DO YOU REALLY CARE?
Romans 9:1-5
* The 1960’s were a tumultuous time in America. Riots, Rebellion and Race Relations were the issues which this country faced. In this midst of this time, teenagers became disenchanted with the institutional church as they felt the church was both hypocritical and irrelevant. It was this culture which gave birth to the “Jesus movement.” Coming largely from the hippie culture, those who identified themselves with this movement were called “Jesus people” or “Jesus freaks.” As we might guess (and even some remember) the institutional church, as a whole, frowned on the entire movement. As an aside, if given another opportunity, because of the history of these past 20-30 years the organized church might well view that movement a little differently.
* However, because of the unrest among the young people, new music began written, sung, and published. In 1967 Broadman Press released one of the first (of what would become a phenomenon) “Youth Musicals.” This musical was entitled, “Good News.” The interesting thing about this particular musical was that 8 years later the song of invitation and commitment from this musical was granted “hymn-status”. (Read words)
* So the question I ask us today is this; “What do I care about?” or “Who do I care about?” As I have prepared for this message, I read sermons of a number of preachers. One preacher offered these thoughts, “We cry when our dog gets run over, but are unmoved by our friend who is outside of Christ. Parents shed tears when their daughter comes down the aisle to be married and are insensitive about her coming down the aisle to be saved.” The question is, “Do we really care?” The Apostle Paul cared.
* Today we continue our study of Romans. We turn to Chapter 9, reading verses 1-5. Be reminded that Paul has just ended the previous section on the spiritual high of saying, “nothing has the power to separate us from the Lord of God IN Jesus Christ our Lord.” What becomes obvious is that he passionately believes that EVERYONE NEEDS JESUS, no matter what it takes. Each person, whether Jew or Gentile, needs the forgiveness. Love, justification, and life found in Jesus. And in true “Apostle Paul” form, he expresses that he is willing to do whatever it takes for others. (READ TEXT)
* Charles Colson was a tough lawyer who worked for President Nixon at the height of Watergate. He was successful, but he still felt empty.
* One afternoon a friend shared his faith in Christ with him, and a short time later Colson became a Christian. Comic strips like Doonesbury ridiculed him. Soon Colson found himself in prison because of his previous activities during Watergate. They were the worst 2 years of his life, but he kept his faith. He was appalled at the prison conditions and how prisoners came out worse than they went in. Today his organization has 15,000 volunteers who disciple prisoners for Jesus Christ.
Do You Really Care? – Pg 2
* Chuck Colson cared enough to do something for others. Because of His trek, he had a heart to help the prisoners. His heart still controls him to this day, I believe, because he has never forgotten those 2 years in jail.
* The apostle Paul never forgot his past. I believe that, until his dying day, in his mind’s eye he could see the faces of those believer whom he hunted down and persecuted. He remembered the emptiness that each experience brought Him. As he penned these words, he was continually overwhelmed by the goodness and graciousness of God toward him and he wanted all his friends, acquaintances, and fellow Jews to find the Savior. His heartbeat was, by any means he could, to reach as many people as he could, as quickly as he could. This was His HEART! He really cared!
* This morning I ask this question; “Do you do we or do I really care?” If we do, just like in the life of Paul, it is a matter of the heart. If we care truly care then we’ll have a heart for at least 3 things, let see what these are.
1. A Heart for the Truth – Paul begins in verse 1 by saying, “I am speaking the truth.” Paul was all about the truth. When he was Saul, in his heart the truth was this; ‘these people of ‘The way’ were perverting the world and religion, and thus needed to be dealt with because Jesus, the imposter, was dead.’ It was only after being confronted on the Damascus road with the eternal truth of a living Lord Jesus, he became more passionate about truth than ever before. The truth is that which Paul has just stated at the end of Chapter 8, “In Jesus there is nothing able to separate us from God’s love.” It is one thing to say God is love and another to live and believe it.
a) God’s Love Compels Us – Here is a truth which is difficult to fully comprehend; “When we were sinful, outside of God’s grace, and rebellious, God loved us.” God’s love poured out of heaven into a manger in Bethlehem, flooded the hill called Calvary, and continues to be poured out into our hearts today. It is a love which requires action, invokes relationship, and inspires change. 2 Corinthians 5:14 says, “For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died.” The word “compels” literally means to urge us or press us forward that the world may know the truth, His truth.
b) God’s Love Captivates Us – When we truly sense God’s love poured out into our hearts, we become overwhelmed by the enormity of it. The strength and determination of God’s love is so massive that once experienced, nothing can separate us from it. When we get a clear understanding of and experience in God’s love, we will be captivated. It is very similar to the great love stories of literature. In the story of Romeo and Juliet, they shared a captivating romantic love. It carried them to an untimely death. Because we have had such an “easy go” in the USA with respect to our beliefs, we may need to discover this kind of love for God.
