

If justice (the letter of the law) demands that all are guilty, can we arbitrarily superimpose our sense of fairness on the application of the rules to determine what is just, equal or equitable?

Can we charge God with being unjust if He does not adopt our sense of fairness? Can God show mercy to any and still be consistent with His character? Is mercy every equal to justice?

Is it possible for all to receive justice, but some to receive mercy? If God shows mercy to some, is He obligated to show mercy to all? If it is an obligation or universal, is it still mercy?

At one time in my wife’s life, she worked for Braum’s ice cream. So, I know that the operations manual defines a scoop of ice cream at 4 ounces. There have been a few occasions in my life when I did not feel like I was served my full 4-ounce scoop (or 8 ounces because I probably ordered a double) but I did not make an issue because I know “life is not fair.” My understanding of “justice for all” is that everybody who pays full price for a scoop of ice cream deserves no less than 4 ounces.

In terms of theology that would be the equivalent of saying, “anybody who has never sinned will be granted eternal life.” This means that according to justice, Heaven is going to be a REALLY lonely place.

On the other hand, I know some Braum’s employees who consistently dip generously. Would I be justified in demanding that all employees dip as generously as my special friend? I would not be just to demand more than I paid for. Just because “Tommy” was generous (can I use the word grace?) to me in the past, should I demand that he always give me scoops bigger than 4 ounces? Should my friends demand that he give them 5-ounce scoops?

Justice means that all customers get exactly no less than 4.000 ounces per scoop. Grace means that sometimes someone may get a little more than 4 ounces. Mercy means while each customer is obligated to pay full price for a cone, occasionally SOME may be given a discounted price, but nobody is entitled to always get full quantity without paying full price.

TRANSITION: We have already learned that the fullwages for any sin death. God, as a merciful shop owner, sometimes pays out of His own pocket to keep the till balanced. His mercy does not make the exchange evil.

God’s Mercy is for His glory and man’s benefit (Ro 9:14-18)

I might show my power in you (Ro 9.17c)

In Ro 9.6-13 we are introduced to the idea of God choosing. I recall the stories of Abraham’s sons Ishmael and Isaac and as I recollect, God was never evilor mean to Ishmael, He was just better to Isaac because he was the one promised. God was never evil or mean to Esau, He was just better to Jacob—even though Jacob was a conniving manipulator.

In response to the question in Ro 9.14 of God treating people differently and if that somehow means He is unjust (translated unrighteous or wrongdoing elsewhere), Paul points to the Pharoah during Moses’ years in Ro 9.15-17.

The Pharoah over Moses (likely Amenhotep II) during the Exodus was very different from the Pharoah (likely Sesostris II) when Joseph was promoted to Prime Minister. The strengths and weaknesses of any king/pharaoh/president can prove opportunity for God to reveal His power. God increased Pharoah’s power over the Israelites to the point that they left and then God proved Pharoah’s inability to prevent their departure.

I think Ro 9.17 could be paraphrased “I raised you to greatness, just to prove that I am greater!”

At least 500 years earlier Job concluded

Job 1:21 ESV:2016

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

6. 8-900 years later Nebuchadnezzar learns the hard way what is recorded in Daniel 4:37

Daniel 4:37 ESV:2016

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

7. The story of God’s working with His chosen people teaches that a foreign prisoner can become Prime Minister. A King whose empire is describes as a head of gold can have a bought of mental illness before his kingdom is replace by another.

8. God can have a disobedient prophet thrown overboard, just to be swallowed by a large fish then lead a national revival.

9. God’s choices rarely make sense to us, but they always reveal His power.

TRANSITION: God’s working doesn’t only unwrap His power, but it also magnifies His fame.

My name might be proclaimed (Ro 9.17d)

I notice in many biblical characters that the same human is both a picture of great success and great failures. Same person, but with and without God’s help.

Abraham was blessed, but lied when he thought survival was dependent upon himself.

King Saul elevated and humiliated based upon how much he obeyed God

Israel saw Jericho crumble, then were beaten by Ai because of Achan’s greed.

David slew a giant, then committed adultery with a soldier’s wife.

Elijah totally dominated the prophets of baal, then hides in a cave.

Samson demonstrates both “beast” mode and “least” mode.

