How many of you have seen the bumper sticker that says, "Be patient with me. God isn’t finished with me yet"? I’ve decided to create a new bumper sticker that responds to that one. My new bumper sticker will say, "I’m trying to be patient with you, but God is taking an awfully long time with you."
The reality is that we’re all in process when it comes to our spiritual lives. Our church mission statement says that our church exists to help unchurched people discover a relationship with Jesus Christ and to help Christians grow into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Both of these tasks are process oriented. Some of you are here today, and you’re in the process of discovering a relationship with Jesus. You’re here to investigate the Christian faith, to learn about what the Bible really teaches, to watch the Christian faith embodied as we gather together for worship and service. This is a process, and we’re glad you’ve chosen to let us be part of that process in your life.
Others of us have discovered that relationship, and we’re in the process of growing into full devotion to Jesus. None of us will attain it in this life, but we’re moving toward the goal of full devotion to Jesus. Some of you are moving toward the goal quickly. This is often true during our first years of following Jesus, as we see lots of things changing in our lives. As we learn more about Jesus, we find our thinking transformed, our positions on political issues changing, our habits and attitudes being conformed to be more like Jesus. During those first years, it seems like everything’s changing quickly. Some of you are moving toward the goal more slowly. Just as our physical development slows the older we get, our spiritual progress can slow down after we’ve been Christians for a while. It’s harder to identify habits and attitudes that are changing, more difficult to track our progress. Yet even when we’re moving slowly, we’re still moving toward the goal of full devotion to Jesus Christ.
However, sometimes it seems like we stop moving forward in the spiritual life at all. We seem to stall in the spiritual life, and when that happens we feel stuck.We’re no longer feeling closer to God, no longer seeing God transform our habits and attitudes, no longer hopeful and optimistic that things will change. When that happens, we’re tempted to think that God has given up on us.
This exact thing happened to me about 13 years ago. At the time I was in my first year of seminary carrying about 16 units, working the graveyard shift at a hospital about 30 hours a week, and volunteering in ministry at our church plant in Ontario about 20 hours a week. Although my life was full of work, school, and ministry, I was neglecting my marriage. The more I neglected my marriage and focused on work, school, and ministry, the less close I felt toward my wife Chris. Gradually I started developing feelings toward another woman, a co-worker at the hospital. Although I never acted on the feelings, I nurtured those feelings in my heart for several months. My wife knew something wasn’t right, until finally I told her how I felt. When the dust finally settled, I wasn’t sure if my marriage was going to make it, I felt terribly guilty before God, I was no longer qualified to serve in the ministry I had been serving in, and I was questioning my calling to become a pastor. I had to confess to my wife, step down from ministry and confess to the pastor I was working with. I vividly remember one day sitting in my living room, staring at my apartment room wall, trying to figure out what else I could do with my life. I was convinced that God had given up on me because of what I’d done.
If you’ve never wondered if God had given up on you, you will. When that happens, how can we be sure that God is not finished with us yet? Besides a bumper sticker slogan, what can we do to gain assurance of God’s continued care and guidance in our lives? That’s what I want to talk about today.
We’ve been in a series through the New Testament book of Romans called "Good News for Our Times." I’ve titled chapters 9 to 11 of Romans "The Good News About God’s Faithfulness," and in these chapters the apostle Paul has been wrestling with why the majority of Jewish people rejected Jesus as their Messiah. You see, Israel’s rejection of Jesus provides a test case for how God responds when God’s people blow it. In chapter 8 of Romans, Paul told us that God is able to work all things together for our good (8:28). Chapters 9 to 11 apply this principle to Israel’s failure to believe in Jesus as their Messiah; what good can God bring out of that? Israel’s rejection of Jesus would appear to mean that either God has given up on Israel or that God’s promises to Israel have failed. But Paul rejects both conclusions, and he claims that God is somehow using Israel’s failure for good. As Paul grapples with Israel’s unbelief, we’re going to find three actions we can take when we’re tempted to think God has given up on us. Paul applies these three actions to Israel, but they also apply to us.
