Romans

The Hebrews’ stories brought their lives into balance. Moses believed that remembering where they’d been, how they’d come into the land God promised, and what God had done for them would keep them faithful. So he said that in offering the first fruits of harvest, “You shall make this response before the LORD your God: ‘A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.’” Their story was a confession of faith, a community story that cast their thanksgiving into a framework that provided boundary and purpose to their lives together. It was a creed. Tell it again and again, Moses urged.

After an attempted coup in Indonesia in 1965, headlines reported that 500,000 people were killed. What did not make the headlines was the quiet revolution that began as the wind of the Spirit began to move into a collapsed intellectual and moral vacuum. There was no ballyhoo or promotion, but simply the response of untold numbers who found in the churches a haven.

We are reading Romans 4 with the eyes of believers on a Lenten journey. There is a time for debate over law and gospel, works and grace—but not now.

We are reading Romans 4 with the eyes of believers on a Lenten journey. There is a time for debate over law and gospel, works and grace—but not now.

Jesus knew forgiveness would always need special emphasis.

How do the blessed feel when they think of the damned?

The first covenant holds forever.

One is not born a Christian; one becomes a Christian. This reminds me of my three-year-old friend Grace.

One is not born a Christian; one becomes a Christian. This reminds me of my three-year-old friend Grace.

One is not born a Christian; one becomes a Christian. This reminds me of my three-year-old friend Grace.

What is good and acceptable and perfect?

In the New Testament, God's "violence" is a precondition of human nonviolence.

This Sunday's readings provide Bible backup for a nonscriptural word.