1. Sorrow for the Jews who rejected Christ
Paul had the calling to preach to Gentiles and led many of them to conversion to the christianity. The result itself gave him a great joy but he couldn¡Çt help worrying about the salvation of Jewish people. Because the majority of them were still refusing to believe in Jesus Christ.

Paul was convinced that the salvation would be given only through the Cross of Christ. Therefore, rejecting the Gospel meant to him rejecting God, the act which should conclude with damnation, he thought. For that reason, he meditated sincerely the future of Jewish people who had been once chosen by God. He presented in Romans 11 the argument concerning the issue, which was preceded with a previous reflection. So we will read today¡Çs passage by taking references from chapter 9 and 10.

As the fist step, Paul admitted that Jews had been chosen by God as His people. God had said to Abraham, the father of the faith, ; - ¡È… All the people on earth will be blessed through you.¡É¡ÊGenesis 12:3)

God was willing to save and bless all humans through the Jewish people. Thus Jesus Christ was born as a Jew to be the Savior. And we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, as the first achievement of the magnificent program of God. Nonetheless, the Jewish authority of the time killed Jesus, then oppressed the new born church. Their attitude made Paul very sad. He sorrowed about the probable damnation of his people. He said ; - ¡ÈI wish I could help my Jewish brothers and sisters, my people. I would even wish that I were cursed and cut off from Christ if that would help them.(Romans 9:3 )¡É

Those who don¡Çt know God regret merely their own failures or misfortunes. But those who knew God¡Çs love should be concerned about serious problems of neighbors as their own. And we share the same sorrow of Paul for other Japanese brothers and sisters who don¡Çt know yet God¡Çs love. Despite the ministry of more than 100 years, very few of Japanese people converted to Christianity. Even family members of believers often refuse to accept the Good News. In many cases in Japan, female Christians live with their husband who ignores God. And even if their children become believers under the influence of their mother, leave sometimes the church after growing up. Even those who received the baptism might fall from the faith afterwards.

We worry about the salvation of our non-christian family members. Because we believe that ; - Jesus is the only One who can save people. No one else in the world is able to save us. (Acts 4:12) Therefore we ask if former-Christians deserve the damnation. Paul¡Çs serious concern is also ours.

Paul said ; - So I ask: Did God throw out his people? No! I myself am an Israelite from the family of Abraham….(Romans 11:1 )
Paul was writing a letter to prepare his mission of preaching in Rome. Though he is destined to spread the Good News to Gentiles , he is a Jew. And Peter who curried the similar mission was also Jewish. Ironically, the majority of Jewish people shut their heart and ears to ignore the Gospel. But, despite the present situation, Paul was convinced that God had taken into consideration in advance the refusal of Jewish people. So Paul was sure that the project of God must proceed beyond the currant obstacle. He understood the paradox of God. It means that God programmed to save Jews through the salvation of Gentiles. Paul revealed his understanding this way. ; - So I ask: When the Jews fell, did that fall destroy them? No! But their failure brought salvation to those who are not Jews, in order to make the Jews jealous.(Romans 11:11) re

At first, Paul aimed at conversion of Jewish people but, facing their refusal, he turn to Gentiles. Paul¡Çs taking decision is reported in Acts 13:46 ; - But Paul and Barnabas spoke very boldly, saying, ¡ÈWe must speak the message of God to you first. But you refuse to listen. You are judging yourselves not worthy of having eternal life! So we will now go to the people of other nations.¡É

If the Jewish people had accepted the Gospel from the beginning, Christianity might have remained a religion of Jews instead of being spread over the whole world. Actually it became a universal belief, regardless of boundaries of races and cultures. It was carried to Rome, the center of the world of the time. That was the crucial event. Besides, Paul had the hope that the salvation should be brought to Jewish people after Gentiles. Thus the Jews who had rejected or ignored the Good News could turn back to God¡Çs words, Jesus Christ. Paul gave that conclusion in Romans 11:12 . ; - The Jews’ failure brought rich blessings for the world, and the Jews’ loss brought rich blessings for the non-Jewish people. So surely the world will receive much richer blessings when enough Jews become the kind of people God wants.

We can also have the same hope of the salvation for our non-Christian families and friends who thrown the Good News out from their heart. They also should have been included in the fulfilment of God¡Çs plan.

2. Role of those who were saved first.
Then, what is the role of the Gentiles-Christians? Paul said that it is to wake up a jealousy of Jewish people. ; - ¡ÈNow I am speaking to you who are not Jews. I am an apostle to those who are not Jews, and since I have that work, I will make the most of it. I hope I can make my own people jealous and, in that way, help some of them to be saved.¡É(Romans 11:13-14)

Paul wished that the very jealousy could push the Jews face the truth of the Gospel. It was the mission given to converted Gentiles, he said. ; - ¡ÈWhen God turned away from the Jews, he became friends with other people in the world. So when God accepts the Jews, surely that will bring them life after death. If the first piece of bread is offered to God, then the whole loaf is made holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, then the tree’s branches are holy too.¡É (Romans 11:15-16)

