Daily Devotion – December 14, 2020 – Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison
Romans 16:25-27
16:25 Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages
16:26 but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith —
16:27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.
Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians is a most powerful letter. In it, Paul promises his readers/hearers that the Heavenly Father of Jesus Christ is the most powerful deity they will ever hear about. Nothing can separate human beings from the love of that God, because of the work of Jesus.
In these concluding lines of this letter about power, written to a congregation living in the middle of the seat of power of the mightiest empire on earth, Paul makes the amazing claim that this God wants the whole world, not just the Jews, to understand about God so that everyone might have the gift of faith.
Paul has spent a dozen verses just moments earlier greeting people by name – greetings to people in Rome, and greetings from many individuals sitting with Paul on the other side of the Mediterranean world. He is picking up the tiny threads of community and weaving them together right in the midst of saying that the God we believe in is the biggest game in town. We little humans are woven together in the biggest collection of followers of the biggest God in history.
Finally he says to the only wise God be glory forever. Our God deserves glory, and we will be the ones to glorify our God.
In this secular age, I wonder how often we consider the power and wisdom of our God, and how lucky we are to have been called to faith by the Holy Spirit and brought into a faith community where faith in that big and powerful God has been nurtured. I wonder how often we consider what this big and amazing God is up to in our town right now. I wonder whether it even crosses our minds.
But if someone wrote us a letter like Romans, I bet we would not soon forget about that.
Gracious God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for bringing us to faith in you. Thank you for considering us human beings worth the effort and energy. May we glimpse tiny corners of your mighty works right here in our city, and may we give you praise and glory for being involved at all with us on this small planet that you love.
Amen.
