Idolatry

Romans 1:7-23

The Work of Reading Romans

Consider reading Romans. It will be hard work and it will bring to you great spiritual rewards. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is tightly reasoned theology and requires intellectual understanding. Once achieved, that understanding will strengthen your resolve to allow Jesus to be Lord of your life--your entire life!

We begin the difficult work of understanding Romans by reading the very first verse of Paul’s letter to the seat of imperial power.

Romans 1:1-- “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God...”

Compare this opening sentence to the opening verses of three other letters of Paul:

1Corinthians 1:1-- “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes...,”

2Corinthians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother...,”

Galatians 1:1-2-- “Paul, an apostle-sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-and all the brothers with me...,”

The significant difference between Paul’s introduction in the letter to the Romans and his introduction in the other letters may not be immediately obvious. In the letters to Corinth and Galatia Paul indicates that there are others who have had a part in the writing of the letters, who share both credit and responsibility for the thoughts and opinions expressed. In Romans, Paul is on his own. This is his theology, and his alone. Romans is heavy thinking and it is Paul’s best thinking. Readers must make their best effort comprehending his message.

Of course, we could say that we are not interested in understanding Romans. That is an option we always have when we come to any difficult part of the Bible. But, I must caution you, a price would be paid for that decision. Though I acknowledge that theology- - thinking about God--can be tedious it is also critical to the Christian enterprise. And this, the book of Romans, is theology and Christian instruction at their best. Writing to Rome, Paul shared what he believed the people in charge of the world needed to know.

Well, who is in charge of the world today? Is it not possible that the human needs and temptations of first century Rome are similar to the needs and temptations of twentieth century America? Is it not possible that the hard work of reading and understanding Romans might yield insights as critical to the salvation of our lives and our world as they were 2000 years ago? Does not Paul’s hardest thinking deserve our hardest listening?

Hearing Romans Addressed to Us

Believing that this instruction from Paul is intended for us,’ let me substitute America for Rome in Romans 1:7-15:

Romans 1:7-15--”To all in America who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong--that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.”

This is a very personnel beginning to his letter. Paul loves these people and he prays for them all the time. He is proud of their faith. And he is eager to preach the gospel to them.

As I write and think about the church members, family members and friends who will read these sermons, I would be remiss if I did not follow Paul’s lead by sharing with you my affirmation. I, like Paul, deeply feel myself called to write these messages to you. There is a critical truth for our lives contained in Romans and, because I love you, I feel deeply the desire to pass Paul’s thinking on to you in a way that will make a life transforming difference to you.

It is always love that motivates the best writing, a love of the people that requires that they be told the truth, the truth that is the good news of Jesus Christ.

Exposing the Sin That Threatens the People

The gospel is Good News. It is the very best news. But as Paul develops his tightly reasoned argument it becomes immediately clear that he cannot tell us the very good news without telling us first some very bad news. It is like the old gospel hymn:

“I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.”

Only after sin was recognized as a deadly force that was causing the sinner to sink ever deeper into despair, only then could the “Master of the Sea” rescue the one who was lost.

It is Paul’s intention to name the sin that is threatening to cause the Romans--both the non-Christians and the Christians—-to sink so deeply into a slime pit of depravity that there will be no escape. That sin is...

Well, you are going to have to work a little to find out. In Romans 1:14-23 Paul makes an enormously complex statement. He writes a series of sentences that require fluency in Greek Grammar to interpret. Since

I am not fluent in Greek anything, I have to rely on a commentary that seems to know what it is talking about, and you are invited to rely on me. But you, of course, are encouraged to use your own good sense also.

I am not all that fond of grammar. But Melancthon, a disciple of Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, once wrote, in Latin:

“Ignotus in grammatica ignotus in theological est.”

That means, he who is ignorant in grammar is ignorant in theology.’ (Paul Achtexneier, Romans p. 35)

What happens in Romans 1:14-23, grammatically speaking, is that Paul builds an incredibly long string of subordinate clauses, each one of which attempts an explanation of the previous statement. If you carefully follow that string you will find, when you get to the very end, the explanation of why Paul feels so deeply moved to preach to the Christians in Rome. And maybe you will also find an explanation as to what motivates my preaching to people I love.

To help in the process of following Paul’s argument I have added questions that show the connections between the subordinate clauses. The questions that I have added are in bold print.