Indeed, we sometimes witnessed that husbands were changed to become Christians thanks to the influence of their christian wife or children. Paul envisaged the similar cases in relation between the Jews and converted Gentiles. He explained how the procedure should be by drawing a comparison with an olive tree and its branches. ; - It is as if some of the branches from an olive tree have been broken off. You non-Jewish people are like the branch of a wild olive tree that has been joined to that first tree. You now share the strength and life of the first tree, the Jews. So do not brag about those branches that were broken off. If you brag, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.(Romans 11:17-18)

To begin with, he compelled Gentile-Christians not to be complacent about the faith in Christ. Their strength in faith was thanks to the root of Jews. Nonetheless Gentile-Christians thought that they were newly chosen by God in place of the Jews who had refused the Gospel. Thus hey became arrogant. So much so, Paul insisted. ; - You will say, ¡È Branches were broken off so that I could be joined to their tree.¡É That is true. But those branches were broken off because they did not believe, and you continue to be part of the tree only because you believe. Do not be proud, but be afraid.(Romans 11:19-20)

Paul¡Çs words ¡ÈDo not be proud, but be afraid¡É is having a great importance throughout 2000 years of the history of Christianity. In the time of Paul, Jewish people persecuted Christians. But, once Christianity became the single religion officially exhorted by the Roman Empire, Christians started to persecute Jews in their turn. Christians accused and condemned the Jewish people for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Afterwards, Nazis succeeded the same stance and tried to carry out the genocide of the Jews. The history of persecution of Jews reveals that Christians never listed to Paul¡Çs warning attentively and sincerely. The Auschwitz was not the calamity which occurred suddenly and uniquely in the history at that time. The similar tragedies were repeated throughout more than 2000 years. Nevertheless, God is always willing to save all humans. Whatever happened to us, His aim is our salvation, not the distraction. So Paul wrote, ; - ¡ÈI want you to understand this secret, brothers and sisters,… : Part of Israel has been made stubborn, but that will change when many who are not Jews have come to God. And that is how all Israel will be saved. … The Jews refuse to accept the Good News, so they are God’s enemies… But the Jews are still God’s chosen people, and he loves them very much because of the promises he made to their ancestors. God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the things he gives them.¡É(Romans 11:25-29)

A part of Israel had been made stubborn in order that the Good News will be spread to them ultimately. God never changes his mind about the chosen people. All closed hearts should be opened, that is the very hope for us, too.

3. The message of Romans 11 to us
Today¡Çs invocation verses are Romans 11:31-32 ; - And now the Jews refuse to obey, because God showed mercy to you. But this happened so that they also can receive mercy from him. God has given all people over to their stubborn ways so that he can show mercy to all.

By doing good acts enthusiastically to reach at the righteousness of God, Jewish people missed the right way, as Paul remarked. ; - I can say this about them: They really try to follow God, but they do not know the right way. Because they did not know the way that God makes people right with him, they tried to make themselves right in their own way. So they did not accept God’s way of making people right.(Romans 10:2-3 )

When we overvalue importance of acts, faith turn into a mere self-satisfaction very often. We might think that we will deserve salvation first by praying or observing the law more eagerly than others. Then we start to criticise others who can¡Çt do the same.

But it concerns a righteousness in terms of human mind. It is totally different from the righteousness of God. Such complacency leads us easily to arrogance. Thus we lose the path to the salvation. When the Jewish people of the time heard about the Good News, they rejected it. Because they were sure of being right in front of God.

Paul considered the Jewish people to be his own family. So his regret is similar to ours vis-à-vis former believers who left the church. We were gave the faith and attend the Sunday service. However, family members of some Christians don¡Çt believe in Christ. In that case, each of those believers must worry about the eternal life after death for their loved ones. If their non-Christian relatives are still alive now, we can hope that they will encounter Jesus before the ultimate moment. But if they are already dead, we can do nothing. It is natural that their families concern about the damnation for their died relatives out of faith. But Paul gave strongly reassuring words. ; - It is not natural for a wild branch to be part of a good tree. And you who are not Jews are like a branch cut from a wild olive tree and joined to a good olive tree. But since those Jews are like a branch that grew from the good tree, surely they can be joined to their own tree again.(Romans 11:24 )

Wisdom of God goes beyond human imagination. The matter of salvation is in the realm of God. It is God who decides all. Therefore we have no need to worry about those who were not Christian in their earthy life. Only thing we can do is to pray for them and to give thanks to God who chose us. Thus, Paul Praised God enthusiastically. ; -Yes, God’s riches are very great, and his wisdom and knowledge have no end! No one can explain the things God decides or understand his ways. As the Scripture says, ¡ÈWho has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been able to give him advice?¡É — Isaiah 40:13 35 ¡ÈNo one has ever given God anything that he must pay back.¡É — Job 41:11 (Romans 11:33-35 )

The Holocaust came from humans¡Ç sin. But, through the tragedy, God made the whole world awake to the Jewish issue. As a result, the Jewish people could restore their own country the in homeland, after wandering for 2000 years as Diaspora. It was the historical event which had seemed impossible till then. The fact shows how God¡Çs power is great. So much so, we can always have hope that members of our family or friends who died without accepting the Good News would be saved. We must keep praying for that.