The book of Romans is to the Church what the Beatles are to music in America. You can’t say anything negative about the Beatles without having rocks thrown at you. For this reason I have never liked the Beatles. It is for the same reason that I have never appreciated Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. I am far more likely to seek out the wisdom of less appreciated books than I am to look for it where everyone else claims to have already found it. Could it be that God intended for me, in this time, to discover this book for myself; to come to regard it as highly as I am beginning to without the clamor to its greatness echoing off of every page of Christian literature?
Taking the opening page verse by verse, Romans eats like a meal from the very beginning. Paul’s writing contains all of the richness of a full Shakespearean play in 16 short chapters; boiling the history of all things into a concise message, the relevance of which hovers outside of the confines of time and place. This letter was for the Romans, long dead, for the early church from Asia Minor to the Iberian Peninsula. It was and is a letter to every congregation that has ever called itself Christian.
Its relevance is what makes it so fun and easy to preach. As I read and study I find truth for myself, truth for my Church, truth for the believer and the non-believer both. I am strengthened by the message and invigorated by its beauty and simplicity. Paul captures the essence of the nature of humankind and the essence of our struggle. Romans is truly a masterpiece, the likes of which have rarely been realized through human endeavor.
One day, I hope to have the honor of preaching God’s word to you, or even the simple honor of our talking one-on-one about the book of Romans. Learning together over God’s message to us is a powerful, community building part of the healing purpose that God has for our world.
albaniacalling 