I am eager to announce the good news to you -Paul
It's alive, the word of God that is. Every time you crack the book, mouth the words; the voice of God is heard. In Romans 1 Paul is desparate to preach the gospel in Rome. It is his driving passion. What follows are a string of clauses verifying the cause of his intensity.
No shame for the gospel
the gospel is the power of God
in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed
for the wrath of God is being revealed.
There is no end of debate among scholars in regards to this text. A lot of ink has been spilt concerning the matter of theme and the nature of the "righteousness of God." In my simplicity I'm left wondering if we have in our quest to legitimize our theology failed to regard Paul's intent. As seen in his ethos and in his own words. While I have my own opinions of the "righteousness of God" as to its objectivity or subjectivity in this text, I will leave that for another venue. What strikes me is that Paul has realized that his message is linked to prophecy, and a historical event in time which has made the rightousness of God available (accessable?).
When Paul opens his mouth, people hear the voice of God and the righteousness of God is unveiled. (I reject the assumption by some that apokalupsis here is a technical term. It is more of a historial reference than it is an eschatological one). Something has happened, continues to happen. "In the cross of Christ I glory." In Paul's mind when he preaches the gospel something happens. The righteousness of God is unveiled and mankind shudders under the downpour of her accountability or is ushered into the springtime of he recreation.
Have you ever considered how you react to voices? At some we shudder while at others we warm. God's voice draws you or condemns you. I suppose it all depends upon how it sounds in your ear. Unfortunately not many seem to be listening. At the risk of sounding Barthian (perhaps I already have?) I perceive that Paul was convinced that his preaching had the power to create or condemn. I am left to wonder if for so many listeners and speakers alike, preaching /teaching has lost any sense of relavance. It does not fit in our contemporary atmosphere. Perhaps nothing happens because we don't expect anything to happen. It is not a lack of faith in the historical event or the person of Jesus but that the word when spoken is alive. That is it has a life of its own. God may use our vocal cords but it's his voice. His reverberating voice is not only timeless but right on time. Sola Scriptura, WHB
1 comment:
The other night, my fiancé and I were watching a comedic satire of everything that is wrong with conservatism. It was good, most conservatives would have been unable to object to the content; much the same way a liberal feels when reading a political cartoon that portrays her kind as destructionist. In between the laughs and approving nods, I turned to Telsa and declared that the program had little chance at popularity. Telsa agreed rather quickly; so quickly, in fact, I inquired as to the reason for the snappy response. She told me it would make too many people think, and people don’t want that from entertainment (if they want that at all).
I interject here because by now you must realize that I had taken time out to watch a television program, and I want to go on record saying that I am ashamed to admit I take time out weekly to watch this particular television program. I do consider myself a failure
Back to the tale, I told her I thought the reason this show would not be very popular had to do with something other than being a catalyst (as much of a catalyst as television can be) for cerebral activity. It’s preaching. People don’t like to be preached at. I said I didn’t think there was a conservative out there who would want to take an hour to be told everything that is wrong with what they think, what they believe, what they value, and how they behave.
I then made the connection between my assertion and that of many conservative pastors: pagans in our society do not want to be told “the truth.”
Stepping back, one notices that neither half of our country wants to be preached at; and, to make matters worse, neither wants to be preached at by their own preachers. Is there an American pastor who would not concede that he must avoid certain topics and tones on Sunday morning if he is interested in retaining his “call” at the church? Likewise, for the next 21 days, competitive conservative and liberal elected officials can not argue for the reasonable points on the other side without slipping outside the margin of error. Not only do we reject preaching from the other side, we reject correction from within our own ranks, lo, from our own leaders-whether religious or societal.
Finally, I realized that I am part of the problem. In your words, we are “left to wonder if for so many listeners and speakers alike, preaching /teaching has lost any sense of relevance.” Thus, I am changing a prior decision and I will on the evening of the morrow listen to a conservative judge address the Temple Federalist Society (of all societies) on, among other issues, gun control...as the walls come tumbling down.
I addressed this issue here because of (a) your strong feelings regarding preaching and (b) my lack of knowledge with regard to your email. Hope all is well.
- W. Hall
Post a Comment