1. LOOKING (Romans 11:1-2a)
Let’s look at verse 1 and the first half of verse 2 together. Has God rejected the nation of Israel? The word for "reject" here means to forcibly push someone aside (Louw and Nida 15.46). Have you ever been pushed aside like a piece of garbage? That’s exactly what this word means. Has God tossed aside the nation of Israel because they refused to believe in Jesus?
Paul says, "Not on your life!" The proof of this is the fact that Paul himself is Jewish. Even though Paul was a Christian, he still views himself as Jewish, as a member of the nation of Israel. We view Judaism and Christianity as different religions, but Paul doesn’t view Judaism and Christianity as mutually exclusive. Paul is a descendant of Abraham from the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. He’s from the tribe of Benjamin, one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
The fact that Paul the Israelite is also Paul the Christian leads him to conclude in v. 2, "God has not rejected his people." This phrase comes right out of the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. First Samuel chapter 12 is the prophet Samuel’s farewell speech to the nation of Israel right before he dies. In that speech, Samuel recounts the sins of Israel in graphic detail, one after the other, yet then he concludes that despite Israel’s failures, God will not reject Israel. God will remain faithful to Israel because of who God is; he’s a faithful God who acts with integrity. Paul applies this to Israel’s failure to believe in Jesus, that despite this failure, God will remain faithful to his promises to Israel.
Then we also find that little phrase "whom God foreknew." Bible teachers sharply debate the precise meaning of the word "foreknow," but at its very least it means that Israel’s failure did not take God by surprise. When Jesus came and the nation of Israel rejected him, this didn’t take God by surprise. It’s not as if God had to go to plan B when that happened, as if he said, "Oh no! Now what am I going to do?" Israel’s failure was known by God before the creation of the world.
Now notice Paul’s logic in these verses. Even though the vast majority of the Jewish people rejected Jesus, which could lead someone to conclude that God has given up on Israel, Paul concludes that because he himself as a Jew is also a Christian, God is not finished with Israel yet. Even though Paul was outnumbered, the fact that he himself was a Jewish Christian was proof enough that God had not cast aside the nation of Israel.
So here we find our first action. When we’re tempted to think God has given up on us, we need to LOOK FOR GOD IN THE SMALL THINGS.
Big things have a tendency to keep us from seeing small things. The big thing was that the vast majority of Jewish people didn’t believe in Jesus; they still don’t. It would be tempting for Paul to let that big thing overshadow the small thing, namely that he himself believed in Jesus. Yet God was working in the small things.
Often its in the small things that we see God working the most. Bible teacher A. J. Gordon says, "Small things can become the biggest and best things." Small things are very important. I thought about this when I heard about a big bank worth $21 billion that neglected a small thing (New York Times 6/14/00). The bank, J. P. Morgan and Company, was disconnected from its web site and email for six weeks because it forgot to pay the renewal on its domain name. A $21 billion bank forgot to pay a $35 bill. That led J. P. Morgan to be offline for six weeks, and they lost a ton of money, all because of a small thing. Small things are more important than you might think.
Thirteen years ago as I sat in my apartment staring at the wall, I couldn’t see any evidence that God was working in my life. Everything inside of me told me that God had given up on me, that my marriage was probably over, my calling to ministry forfeited, and that all I had to look forward to were regrets. As I sat there, this phrase "God foreknew" came to my mind, and suddenly it occurred to me that my failure had not taken God by surprise. In fact, God knew about it before he’d even created me, before I had become a Christian, before he had called me to ministry. I realized that God had known this was going to happen when he called me into ministry, and yet he called me to ministry anyway. That little phrase "God foreknew" changed everything for me that day, as I realized that God wasn’t finished with me yet. God hadn’t rejected me, just like he hasn’t rejected the people Israel.
Are you wondering if God is finished with you? It’s time to look for God in the small things.
