Reading Backwards

That remarkable man we know as The Apostle Paul, the author of most of the New Testament, was very skilled at communicating what he understood to be the basics of faith in God’s Messiah. One of those basics had to do with “getting right with God,” which, Paul thought, was misunderstood by many people. That’s why the 10th chapter of Romans is so important, because it’s here that Paul makes it all rather clear. It’s not by following “the Law”, rules and regulations, that one comes to know God, but by simply believing in the heart and speaking with the mouth. And, Paul insists, anyone (!) who does that is drawn into the embrace of God’s love.

This morning, as I read Romans 10, my eyes stopped on verses 14 and 15, a sequence of thoughts that can be an outline for each of us. In summary, those verses go like this: how can anyone come to know God and be in relationship with God unless they believe in God, and how can they believe if they have never heard about God, and how can they hear unless someone tells them, and how can anyone tell them unless she or he is motivated to share the Good News? Makes logical sense. And then, for reasons that I can’t explain, I came at the thought from the opposite direction; I read it backwards. When you and I are sensitive to the prompting of the Spirit, we are sometimes in situations where we can say something about the meaning and value of faith in our own lives. The listener hears, maybe for the first time, and then begins to consider his own life in reference to faith. And, in considering his or her own life, that person comes to a point of yes or no, a decision point of “I believe, too.”

It’s simply one hungry person telling another hungry person where to find bread. And Paul was right: following laws, rules, regulations won’t get us closer to God; in fact, law keepers tend to move farther from God because they have substituted obedience to Law for relationship with Love.

Caution: Be very careful about “saved” language. “I am saved. Are you?” That’s Law language and it’s usually a conversation-stopper. What people really want to know is “how do I cope with life everyday?” or “how do I find meaning in these confusing days?” And you have the answer, which is about living now with hope, a sense of meaning, and some level of joy. But the other person won’t know it unless we tell it, and when we tell it, then a seed is planted which will be nurtured by the Spirit.

People have to hear in order to believe in order to commit in order to follow, and they can’t hear unless you and I say it. What a privilege it is to be one hungry person telling another hungry person where to find bread.
“How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” Someone might be waiting for you today, waiting to hear a word of hope and courage. Be ready.