Theology for the Super Judgy

Introduction:

A prophet named Nathan came to king David with a story. Nathan tells the king, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

David, the king, heard this story and was irate. And he told Nathan that the rich man who had done this to the poor man deserved to die.

Having David right where he wanted him, Nathan turned to David and declared, “You are the man.”

King David, the richest and most powerful man in the realm, had taken the wife and then the life of one of his citizens. David was guilty.

But to do the dangerous work of confronting a powerful king, Nathan needed to put David on the hook, by getting him to agree in advance that his own behavior in another, lesser form, was wicked and worthy of judgment.

You can find this story in 2 Samuel, chapter 12.

The book of Amos opens in a similar way. A prophet named Amos is called by God to confront the rich and the powerful and the wicked people up in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

But Amos is a hated Southerner. And just a poor shepherd at that. How could Amos ever get a hearing? How could Amos possibly expect to survive his mission?

Well, Amos starts by railing hard against all of Israel’s neighbors. And each message begins with an announcement of “three transgressions, no four” against one of the neighbors and then a clear declaration that punishment was coming. And then on to the next one.

First, Amos calls out the Syrians. And his audience cheers. “Three transgressions, no four! Three transgressions, no four!”

Amos calls out the Philistines. And the cheers grow louder. “Punish them! Punish them!”

Amos calls out the people of Tyre and then Edom and then Ammon and then Moab. And you can just feel the fervor growing. “Three transgressions, no four! Three transgressions, no four!”

It reminds me of the way that audiences respond to Donald Trump at his rallies. As he calls out his political opponents, stirring up excitement, the crowds grow louder. And they start to chant things like “Fake News” and “Lock her up!”

But this is where the comparison ends, because Amos, the prophet, then takes it a step further announcing God’s judgment against his own people. Amos, a southerner, announces to his northern rivals that God’s judgment is coming on the southern kingdom of Judah. Amos riles up the crowd against Amos’ own people.

And at this point, the people of Israel are in a fever pitch. They are crying out for God’s justice to be done. They are chanting that God’s judgment might come. And then… Amos announces, “Three transgressions, no four… on YOU, Northern Kingdom of Israel. Punishment is coming.”

Amos goes in on them. YOU have rebelled against God. YOU have trampled the poor. YOU have ignored the afflicted. YOU have committed sexual immorality.

YOU have done worse then all of the surrounding nations. But because you demanded God’s judgment on your neighbors… you stand guilty… accused by your own words… judged by the measure you used to judge others.

The prophet Nathan had to use this clever strategy to help the king see his own sin.

The prophet Amos had to use this same strategy to help the Israelites see their own sin.

This is exactly what Paul is doing in the first two chapters of Romans.

After a 17 verse introduction, Paul jumps right into the accusation.

Romans 1

Take a look at Romans 1, verse 18 with me: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

Paul is announcing judgment on all who are ungodly and unrighteous. Paul goes on to describe their rebellion against God. Since the beginning, God has been revealing Himself. So that the ungodly and unrighteous are without excuse, but they waste their minds and harden their hearts. And they replace the Creator in order to worship and serve created things.

And so God has given these ungodly and unrighteous idolaters over their disordered passions. And they’ve filled their lives will every sort of unrighteous act, all kinds of evil, covetousness, and malice.

If you’re wondering who Paul is talking to and who Paul is talking about, know this, Paul’s audience knew exactly who Paul was talking to and exactly who Paul was talking about.

And there’s a reason Paul hasn’t identified the target of his judgment. He doesn’t have to. He’s playing off a stereotype familiar to everyone.

Think about it like this. If Jeff Foxworthy tried to go to another country and tell some of his famous “You might be a redneck” jokes, he would bomb. Hard.

Why? Because a redneck is a distinctly American stereotype. You would have to explain too much to people from other countries, where we just immediately get the joke because it’s part of our culture.

Paul is drawing on Jewish stereotypes of Gentiles. And he’s using this classic, stereotypical description of the Gentiles to get his Jewish audience worked up. These exact descriptions, with almost identical lists of sins, have been found among Jewish writings from around the first century.

Who are the ungodly and the unrighteous? The nations. Of course!

Who are the idolaters who reject God and worship created things like statues and people and animals? Gentile pagans, obviously!

Paul’s list of sins: gossip and slander, hating God, insolence, pride, boasting, inventing evil, disobeying parents, foolishness, faithlessness, heartlessness, and ruthlessness. Who does this sound like? Gentiles! Who else?

But then Paul goes in for the set-up, just like Nathan and Amos before him. In chapter 1, verse 32, Paul announces the punishment these wicked Gentiles deserve, “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

Paul has his audience feeding out of the palm of his hand. Any faithful Jewish person would be nodding along with Paul the entire way.

