Romans 11:11-21 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“You Are Grafted In”
Lent 5 Sunday, April 7, 2019
If you travel to the Holy Land today, you can visit an olive grove on the hill just to the east of the city of Jerusalem. And in that olive grove, Gethsemane, you will almost certainly be encouraged to consider some trees, olive trees, that may be among the oldest trees in the world. These trees clearly date back into the Middle Ages, but your tour guide will probably tell you that they could be even older than that. He or she will probably tell you that these trees could have been standing in that garden all the way back to the time of Christ. When he went to that garden to pray, he may have walked right past the very trees that you would walk past. There are a lot of “maybes” and “possibilities” involved in that assessment, but it is true that these trees are very old. It is also a possibility that can’t really be determined whether these twisted and gnarled trees could really be so old that they would have been alive for Jesus to walk among them. This is true because these olive trees have a hardy root system that allows them at times to be cut back, nearly to the ground. And even when that happens, they can grow back large branches, perhaps even more productive as far as growing olives, as the trees were before this extreme pruning. So the specific branches that you could see on your visit would almost certainly not have welcomed Jesus to the garden, but the roots to which they are attached could have held other branches that did. The section of Romans chapter 11 that we are giving special attention to in our sermon brings to mind the heartiness of the olive tree root. It compares the people of God to an olive tree, a tree from which some branches had been removed and other branches have been grafted in. This section is a part of a larger portion of the book that focuses on what was going on among the Jewish people, the people descended from God’s chosen Old Testament nation of Israel. Many of them had fallen away from the faith. When Jesus came as the long-promised Messiah, the Savior of the world, many did not recognize him as such. They turned away from him. They rejected him. As a result, they missed out on what God had been teaching his people for centuries. They missed out on the One to whom all of their unique religious ceremonies and customs pointed. Meanwhile, Gentiles, non-Jewish people who had long been on the outside of God’s people and not an integral part of this unique chosen nation, were becoming believers. They were becoming members of God’s family. They were connecting with Jesus as their Savior, hearing about and believing what he had done for them. Paul, by the Holy Spirit’s leading, speaks about these matters in comparison to an olive tree. God’s people make up that tree, connected to God himself and Jesus as Savior. Many of the Jews who were born into that tree, who were a part of the family of God by birthright, had been cut off through their rejection and unbelief. For the Gentiles who had come to faith, though, it was like they had been grafted into that tree. It wasn’t theirs by birth. They had been branches growing somewhere else, but they were attached to this unique and special tree to receive nourishment from its roots. Paul’s words of warning and encouragement to Gentile Christians speak volumes to us today. They remind us also of the unique position we share as members of the Church of God. They tell us that we have been grafted in and therefore encourage us to remember God’s grace and to remain in the faith. As I mentioned, Paul writes at length about the relationship between Jews and Gentiles, and between Christians and non-Christians. As the fullness of God’s plan was being revealed in Jesus Christ, and as that message was being shared throughout the world by his followers, there came to be a division. The Jewish people who truly held to what God said and taught came to see Jesus as the promised Savior. They witnessed how he fulfilled the promises God had made, and how he truly understood and taught what God had been driving home for his people all along. Others, though, did not recognize these things. They rejected the idea that Jesus was their Savior. They insisted on their own interpretations of what God had said. Many of them were looking for a very different Messiah.
The rejection of the message and of the Savior by many Jews meant that Gentiles had a unique opportunity. Don’t understand this to mean that the plan had changed, or that God didn’t see this coming. Don’t assume that God never allowed Gentiles into his family until this rejection took place. What Paul describes is precisely what took place in his ministry. From city to city the travelling missionary Paul would start his work in the Jewish house of worship, the Synagogue. He would share the message with the people who had a background in the Scriptures, what we know as the Old Testament. And in city after city, many, if not most, and in some cases all who heard the message there would reject it. So Paul’s work would continue in the city among other people, among Gentiles. And everywhere he went, this message with Jewish roots was being received and welcomed by more and more Gentiles. So Paul speaks about a certain jealousy or envy that he hoped would ultimately positively affect his own people, the Jews. They could see that many Gentiles were becoming a part of this special relationship with the true God, and they could be moved to look again, to see what the message was all about. It was not too late for the Jews. God was still reaching out to them. And this whole matter is therefore a lesson in God’s grace. God’s grace, his undeserved love, had never gone away from the Jews. It still reached out to them. It was God’s grace that also reached out to the Gentiles. Consider this: neither group had done anything to be born into a specific family or clan or people group or nationality. It is ridiculous to think that they could take credit for being either a Jew or a Gentile. And yet Paul could speak to Jews and Gentiles alike and tell them about the God’s love. He could speak about the plan of salvation that started with the Jews as God’s people and resulted in God’s own Son being born as a Jew to live and to die in place of all people, Jews and Gentiles alike. And so Paul can write to Gentile believers specifically about their being grafted into the olive tree, even though they were once wild olive branches. And that description should resonate with us, too. We, at least for the most part, do not trace our history to Abraham, nor have we grown up among the people of God’s Old Testament covenant. In calling us to faith, God has grafted us into the olive tree of his Church. He has given us this connection to Jesus our Savior, and from it we draw strength and comfort. There is no place for us to boast as if we chose the circumstances that brought us into connection with God’s Word and his Gospel message. We cannot claim to have made a decision to turn from our inborn sinful ways to the ways of God. We cannot claim to have organized our own lives in a way that we would have merited anything more than anyone else. We are dependent on God’s grace, and we rejoice in that grace. And there may be and may have been a temptation to look down on those who have been broken off. But that was not at all the lesson for the Gentiles to learn from what took place. Recognizing God’s grace ought to be enough to prevent that boastful attitude. Instead, what we need to learn from the example of Jewish branches that were broken off is to remain in the faith, to be concerned about falling away. Paul says it this way: “Then you will say: ‘Branches were broken off so that I am grafted in.’ That is true— but remember that they were broken off because of unbelief, and you remain in place by faith. Do not be conceited, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you.” This is certainly not a reason to boast. It is a reason to be thankful. It is a reason to be watchful and to stand in awe. It is a reason to celebrate and to relish in this connection that God has given us as branches to the olive tree root. God strengthens that connection through his Word and sacrament, and so we will want to read and study and learn and digest it. We will want to direct our steps in life according to that Word. I am by no means a master gardener. Perhaps at best I am an amateur, but I have trimmed some tree branches and some bushes in the hopes that they will grow bigger and stronger and healthier through that process. God is our perfect gardener. He assures us that he is completely just and always gracious. He trims off unbelieving branches, and he grafts new branches into his olive tree. You are grafted in, by his hand. Rejoice and give thanks.
The Text: Romans 11:11-21 11So
I ask, “Did they stumble in order to fall permanently?” Absolutely not! Rather, by their trespass, salvation came to the Gentiles to make the Israelites jealous. 12Now if their trespass meant riches for the world, and their failure meant riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean! 13I
am speaking to you Gentiles. For as long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I am going to speak highly of my ministry. 14Perhaps I may make my own people jealous, and so save some of them. 15For if their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, what does their acceptance mean other than the dead coming to life? 16If
the part offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. if some of the branches were broken off, and you—a wild olive branch—were grafted in among them and share in the rich sap from the root of the olive tree, 18do not boast that you are better than the branches. If you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, but the root is supporting you. 19Then you will say: “Branches were broken off so that I am grafted in.” 20That is true—but remember that they were broken off because of unbelief, and you remain in place by faith. Do not be conceited, but stand in awe. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you. 17But