(The following questions have been developed in order to lift up a fundamental concern of Law and Gospel preachers, i.e. How does the Word function in the text? This is crucial because the way the Word functions will be the guide, in large measure, to how the sermon must function. For more on this method and on Law and Gospel preaching in general, see my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available at wipfandstock.com or amazon.)
1. How does the Word function in the text? As can be seen by the presence of the imperative form in the first three verses, the Word functions here as a call to obedience. A call to obedience is not a call to faith, but rather one that assumes faith and invites a person to live in response to God's work in Christ.
2. How is the Word not functioning in the text? There is little of either Law or Gospel in this text. There is mention of "the grace given" to us in Christ, which is certainly a gospel word, yet it is simply assumed. As to the Law, a word which lifts up our need of Christ, that is absent as well. That said, it is clear that "conforming to this world" and "thinking more highly than [one] ought to think" are sure paths to disaster. Yet, there is no judgement here on us when we fall into these patterns.
3. With whom are you identifying in the text? We are the recipients of this word. We are the ones who need to be exhorted to allow God to transform us into what is "good, acceptable, and perfect." We are the ones who need to be reminded to think of ourselves "according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." We are the ones that need reminding that we are members, one of another.
4. What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text? Couplets in the case of an exclusively call-to-obedience text must be fashioned using the available language. Some possibilities: conforming to this world/transformed into the likeness of Christ; will of this world/will of God.
5. Exegetical work: Lenski, in his classic commentary, notes the fundamental assumption of this text, seen in the Greek word oun , translated 'therefore' in verse one: "Oun reaches back much farther. The phrase about God's compassions removes all vagueness by fixing our attention on all that Paul has said about the mercy of God as the source of our justification." He goes on to quote Luther: "He does not say, 'I command you!' for he is preaching to those who are already Christians and godly through the faith in the new man..." (Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, p. 746). Luther has much to say about the resistance of the Christian to these exhortations: "For whenever God gives us a new degree of grace, He gives in such a way that it conflicts with all our thinking and understanding. Thus he who then will not yield or change his thinking or wait, but repels God's grace and is impatient, never acquires this grace." Luther goes on: "Therefore every Christian ought to rejoice most heartily when something is done which is diametrically contrary to his own thinking, and he ought to be in the greatest fear when it goes according to his own thinking." (LW, XXV, Lectures on Romans, pp. 438-439). Ernst Kasemann is a bit more generous in his understanding of the human condition, offering this perspective: "To ask what pleases God may concretely agree again and again with what mankind and the world regard as necessary and desirable. But it may also deviate from this, since it stands dialectically opposed both to the idolizing of the world and to its despising, both to seeking the world and fleeing it." (Commentary on Romans, p. 331). Finally, I like Paul Achetemeir's suggestion that saving grace brings with it reforming grace: "Grace brings with itself specific structures. It brings with itself the power to reshape and restructure our lives in a way appropriate for life under the lordship of God rather than under the lordship of sin." (Interpretation series, Romans, p. 194).
6. How does the Crossings Community model work with this text? In 2017, Michael Hoy offered an elegant analysis of this text by contrasting "Unacceptable Sacrifice" with Christ's "Acceptable Sacrifice." Hoy shows how sacrifice is often part of our life, but in the final analysis, only the sacrifice of Christ is sufficient. The entire analysis can be seen archived under its reference by going to crossings.org/text-study.
Blessings on your proclamation!
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