August 15 & 16, 2026

Calvary Lutheran Minocqua

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

By The Rev. Paul Heykes

If you have been attending worship over the last two months, you may have noticed that every week since the first Sunday in June, the second lesson of the day has been from the book of Romans (and we will continue to read from Romans until the middle of September).

During this “Romp Through Romans,” our lectors have read some great and memorable passages, such as the fifth chapter where Paul proclaims a foundational doctrine of the Christian Faith, that. . .

“We have been justified by faith. . .and God demonstrates God’s love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!”

And later, from the eighth chapter, words of comfort and assurance, words that I have shared at many funerals over the years. . .

“There is nothing in all creation – not even death – that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!”

And that is just a small sampling of the readings we’ve heard. I could double the length of this sermon simply by citing all the important and memorable passages in the first ten chapters of Romans.

And that brings us to today’s text from Chapter 11. It is not quite as famous or memorable, but that does not mean that it is any less important, it just takes a bit mor digging to unpack the good news.

Now to start with, it is important to note that Paul is addressing a very specific situation in the church at Rome, where questions arose concerning the fate of Jews who either rejected of did not accept Jesus as Messiah. At first when we hear what was on Paul’s mind when he wrote this, we might think that it has nothing to do with us today. To the best of my knowledge, none of us are of Jewish descent nor are we worried about out Jewish kin who do not accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord.

But the genius of Holy Scripture is that time and time again, when the author addresses one question, the Word of God speaks to a myriad of other situations.

So, in today’s text, once Paul specifically states that, “God has not rejected his people, whom God foreknew,” in other words, the Jews, Paul goes on to write a line that applies to everyone of every ethnicity, of every time and every place – verse 29 which reads. . .

“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable!”

Or, to translate the Greek a bit more literally. . .

“God does not regret having showered God’s gifts and calling upon humanity.” 

And therefore, God has no intentions of ever taking them back.

It was God’s choice to bless us with every blessing: Our being; Our relationships; This wonderful world; And, our salvation in Christ! God does not regret having made the decision to bless us. So, no matter what. . .

. . . we may reject God’s Blessings,

. . . we may ignore God’s blessings,

. . . we may misuse God’s blessings

. . . we discard God’s blessings. . .

And yet, God has no regrets about extending all these blessings to us. And since God has no regrets, there will never be a recall of these blessings. God will never withdraw, or take away, or cease to send God’s grace to all the people of this world – even though we people are a whole lot better at sinning than receiving God’s gifts. God will not give up on us. God will overcome every obstacle to God’s grace. God will even use that which seems to stand in opposition to God to accomplish God’s will.

Now after the simple proclamation of this good news, the balance of Paul’s text, (along with the Old Testament and Gospel lessons for today, go on to expand upon three unlikely things that God uses as a means to accomplish God’s will.

First – God uses our disobedience to accomplish God’s will.

Second – God will use complex, convoluted, mixed up, crazy human situations to accomplish God’s will.

Third -- God will use unlikely people such as outsiders or outcasts to spread the Good News.

Now the word disobedience is used four times in our text from Romans 11, and with it Paul makes the point that since ALL people are disobedient sinners who are guilty of breaking God’s law, God actually needs to use our disobedience to accomplish God’s will and convey God’s blessings to us.

You can see this paradigm play out in the book of Genesis. In the beginning, God created humankind and established just one rule – do not eat of the fruit of the tree of life. And we all know what happened next. Adam and Eve disobeyed. They ate, and the human race was infected with sin. By the next generation, Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, murdered his brother Abel. Since then, the violence and disobedience has continued unabated.

Yet out of this disobedient, sinful human race, God called Abraham and promised that his descendants would be numerous and become a great nation, and through them all nations would be blessed. Over the years the faith of Abraham waxed and waned, yet God did not revoke God’s blessing and promise. The people did in fact become a great nation and through them all were blessed with the birth of Christ, God’s Messiah.

But when Jesus came on the scene, many of the descendants of Abraham, and the leaders of the nation in particular, were hostile toward Jesus and deaf to the gospel Jesus proclaimed. And in their disobedience, they conspired to have Jesus put to death. Yet God did not let their disobedience thwart God’s plans – on the third day Christ rose victorious.

Over the next couple of decades, as many of the descendants of Abraham steadfastly refused to follow Jesus, God turned to others, to the Gentiles, who, after hearing and believing the Good News about Christ, were baptized and organized into what still exists today – the Christian Church.

So, you see how it works? All are disobedient. God chooses Abraham and his descendants (despite their disobedience) to be a conduit of God’s blessings. But the descendants of Abraham turn against Christ, the ultimate manifestation of God’s blessing. So, God turns to the Gentiles to become the backbone of the church.

And Paul sums up the whole sordid affair when he writes, “For God has imprisoned ALL in disobedience so that God may bless and be merciful to ALL.”

Simple? Right? Well. No. not really. The whole of God’s plan is complex, convoluted, mixed up and crazy. But it is the way that God chose to do it. 

And God continues to work through sinful, disobedient people to extend God’s grace and blessing to all. Our world is a complicated place. Our technology baffles and astounds. Our politics are full of conflict and neither side seems capable of finding an agreeable solution to our problems. Our homes and families are constantly facing strife and pressure. Health crises, illness and injury strike without warning. But despite all this, God continues to send God’s gifts. God continues to love us. God is always ready to forgive. God will empower us to face our trials.

And that IS good news. Remember it always. Especially when the going gets tough and when life gets confusing and complicated. Knowing that and believing this will not necessarily make everything better, but it is the source of strength to carry on and it echoes Paul’s proclamation in chapter eight, “Nothing can separate us from God’s love.”

Keep in mind that what was true two-thousand years ago remains true today. In particular, the truth that if anyone who should be doing the work of God does not fulfill their obligation, God will find someone to do it. God will even turn to those one would never expect – that is how committed God is to blessing humanity with God’s gifts and calling.

All three of our lessons for today are about the role outsiders end up playing in God’s plan.

In Isaiah, God says, through the words of the prophet, that even foreigners who join themselves to the Lord are promised a place in God’s kingdom. “My house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples.”

In the Gospel, a Canaanite woman whose daughter was possessed by a demon came to Jesus, begging for mercy and healing. At first Jesus ignored her. The disciples wanted Jesus to send her away. And Jesus seemed to agree with them that sending her away was the right thing to do. But the woman persisted. Christ saw that she had great faith. He healed her daughter. And for many years, even unto today, her story has been told and retold and she is held up as an example of the faith that was lacking in so many others, especially the chief priests and leaders of the nation.

And finally, in Romans Paul shows how the Gentiles have been blessed with God’s mercy and grace so that through them, many others will dome to know and love Christ as their savior and Lord.

And that IS good news!

Go promises God’s grace and love and blessings to all, whether obedient OR disobedient, with no regrets and no limitations. God really does not care precisely who it is who will share the Good News. Anyone who believes, anyone who says, “Yes Lord, here I am, send me.” Insider or outsider? It does not matter.

All God wants is for the news of salvation to reach the ends of the earth. Thanks be to God for those who shared the Good New with us – and may we in turn – pass it on to others as well. Amen!