Paul- Greatest Missionary or Salesman?; Romans 5: 1-11

 

Rev. George Miller

May 14, 2023

Romans 5:1-11

 

Last week we explored the meaning of our opening words. 

 

“Welcome to Emmanuel where we have a passion for God and compassion for all.”

 

Compassion means “Womb Love”- to care for someone as if you gave birth to them.

 

Compassion is a perfect word for Mother’s Day.  We like to see God as our Heavenly Momma or Papa.

 

But this week, is Paul’s presentation of God’s love something to celebrate?

 

And truthfully, is Paul someone we want to celebrate, much less emulate?

 

I’m beginning to have doubts about Paul.

 

Sure, he is considered the greatest Christian missionary who ever lived.  Yes- it is because of him that the world came to know Jesus.

 

But is the Jesus that Paul presented to the world the true Jesus…or a product?

 

Here’s the argument: Paul was not among the original disciples.  As far as we know, Paul was not on the mountain to hear Jesus teach.

 

He was not by the sea to witness Jesus heal.  Paul never shared a meal or broke bread with Jesus.

 

Not once in any of Paul’s letters is there reference to a parable Jesus taught or a lesson Jesus shared. 

 

This is akin to someone telling you how great Elvis is but never naming one of his songs, or telling you how funny “Golden Girls” is but never quoting a line.

 

What we do know about Paul is that he was most likely single and unpopular for most of his life.

 

He was overly excited about going after people who believed in Jesus.

 

He claimed to have a vision of Christ that he felt made him equal with the disciples.

 

Barnabas, seeing potential in Paul; traveled with him for 8-12 years, but when Barnabas gave John Mark a 2^nd chance, Paul had a hissy fit that ended their relationship.

 

Paul didn’t get along with Peter.  He thought he knew Jesus better than Jesus’ own brother, James.

 

Paul traveled all over the Mediterranean writing letters, giving talks, receiving free lodging, boat fare, eating with folk, and enjoying forbidden food like lobster, ribs, and shrimp cocktail.

 

So the question is this- was Paul truly the greatest Christian Missionary who ever lived or…

 

Was he a slick salesman who sold a product, and the product was named  “Jesus!”.

 

Think about it.  In today’s letter.  What is Paul selling?

 

Justification by Faith, meaning that we are Citizens of Heaven and recipients of Amazing Grace.

 

Sounds great, doesn’t it?  Of course it does!

 

And why are we justified by faith?  Because of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is because of Jesus that we have obtained grace.

 

And what did Jesus do that allowed us to receive this gift of grace?

 

Jesus died for the ungodly.  Christ died for us.  Jesus shed blood.

 

And why did Jesus die and shed blood?  Because God is full of wrath and mad at us.  And why is God mad?  Because we are sinners.

 

According to Paul, we’re not just sinners- we are enemies of God.

 

And why are we enemies?

 

Because once upon a time, someone we never ever met, named Adam did a naughty, naughty thing.

 

Although none of us know Adam, somehow we all share in his naughtiness.  So God is angry at us, and the only way God won’t be angry is for Jesus to bleed…a lot.

 

Can you hear what Paul is doing? 

 

One can say that Paul is a brilliant theologian, telling us why Jesus died and how his death gifts us all with grace upon grace.

 

But you know what an outsider with a business degree would say?

 

Paul is a brilliant marketer.  The product Paul is selling is “Jesus!”.

 

First, Paul creates the problem- we are all bad, dirty, naughty, naughty people that God is mad at.

 

Why?  Because of something someone did a long time ago that is out of our control.

 

The product that will solve this dilemma- “Jesus!”.

 

NOT the Jesus we met in the Gospels.  Not the Jesus who taught us, or healed us, or ate with us.

 

Paul has no interest in the Beatitudes, Parables, or miracles.

 

The Jesus that will solve our dilemma is the bloody Jesus with streams of red, red blood flowing down his body.

 

A businessperson could look at Paul’s theology and say that he is selling Jesus as a bar of soap that washes away the filth of our forefathers so that God will stop abusing us and love us again.

 

And you may think- this can’t be so!    But what if it is? 

 

What if Paul has brainwashed us all?  What if Paul got it wrong? 

 

And we may wonder “Why?” 

