Monday, Oct. 1

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Romans 10:1-4

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

While pursuing my seminary study I was required to spend a couple of semesters in what was called “C.P.E.” – or Clinical Pastoral Education.  So several days each week I served as a chaplain in a large suburban hospital. There were six or seven students in my group and we were led by the head chaplain, who was an ordained minister of a different denomination. In fact, being Baptist, I was the only evangelical in the group, the others being from “mainline” denominations.

We met once a week for a brief devotional time, and took turns preparing and delivering the devotional thought for the day. When my turn came, I decided to try to emphasize the idea that although we were all in preparation for ministry, we were still vulnerable to all kinds of sin and needed to be reminded often that we were still in need of the power of the gospel in our hearts and lives.

I took the liberty of sharing a quote from one of my favorite writers, Frederich Buechner, who wrote:

“From time to time I find a kind of heroism momentarily possible – a seeing, doing, telling of Christly truth – but most of the time I am indistinguishable from the rest of the herd that jostles and snuffles at the great trough of life. Part time novelist, Christian, pig. That is who I am.” (From “The Alphabet of Grace”)

When I was finished, I was astonished to find that the response of the group was not thoughtful reflection on the miracle of God’s grace, but anger bordering on rage!

“How dare you!?” one up-to-that-point-sweet lady seethed, “How dare you insinuate that I am a sinner! I’ve given my life to caring for others!” Most of the others, including the head chaplain, responded in very similar fashion.

Now, I’m pretty sure that the reference to “pig” didn’t help much, but I remember being surprised by how offended these religious people were to even the suggestion that they might be, in fact, sinners.

In these verses from Romans 10, Paul is referring to a similarly religious group of people – people who assumed that they could establish their own righteousness through their religious efforts.

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

He’s talking, of course, about the Israelites – but he could be talking about anyone from any religious or cultural background who is relying on religious activity or good deeds to make them righteous before a holy God.

The people in my C.P.E. group were religious people; they were, in many ways, “zealous for God,” and they were good people. But their denial of their own sinfulness gave away their approach to righteousness. They didn’t need God’s righteousness because they had already achieved their own.

Tim Keller has written:

“Any effort to take away the idea of Christ’s substitutionary atonement and replace it with moralism (i.e., being moral, working for others, imitating Jesus) robs the gospel of its power to change us from the inside out.” (essay, “The Meaning of the Gospel”)

“We must learn how to repent of the sin under all our other sins and under all our righteousness – the sin of seeking to be our own Savior and Lord.” (Book: “The Prodigal God”)

This, again, is why the gospel is so revolutionary.

Pastor Brian Coffey