2. REMEMBERING (Romans 11:2b-6)
Paul’s experience reminds him of an ancient Jewish prophet named Elijah . He talks about this in v.2b through v. 6. In the Old Testament book of 1 Kings, a Jewish king named Ahab and with his wife Jezebel led Israel to turn away from the true God and worship a false god named Baal. God’s prophet Elijah felt all alone. In chapter 19 of 1 Kings, Queen Jezebel issued a bounty on Elijah’s head. So Elijah ran for his life to the desert, and inside a cave he cried out to God, asking God to let him die. Elijah’s words from 1 Kings 19 are quoted here: "They have killed your prophets, torn down your altars, I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me." Elijah had thought God had given up on him and given up on the nation of Israel.
Paul knows how Elijah felt, feeling as if he was alone with all the rest of Israel in being faithful to God. But Paul remembers God’s answer to Elijah, that there were 7,000 people Elijah didn’t know about who were still faithful to the God of Israel. Even though it appeared to Elijah that he was alone, there was still a remnant who did truly believe. And even though Paul felt like he was alone in his devotion to Jesus, he knew that there was actually a remnant of Jewish people who trusted in Jesus.
God had chosen this remnant within Israel by his grace, not because of anything they had done to deserve it. This means that it’s not because the people in the remnant were so good or righteous. They were there by God’s unearned favor, his incredible grace. Anything that claims its grace plus works in effect eliminated grace.
So here we find the second action we can take. When we’re tempted to think God is finished with us, we need to remember we don’t see all that God is doing.
God’s work is often hidden from our eyes. God works behind the scene, in ordinary circumstances like chance encounters and what we call coincidences. One of my favorite examples of this from the Bible is the Old Testament book of Esther. The book of Esther is the only book of the Bible to never mention God. The fact that Esther never mentions God embarassed a lot of scholars. So people looked for hidden codes in Esther, any way to try to find God mentioned. Yet no where is God mentioned in the entire book. However, God’s presence is behind every experience recorded in Esther. In Esther God is behind the scenes, in things like beauty contests, coincidences, a king who has insomnia, and so forth.
You see, since God is God and we’re not, God doesn’t have to show us all that he’s doing. The reality is that God is actively involved in every person’s life, whether they are a Christian or not. God is actively involved in every detail of our world, whether we see him or not.
As I sat in my apartment staring at the walls, I had to remind myself that God was working in ways I couldn’t see. God was doing things he hadn’t consulted me about, because he’s God and I’m not. I had to remind myself that even though I couldn’t feel God at the moment and I couldn’t see anything God was doing, that God was at work behind the scenes.
I now know that God was working to build accountability in my life. From my experience 13 years ago came an accountably group with two college friends who are also pastors. We’ve met consistently for 13 years asking each other the tough questions, helping each other grow and be faithful to our spouses and to our calling to ministry. These are the questions we ask each other each week:
1. Have you exposed yourself to any sexually explicit material?
2. Have you been with a woman anywhere that might be seen as compromising?
3. Have any of your financial dealings lacked integrity?
4. Have you given your family quality time?
5. Have you been nurturing your soul through consistent spiritual disciplines?
6. Have you been fulfilling your calling?
7. Have you lied about anything?
Without going through my failure, I wouldn’t have seen God working in this way and joined this group.
God often works in ways we can’t see at the time.
3. TRUSTING (Romans 11:7-10)
This leads Paul to quote more verses from the Old Testament in vv. 7-10. Just like he did in chapters 9 and 10, here we find Paul using the word picture of a race to describe what’s happened. The words "sought" and "obtain" in v. 7 were words that described a contender in a race, seeking to obtain the crown by reaching the finish line first. Two contenders are described here: Israel and what Paul calls "the elect." Israel of course is the nation of Israel, and the elect refers here to the Church, the Christian community. So these are two separate communities.