2. As the song explained 48 years ago when Danniebelle Hall sang:

Just ordinary people, God uses ordinary people

He chooses people, just like me and you

who are willing to do as he commands

God uses people that will give him all

no matter how small your all may seem to you

because little becomes much

as you place it in the master's hands

TRANSITION: Because He is the master artists and the most we bring to the project is our littleness.

The molder/potter has every right to add to or take away from His project (Ro 9:19-29)

Patiently working with inferior product (Ro 9.22)

1. The mercy of v.18 means that God patiently works with that which deserves to be discarded.

Are you familiar with the Japanese art of dorodango? It is the arduous task of turning mud into a shiny sphere about the size of a billiard ball.

In a 2009 episode of Mythbusters, Adam and Jamie polish another ground level material to a shine that is beyond the “high gloss” rating of a glossmeter. I’ll leave those of you who are interested to search YouTube for the recording of that episode.

2. Can you imagine a “meadow muffin” telling the maker of the universe that he deserves to be made into something glorious? That is just as absurd as us demanding God do things the way we think is right.

Revealing His artistry (Ro 9.23)

50 years before Danniebelle Hall’s gospel song, in 1921 Myra Brooks Welch wrote a poem about a battered violin that only brought a bid of $3 until an old man used it to play beautiful music. The poem concludes,

He is "going" once, and "going" twice,

He's "going" and almost "gone."

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd

Never can quite understand

The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought

By the touch of the Master's hand.

Pretty much the limits of my stonework is arranging rocks to make a ring for a campfire, which is a world apart from the artistry of a stone mason like Mr. Koch.

Making something out of nothing (Ro 9.24-26)

Before I dated the woman who is now my wife, I dated a girl from Dugger, Indiana. Ann knows about Mary Ann so I’m not speaking out of turn.

Dugger is a town between the size of Strong City and Cottonwood Falls in an area known for strip mining Coal. Dugger is much like the “not my people” who get called beloved sons in the verses before us. Dugger got put on the map due to the 1986 movie Hoosiers as one of the opponents of the fictional Hickory Huskers basketball team that was inspired by the real life 1954 Milan High School.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the 5 undersized players from Hickory eventually become State Champions.

These verses say that God takes what is insignificant and makes it into something important. That is the greatness of His mercy.

TRANSITION: God doesn’t always convert nothing into something. Sometimes He takes those who think they are something and dismisses them in order to make something more valuable.

Culling the Herd (Ro 9.27-28)

If you’ve seen Hoosiers, you know that at the first practice with the new unknown coach, Coach Norman Dale dismisses Buddy Walker for rudeness, causing another player, Whit Butcher, to walk out in protest.

Whit later apologizes and agrees the coach’s word is final when it comes to the team.

The way the coach molds unlikely players into champions while purging and disciplining players who question His methods, is a vivid picture of how God mercifully transforms disobedient humanity into a people for His glory.

Something redeemable (Ro 9.29)

Not all are willing to participate with the coach’s program. Not all are willing to cooperate with the Creator’s demands.

Sodom and Gomorrah were 2 towns on the East side of the Dead Sea about 5 miles apart. We are not told specifically how Gomorrah disobeyed, but Sodom chose to prefer its sin over the repentance called for by Lot in Gen 19 so God destroyed them both.

Their total destruction was of Biblical proportion for we read

Jude 7 ESV:2016

just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

And

2 Peter 2:6 ESV:2016

if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

4. Even in the midst of punishment, God chose to show mercy.

5. Angels warned Lot and Lot warned his sons-in-law but they responded like the people of Noah’s day. Even Lot was procrastinating. As we are told in

Genesis 19:16 ESV:2016

But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

6. It is this merciful dragging out while being resisted that Isaiah highlights in Is 1:9 which is quoted here.

Conclusion:

God’s mercy is not lacking or unjust! By no means! Mankind is so stubborn that we resist it kicking and screaming.

We refuse to cooperate with His gracious plan! We insist on our own desires as the men of Sodom. We disregard the warning as Lot’s sons-in-law.

If we are outside of God’s redemption plan, we must respond to His mercy with repentance and trusting faith.

If we are in Christ, we must never overestimate our right to “call the shots”

Light & Lamp Application:

Light for my Path

Consider your significance in God’s Universe

Lamps for my Steps

Remember – God’s mercy towards you is meant to magnify His goodness towards you.

Reflect on Inestimable Value – He knows your haircount

Reignite your Infinite possibility – “do hard stuff”