But Paul’s audience isn’t just Jews in general. The Jewish people he’s addressing are members of a Roman house church. They’re followers of Jesus! And as they are listening to this letter, calling out a hearty “Amen!” to each of Paul’s judgments against Gentile sinners, these Jewish followers of Jesus are sitting right next to Gentiles. Some of them are listening to this very letter in the home of a Gentile believer.

This immediately catches our attention. These Jewish Christians have brought their stereotypes and judgments and biases and ways of thinking into their faith, and into the Church, with them.

Which shows us how important Paul’s instructions are in chapter 12 when he tells these believers that they need to have their minds transformed. And why they can no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world.

So, his audience has been set up. Paul announces that the ungodly and the unrighteous, who should know better, deserve to die because they reject the truth. And you can imagine Paul’s Jewish listeners offering him enthusiastic support as they imagine Gentile sinners, punished by God for their sins.

Romans 2

And then, chapter 2 begins: “Therefore YOU have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

Paul goes on to speak in pretty general terms for a little bit. To us, it’s not totally obvious that Paul is speaking to Jewish Christians.

But then, in verse 17 it comes. Not in the form of derogatory stereotype. But in the form of all the things the Jewish people liked to say of themselves, liked to believe about themselves. In fact, here Paul is using another famous strategy for confronting people with the truth. Paul uses their own words, their own values against them.

“But if YOU call yourself a Jew

and rely on the law

and boast in God

and know his will

and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law

and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind,

a light to those who are in darkness,

an instructor of the foolish,

a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth

you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?

While you preach against stealing, do you steal?

You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?

You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”

Paul then drops the hammer. “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.”

Consider what Paul has done here. He has set Jew and Gentile side by side, using all of the famous stereotypes about the Gentiles as well as the Jews own words about themselves. And he’s done all of this to demonstrate the Jews, are no better off than the Gentiles. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are made right by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in the Messiah Jesus.”

Jew and Gentile. Are in the same boat, Paul argues. And his whole case revolves around the law.

The Gentiles never received the law and thus never knew God. But according to the stereotype, according to the Jewish judgment of them, they still should have known better.

Have you ever heard someone say something like that? Someone comes from a rough childhood. They dropped out of school. Their parents were addicts. And then they get into trouble. Maybe they hurt someone. Or made a foolish decision. We’re often quick to say, they should have known better. Just because they didn’t have parents doesn’t mean they can’t know the difference between right and wrong.

This is what the Jews claimed about the Gentiles. They were ungodly and unrighteous. But they had every opportunity. And so when the Gentiles break God’s law it’s because of how terrible they are, how rebellious, how wicked.

But Paul flips the script. He asks the Jewish Christians, if the Gentiles didn’t have the law and they knew better… then what’s your excuse? God gave you the law, told you what was expected of you, He gave you story after story of his patience and character, and you boast that you have it. You act like that makes you special or better.

But so what? What difference does it make in your life? Seriously… you’re no better off than the Gentiles who were never given the law. And so you dishonor God with all of your talk about its importance.

What is Paul doing here? Why is he calling out his own people here?

Paul is walking straight into one of the core issues keeping Jewish and Gentile Christians from living as siblings. The Jewish followers of Jesus look down on the Gentile followers of Jesus. Plain and simple. In the Jewish mind, Gentiles are sinners. They are dirty, unrighteous, idolaters. Now, these Gentile believers supposedly share faith in Jesus… but the Jewish Christians want to know where the evidence is?

If they really believed, they would get circumcised. Because that’s what the law says to do. Because that’s the sign of true belief.

But… is it?

It might feel like Paul takes us in circles in this passage, but he’s making a clear point and he circles back to make it again and again in a variety of clever ways.

In Chapter 2, verse 13, Paul says: It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law.

In other words, hey you Jewish Christians who spent your whole life hearing the law. You know that simply hearing the law isn’t what makes you right with God. You’re not right with God because you are able to say what you should do in any given situation. You know that Jesus came to rescue you, to do for you what the law could never do.

And this is where Paul digs the knife in a bit. Verse 14: “When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness...”

Paul is dismantling both the positive conception that the Jewish Christians have of themselves and their people. And at the same time, Paul is re-building a brand new vision of the Gentiles.

In the minds of Paul’s Jewish audience, the Gentiles can only ever be ungodly and unrighteous. This is why they need to become Jewish. They need to receive the law, so that they can know God’s will, so that they can obey, and become holy. And then, when everyone looks and speaks and eats and lives a bit more Jewishly, this community called Church will be a bit more unified.

But Paul’s having none of this… The Jewish believers have some serious issues to deal with.

For instance, why do circumcised Jews, who say the law is important, then go on to break core moral elements of it?

And how is it possible that uncircumcised Gentiles, who God has supposedly given over to a debased mind and disordered desires, are out there living lives of holy love?

