[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] 9 after Epiphany Rom1.16-17; 3.21-28

[Joe Parrish]

Forwarded:

Friends, Here are some Australian thoughts on the New Testament passage set 
for 9th Sunday after Epiphany (which our local Rector has chosen to use this 
week, rather than the Last Sun after Epiphany).
Howard
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* In today's reading from the letter to the Romans, there's a great phrase 
we can all hang on to: "God treats us better than we deserve" (CEV) Rom 3.24
- NRSV has "they are now justified by his grace as a gift .."
- I think CEV is much more powerful and pulls us up short,
taking us to the heart of the meaning of those rather
technical words.
+ To expand on that a bit more: God knows that we can't be
always real good; God knows that we can't always keep the
Law, like the 10 Commandments.
- Normally when people are bad, or when they break the Law,
we expect that they will be punished.
+ Paul tells us that because Jesus came, living, dying and rising
again, God is prepared to forgive us and accept us!
- God's prepared to be friendly with us, and we are invited to
be friends with God,
- and not only that, but also to be friends with one another.
+ It doesn't matter whether we know the Bible back to front, or
whether we've never even opened the Bible in our lives;
- or whether we're somewhere in between those two
extremes;
- the amazing thing is that God treats everyone alike, treats us
all better than we deserve.
+ St Paul thinks that's really great news, and it's worth sharing
with anyone who'll listen.

* God certainly treats us better than we deserve.
+ Each morning when we wake up we can say: 'God accepts me
because of Jesus.
- God's forgiven me for yesterday, and invites me to get on
with living today.
- God invites me to start afresh, to have another go, to do
better.'
+ And I reckon if we can do that we're well on the way to the
wholesome kind of life we were created to enjoy, here, during
this lifetime, not waiting till whatever the next life may be.
+ Mind you, there'll be plenty of ups and downs, plenty of good
times and bad times, like the earthquake in Christchurch, or
the current uprisings in Arab countries, or economic downturns,
or serious illnesses ..
+ But if we remember that Jesus keeps on leading us back to
God, there'll never be any need to fall in a heap.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Rev'd Dr H.C. Smith
 Retired Anglican Priest
 Orange NSW
 Phone (+612) 6362 3375
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *




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