An Advent Devotional: Romans 15:4-13

First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor was gracious to publish my Advent devotional on Romans 15:4–13.

Scripture

⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, ⁶ so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. ⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the circumcised on behalf of the truth of God in order that he might confirm the promises given to the ancestors ⁹ and that the gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will confess you among the gentiles / and sing praises to your name”; ¹⁰ and again he says, “Rejoice, O gentiles, with his people”; ¹¹ and again, “Praise the Lord, all you gentiles, / and let all the peoples praise him”; ¹² and again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse shall come, / the one who rises to rule the gentiles; / in him the gentiles shall hope.” ¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:4–13 (NRSVue)

Devotional

During Advent, the church waits for the coming of Jesus Christ and listens again for the promises of God. Romans 15:4–13 belongs to the closing movement of Paul’s letter, where disagreements about food and holy days threaten the peace of shared life. Into that restless situation Paul speaks about Scripture, about Christ, about hope, and about a community that lives in peace. “Whatever was written in former days,” Paul writes, “was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” Scripture appears here as a human text and also as the place where the living God addresses the church. God takes these human words into service and makes them instruments of a fresh, living Word. In this way, Romans 15 becomes an Advent word for our congregation, a call into hope and peace.

At the center of this passage stands Christ. Paul recalls that Christ refused every self-serving path. Christ became a servant of “the circumcision” in order to confirm God’s promises to Israel and to draw the nations into the praise of God’s mercy. In him, insult and hostility fall upon the One who bears them away. Peace with God begins in this movement of the Son who steps into the place of the accused. Our common life grows from that same grace. Paul can say, “Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Every act of welcome in the church arises from this first welcome. Each time believers receive one another at table and in daily life, the peace of Christ takes visible form in a small, concrete way.

Paul then turns to Israel’s scriptures and hears a chorus of voices. The Psalms and Isaiah speak in different tones. Together they form a single song in which Israel and the gentiles rejoice and glorify God, and in which the “root of Jesse” becomes the focus of hope. Karl Barth hears in this chorus the history of God’s covenant. Israel remains the people of the promises. The Messiah comes from Israel and serves Israel. Through this same Messiah gentile peoples receive mercy, enter the praise of God, and share in the peace that flows from God’s faithfulness.

Finally, Paul gathers the passage into prayer. He names God as the God of hope and asks that this God fill the community with joy and peace in believing, so that they abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hope here rests on God’s completed act in Jesus Christ. Peace flows from that same act and spreads through the work of the Spirit in the church. During Advent, our congregation receives this passage as an invitation. God gives endurance, encouragement, hope, and peace. In response we welcome one another as people whom Christ has already welcomed, and we join Israel’s scriptures in grateful praise of the God who comes in Jesus to establish peace with God and peace among estranged peoples.

Prayer

“Lord our God, we come before you again with the heartfelt prayer that you accept us, that you allow us no rest until we come to rest in you; that you fight both against us and for us until your peace takes its rightful place in our hearts, thoughts, words, essence, and our dealings with one another. Without you we can do nothing, but with you and in your service we can do anything. Be present and active in all rooms of this house, in this whole city and among all who live in it, and especially among all who are gathered as your community. Be with all the sick and dying, the poor, the oppressed, and those who are lost, as well as those who rule over us and great nations, shape public opinion, and wield the means of power. O that you may bring great love to work against hate, great reason to work against the lack thereof, and not just a few drops but a stream of justice to work against injustice! Yet you know better than we do what will be and happen to us and in the world, ultimately ordered to your honor. So we commend all things into your hands. So we, each in our own place and in our own way, desire to put our hope confidently, quietly, and clearly in you. Amen.”

– Karl Barth, Fifty Prayers, trans. David Carl Stassen, First edition (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), 42.