Paul comes to a simple, but obvious conclusion… Circumcision can’t tell you anything about the condition of a person’s heart. It’s not physical circumcision that changes you, that makes a person holy. It is by the Spirit alone that a person is welcomed into the family of God. It is by the Spirit alone that a person is transformed.

The issue that Paul is dealing with is pretty straightforward. Jewish followers of Jesus were never saved through the law or by the law. It wasn’t the law that brought them into the family of God. It’s not the law that defines the family of God. It is Jesus alone.

They were saved by the gracious acts of their Messiah, who won their salvation through his faithfulness. And they have experienced deliverance only as they have trusted Jesus and followed him and opened their lives to the Spirit. And just as this is true of the Jews, it is true of the Gentiles as well.

But now, these Jewish believers are struggling to trust that this very same Jesus, and the very same Spirit, are capable of doing the exact same work in a Gentile believer.

And Paul has a harsh final judgment against them. In 2:24, Paul accuses the Jewish believers of blaspheming God’s name among the Gentiles.

In other words, they are taking God’s work to free us from slavery to sin and death… they are taking God’s work through Jesus to circumcise our hearts… and they are saying we don’t need any of that. We just need to follow some rules. We just need to become culturally Jewish. And that will save us. That will transform us.

But this is utter blasphemy.

And Paul devotes 4 whole chapters right here at the front of his letter to calling it out.

In chapter 1, Paul gets his fellow Jewish believers on the hook. He gets them to declare their own guilt before God.

So that in chapter 2, he can make it abundantly clear that Jew and Gentile are on a level playing field. Sin is the same for both. Grace is the same for both. Both are in need of the Spirit, rather than the law.

In chapter 3 Paul goes on to describe the value of the law. It is still a good gift from God, even if it doesn’t have the power to save. And so God’s people should still learn from it and let it teach us, but it is simply incapable of doing for us what God Himself does for us in Jesus and through the Spirit.

Chapter 4 takes the argument and considers it in light of Abraham, the father of the Jewish people… and also the father of many nations. Looking at Abraham’s life and faith, Paul shows that circumcision was not a saving act. It was a sign that God had acted. But the act didn’t have any power in and of itself.

Any faith that Abraham had was purely a gift of God. It was a gift that led to obedience.

So What?

And this brings us to Paul’s purpose.

Paul describes his own mission in chapter 1 like this. He says he is a servant of the Messiah Jesus, called to be an apostle… to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations.

Summarized. Paul’s job is bring the Gentiles into obedient faith.

Look at chapter 16. Notice Paul’s final prayer: “Now to him who is able to strengthen you… according to God’s command to bring about the obedience of faith… glory be to God through Jesus!”

It’s simple. Paul’s mission is bring the Gentiles into obedient faith. By the time Paul is done with these Roman house churches, they too should also be able to bring the Gentiles to obedient faith.

Currently, the Jewish believers want to bring the Gentiles into submission to the law. But Paul sets out to remind them… you can follow rules and never have a change of heart.

He’s simply reminding them what Jesus taught… that you can live your life and never murder someone, but still do incredible damage to the world and to the family of God through your anger and bitterness and resentment and scorn.

Paul’s reminding them that you can go your entire life without ever committing adultery, but still do incredible damage to your marriage, and family, and the Church with a lusting heart.

Paul knows that you can easily create the illusion of unity by forcing a sort of conformity. But Paul understands that if the churches in Rome are going to live as one… if they are going to be unified… if they are going to live as a single family… if they are going to be a light in Rome, showing off the love and life and light of Jesus… it will not be because the Jewish believers convinced all of the Gentile believers to get circumcised and start eating kosher.

If the churches in Rome are going to live as one, it will be because women and men who have encountered the living Jesus, who have experienced his forgiveness and loving kindness have been freed to love each other as siblings.

Paul summarizes the law this way in chapter 13: love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

And Paul seems to think that as we draw near to Jesus and as we let the Spirit have Her way in our lives, we will become people… whether Jew or Gentile… capable of this sort of faithful obedience.

Obedience, not to a set of rules… but obedience to the One who is love and who has loved us even unto death.

This morning’s passage is both an encouragement to us and also a warning.

Let it encourage you to seek Jesus, draw near to Him, and trust him. He alone is the source of our transformation. He alone is our welcome into the family of God.

But may this passage also be a warning to us. That we might not ever replace Jesus with a set of rules, or any kind of external behaviors… that cannot change a heart. There is a place for rules in our lives. But our rules cannot be the rules for everyone else.

The Jewish Christians knew better. But it was only a matter of time before they forgot. Especially in the face of those wild and sinful Gentiles who needed to get it together. But the amazing thing is that over time, the Gentiles too would begin to replace obedient faith with new sets of laws, laws incapable of changing human hearts.

This is always a danger. And thus, Paul’s letter remains a gift to us. May we hear it and be encouraged. God sees us in our sin. And he foreordained to send his son to deal with it. Jesus is the answer. May we be encouraged and warned by this good news.