Do You Really Care? – Pg 3
c) God’s Love Converts Us – Here is a surprise; “People are different.” For some, they respond to seeing on the cross just exactly how much God loves them. For others, they respond to seeing the cross in terms of how God deals with sin. Still others respond to a combination of these two truths. But make no mistake, it was not God’s desire to punish sin and offer judgment that prompted Calvary. Calvary is God’s display of love. The truth is this; “God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus into the world while we were sinful to pay the required price for our sins.” It is out of His GREAT Love that He saves us. This is the truth, like it or not.
* Today it seems that we have almost ‘an aversion’ to truth. Half-truths, deceit, and dishonesty are all in vogue. For the past two years, we have all been frustrated by national politics. Who of us knows what to believe and whom to trust? When truth is not center-stage, then the entirety of society is fragile because the foundation of trust is gone. One of the results of this type of fracture is “apathy.” Think about it. When truth is relative, nothing or no one can really be trusted, confidence is non-existent, security is lost, and apathy sets in because “what’s the use?”
* This could explain the sentiment of apathy in the US today. George Barna tells us that 40% of evangelicals do not believe in absolute truth. Is it any wonder that baptisms, church membership, & attendance are down? A heart for the truth seeks to understand & know these reasons.
2. A Heart for the Lost – Of all the people we can name who was and is focused on winning the lost and discipling the saved, Paul heads the list. He, like Jesus, was all about reaching people. Look at verse 2-4 & discover;
a) An uncompromised conscience – In the last part of verse 1, Paul writes, “My conscience is testifying to me with the Holy Spirit.” Paul believes that a person’s conscience is a very helpful tool, but he also teaches, writes, and believes that a person conscience can be damaged or destroyed. Young Timothy was pastoring a church that was giving him a very difficult time. When Paul wrote his first letter to this young man, he spoke of the damaged conscience in chapter 4:2 telling Timothy that “Liars have a compromised, damaged, or seared conscience.” The word seared in most translations have accompanying it the graphic description of a “hot iron”, “a branding iron”, or a “heated iron.” You see, lying (and sin) makes the conscience insensitive. To really care we must have a sensitive heart, a heart for truth, and a heart for lost people. Sin damages our conscience.
b) An uncommon concern – Are you reading this with me? Paul begins by writing words like “intense sorrow” and “continual anguish” to describe his inner emotions about his fellows Jews being saved. How long has it been since you have fretted over someone’s salvation? For me, my hurt comes over those who “think” they are saved, but offer no evidences.
Do You Really Care? – Pg 4
* May I ask, “How concerned are we that someone in our family, our list of friends, or our acquaintances, is outside of grace? Jesus was concerned about all and the call for us is to be concerned.
c) An unchanging commitment – Paul doesn’t stop his words with just conscience and concern; he raises the stakes to the level of commitment.
* He writes an unbelievable thought, saying, “I COULD wish I were lost, if it meant my brothers would be saved.” What a huge commitment. Paul has such a desire to see his countryman saved that he would literally sacrifice his own life for their benefit. He was committed to it. He would give all.
* When I first became a pastor, fairly regularly people would come by and share with me about lost family and friends asking me to pray with them about the salvation of their loved one. Obviously, we would covenant to pray together. Truth be told, I could always tell when someone had a heart for salvation to take place. Their request was a little different. They would say, “Bro. Jerry, my cousin needs the Lord, I’ve tried but seem to get nowhere, will you go with me?” When we have a heart for the lost, sending someone else is not enough, we must go.
3. A Heart for the Savior – We have already discussed the compelling, converting, and captivating love of God, but in this understanding lies the big question; Do you have a heart for Him? Today, we can have a heart for many things and they can be good things, but they are not HIM. We can a heart for our church, our buildings, our class, our small group, our choir, or any of 100’s of good and great things which are part of the body of Christ. However, when these things capture our heart, we have missed the best. Jesus. (Say it with me). Quickly, think with me of Jesus, our Savior.
a) The only one – Jesus is the only one who could die for our sin. As the old hymn reads, “none other with do.” He is God’s only Son, given for God’s only ones, and that is you and me. Without HIM, I have no hope. Because,
b) The only hope – It is sad to say but most of us have seriously forgotten what it is like to feel hopeless. Imagine yourself in the 100th floor of the North Tower on 9/11. The initial impacted floors 93-99 and feels like it rocked the entire building. Smoke, dust, and fire quickly fill up the 100th floor. But that doesn’t matter to you because you find yourself hanging on by your fingers outside your office window looking at the earth below. What chance would you have had for survival? Very slim. So if you were hanging there with the world going falling apart, and suddenly a helicopter appears with a rope headed toward you, what would you do?
c) The only way – In our multicultural society, many have bought into the mindset of universalism. Why is this so? Because it has been so subtly worked into society and the church. Jesus is still the only way.