Paul says that those within Israel who don’t believe in Jesus are "hardened." This word means "made unresponsive," that something within Israel was unresponsive to the good news about Jesus Christ. Since Paul told us in v. 2 that God has not rejected Israel, we can conclude that there’s a difference between being rejected and being hardened. The nation of Israel is still God’s people, chosen by God, given promises by God. God has not cast them aside, but instead he has allowed them to be hardened for a period of time, and for now God is working through a different community, the Christian Church. It’s like a superstar baseball player who’s struggling at the plate, so his manager benches him and starts a rookie in his spot to give the rookie some playing time. The superstar is still on the team, but for now he’s benched.
There are many Christians who believe that God has rejected the nation of Israel. Many Christians hold to something called replacement theology, that the Church has replaced the nation of Israel. In this way of thinking, all of God’s promises to Israel are forfeited by Israel because of their rejection of Jesus and are now transferred to the Church. This is standard thinking in most Reformed and Roman Catholic churches. Every time the Christian Church has been anti-Semitic, behind that anti-Semitism has been this replacement theology.
Now Paul doesn’t tell us exactly how Israel is hardened. Did God himself harden their hearts to Jesus or did they harden their own hearts by their refusal to believe in Jesus? Probably both are true, just as the Egyptian Pharaoh hardened his own heart toward Israel and God hardened his heart. Both are simultaneously true at the same time.
Now you and I struggle with the idea that God would harden someone’s heart. And Paul doesn’t try to defend this idea against our objections, but instead he simply shows that the idea of God allowing Israel to be hardened is consistent with what God does with Israel in the Old Testament. He quotes Deuteronomy 29, where we learn that if Israel is unfaithful to their covenant with God, God would respond by giving them a spiritual insensitivity, lack of insight and an inability to hear what God was saying. This was fulfilled in Israel’s rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. The quote from Psalm 69 speaks of much the same thing.
Now we don’t learn why God has benched Israel here, but as we go on in chapter 11 we’ll learn that it’s for as many non-Jews as possible to come to faith in Jesus Christ. You see, God is using the hardening of Israel as an opportunity for the Church to prosper, much like a benched baseball player becomes an opportunity for a rookie to get his big chance. God is using Israel’s lack of faith in Jesus as their Messiah to build the Christian Church. But, as we’ll learn next week, God’s not finished with Israel yet.
So here we find the third action we can take. When we’re tempted to think God has given up on us, we need to TRUST GOD TO USE OUR FAILURES IN A POSITIVE WAY.
God was using Israel’s unbelief positively in the lives of non-Jewish people. Can you trust God to use your failures in a positive way? Often the very things we wish we didn’t have are the things God has given us to accomplish his plan. I believe this even includes our failures. Now don’t get me wrong: We’re responsible for our failures, and often when we rebel against God we set into motion consequences that will impact us for the rest of our lives. But I also believe God is able to use our failures in a positive way.
As I sat staring at the walls in my apartment 13 years ago, I realized that God had brought someone into my life who understood. You see, at the time of my failure I was part of our church plant in Ontario, and the pastor of that church plant was Pastor Bob. Pastor Bob had gone through an experience similar to mine years before, and he and his wife were exactly the right people to be in my life at that time. God was able to use his failure in a positive way in my life.
I learned so much from what I went through 13 years ago, it would take me hours to tell you all about it. I’m convinced I wouldn’t have lasted more than a year as a pastor if I hadn’t learned those lessons. Could I have learned those lessons without sinning? Probably. But I can be pretty thick headed sometimes. Sometimes I have to hurt really bad to get the message. I’m grateful I learned what I did, and I hope I never have to learn those lessons again.
Can you trust God to do that in your life today? If God can do it with the entire nation of Israel, he can do it in your life.
Conclusion
Be patient. God is not finished with you yet. Just as God hasn’t given up on Israel despite their unbelief, God has not given up on you or me. When we’re tempted to think God has given up on us, we need to look for God in the small things, remind ourselves that we don’t see all that God is doing, and then trust God to use our failures in a positive way.
