Zeal. Knowledge-less zeal. That is, unfortunately, the defining trait of the longtime people of God (Romans 10:1-2). That’s what religion so often makes out of us. A lot of zeal. A lot of passion and energy. But not nearly enough of simply knowing the presence of God. Not enough of being confronted by God. Not enough loving God for God’s own sake. This problem keeps popping up throughout Romans – religion creates as many problems as it solves.
In Paul’s estimation, here’s what the gentile believers of the Church have working for them. There is no Torah, no tradition, no religious structure and institution to compete with the gospel. So when Jesus and his gospel find them, they are that much freer to simply be found. There’s so much less religious baggage to prevent them from being confronted by the news that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead. They are free to be truly confronted by the news that they are loved eternally and unconditionally by God. And that good news rushes over them suddenly like a wave, with so much less to stop them from answering: yes.
That’s what faith is – saying yes to God’s yes to us.
On the other hand, as Paul sees it, here’s what many of his Jewish brothers and sisters have working against them – a good and rich, but also complex, tapestry of religious rules, traditions, regulations, structures, and institutions that, while not a bad thing in itself, will end up getting in the gospel’s way. Suddenly the gospel has to get filtered through this tapestry of rules, traditions, regulations, structures, and institutions. Instead of just being found by the gospel, they must interrogate it. Does it stand up to their traditions? Does their rabbi agree with it or not? They must dissect every little part of it to make sure it doesn’t violate the traditions and ethics they already hold. And once it’s been through that filter, there’s not much of it left.
That’s not just true of Paul’s generation. And it’s not just true of ancient Israel. It’s true of the Church today. We religious insiders, while not Jewish, still have this in common with those whom Paul critiques. We are recipients of a time-tested tapestry of religious rules and traditions and ethics. It gives structure to our lives and to our faith, and that is often a good thing. But that very same religious impulse would often rather study and dissect God than just be with God.
God is here, church, with us. Right in our face. Meeting us here, in our rules and practices, but also leading us beyond them into a pure and simple knowledge of his presence and love. The more time we spend nitpicking what is the exactly correct way to execute our worship practices here on Sundays, how to structure our religion according to some biblical proof texts, and all the while judging someone else for doing it differently than we do, the more likely we are to miss what God actually wants to give us – himself.
As much as I believe in the goodness of what we do as the Bertram Church of Christ, on Sundays and every day, it’s also true that right now, God is finding and encountering someone somewhere else, maybe in a different kind of church building, maybe in no church building at all. God in his mercy is going to keep finding people who will say yes to his yes, to people who want to be found by him, whether they meet our religious standards or not. And he’s going to keep finding us. Let’s make sure we’re willing to be found.
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