"We've come this far by faith...." That Albert A.
Goodson song was written in the 1960s,
during the turmoil of race relations. A staple
in black worshiping communities, it
is a hymn of perseverance and reflects Paul's message for the
Romans, and indeed for the whole Church, then and today.
(All italicized quotes below are from Goodson's hymn.)
For this reason,
it depends on
faith, so that it
may be a gift,
and the promise
may be guaranteed
to all his
[Abraham's]
descendants.
—Romans 4:16a |
The Letter to the Romans was definitely written by St.
Paul; several other letters were likely
written by Paul's community, under
his name, an accepted practice of
that era.
Written around 57 or 58, Romans
may be the last of Paul's epistles.
It is considered by scholarly giant
Raymond E. Brown, S.S., along with
most others, to be Paul's masterpiece.
SPONSORED LINKS
 Some Background
"Leaning on the Lord..." From Corinth,
Paul wrote to the Roman Christian
community, perhaps 10 or 20
years old. This letter may well have
summarized his theology, in preparation
for a trip to Jerusalem. There
he would deliver money collected
from Christian communities and would defend his theological
understanding of the newly developing Christianity.
As we know from Acts of the Apostles, this was a contentious
debate, centering on whether or not gentiles were
included in Jesus' saving grace. Paul asks, "Does this blessedness
apply only to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised
as well?" (4:9a). Paul, thank
goodness, says that it applies to
everyone.
What he and other New Testament
writers affirmed about faith
(in some translations, grace) versus
works (doing God's will) has always
been a contentious issue. It was the
root of the 16th-century Protestant
Reformation. A month before the
millennium celebration began in
2000, though, Roman Catholics and
Lutherans signed an official agreement
about faith and works.
That's a bit of context for our
Pauline verse. But what does it mean
today?
Entitlement vs. Freedom
"Trusting in his holy Word..." Sure, Christians still like to
argue faith versus works. But there is another language for
this debate that stretches us further into contemporary culture:
entitlement versus freedom, what we are owed (for
works) versus what is freely given (grace).
Our song sheds light on the topic. "Trusting in his holy
Word...We've come this far by faith." When the worshiping
community sings these words, it
affirms the centrality of faith in our
lives. As St. Paul says, "It depends
upon faith, so that it may be a gift."
Let's admit it: Paul's statement is
countercultural. But what is faith?
Among other things, it is an
acknowledgment that we believe in
something that God is giving to us,
not something that we've earned.
So much energy in today's culture
is about working harder and longer
to earn status and approval, and that
energy influences our understanding
of what we receive from God. We
think the world owes us.
God's Love Is Free
"The Lord has made a way..." What
we call the "Puritan mentality" seems to be in the fiber of
American culture. We have our own set of rules, just as, in
Paul's day, people had "the Law," which the Letter to the
Romans compares to faith.
In our rules, hard work equals monetary gain and an easier
lifestyle. Are poor people somehow frowned on by God?
"If only they worked harder!" rich
people seem to say.
That's not to say that faith and
works aren't intertwined, but for all of us, a scriptural understanding of
our value before God—that God's
love is freely given—is basic to a true
Christian faith. Then we too can
sing with the worshiping community,
"He's never failed me yet." Thank
God for that.
John Feister, periodicals editor, holds M.A.
degrees in humanities and theology from Xavier
University. His forthcoming book, with Charlene
Smith, F.S.P.A., is a biography of Sister Thea
Bowman, F.S.P.A., Thea's Song (Orbis). |