 

Why would Paul, the Greatest Christian Missionary of All Time, possibly pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

 

To which the answer could be- have you ever purchased a faith-based book, CDs, DVD or watched any televangelists lately? 

 

Have you heard of any pastors who used their church as a place to gain power, publicity, launder money, or influence politics?

 

Could it be that Paul realized that if he sold Jesus as a bar of spiritual soap, he could have all the cruises, lodging, stardom, and all you can eat crab legs he wanted?

 

Is it possible that Paul sold us grace as a way to get a free meal, and we gullibly gobbled it up?

 

Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God.”

 

Paul creates the problem by calling us sinners and enemies of God.

 

Jesus says “Mary has chosen the better part.”

 

Paul solidifies the severity of the issue by saying Adam’s mistake made us all condemned.

 

Jesus said “Do you want to be made well?  Then pick up your mat and walk.”

 

Paul says that only Jesus’ spilt blood can save us from God’s wrath.

 

Maybe next week, or next year, I may feel different.  But not today.

 

Today I can’t help but feel a certain way-

 

That Paul took something that was so beautiful: the life, teachings, healings, relationships of Jesus,

 

and he turned it all into some kind of soap that Paul could sell to sinners,

 

all so he could gain fame and a large-sized bacon double cheeseburger meal.

 

BUT- we are not going to end today’s message on that note.  WE are not going to end in despair and doubt. 

 

We are going to share a version of Paul’s letter that just may capture what the Good News is truly about.

 

These are the words from “The First Nations Version,” an interpretation of the New Testament created by our Native American Sisters and Brothers.

 

Hear how they choose to hear Paul’s letter-

 

“This good standing we have brings peace with the Great Spirit.  This peace comes from trusting in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One and what he has done for us.”

 

“Our trust in him opens the way into Creator’s great kindness and is now the solid ground on which we stand.”

 

“Now our boasting is in him, as we look forward to being the kind of people the Great Spirit created us to be, a person filled with his beauty and shining-greatness.”

 

“But we must also find joy in our sufferings on his behalf.  For we know that when the trail gets rough, we must walk with firm steps to reach the end.”

 

“As we walk firmly in his footprints, we gain the strength of spirit that we need to stay true to the path.”

 

“This gives us the hope we need to reach the end of the trail with honor.”

 

“All of this is because of Creator’s great love that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who is a gift to us from above.”

 

“When the time was right, while we were still weak human beings following our bad hearts and broken ways, the Chosen One died for us.”

 

“It is not easy to find someone who is willing to die for a good person, even though we might find someone with the courage to die for a very good person.”

 

“But here is the way the Maker Of Life proves how deep his love is for us: even when we were still following our bad hearts and broken ways, the Chosen One gave his life for us.”

 

“The lifeblood that he poured out puts our lives back into harmony and promises us good standing with the Great Spirit.”

 

“What he has done sets us free from the storm of great anger caused by our bad hearts and broken ways.”

 

“So, if the lifeblood poured out by the Chosen One has put us into good standing with the Great Spirit, then how much more will his life of beauty and harmony, which has defeated death, now set us free to walk in his ways!”

 

“But taking this a step further, we can now boast with glad hearts about what the Great Spirit has done through our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One!”

 

“He is the one who has restored us back into friendship with the Great Spirit!”

 

Can you hear the difference in the approach and the theology? 

 

How one way makes it sound like we are doomed; another makes us sound as ever evolving?

 

Instead of boasting about sufferings, calling us weak ungodly sinners, saved from wrath…

 

we have this version that invites us to stand on solid ground, looking forward to being the best version of ourselves, acknowledging tough trails, that we have bad hearts, broken ways,

 

the promise of beauty, harmony and standing with the Great Spirit in friendship.

 

This is the way I wish Paul wrote; I wish this was the letter we received.

 

But for today, we are left wondering- what do we believe the Jesus experience means for us?

 

What do we hold most dear about Jesus?

 

Is it all about the blood?  Is it all about the teaching?  Could it be both?  Could it be neither?

 

Do we continue to hold onto an image of a wrathful God or is there another image, another way to see our Heavenly Parent?

 

Are we all so so dirty that we need the blood of Jesus to wash us clean or have we acted in broken ways that Jesus empowers us to stand on solid ground?

 

Those are questions for all of us to think about for the week ahead.

 

Amen and amen.