Jordan Paul

For I am convinced that neither death, not life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:38-39

Dear Friends,

In a reflection on chapter eight of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans (an excerpt of which is included for today’s readings), Bishop Robert Barron writes the following about the above passage:

“Paul knows this precisely because we killed God, and God returned in forgiving love. If Jesus had been simply a heroic human being who had sacrificed himself for others, and if, through a great miracle, he returned, like Lazarus, to life, we would have been astounded—but we would not have been saved. Only when the most nefarious possible sin—the killing of God—was answered with God’s compassion did we come to know that Paul expresses: ‘If God is for us, who is against us?’”

In today’s passage from Romans, St. Paul exhorts us to live according to the Spirit, not the flesh. He reminds us that we are children of God and that our fate is to be glorified with him. That is the Good News. That is the Good News that we, by living according to the Spirit, are called to share.

We are not called to declare just that Jesus was a heroic person. We are not called to declare that Jesus may have (but probably didn’t) raise the dead. No, we are called to declare that God walked among us, that the Father welcomes us as siblings and heirs with Christ, and that Christ did in fact die for us.

Last week was the General Convention for the Episcopal Church. Perhaps because of that, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about our calling and what we—the Church broadly—prioritize.

I have some thoughts but not enough room here to share them. For some good takes, I’d highly recommend reading Fr. Scott Gunn’s blog about the resolutions and also Fr. Benjamin Crosby’s post about General Convention as a whole. I think they’re a good starting point for thinking about the Church’s work and mission and how the Church is doing at them.

Everliving God, whose will it is that all should come to you through your Son Jesus Christ: Inspire our witness to him, that all may know the power of his forgiveness and the hope of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. —BCP p. 816

In Christ,

—Jordan