1. Paul obtained confidence through the experience
We keep reading Epistle to the Romans, almost the first half of which we finished. Today is the ninth session and the lecturing part is the second half of chapter 8. Frankly saying, I find the whole letter very difficult to comment. I dare think that believers of the church in Rome scarcely understood the message of Paul. However the letter gave a huge impact to the Protestant thinking throughout the history. Martin Luther*1 established the theory of ¡ÈSola fide¡É by reading Romans then launched the Protestant Reformation. ¡ÈThe Comment of Romans¡É by Kanzo Uchimura, a Christian evangelist*1, formed the foundation of Japanese Non-church movement. Moreover, the theological commentary ¡ÈThe Epistle to the Romans¡É by Karl Barth, a Swiss Reformed theologian*2, is still strongly influential in the Protestant christianity. Therefore we should courageously continue the lecture of the text.

Paul said in Chapter 8 verse 18, ; - The sufferings we have now are nothing compared to the great glory that will be shown to us.

He meant by the verse above that being Christians is undergoing sufferings by following footsteps of Jesus. And we won¡Çt bear those pains alone. ; - because God supports us. ; - If God is for us, no one can defeat us.(Romans 8:31)

In the scripture, Paul was encouraging Christians in harsh environments by alluding to a lawsuit in court. He, as one of those Christians, suffered from persecutions during his tree times preaching journeys. He was arrested, imprisoned and brought before judges again and again. The court procedure was generally carried out by tree parties; the prosecutor, the accused with the pleader and the judge. And Paul argued that Christians would have nothing to worry about in the court because God was the ultimate judge and, at the same time, their supporter and protecter. But how could he be so sure about the issue? Because ; - He(God) did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things.(Romans 8:32) i

¡ÈGod gave him for us all¡É and the Son will redeem our sin through the Cross. That is the very core of the belief based on the Gospel. John also wrote it.; - ¡ÈGod loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.(John 3:16 )¡É

Now we reflect on the meaning of redemption in terms of lawsuit, too. ¡È The birth of Jesus of Nazareth¡É is a fact which we can prove historically with impartial documents. So we can celebrate Christmas as a real event in the history as the day of Jesus¡Ç birthday . Then ¡ÈDeath of Jesus on a cross¡É also can be proved historically with objective records. But, in contrast to those facts, we cannot prove ¡ÈThe Resurrection of Jesus Christ¡É as a historical event with material and tangible evidences. Because only things provided as evidences are testimonies of Christians. Those eyewitnesses can give mere circumstantial evidences which are not impartial enough to establish a factual truth alone. For that reason, we consider ¡Èthe Resurrection¡É to be religiously true, or more exactly ¡Èthe Faith¡É itself. That is different from an objectively historical truth. Indeed, the nature of faith is never objective. It depends totally on personal and inner experiences and how we interpret them. So much so, we cannot grasp faith through logical arguments. It must be given by God as a sign of Grace. Paul explained it in Epistle to the Romans in basing on his personal and unique experience. Therefore he could be so sure of it. And to receive such a stable faith, we might need an experience almost similar to Paul¡Çs. Therefore, the letter is very hard to understand.

*1Martin luther http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_luther
*2 Kanzo Uchimura http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uchimura_Kanzō
*3 Karl Barth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth

2. Paul¡Çs witness backed by the confidence.
Christians of that time were segregated and persecuted in the Jewish society. Furthermore they were oppressed by Roman authority as adherents of a socially dangerous sect. Many of them were arrested, judged then condemned to punishements. But, despite all, Paul wrote, ; - Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. Who can say God’s people are guilty? No one, because Christ Jesus died, but he was also raised from the dead, and now he is on God’s right side, appealing to God for us. (Romans 8:33-34)

Paul also said before ; - Also, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. (Romans 8:26)
The message was repeated in other words this way ¡ÈHe is on God’s right side.¡É And, for that very reason, he said to Christians in Rome that they must not be afraid of any persecution or oppression by referring to verses of Psalm. ; − Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can troubles or problems or sufferings or hunger or nakedness or danger or violent death? As it is written in the Scriptures: “For you we are in danger of death all the time. People think we are worth no more than sheep to be killed(Psalm 44:22) .¡É(Romans 8:35-36)

As I said previously, Paul underwent enormous pains to arrive at Corinth. He had written about his harsh past to believers of the city. ; - Five times the Jews have given me their punishment of thirty-nine lashes with a whip. Three different times I was beaten with rods. One time I was almost stoned to death. Three times I was in ships that wrecked, and one of those times I spent a night and a day in the sea.I have gone on many travels and have been in danger from rivers, thieves, my own people, the Jews, and those who are not Jews. I have been in danger in cities, in places where no one lives, and on the sea. And I have been in danger with false Christians. I have done hard and tiring work, and many times I did not sleep. I have been hungry and thirsty, and many times I have been without food. I have been cold and without clothes.(2 Corinthians 11:24-27)

And, regardless of those sufferings, he wrote this, too. ; − Not only those things, but I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him, I have lost all those things, and now I know they are worthless trash. This allows me to have Christ.(Philippians 3:8)

Therefore he could say those phrases filled with confidence. ; - Yes, I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.(Romans 8:38-39)

At that time, Christians in Rome worked during the day and gathered the evening to give the worship service. Sunday was not a holiday. Besides, the place was not in a public church building, but in a catacomb*1. They prayed together and shared Lord¡Çs communion under lights of candles. Then they might stay in the catacomb to sleep because fatigue of daily labor must weighed them too heavily to get back home. They should pray for forgiveness for the sake of Jews and Romans, though those hostile rulers segregated and oppressed them.

