Romans 11 is one of those chapters in the Bible that invites heated and sustained debate among theologians. It comes at the end of chapters of Paul grieving that so many of his fellow Jews haven’t embraced the Messiah, and now he asks the question out loud: “Has God rejected  His people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite.” God hasn’t walked away from His promises, Paul says, and He’s still working by grace, even when the story looks and feels stalled.

Paul reaches into his toolbag and paints us a portrait of an olive tree with a holy root. Some of the natural branches have been broken off because of unbelief, and Gentile believers, who were like the wild olive branches, have been grafted in to share in the nourishment of the rich root. Then he issues a warning behind today’s verse: “do not boast that you are better than those branches.” Paul knows how quickly the grafted-in can start acting like they own the tree.

This is where the way of Jesus gets overtly practical. The root holds us up, not the other way around. Paul says, “you stand by faith,” and faith is an empty hand receiving what someone else has done. Standing before God, open-handed in faith eliminates all cause for boasting. It’s mercy that has grafted us in, not our merit. Humility isn’t something we work to get better at, either. It’s the result of remembering how we go to the tree in the first place.

This passage also helps to inform us how to treat those who aren’t yet where we hope they’ll be. Paul reminds his readers that they “once disobeyed God but now have received mercy,” ending the argument with the astounding truth that God has “imprisoned all in disobedience so that He may have mercy on all.” Every one of us comes to this tree through the same door of mercy. So many people act as though they have Israel’s future mapped out and nailed down, but not even Paul presumes to know it all clearly. He calls their future a ‘mystery’. If the Apostle Paul can admit he doesn’t understand everything, it should give us space to offer grace to those who may differ from us on our interpretation of this text.

We can also see in this text how Paul wonders what the re-acceptance of those who’ve once been cut off will mean when he says, “but life from the dead?” Every time a hardened heart softens, a little more of the death of the curse is undone. We don’t get to see the final reversal all at once, but we can live as people who expect it to come with patience, prayer, and kindness towards the very people we’re tempted to dismiss.

When Paul runs out of answers, he does what we all should do: he bursts into worship: “Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God!”

In this post-election week, it’s a good time to ask if there is a person or group you’ve quietly (or maybe loudly) decided is too far gone, too different, or too wayward to receive God’s mercy? How can you treat them this week the way you were treated when you were grafted into the vine?

Father, thank You that I can stand by faith and not by anything I’m able to do. Forgive me for the times I’ve acted like the tree is my tree and others don’t belong. Remind me that the root holds me up and it’s mercy and mercy alone that brought me to You. Soften my hardened heart towards those I’ve written off. Give me strength to be patient and kind. Thank You for Jesus, through whom hardened hearts like mine come to life. Amen.

“Today I can show God’s kindness to someone I’ve been tempted to dismiss by __________________.”