Paul’s letter to the church in Rome is sometimes referred to as his greatest theological work. (Others would make this claim for Corinthians – which is the book we will be studying this fall in LCM’s Sunday morning Bible Study.) There are many wonderful thoughts and insights in Romans, but the portion assigned for this day are from the concluding chapter. I was struck with the appropriateness of this, as I renew these electronic reflections.
Somewhere, in the mix of wonderful ideas, we must never lose our grasp on the role played by the community which holds those ideas to be important.
This is true for the academic community. If there were no benefit to being among those who are excited by mathematics, we would all simply enroll in one of those on-line-universities. If the community of those devoted to nursing had nothing to share those preparing for this profession we would read all the textbooks, take the exam, and begin to practice our trade.
This is true for the community of Christ. It isn’t simply a matter of knowing things about Jesus; it is learning to live as Jesus lived. We don’t come to believe certain things about God, we see what it means to have faith in God.
That collection of wonderful ideas is transmitted from one to another. They are passed from practitioner to convert; they are handed down from one who has come to trust in their validity to another who is only beginning to explore.
Romans is an important book in the life of the Church. It allows us to see Paul’s logic with regard to faith. It also reminds us that the community which believes these things is essential to the transmission of these ideas.
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