The Little People

Romans 16:12-23 (Contemporary English Version)

Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work hard for the Lord.
Greet my dear friend Persis. She also works hard for the Lord.
Greet Rufus, that special servant of the Lord, and greet his mother, who has been like a mother to me. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, and Hermas, as well as our friends who are with them.Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all of God's people who are with them. Be sure to give each other a warm greeting. All of Christ's churches greet you.

My friends, I beg you to watch out for anyone who causes trouble and divides the church by refusing to do what all of you were taught. Stay away from them! ¹⁸They want to serve themselves and not Christ the Lord. Their flattery and fancy talk fool people who don't know any better. ¹⁹I am glad that everyone knows how well you obey the Lord. But still, I want you to understand what is good and not have anything to do with evil. ²⁰Then God, who gives peace, will soon crush Satan under your feet. I pray that our Lord Jesus will be kind to you.

Genesis 22:1-14 (New International Version)

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"
"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.
"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
"Here I am," he replied.
"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

¹ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram ^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

It’s exciting when we feel that the scriptures written so long ago still have the resonance of truth in our lives today. We feel sometimes that this world we live in is so drastically different from the one about which Paul was writing. Yet, here at the end of Romans we find instruction that was originally meant for that church filled with loving instructions that we can still apply today.

First we must bear in mind that the church in Rome was one that was truly near and dear to Paul’s heart. IN the previous lines of the reading today we hear of people who have been just like family, the words in verse 16 sounds almost like, give everybody a hug for me.

It is in this context that we are required to look at his last words of instruction for the new church. It boils down basically to three things:

1) Watch Out!

2) Keep yourselves focused

3) Hold out for God’s help

In the first place Paul tells the church to look sharp! And this goes beyond the boundaries of what we may initially consider. It is not a matter of NOT doing wrong, but of actively pursuing the right.

I’ve heard people comment on the old adage that if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all—the Christian turn on that phrase would have to be, “if you can’t say anything nice about someone, then tell them all the things you love about them.” We fail sometimes to see that inaction can be equally as harmful.

My father is an immensely safe driver. Growing up and riding in the car with him I always felt safe. His focus was only on his driving no matter what else; hands at ten and two, blinker used at every merger, everything was by the driver’s manual. One night as he was driving to visit his mother in Huntington, WV he dozed off at the wheel. Angels must have been with him, his car simply went into the median and stopped. But there is our example. Sometimes inaction is just as if not more harmful than the wrong action. Technically Dad did nothing during the accident (he was after all asleep and inactive), yet it could have been a great tragedy.

So here Paul is warning the church to stay awake at the wheel! Don’t let trouble makers take root in the church community, he asks. One translation includes at the end of verse (17) says, “Keep away from them!” But, I enjoy a different translation which comes out “Look sharply at them” Not only keep your eye on them, but make it known that they are outside the community of faith with their actions.

In a way this goes along with Paul’s second point, which is asking the church to stay focused on the goals at hand. They are there not to serve themselves, but Christ; they have important work and Paul asks them to be truly concerned with that and not with the flattery or fancy talk that the troublemakers bring.

The last part of his wisdom, Paul talks of the God of peace “coming to crush the adversary.” Hold out for God’s work, this says. Hold out for His help in these matters. These people who, again, I like the words of my translation, which read “those who put stumbling blocks before you.” These people, however, will be dealt with by God, or by his work. We can perceive the warning here; never act to try and protect our own pride, but instead keep an eye on those who would hinder the deeds of Christ with their attitude, and let God’s Will prevail with them.

It a hard distinction to make but an important one. It’s the difference between doing our will and the Lord’s.

***

But why are these people here? So, even in the earliest days of the church there were those who, much to the chagrin of the other Saints, stood in the way of faith led people taking action? Or, was Paul’s warning even deeper to include the leaders themselves? Perhaps the better question than “why are those people around?” is “how do we keep from becoming like them?”

For the Why and for an understanding of those who would place the stumbling blocks in our path, we are in luck that our reading this week is matched up with the familiar Old Testament tale of Father Abraham.

My own father actually doesn’t like this story very much at all. He has a hard time perceiving not only the act but why God would ever even ask it of Abraham in the first place. I suppose as his son the fact that this idea is so foreign to him is comforting somehow…

And it is a difficult story to read. Poor Abe! After years of waiting is finally able to rejoice in the blessing of a son, the promise made so long ago has come to fruition only for God to go and ask for the gift back! I am sure I would not have been able to stand up to the task. Some can say that God is unfairly baiting Abraham, waiting for him to fail, hinging the promise on some gruesome act. Others would say that it is a test for Abraham, a monument to his faith if he is able to truly draw the knife across his son’s throat. The latter, I think, is more correct.

It is a test, but here we have to understand the deep relationship that Abe and the Lord of Heaven shared between them. In essence God had been testing Abraham since he was a young man, commanding him to leave the valley of Ur and travel far to the west. And ever since his story started he is tested again and again and again. God makes a most special promise to him and as the holder of the line; God must come to know Abraham intimately. To know Abraham better than his wife ever knew him. To know Abraham better than his own mother knew him. And God knows of course that action speaks so much more loudly than words. Not but a few weeks ago we read from the 7^th chapter of Matthew, “Not every who says to me Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven…” Honestly this all reminds me of the song Eliza Doolittle sings in My Fair Lady:

Don't talk of stars burning above; If you're in love,
Show me!

Tell me no dreams filled with desire. If you're on fire,
Show me!

And so, I can imagine God saying those exact same things. If you love me. Show me. If you are on fire. Show me. Thus has it always been for Abraham. What I meant when I originally said we must understand the relationship so as to understand the real meaning of the tests, was that Abraham’s life wasn’t really a test as we think of it, but more like all our lives are, truly, a succession of Opportunities to show God our true heart. This is the only way he has of getting to know us… With Abraham it is only more so. God will allow nothing to get between him and his chosen Steward of the Promise. If anything in Abraham’s life is going to get in the way of God’s Will, it is going to be his son.

The son who is the culmination of decades of waiting. The son who, to Abe at least, represents the entirety of God’s promise to him. It is a symbol of their connection even. But God, as we know, is a jealous god, and will let nothing be between them. So, the call comes out... Give me your son. Show me. Understand here though that Abraham’s love was not in question here, but instead God questions the placement of his heart. Which is it? Your son and all he represents, or continual obedience to my Will, not matter what that may be. No matter if you will or won’t understand it.

It’s a hard question. And yet the same is asked of use all every day in a thousand ways we are constantly provided with the opportunities to show our God how we love Him.

So why must we bear the troublemakers who divide the church? Because, they are only those who have come up short in the question of heart placement. And, yes, we are asked to separate ourselves from the doctrine of foolish talk that they come out with, but we are commanded to watch them, because what is the true purpose of the church if not to take people when they fail the Test of Abraham, and guide them, and love them to more opportunities for continued reconciliation with God?

So we take Paul’s last words of his letter to a beloved church, and we remember not to “fix” people as we see them in need, but we respond in love to them as God guides us to do. Because the last part of verse (20) echoes to us out of the ages: “I pray that Jesus will be kind to you.” A lasting warning from Paul, “Follow what I am asking of you, because sooner or later we are all on the receiving end of Grace, and in need of Christ’s compassion.”