Romans 1:14-23: I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. (Why am I so eager to preach to Greeks and non-Greeks, the wise and the foolish, and especially you in Rome? Because...) I am not ashamed of the gospel, (Why do I preach it despite how foolish it may sound in the power center of the empire?) because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Why does this Gospel work for everyone? Because...) .. .in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Why is God’s righteousness required in order for us to live? Because...) the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, (How do we know they are suppressing the truth because of wickedness? Because...) ...what may be known about God is plain to them, (Why is it plain to then?) because God has made it plain to them. (But how can it be plain to them? Because...) ...since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualitie--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse, (But why then the wrath of God? Because...) although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (What is the result of all that? The result is that...) Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

Now, good friends, a reward for all of our hard work. If you take out all of the subordinate clauses, and if you summarize the essence of Paul’s message in these ten verses it comes out crisp and clear and blunt as:

I AM UNDER OBLIGATION TO PREACH TO YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE TRAPPED IN IDOLATRY.

And if you did not follow Paul’s complex grammar you would entirely miss the point. Idolatry. That is the sin that separates all people, even God’s people, from their God.

And that includes us. Idolatry is our sin. And if we hold to Paul’s logic anyone who interprets the Word of the Lord to us must contend with the fact that our lives are bound up in idolatry. And I can, in fact I believe I must, personalize all of that by saying that I am conscious of the fact that I am writing these sermons to you because your lives--not just the lives of the perverts and the con men and the rapists and the murderers--all of our lives are either bound up in or threatened by idolatry.

The Many Faces of Idolatry

Paul focuses on an expression of idolatry familiar to the Romans--the worship of images of mortal humans, birds, animals and reptiles. Though we may revere our president we certainly do not worship him in the way that Mao Tse Tung was idolized by many in China. And, I trust, snake worship is foreign to most of us. “Yet worship of things bestial in nature need not be so crude as to kneel before the statue of some animal. Will anyone who reads newspapers or watches television news deny that our society shows signs of bestiality?” (Achtemeier, p. 38) The rapacious drive of a swooping and destroying bird of prey sometimes seems to describe the destructive competition that compels our lives. Besides competition, the idols in both first century Rome and twentieth century America include:

Wealth
Power
Sexual license
Racism
Sexism
Nationalism——that was a biggie in Rome. It is still big.
Intellectualism
Militarism
Materialism——in America this idol is a deadly monster that must be resisted with all manner of spiritual weapons.
Escape into pleasure——the pursuit of entertainment and thrills can cost us our lives. This idol includes everything from addiction to television to addiction to cocaine.

In America today the idolatry of self threatens every one of our souls. The slogan for the “me generation” is, “do your own thing”. Self—fulfillment is “god” and is to be found only outside the context of surrender to family, country and God. Commitment and covenant are, at best, secondary values. The creature, you and me, is substituted for the Creator. And that is idolatry.

Everyone, Paul says, is either terribly guilty of or terribly vulnerable to idolatry. If you are bound to idols you must be saved. If you are serving the Lord God above all other gods you must be vigilant. The Lord God, maker of heaven and earth requires everything from you. And He gives back everything needed for abundant and eternal life. Every other lord promises everything to you, but eventually requires from you body, mind, soul and everything else.

Paul establishes in chapter one of his letter to the Romans that idolatry is the key to the spiritual predicament of all people in all times, including God’s people in our time. The temptation to idolatry must be taken with deep seriousness by us if we want Jesus Christ to be the one and only Lord of our lives and if we want to invite others, including the communities in which we live, to put aside idols and worship the one true God.

Does God Show Us the Way out?

What has God done about idolatry? What does God intend to do? As we seek answers to these questions, remember a critical fact. Paul’s message on idolatry is not just for some perverted minority out there somewhere. It applies to everyone, including us. Every society names some idolatries as respectable. In Rome it was worship of the emperor and the state and hedonistic pleasure. In America it is the worship of possessions and self— reliance and work. But in Paul’s understanding one idolatry and its consequences is not worse than another idolatry and its consequences. They all separate us from the Lord Jesus Christ d but all destroy our lives. Thus, although words of truth must be spoken towards the idolatries of our day, no one, absolutely no one can afford to be self-righteously judgmental. As it has been said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Judgmentalism

I must add one final thought on how important I feel this insight on judgmentalism is to you and me. If we can’t remember it we would be better off not even trying to speak to the major idolatries that affect our lives and our communities. Our world is being consumed by idolatry. False gods are everywhere, but if we cannot address them without getting self- righteously hostile we had better stay out of the discussion. And the only way any of us avoid such a spirit of condemnation is by remaining constantly aware that it is only the unmerited love of God that saves any of us from the many idolatries that threaten to consume our lives. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And, I am required to remind you, so it has been and so it shall be.