Why do we go to church? For community, for help, and to be fed with the Word and Sacraments of God. I’m thinking more about that these days as I’ve started J.D. Vance’s book Communion, the story of his return to the church. (I’ll review that as soon as I finish it.)
In my Anglican church, we read through the Bible every two to three years, hearing a Psalm, an Old Testament reading, a New Testament lesson, and selections from a Gospel every week. Today, our priest combined the story of the feeding of the 5,000 (from Matthew 14:13-21) with the beautiful passage from Romans 8:31-39.
There’s more! If you want to listen about our team’s thoughts on faith, check out the Faith All Over the Place podcast, hosted by Stephen Kruiser and Chris Queen. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
From the parable of the feeding of the 5,000, our priest today emphasized that Christ called his disciples to do the feeding. “You give them something to eat.” I’m sure the disciples were looking at each other scratching their heads. But they brought what they gathered to God, who turned it into more than enough. Which raises the question: for whom did Christ do that miracle? The crowd? Those folks (especially the ones in the back) didn’t know what was going on. They just got dinner. The miracle was for the disciples, to strengthen their faith and cause them to tell others.
From there we turned to Romans. Anglican theologian J.J. Packer called Paul’s book of Romans the high point of the Scriptures, and he called Romans chapter 8 the high point of Romans. Consider carefully these questions and the response. I’ve arranged the questions in five sentences to make it clearer.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our priest took us carefully through each question and affirmation. The first is about Divine confidence. We can have no fear, knowing God is for us. Second, we see Divine provision. He “graciously gives us all things.” Next is Divine pronouncement. The only one who justifies is God. Fourth is Divine intercession. As our priest marveled, “The one who can condemn is basically our defense attorney and advocate!” And last is Divine love. Nothing – not tribulation, divorce, debt, rising prices – nothing can separate us from the love of God. As he said, “An unloved Christian is not possible.”
Tying this back to the parable of the miraculous feeding, we see that by relying on Christ, the disciples fed multitudes with the mere two fish and five loaves they presented to the Lord. Romans 8:31-39 gives us Christians the confidence to go out and feed the people in our own lives. What should we give them? Our testimony, our experience of Him. “We take the good word Christ has shared with us, and we share it with the world,” our priest admonished us. That’s what compelled me to share this with you.
Editor’s Note: Hollywood, academia, and liberal elites are out of touch with the average American, who has values and beliefs they don’t share.
Help us continue to report the truth about what 77 million patriots voted for by joining PJ Media VIP and using promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