Why did they respect so eagerly the rite? Because they had found the treasure in the act of the worship. Paul mentioned it. ; - You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ. This means that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus.(Galatians 3:26-28)

Majority of christians of the era were women and slaves. They couldn¡Çt have sense of dignity in the earthy life because slaves were possession of the householder. And women were belonged to their father at first, then to their husband and finally to their eldest son. Besides, the master had the legal right to kill any members of the household. But, regardless of social position and gender, the church received them as respectable humans. It means that the encounter with Jesus Christ made them children of God. Thus they were spiritually set free from the earthy world which was filled with unfairness and absurdity. They found the hope of life in God.

Dr. M.L.King,jr. was killed in Memphis. *1 Dr. King was then supporting the strike by African American sanitation workers. They were protesting against unequal wages and inhuman working conditions. The civic authority moved armed policemen with dogs to control the the protest by force. But, in facing violent attacks, each striker kept crying the slogan, ¡ÈI am a man.¡É Though Dr. King,jr. was killed, no humans could separate him from the love of God in Christ.

*1 Catacomb An underground cemetery consisting of a subterranean gallery with recesses for tombs, as constructed by the ancient Romans.
*2 Assassination of M.L.King, Jr. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.

3. To live in the same faith
Today¡Çs invocation verses are Isaiah 50:8-9 ; - He shows that I am innocent, and he is close to me. So who can accuse me? If there is someone, let us go to court together. If someone wants to prove I have done wrong, he should come and tell me. Look! It is the Lord God who helps me. So who can prove me guilty? Look! All those who try will become useless like old clothes; moths will eat them.

The phrases above were written as a prophecy told during the Babylonian captivity by said ¡Èsecond Isaiah,¡É or Deutero-Isaiah*1. After invasion and destruction of Jerusalem by Babylonians, many Israelites were forced to live in the land of the conquerors. Then, Babylonia was defeated by Persian Empire, of which emperor set Israelites free from captivity. However many of them already had stable living bases in Babylonia and refused to get back to the mother land Israel. They didn¡Çt want to strain to restore the devastated country. But God wished emancipation of his people. For that reason, Isaiah was raised to persuade those Israelites to set off from Babylonia in accordance with God¡Çs will. Isaiah even blamed harshly those who wanted to stay in Babylon as disobeyers.

As a result, those persons hated and even persecuted Isaiah psychologically and physically. Under such a circumstance, second Isaiah sang today¡Çs invocation verses. The prophet faced courageously aggressive criticisms because his faith in God, the protector, was solide. Paul referred to the stance of Isaiah in Romans. ; - Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. (Romans 8:33)

Paul was also under very severe situations at that time. He was undergoing oppressions by Jewish and Roman authorities. Moreover many Jewish Christians were hostile against him. Nonetheless, he was strongly confident of his belief. Therefore he could say without hesitation, ¡ÈWho can accuse the people God has chosen?¡É Any believers of such a strong faith might be able to declare similarly. The Gospel doesn¡Çt promise physical health, material prosperity or harmonious relationship of family. It teaches us even to undergo difficulties because Jesus Christ did so for our sake. Naturally that teaching won¡Çt please many people. So much so Christians still remain a very minority group in Japan. But I think that there is no need to be the majority because Paul said, ; - Brothers and sisters, this is what I mean: We do not have much time left. So starting now, those who have wives should live as if they had no wives. Those who are crying should live as if they were not crying. Those who are happy should live as if they were not happy. Those who buy things should live as if they own nothing. Those who use the things of the world should live as if they were not using them, because this world in its present form will soon be gone.(1 Corinthians 7:29-31 )

As he remarked, we will die sooner or later. And we can leave very few things beyond death. Or, I think that we can leave only one thing as a personal legacy. I referred to Mr. Uchimura previously and he gave a lecture titled, ¡ÈThe biggest legacy for the following generations.¡É It concerns what we can offer to our descendants. He said that he wanted to make a gift to this wonderful world; the planet, the country, the society and mountains and rivers which bring us up. Then he reflected on what he could make up as a personal gift to those compassionate environments. Can he leave great money which must be useful to develop infrastructures? Can he establish an important philosophical theory? Or can he educate disciples as excellent teachers for the following generation? All things seemed great but too difficult for ordinary persons. He reflected on again. Then he found an answer which might be feasible for anyone. It was ¡Èa righteous life history¡É as a hopeful message to descendants.

A life which witnesses that the world is not ruled by the evil but by God. A life which can show that the world is built on hope, not under despair. A life which can tells that the world is filled with joy, not with sorrow. He concluded that we can express those thinkings through our own lifestyle. Such a life history must be the greatest heritage and is not too difficult to realize for ordinary persons. Regardless of condition of health or wealth, we can aim at a lifestyle which could show God¡Çs love and encourage neighbors. Under any circumstances, we must be able to be courageous in life. Because God always supports us. And we are now invited to choose such a life, as our mission.

*1 Second Isaiah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Isaiah#Deutero-Isaiah_.28Isaiah_40-55.29