Circle of Trust

Circle of Trust

Text:  Romans 4:1-17

            Greg is living the nightmare of being introduced to his in-laws.  “Meet the Parents” is a comedy film portraying control freak father-in-law, Jack Byrnes, putting Greg through his paces.  Greg, played by Ben Stiller, is a male nurse and Jack, played by Robert de Niro, finds this profession laughable.  No matter how hard Greg tries to please Jack, it is never enough.  We discover that Jack is a retired CIA agent compelling Greg to submit to a lie detector test.  Jack uses every trick of his trade, including hidden cameras and his connections in the CIA to keep Greg under surveillance. 

            After the lie detector test, Pam lets Greg in on what her dad used to do for a living.  Jack ominously tells Greg that this knowledge means that he is now inside the Byrnes Family Circle of Trust.  The only way to stay in the Circle of Trust is to let Jack know everything that’s going on.  But the more that Greg tries to stay in the Circle of Trust the more he finds himself on the outside of the circle. 

            Though the story line though farcical resonates with reality.  Meeting the parents for the first time is often a stressful experience for the prospective wife or husband.  Will they meet with approval? 

            Finding acceptance in a family or another social grouping can sometimes be strained.  Those who’ve ever moved into a small town or village may have experienced being an ‘incomer’.  It is quite common for small communities to be tight knit and to keep outsiders at arms length.

            I recall visiting an elderly person in hospital when I was in Cumnock.  This person had a strong English accent.  They told me they were an incomer to Cumnock.  I asked how long they’d lived in the town.  “Seventy years,” came the reply.  Now, I had only lived in Cumnock for a couple of years.  I knew then and there that there was little or no hope for me!

            Churches too can be difficult circles to step into.  Congregations are often made up of people who’ve known each other for long periods of time.  Perhaps there are a couple of significant families that keep the church going.  Everyone is used to the way things are.  There is a general acceptance that this person does that and another person does this.  Though every church wants to grow in numbers, in reality they find it easier to welcome the odd new person every so often.  But when lots of new people start coming in, tensions arise.  These folk by virtue of being ‘new’ bring their own gifts and ways of looking at things.  This may mean the church has to face change.  In some churches the old guard have various ways of drawing the ‘circle of trust’ and making sure that the newcomers know that they are not ‘in’. 

            Humans naturally form groups.  We like to define our family...our community...our social standing...our nationality.  The church is no different.  There is an instinct in faith communities to define our boundaries rigidly to enable us to be clear about who is in and who is out.  The challenge for Christian faith communities is to draw our circles large. 

            There are various ways to interpret Paul’s letter to the Romans.  I will be focussing on one particular approach.  Paul wrote to followers of Jesus in which non-Jews were in the majority.  In the beginning followers of Jesus were primarily Jewish.  Changes were afoot.  More and more non-Jews heard the good news of salvation and were responding in faith.  Tensions arose because though the Jews had been first in the faith the Gentiles were increasingly arrogant.  Paul was intent on checking this attitude of superiority by reminding the non-Jewish believers that they were guests in this community.  The good news had come to the Jews first, then the non-Jews.  There was no room for arrogance, only kindness (11:22).

            Paul has been arguing that Jew and Gentile alike are on equal footing before God.  All have sinned and all are put right by the gift of grace through Jesus Christ.  There is no place for boasting. 

Paul writes about different kinds of ‘laws’.  There is the law of faith and the works prescribed by the law.  He is stresses that the law of faith means that there is no room for boasting.  Paul’s advocacy of the law of faith does not mean he is dismissive of the works of the law.  He isn’t rubbishing the law as something that doesn’t matter anymore.  On the contrary, he insists that he upholds the law.  How does the law of faith and the works of the law relate?  Paul has some explaining to do. 

To show the relationship between the law of faith and works of the law, Paul turns to the life of Abraham.  Not unlike the ‘Byrnes Family Circle of Trust’ in “Meet the Parents”, Paul is probing to find out who is part of “Abraham’s Family Circle of Trust.”  Who’s in and who’s out?

Paul explores whether the Circle of Trust is defined by works of the law.  He asks, “Did Abraham gain any special standing with God because of anything he did on his own steam...by his own efforts...through the flesh?  Abraham has every right to brag about his efforts though not as far as God is concerned.”

Paul is convinced that works don’t cut it with God.  He is sure that there is nothing new in this idea finding that is in the Hebrew scripture.  He asks, “What does the scripture say?”  He recalls Genesis 15:6, “Abraham lived his life trusting God’s promise.  This faith was regarded as credit on his account.  It was belief that put him right with God.”

Paul reminds those who heard and read his letter that when somebody works for someone else then wages are due.  A pay packet is not a gift but is paid by rights.

Paul is certain that God puts right those who are ungodly – those who are at odds with his good purposes.  Working to earn this putting right by God will get a person nowhere.  It is only those who trust him – who put their faith in him – who will be right-wised.

Paul turns to scripture again and quotes Psalm 32:1-2 as evidence of his contention.  He says that David speaks of the contentedness of those that God considers put right regardless of what they have done.  Content and happy are those whose sins are forgiven...covered.  Content and happy is the one against whom the Lord no longer holds sin.

Is forgiveness limited to the circle defined by circumcision and the prescriptions of the law?  Or is it also for the uncircumcised?  Paul again refers to the scriptures writes, “We say that it was faith that put Abraham right with God.” 

The question is this:  When was credit put on Abraham’s account that he was right before God?  Was it before or after he was circumcised?  It wasn’t after his circumcision but in fact before.  Circumcision was the ‘seal’ of his already having been put right with God by faith when he was uncircumcised.  The purpose of Abraham being put right with God by faith before his circumcision was so that he would be the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised.  “Abraham’s Circle of Trust” was drawn by faith in God.  Both those who are circumcised and uncircumcised who have the faith of Abraham are therefore considered put right with God on this basis. 

The promise to Abraham that he would ‘inherit the world’ (referring to him being the father of many nations and a blessing) did not come through the law but through the experience of being rightly related to God through faith.  If heirs of the promise are only those who adhere to the law, then faith = zero and the promise is nil.  The promise was made to Abraham before the law and it was his faith and trust in God that gave significance to the promise.  Circumcision was the sign of the promise that had been made in and through faith.  Unfortunately the law stirs up anger but where there is no law there is no breaking of the law. 

This is why the promise can’t survive without faith.  The bedrock of the promise is grace.  On the foundation of faith the promise is a sure thing for all who are children of Abraham.  The promise is not only for those who keep the law but to the uncircumcised who share the faith of Abraham. 

Abraham is the father of all of all – Jew and Gentile.  The LORD said in Genesis 17:1-8, ‘I have made you the father of many nations.’  Everyone is in the Circle of Trust who “share the faith of Abraham in the presence of God in whom he believed.”  This faith is not a generic faith.  It is a faith in God who created – who gives life to the dead and brings things into being from nothing.

“Abraham’s Family Circle of Trust” is not bounded by works of the law.  God’s promise draws the circle as big as grace itself.  The Circle of Trust includes those who are circumcised, law keeping Jews and the uncircumcised who do not practice works of the law.  All who are followers of Jesus have stepped into the Circle of Trust in the way of Abraham:  by faith in God’s gracious gift. 

Do we define ourselves in such a way that excludes people from the Circle of Trust?  How can we draw the boundaries of our church community with the expansive boundaries of grace?  Do we live in such a way that shows that we have received a gift that we have not earned that has been given by the God of resurrection and creation?  Are we arrogant insiders or humble recipients of a welcoming promise of grace for all?