“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” Romans 9:1-3
Devotional Thought For The Day
Paul was writing about the sorrow in his heart over the many of his fellow Israelites who had chosen not to receive God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ. In the verses following, Paul lays out the realities – that the physical descendants of Abraham had all of the blessings of God’s grace, “the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.” However, he observes that mere physical relationship and merely being in the presence of the blessings of God does not make one a true “child of Abraham.” He wrote: “not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.” [Rom. 9:5-7] He is more explicit in what he wrote to the Galatians: “Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” [Gal. 3:8,9]
The same is of course true within the church today, that not all those physically descended from Christians, and not all those who are in the physical presence of God’s gracious mercy within the church – the adoption, promises, and covenant in Holy Baptism, the Word of God, the promises and covenant in the Lord’s Supper, the grace and mercy of God in the absolution and preaching of the Word – are “sons of Abraham,” if they are not “of faith.” Sadly, there are many who seem incapable of “getting it,” of receiving the gracious mercy, forgiveness, life and salvation that God has provided for all people in Christ Jesus through faith. For them the life of the church remains flat and superficially, merely horizontal, a matter of “good” works and behaviors. For them, worship is what we give to God rather than receiving grace, forgiveness, mercy, and salvation from Him. And truthfully, their inner being and behavior is little different from that of all other unbelievers – except perhaps what comes from their lips. This reality, wherever it exists, is just as sorrowful as the ancient Israelites rejecting their physical kinsman, “the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.”
We also have such sorrow, “great sorrow and unceasing anguish” – for parents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, children, grandchildren, and friends who appear to have opted out of faith in Jesus Christ, out of the new life which He has provided for us, and out of the eternal life and salvation which God has promised all who believe in Christ Jesus. Many times I have been asked about what is to become of dear people who have ostensibly forsaken the faith and the gracious mercy of God. If that fate of the unbelieving was not dire and terrible, the apostle would not have had such “great sorrow and unceasing anguish.” To join him in this sorrow is agonizing, full of anguish, and I sincerely wish I could offer some other hope or comfort – but the word of our Savior, the Lamb of God, is clear: “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” [John 3:36] And so we join with Paul, in great sorrow and unceasing anguish, for those who are lost, those who have rejected the faith, those who despise all of the gracious blessings of God in Christ Jesus.
The solution is not to become “accursed and cut off from Christ” ourselves because of the miserable choices of others. Nor is the solution to belie the Word of God and comfort ourselves with the opiate that somehow all will turn out well for everyone in the end. It will not, for the Word of God abides forever, and God does not alter or change His Word. The solution is to re-double our efforts in reaching out to others with the gracious promises of God in Christ Jesus, and to intensify our love, kindness, and compassion toward others – that they may see the power and reality of God’s love at work within us. The solution is even greater commitment to the life of the church, and the ministry of the church, the preaching and teaching of Christ in all the world. This is what the apostle Paul did, and what he bids us to do. And we do have comfort in the promises of God regarding the life to come, that He Himself will wipe away all tears from our eyes. [Rev. 7:17] As we know His love for us in Christ Jesus, so we also know that His love will soothe and comfort all of the sorrow and anguish that we have now. And this will be enough!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, help us to know that there is far greater sorrow and anguish in Your heart over the loss of any human being through unbelief and rejection of Your sacrificial love. Help us to enter into Your sorrows, to love others as You love them, and to commit our whole life and being to reaching out to others in love, with Your blessed, gracious, loving, and saving Gospel. Give us patient and persevering love, just like Your love for us, that we not give up or give in to unbelief and evil. Comfort our sorrows with Your perfect love. Amen.