By J.D. Walt
Prayer of Consecration
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body as a holy and living sacrifice to you.
Jesus, We belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Scripture
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
Romans 11:11–16 (NIV)
Consider This
As my two daughters came up through middle and then high school I had the occasion to go to a lot of volleyball games. They both played for several years. I often found myself out on the court as a line judge. I remember one particular game in a tournament where I learned a new cheer I will never forget. Don’t worry though, as a line judge I wasn’t cheering—at least vocally. Our team had gotten pretty behind in the game and faced elimination from the tournament. In the absence of sanctioned cheerleaders, one of the kids took it upon themselves to rally the crowd.
The kid shouted out, “I!” And a few of the other kids echoed, “I!”
Then the kid shouted, “I Believe!” More kids joined in the echo, “I Believe!”
Then the self-appointed cheerleader again, “I Believe That!”
The now growing echo of not just the kids but the crowd, “I Believe That!”
The cheerleader, now in full cadence, shouted, “I Believe That We!”
The crowd, now in full cadence, echoed, “I Believe That We!”
Doing my best to remain impartial while attending to my duties as a line judge, I had become mesmerized by this cheer. Where was it going? I had never heard anything like it in all my days as a sports fan.
Then came the capstone words to finish the now full-bore chant,
“I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!”
And the chanting, cheering throng echoed it over and over and over,
“I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!”
“I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!”
“I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!”
“I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!”
“I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!”
“And your point,” you are undoubtedly asking.
By the time we are eleven verses into chapter 11, this is effectively what Paul is now doing. Take a look:
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.
Translation: I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!
But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!
Translation: I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!
For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Translation: I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!
It’s like Paul’s conceding the Jews had blown the lead. They were way behind. But their apparent losing out was now being used by Jesus to swing wide the door for the Gentiles to come in. And the Gentiles coming in was now being used by Jesus to motivate the Jews to get back into the game. Look! Already, they were a small and growing remnant—
Translation: I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!
If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
This remnant would persist and grow and soon enough, the whole team would be back on the field. This was a temporary setback.
Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery?
Translation: I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!
It’s a good word; a good six words. Far from some kind of arrogant triumphalism, these six words form a powerful declaration of faith. How can Paul be so confident? Because he knew the victory had already been signed, sealed, and delivered with the resurrection of Jesus. It was now just a matter of the long game of time.
As that lone kid rose to begin the chanting cheer, and the individual “I” took on the powerful and collective, “We,” the tide turned in that middle school gym. Our team mounted a comeback fit for SportsCenter. We won! And we went on to win the whole tournament.
Church, we will win because Jesus has won. Gentiles and Jews, every nation, tribe, and tongue, “in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,” chanting these words in a thousand languages,
“Jesus Christ is Lord!”
I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN!
Prayer
Abba Father! We join today with the angels and the archangels and the elders and the living creatures, saying, “Holy! Holy! Holy Lord! God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory!” We cry out with the great Communion of saints above, “Hosanna in the highest!” We cry out with the church below, all over the world, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord!” Bring in the Gentiles! Bring in the Jews! Come Holy Spirit and usher in the kingdom of Jesus in all its fullness, as we cry out, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” Indeed, we declare, “I believe that we will win.” Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.