“Between the Lines: The Wonder of It All”
Romans 11:25-36
A man was determined to read the entire New York City telephone directory – every name and every number. When he was about half way through someone asked him how it was going. He responded, “There’s a whale of a cast, but not much plot.” It’s easy to read life that way, isn’t it? A whale of a cast but not much plot. We read the news, watch history in the making, and it’s all a blur - names, dates, places. A whale of a cast but no meaning; nothing to tie it all together.
But Paul had a different perspective. He looked at the history of Israel and where others saw no meaning he saw God at work. Paul knew that God had called Israel and that the call still held. And therein we find meaning as well. THOUGH A MYSTERY, GOD’S CALL IS EFFECTUAL. God’s call continues to affect and impact us.
God’s call is effectual, first of all, in that WE ARE ELECTED. In Romans chapters 9-11, Paul looks at the current state of Israel and admits they are, by all appearances, on the outside looking in. This raises the question, “HOW DO WE EXPLAIN GOD’S CALL OF ISRAEL?” Paul answers that Israel has been called and therefore will be, in the end, inside the family. He explains this by claiming that God used the fall of Israel as a means to open up salvation to the Gentiles, and eventually will use the Gentiles as a means to bring the Israelites back into the fold. The “Whys?” and “How can this be?” are not important; IT’S A MYSTERY.
And we can certainly identify with that. Why did God save me? Why did He save you? Why didn’t He save someone else? Have we done anything to deserve it? Are we so great that God couldn’t resist us? Did we, in our mother’s wombs, decide to follow Christ? HOW DO WE EXPLAIN OUR SALVATION? As Moses told Israel, “For you are a people holy to the lord your God. The lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all people. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you form the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (DT. 7:6-8) Wait a minute. Didn’t Israel disobey God? Yes. Didn’t they break his covenants? Yes. Didn’t they deserve to be forgotten and punished? Of course! But isn’t it the same with us? Haven’t we been disobedient? Yes. Haven’t we broken God’s covenants? Yes. Don’t we deserve to be forgotten and punished? Of course! That’s why Charles Spurgeon once said, “I’m glad God chose me before I was born; He certainly wouldn’t have chosen me after.” We, and Israel, can only rely on the grace of God. And we can be assured that God’s call is irrevocable; it will not change.
So how do we explain our salvation? We don’t; IT’S A MYSTERY. There is nothing in us to merit it, and there is nothing that can hinder God from bestowing it. How is it that George Beverly Shea has written and sung? “There’s the wonder of sunset at evening, The wonder as sunrise I see; But the wonders of wonders that thrills my soul Is the wonder that God loves me. There’s the wonder of springtime and harvest, The Sky, the stars, the sun; But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul Is a wonder that’s only begun. O the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me. O the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all! Just to think that God loves me.”
All of DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY IS A MYSTERY. None of us chose to be here at this point in time; none of us campaigned to be chosen. As Jesus said to his disciples (Jn. 15:16): “You did not choose me, but I chose you...” In those days disciples chose their own rabbi or teacher to follow; but not so with the disciples of Jesus - He chose them! And what a group they were. I wonder if I would have picked them? No training, some of them with quick tempers, one a tax collector, none of them proven. I do not think I would have chosen them.
Rev. James Clard tried to put this in perspective in a clever way by composing the following letter.
TO: Jesus, Son of Joseph, Woodcrafter Carpenter Shop, Nazareth, 25922
FROM: Jordan Management Consultants, Jerusalem 26544
Dear Sir,
Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologists and vocational aptitude consultant. The profiles of all tests are included, and you will want to study each of them carefully.
As part of our service and for your guidance, we make some general comments, much as an auditor will include some general statements. This is given as a result of staff consultations and comes without any additional fees. It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in general background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have a team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability.
Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no leadership qualities. The two brothers, James and John, sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would undermine morale. We feel it our duty to tell you that Matthew has been black-listed by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale. One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
We wish you every success in your new venture. Sincerely yours, Jordan Management Consultant
Not only would I not have chosen them to be disciples, I’m pretty sure that I would not have chosen me to be a minister! I did nothing to earn it, did nothing to set me apart in this way; I did not ask for this. I know me too well; I would not have chosen me to be a minister. But we’re all here - all called, elected, chosen to salvation and to serve. As Eugene Peterson paraphrases in “The Message” (11:29) “God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty - never canceled, never rescinded.” Oh the wonder of it all! “Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”
We also experience the effectual nature of God’s mysterious call in that WE ARE EQUIPPED. We are amazed sometimes at what we can do. Among the volumes of videos of Michael Jordan is one from a Chicago Bulls playoff game, in which Michael got into an unbelievable zone. After hitting several 3 pointers in a row, the last one from “downtown” as they say, Michael looks at the camera, smiles, and shrugs his shoulders as if to say, “I don’t know how I’m doing this!” In the same way, we find ourselves doing things which sometimes we cannot explain. But the truth is, WE ARE ALL GIVEN SKILLS AND GIFTS by God. Paul, in I Cor. 12, lists some of the gifts God gives to us, and then says, in verse 11 “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” Skills are implanted at our birth; gifts are implanted at our rebirth. What happens to them all is up to us. WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR DEVELPOMENT AND USE. John Ruskin once said, “The weakest among us has a gift, however seemingly trivial, which is peculiar to him, and which worthily used, will be a gift also to his race forever.” So Paul urges Timothy (I Tim. 4:14) “Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you.”... (2Tim. 1:6) “... I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”
It never matters what others have or what I don’t have - we all, together, form the Body of Christ. It takes all of us to do the ministry. There is a fable about a little gold watch which one day was crossing the Westminster Bridge at the time Big Ben tolled out the hour of noon. The little watch looked up at the big clock and said, “I do not like you; your face is too broad, your hands are too big, your voice is too coarse.” And the big clock said to the little gold watch, “Come up here, little sister.” So the little watch toiled painfully up the steps, and at last stood by the big clock, and - looking out over the surging millions of London, the big clock said to the watch: “Little sister, there is a man down there who wishes to know the hour. Will you tell him, please?” And the little watch said, “Oh, I could never make him hear.” The big clock said, “Oh yes, little sister, I had forgotten; yet the man wishes to know the time; he requires to know, and you cannot tell him; but I can and will. So let us henceforth not criticize one another. You will not find fault with me nor I find fault with you; but each of us in our own place, you for your mistress and I for the great city, will teach men everywhere to redeem the time.”
So God has equipped us with skills and spiritual gifts - let us develop them, use them, offer them back to Him, so together we can help people redeem the time. “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God.”
Thirdly, we know God’s call is effectual because WE ARE EMPOWERED. When we actively serve Christ, there are incessant demands and thankless tasks. There are dark hours and discouraging times. How is that that we can hang on and survive? The Psalmist wrote (46:1) “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Isaiah stated (12:2) “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
Paul had the same confidence and kept pointing out that JESUS CHRIST GIVES US STRENGTH. While imprisoned and on trial for his life Paul wrote to the Philippians (4:13) “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Then, anticipating his death, he testified to Timothy (2Tim. 4:17-18): “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed...the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.”
What a testimony! GOD WILL NOT CALL YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR WHICH HE HAS NOT EQUIPPED AND EMPOWERED YOU. He will not call you and forsake you! He will stand with you to the end! He wants to minister through you. God will stay true to his vows; stay true to yours. As missionary Amy Carmichael wrote, “The vows of God are on me. I may not stay to play with shadows or pluck earthly flowers, till I my work have done and rendered up account.” God has empowered us to STAND FIRM! “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!”
H.G. Wells wrote of a bishop who asked an angel, “Please, could I have the wisdom of God?” The angel laughed, and said, “I can give it to you,” and laying a hand on the bishop’s head, said: “But could you hold it? Not in this little box of brains!” We cannot hold the wisdom and knowledge of God in our finite minds! All we can do is trust Him, develop and use the skills and gifts He’s given us, and serve him faithfully and loyally as He calls us.
Years ago there was a New York show acted out on two stages. On one big stage players played their parts. Over to one side there was another little stage where one actor acted the role of the playwright, scribbling lines while the players played. When an actor on the big stage muffed his part or misplaced himself, the playwright would rewrite the script to cover it up. In the second act he leaped across the stage and played a part, rearranged the players, adlibbed new lines, and held the play together. Back and forth he went, rewriting, and entering the story until at last he brought the play to a great dancing curtain call.
That’s the picture! God is writing and rewriting the script, covering all our sins, and entering the human stage to play a part. God will bring our, and His, story to a great conclusion. We are not much of a cast, are we? We miss our lines and muff our steps. But what a plot! If you can leave here today convinced you are God’s chosen representatives to this age at this time, the difference you will make is beyond comprehension. And that can happen, for you have been elected, equipped, and empowered by God. As Roy Lessin so poignantly wrote, “Just think, you’re here not by chance, but by God’s choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else – you are one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can’t give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.”
Though a mystery, God’s call is effectual. What can we say? Only, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ... For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen!”
