Romans 9:19-26: a reflection

19You will say then to me, “Why does he still find fault? For who withstands his will?” 20But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed ask him who formed it, “Why did you make me like this?” 21Or hasn’t the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel for honor, and another for dishonor? 22What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23and that he might make known the riches of his glory on vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory— 24us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles? 25As he says also in Hosea, “I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved.” 26“It will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”

In a passage about God's sovereign freedom in mercy, Paul reaches a note of astonishing grace. He quotes God's promise through the prophet Hosea: I will call those who were not my people 'my people,' and her who was not beloved 'beloved.' And: in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'children of the living God.' Those who had no claim on God, who were not his people, are called by his grace into his family, made his own beloved children.

Notice the reach of this grace: to those who were not God's people, who had no claim on him, who were not beloved. God's grace does not go only to those with a claim, the insiders, the deserving; it reaches to the outsiders, those who were not his people, and makes them his own. Where it had been said, 'You are not my people,' there, by God's grace, they are called children of the living God. Grace turns outsiders into children, the unloved into the beloved.

That is good news for anyone who feels they have no claim on God. Perhaps you feel like an outsider, one with no right to God's love, not the kind of person God calls his own; unloved, unwanted, on the outside. But this is exactly the grace of God: to call those who were not his people 'my people,' and the unloved 'beloved.' God makes outsiders his children, those with no claim his own. Do not think you are too far outside, too undeserving, too unloved, to be received by God. His grace reaches the outsider, the one with no claim, and calls them children of the living God. Come to the God whose grace turns the 'not my people' into his beloved children; you are exactly the kind of person his grace receives.

Lord, in a passage about your sovereign mercy, Paul reaches a note of astonishing grace, quoting your promise: I will call those who were not my people 'my people,' and her who was not beloved 'beloved'; and where it was said, you are not my people, there they will be called children of the living God. Thank you for the reach of this grace: to those who had no claim on you, who were not your people, who were not beloved. Your grace does not go only to the insiders, the deserving; it reaches the outsiders, and makes them your own children. This is good news for anyone who feels they have no claim on you. When I feel like an outsider, one with no right to your love, unloved, on the outside, remind me that this is exactly your grace: to call those who were not your people 'my people,' and the unloved 'beloved.' Keep me from thinking I am too far outside, too undeserving, to be received by you. Your grace reaches the outsider and calls them your child; thank you that your grace receives even me.