Romans 9:19-21
One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists God’s will?” But who are you, human, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” (Is. 29:16, 45:9) Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?
Paul begins this section by addressing the age-old fate vs. responsibility question. Paul had just finished giving the people a Jewish history lesson, as well as a God’s history lesson. In Jewish culture, the first-born son inherited all the rights and privileges of his father who was head of the household. But God didn’t necessarily follow Jewish culture. Abraham’s son Ishmael was the first-born, but Isaac was the “Child of the Promise.” Esau was the first-born of Isaac and Rebekah, but Jacob became the “Child of the Promise.” Paul then quotes the words God said to Moses, “…I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Ex. 33:19)
Since God doesn’t always follow the “natural” (Jewish cultural) order of things, then God’s actions may be seen as arbitrary. If God’s actions here are to be seen as arbitrary then the logical argument will be, “I shouldn’t be blamed for anything I do. If God is in control, then God, or fate thus dictates all my actions, good or bad. I’m just God’s little puppet. My fate is predetermined b God and nothing I do can change anything. So God shouldn’t hold me responsible for my behavior.”
Paul responds, hey, you can’t talk to God like that! Who do you think you are? He uses the example of the potter and the clay, saying in effect: A piece of clay might want to be made into an expensive vase, but the potter makes it into a plain dinner plate instead (sound like a Disney story?) Paul says the clay doesn’t have the right to complain to the potter because it’s a plate and not a vase, because it’s plain and not fancy.
Romans 9:22-24
What if God, choosing to show wrath and make God’s power known, bore with great patience the objects of God’s wrath–prepared for destruction? What if God did this to make the riches of God’s glory known to the objects of God’s mercy, whom god prepared in advance for glory–even us, whom God also called, not only for the Jews but also from the Gentiles?
You’re missing the point, Paul is saying. If God wanted to, God could get very angry and show that anger, as well as the power God has over all of us. On the other hand, even though God has all this power, what if God chooses instead to be kind, compassionate and merciful, even to those who deserve to be the objects of that wrath–even to those who do things that cause them to be headed for destruction? Instead of wreaking vengeance on those who deserve it, what if what God is doing is demonstrating what God really is like–loving, compassionate and merciful, not only to the so-called “chosen people,” but to everyone.
As a matter of fact, this is what God did already, as you will see if we go back and put that quote, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” In it’s proper context in Exodus 33:19. Moses had gone up Mt. Sinai the first time and had come down with the Ten Commandments, only to discover the people worshipping the golden calf. Idolatry is the greatest sin of all, yet Moses asked God to forgive the people (Ex. 32:32) and God did. Though they were punished they were not destroyed, and God continued to take care of the people and lead them to the Promised Land. When they arrived at the Promised Land, the people lost their faith in God and in fear refused to enter. Again, God did not destroy them–instead they wandered around the desert for 40 years till all who had refused to go in had died in their time. Then they were again given the opportunity to go in, and the second time they did.
Since the people had rejected God, God had every reason to reject them, but didn’t. And even when they rejected the Promised Land, God did not take vengeance, but let them live their lives out in the desert, all the while providing for their needs. What if the reason we don’t understand what God is doing is that we’re trying to make God conform to the Jewish culture, when God really is the God of both Jew and Gentile and calls us all?
Romans 9:25-33
As God says in Hosea: I will call them ‘My people’ who are not My people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not My loved one,” (Hos. 2:23) and it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’” (Hos. 1:10) Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites by like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out God’s sentence on earth with speed and finality.” (Is. 10:22-23) It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” (Is. 1:9)
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, had not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in God will never be put to shame.” (Is. 8:14, 28:16)
While the words in this section speak of God’s approach toward the Gentiles we can most assuredly see that included in these words is the GLBT community. The Jewish people had always considered themselves the “Chosen People.” Those who did not conform to the Jewish law were then not God’s “chosen” people.” Paul says, “That’s not right.” Paul says, “The Jewish culture has a stumbling block preventing access to God, and the stumbling block is the Law. Jewish culture teaches that the way to God is through works–that you can earn your way to God by doing good deeds and refraining from doing bad ones. Paul says all that effort really is for naught. You don’t gain access to God by earning it–you gain access to God by having faith that you have it.
The Jewish religion taught that only by following their rules and regulations could one have access to God. God says that’s not the way it is. “I will call them ‘My people’ who are not My people; and I will call her ‘My loved one’ who is not ‘My loved one,’ and ‘it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
While the fundamentalists of Paul’s day were telling people who was and was not accepted by God, Paul, in quoting Hosea, was telling the people that’s not how it is with God. Paul said getting right with God is not about jumping through someone’s hoops and earning brownie points. Getting right with God is only about having faith and trust that God will accept and welcome you. What was true in Paul’s day for the Gentiles remains true for all of us today in the GLBT community.
Today’s fundamentalists may say, “you don’t belong;” “God doesn’t love you,” “You are not worth,” “You’re not part of God’s family.” God said, “I will call them ‘My people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘My loved one’ who is not My loved one,’ and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘Children of the living God.’”
Life Application