Sermons

"Romans Romp: The Jewish Heart"

Delivered from the Pulpit of First Congregational Church

of Anchorage by The Reverend Mark E. Long

on March 7, 2010

Lections:  Deut. 10.12-18

                  Rom. 2.25-3:4

                  Mk. 7.1-8, 14-23

Paul is no one to shrink from controversy.  Maybe he figures that time is short between then and the end of the world, so there is no reason to mince words.

For whatever reason, after telling the Jews that they have no advantage in terms of their moral fiber over the Gentiles and why  idol loving, he tells them that their circumcision gives them no advantage either.  This had to be shocking news.

Jewish history with God (the Torah) records Gods mandatory rule that all Jewish men be circumcised as a physical sign of membership in the community.  (Sorry, it isnt Paul or my fault  but women just didnt count then.)  It is what physically makes Jewish men identifiably different from Gentile men.  No wonder Paul sends letters ahead of his personal appearances; he says some things that it takes time to get used to. 

What audacity his hearers must think, what blasphemy they may think as well.  Paul is contradicting the Lords direct, long time instruction  or is he?  Actually, he is very careful, probably for a reason  to maintain his continuing good health.  His argument is, as with his earlier one, a brilliant gambit that reaches an opposite conclusion from tradition yet without appearing to betray the tradition itself. 

In the same way Paul uses the idea of homosexual relations, he treats circumcision as a metaphor for an attitude toward God.  There is precedent for this within the Torah (Deuteronomy 10:16) where Moses relays the Lords command for all the people to circumcise, then, the foreskin of [their] heart[s], and do not be stubborn any longer.  No longer is simply belonging the issue, now circumcision is something more - a sign of personal obedience to the commandments.

Paul takes his argument in this direction.  The foreskin of one thing becomes the foreskin of something else and, most importantly to his credibility, he can point to this passage from their history to protect the novelty of his perspective.

And quite a novel perspective it ends up.  But Paul first says something most everybody listening will agree with, if you are circumcised (a good Jew) but dont follow the commandments of God then your physical circumcision means nothing because your heart betrays you.  Your heart is not circumcised as required by the Lord.  Remember it is about more than belonging to the community, it is also a matter of personal obedience.  Yes, yes, finally, the assembled may think  this Paul is speaking the truth now.  But that Paul . . . what a trickster; he sets the Jews up again.

For then he says . . . so if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?  If one is true, then the other must also be true. Sounds logical, I am not sure it really is but . . . it sure sounds like it.

The logical ring of it allows Paul then to really take a novel leap and say that what truly makes a Jew a Jew is not outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical.  Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart  it is spiritual and not literal.  This means there are Jews that are not, and Gentiles that are.  I told you that this would take some getting used to.

It is an argument that Paul could never have gotten away with saving his own life much less Gentiles but for that verse in Deuteronomy where circumcision becomes a matter of personal obedience to the commandments rather than simply belonging to a community.

We have a similar example in the gospel of Mark from which to discover just what is really important.  What really defines the faithful follower of God from the bogie or counterfeit believer?

The Pharisees are a group of Jesus time who are all about scrupulous adherence to the tradition of the Law.  They are Torah keepers, or maybe more accurately pretenders as Jesus reveals at various points.  The Pharisees are always running around like our modern day political correctness police watching for small indiscretions and then pouncing.

One day among others, according to the Scriptures, they pounce on Jesus about some of his disciples eating without washing their hands.  In the tradition of the elders (the oral tradition of the Jews, not an actual commandment recorded in Torah as coming from the Lord), this is breaking Jewish Law.

Jesus response, another man not given to mincing words, you hypocrites from your lips you honor me but your hearts tell something else.  And then we get a lesson from Mark similar to what Paul gives in Romans.  You are confused about what is important.  You worry about the wrong things.  You are worked up over a supposed physical defilement or lack when you should really be focused on what is going on inside your bodies; it is the heart that tells whether you are defiled or not.  Forget about what is going on outside, and think more about what is going on inside.  This is the source of your blessings or trouble; this is what will take you to your personal heaven or hell.

Mark tells his story, of course, to churches in a time when the Gentiles are no longer aliens in the church.  The interlopers have become accepted citizens of the Christian church.  Physical circumcision is no longer a sign of what separates men of spiritual wheat from spiritual chaff.  The true indicator is the heart.  All people, Jews and Gentiles, who will surrender their hearts to circumcision  who will allow the sign of God to be made visible in their lives; these are the true people of God.

It is still the same.  It is to the true Jew, Jew and Gentile, who has the advantage.  It is those faithful to the covenant, the commandments to love God and neighbor that the Lord gives to Moses, who have the advantage in life.  But it may not show outwardly because the circumcised heart does not create the advantages that the world has come to expect as advantages.  There is no promise of wealth, status, or fame, something to jealously guard, just the faithful promise to make us stewards of an unseen but deeply felt Kingdom of Heaven which we are called to wantonly share with others.

Paul says to the Jews, perhaps sitting on the opposite side of the church building from the Gentiles  distrustful of the newcomers and now distrustful of this Paul fellow as well  what defiles you is not how you appear but what comes out of your heart.  If Paul is there in Rome, the Jews probably stone him for blasphemy before he can point his finger at the line in the Torah that tells them that their own tradition says as much.  But Paul isnt there and the Jews must wonder what is happening to their world, a world inhabited suddenly by many more Jews.  The trickster strikes and things are not as they were or ever will be again.

This is how I see Pauls expansion of the Jewish world.  Amen.

Next week the religious world in Rome leveled; an appeal for its righteousness is made.