An invitation to dine

Advent 4  year A Sermon Romans 1:1-7 

‘Sometimes we don’t realize how hungry we’ve been… until we start getting a full… spiritual meal on a regular basis. And that’s why…here in our faith community…
I like to encourage a daily banquet…a feast if you like… on God’s word in scripture, dining in prayer and silence…

Like three square meals a day…
when we practise the rhythm of faith
we find ourselves well nourished…

Sitting down at table…with texts like Paul’s letter to the Romans… can provide us with hearty food for the spiritual journey – even in the first seven verses from today’s reading.

And so this morning before we share this most sacred meal…
I want us to savour the Word of God in scripture… together.
As you know the spiritual practise of Lectio Divina or Divine Reading is one way… we can listen for the voice of God…

It’s not about interpretation or exegesis or biblical scholarship…it’s about savouring the word of God slowly…
allowing ourselves to linger…allowing ourselves to notice… where God might be calling us to stop… to chew on a particular word…or concept…appreciate it’s shape texture and taste …and it’s amazing how God can surprise us even when we’ve read the same verses a hundred times already.  

In its classic form, lectio divina has four courses…or steps:  listening…reflecting…praying…and obeying. When these steps are combined . . . they lead our spirit into a dynamic interaction with the Holy Spirit . . . If we’re always trying to make the Bible serve our own agenda – we distance ourselves from God. The process of lectio divina can help us recover our ability…to discern the heart of God…
in the Word of God.”

And it’s important we don’t shield any part of our selves from the words we hear or read.
There’s no point in pretending before God.

So now before we share our main course…the sacrament of bread and wine… our appetiser comes from Paul’s letter to the Romans.

First, I’ll read it again and you listen. Then I’ll put it up on the screen so you can reflect in your own time. As you listen and read…if you’re struck by a word or phrase that seems to have special meaning for you …just stay with that delicious morsel and savour it…and allow yourself to enter more deeply into
what God might be stirring within you. Now listen.

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures,

the good news concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now ether with a Bible or with the words on the screen just sit with Roman’s 1:1-7 and let it seep in.

Romans text slide

[Three – five minutes silence]

Blank slide

I believe that moving our hearts and minds through the words of scripture… is one way God speaks to us.
Noticing this and staying with…
it is our work…the work of listening to what God’s saying to us.

Would anyone like to share what struck them about this passage…it will be different for each of us.

[sharing]

I recommend this savouring of scripture as a daily spiritual practise…as part of your ‘rule of your life’ if you like.

I almost always use this process when preparing my sermons and what struck me about this reading …
was that I saw embedded in Paul’s words the structure of one of the earliest creeds in the Christian faith…
sort of like the Apostles Creed but different…
words that express the heart of our belief… something the people of God can say together in worship…
as an rsvp to Christ’s invitation to this table.

I’ve reformed Paul’s words for this purpose…
and I’d be grateful if you’d stand and say it with me.

Slide words

We belong to Jesus Christ. We are his servants.
We are set apart for the gospel of God,
which he promised beforehand
through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

the good news concerning his Son,
who was descended from David according to the flesh

and declared to be Son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness…
How? By resurrection from the dead.
God’s Son is Jesus Christ our Lord,
through whom we have received grace
and by whom we are sent out…
to bring about the obedience of faith
among all who don’t know him
for the sake of his name
We belong to Jesus Christ
we are called to be saints.

Please be seated

Part of what it means to belong to Jesus…
is to remember the story of his birth and his life… his death and resurrection…and accept his invitation to his banquet table… Let us pray

Prayer after sermon

God of apostles saints and prophets, Gentiles and Jews feed us today with your spirit of holiness and love. Sustain us in this meal we are about to partake
that it might bring about our own obedience of faith
in this holy season of expectation.
In the strong name of the One who is to come Amen.

In this meal the promise of the prophet is fulfilled

In this meal

slide words

God is with us.

Emmanuel