Introduction

I have continued to read slowly through St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and this week I will be looking at chapters 8-14. Chapter 8 is a beautiful chapter about the life of the Spirit of God in us, and ends with a beautiful section on God’s invincible love for us. Sr Agnes scribed the last sentence for me, many years ago, and this is what I have used as this week’s illustration. If you don’t read any other part of the letter, you should at least read this central chapter.

In chapters 9-11 St Paul explains the role of Israel (the Hebrew race) in salvation history, and how it is that the Jews will be saved. I passed relatively quickly over these chapters, but did follow, and enjoy, some of the references to the Old Testament that they contain.

Chapters 12-14 are the part of the letter entitled ‘EXHORTATION’ in the Jerusalem Bible. St Paul is encouraging the Roman Christians to think and act within their faith. Parts of these chapters are well worth pondering sentence by sentence.

Lectio

I am moved again and again by God’s greatness, and his love for me, for us, and how he gives me life, through his Spirit. For me, a key sentence is:

The Spirit of God has made his home in you (8:9).

Just before entering the monastery it was pointed out to me that I like being ‘at home’ and often talk about ‘coming home’ and ‘returning home’. I thought to myself ‘this is quite a good thing for someone who wants to be an enclosed nun’. Being at home is important to me, and it is an unbelievably great privilege to be a home for the Spirit of God. I am reminded of the last discourses in the Gospel of John where Jesus talks about the mutual indwelling of ‘you in me and I in you’ (John 14:20 and 17:23).

Similarly, in Chapter 11, when talking about the salvation of the Jews, St Paul makes an allusion to the prophecy of Jeremiah in which it is written:

Within them I shall plant my Law, writing it on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

Indeed, this closeness and mercy of God, and the mysteriousness of his workings, leads St Paul to exclaim:

How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen (11:33-36).

This great love calls for a response on our part – hence the exhortation in the following section of the letter. We are called to change our thinking and behaviour:

Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you, but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God, and know what is good, what it is that God wants (12:2).

Love each other as much as brothers should, and have a profound respect for each other. Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of spirit (12:10-11).

You should make hospitality your special care (12:13).

and a favourite of mine:

You must wake up now: our salvation is even nearer than it was when we were converted. (13:11)

or, as the ESV has it:
The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

I am continually encouraged by the idea in contained in this verse that we are forever making progress towards the Lord, towards our salvation.

After reading these, and other, exhortations it is worth recalling again the fact that The Spirit of God has made his home in you. We are not alone in carrying out these works, in making these changes to our thinking and actions, the Spirit is working in us, with us and for us. For example:

If by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live (8:13).

And living here does not just mean you won’t die, but that you will receive the fullness of life, as Christ, as God the Father, wants us to have it. This life in Christ is described in John chapter 15 using the metaphor of the vine – as the branches draw life from the vine, so we draw life from Christ. Probably with this in mind, Sr Agnes has added some vine leaves and grapes to her selection from Romans 8, which I am going to use to conclude this section.

For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, no angel, no prince, nothing that exists, nothing still to come, not any power, or height or depth, nor any created thing, can ever come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord (8:38-39).

Prayer

O God, you have poured your love into our hearts and given us the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and among us. We pray that, by the grace of this Spirit, we may welcome this love and let it flourish within us. May our lives change in response to your love for us, that we may grow ever closer to you, and that many more people will be drawn to live the life you desire for us. AMEN