Romans as story

When we read sacred Scripture, we are not only reading someone else's mail, we're ready someone else's story. However, it is a story that the reader - who believes it's message and Central Star - is a part of. (Fortunately, this sort of "participatory union" doesn't occur when the mailman puts my mail in my neighbor's box; a regular occurrence in my neighborhood!)

If we believe what we read, we become a participant, not a bystander, in the greatest story ever told. But, it helps to remember it is a story - with a plot, characters, a beginning, middle and end, etc. But, what about the parts of Scripture that are not in story form, like Romans, for instance?

In his first chapter, Paul the Apostle ties the life of Jesus (a story in itself) to the story of Israel (specifically David), as if he wants to ground all he's about to say in the Biblical narrative. In fact, the Jesus story is a story within a story, but that's another post for another day.

Not only does Paul ground what he's about to say in the Biblical story, it continues to inform the whole letter. So, his letter to the Romans doesn't narrate a story, the story narrates his letter. You can see this in full play with his allusions to David, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Israel throughout the letter. The more we become familiar with the story(ies), the better we can plumb the depths of a letter, like Romans.More to come...