Romans 1:1-6, 16
Good people can be made better
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God--the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
From 1990 to 1995 we lived in the upper east end of Hamilton. Our street was mostly seniors, husbands and wives who had bought their homes early in their married lives. They raised their children, survived the empty nest, flourished in retirement enjoying their life long friends, their now larger families. It was an interesting neighbourhood. The house we lived in had been owned by The Salvation Army for many years. One of our neighbours had seen many families come and go out of that house and she was only too happy to tell Wendy and I all about them. She loved sitting in her chair on the front porch – not that the porch was very big. I would often go over, especially if the weather was nice and sit on her step with her and her husband sipping on a cold drink or a cup of coffee.
What made her an interesting part of the neighbourhood was that she was THE “Neighbourhood Watch”, all that that means rolled into one person. She knew the details of most people’s lives on that street, and she kept me “informed”.
It didn’t take Wendy and I long to figure out that we were being watched too…in fact I discovered that often when I came home she would be looking out the window at me. She watched in a manner that obviously she felt was not detectable from our driveway…but most of the time I could see her just behind the sheers peering out….and it seemed to me that no matter what time it was, she was there.
Much to Wendy’s horror, I started to wave at her even if she was suppose to be “hiding”. It was great fun!
She and her husband were very friendly, and as time passed by I tried to build a bit of a bridge of friendship into their lives. They were not church attender’s so one day I asked her about her relationship with God. Her response: “I am a good person – I don’t need to worry about that”
It was an answer that saddened me, and I set about trying to help her see how good people could be made better by a relationship with Jesus.
People who care for others, can become more caring. Generous people can become more generous. Loving people can become more loving….and so on.
What we can become is of course of great interest to us. We realize that we have short comings, and personal biases…we know that we could be better husbands, better wives, better parents…better citizen’s and God offers a way…
But it is not through our ‘trying to be better’…but by allowing God to have greater reign in our lives, by giving more fully our wills into the hands of the one who offers us the freedom to exercise our will.
I want to take you to the book of Romans. It is perhaps the single greatest work in the New Testament. It is testimony – that of what God can do for us. It is theology, a study of God and His work and ways in saving us. It is encouragement – to know that I can move past ‘doing what I do not want to do…’ It is teaching, direction for living for those of us who would be more like Jesus. It is hope – living in the Easter moments – knowing that the power of God is demonstrated in the resurrection of Jesus. And so I would like to begin with you a walk through some of the early chapters of Romans from today through to Easter Sunday.
So I found myself last summer being led to this book as a means of leading us to Easter…so on the first Sunday of Lent I make you this invitation. Read with me, through these first 8 chapters of Romans, and as you do I would like you ask yourself some questions.
• What does this Word say to me about what God has done in His name for me?
• How am I intentionally following God’s lead?
• How intently am I following Jesus?
• How does following Jesus change my life?
• Is my life really mine?
So let’s begin our Easter Series – Paul’s letter begins with this reference (v.5) to “his name’s sake” – which is a common thread in the OT. God is again taking the initiative with Jesus – for “his name’s sake”.
I cannot really launch into this great text without thinking more about Paul’s phrase:
You will find this phrase in a number of places…
• All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. “For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. - Psalm 25:10,11
• Although our sins testify against us, O LORD, do something for the sake of your name. For our backsliding is great; we have sinned against you. – Jeremiah 7:14
• For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. – 1 Samuel 12:22
It is interesting that Jesus condemns the Pharisees for the motivation of their interests:
• “you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” – Matthew 15:6
God forgive us if we ever dismiss God’s leading because of a love we have for tradition, or self interest!
It is this same phrase that Paul picks up and uses in this opening address to the people of Rome.
“Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.”
- Romans 1:5
The early verses of Romans begin with Paul himself. He was a leader, but one that had misdirected energy. He might have come to be like another historical leader had God not intervened.
The efficiency of the truly national leader consists primarily in preventing the division of the attention of a people, and always in concentrating it on a single enemy. —Adolf Hitler
Paul (Saul) clearly knew the enemy…it was the Christians following this Jesus.
As he pens this he is thinking of his calling to that day recorded in Acts 9 when God found himself confronted by Jesus (the one who you persecute) and called to tell of the Gospel to the Gentiles.
Paul made clear to the Romans, and to us that God’s righteousness is our Salvation. He is the initiator, we are the beneficiaries.
Paul’s use of the word Salvation, is not just related to being saved from our sins, but incorporates all contained within the Power of God! Says Paul in verse 4 – this power is that which was demonstrated by the resurrection of Jesus. It is the power of God that has changed Paul’s life.
Paul…
• a religious man, a passionate member of the Pharisees.
• the “representative of God” who with zeal spent his time trying to rid the world of Christians…
Paul spent 10 years (47 to 57 AD) in evangelizing east and west of the Aegean Sea. He traveled to the Roman provinces of Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia and Asia. He traveled the main roads and visited the principle cities. He had been given a commission by Jesus and he intently and intentionally pursued his calling. He planted churches in Iconium, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus leaving their care in the hands of other spiritual leaders.
During the winter of 56/57 AD Paul spent the winter in Corinth in the home of his friend and convert Gauis. He had a gift to take to the church in Jerusalem and then his plan was to go to Spain taking time to visit the Church in Rome on his way.
Paul had long looked forward to a visit to Rome. He was a Roman citizen by birth, a freeman. The opportunity to visit Rome and to see the Church there for the first time is underlined in this letter to the Romans.
In preparation for his visit Paul dictates a letter using Tertius, a Christian secretary, possibly provided by Gauis, to the Church in Rome.
The Church in Rome gets special mention in the book of Acts as among those who heard Peter preach on the Pentecost Sunday were those (2:10) from Rome. Was the beginning of the Church in Rome? We don’t know…but what we do know is that Paul wanted to express fully with depth and clarity the Gospel and the plan of God for them and us.
Paul gives testimony to what happens to those whose hearts are transformed by that resurrection power. By the death of Jesus, comes our life.
But not just for Paul – it is for us, and for all who believe.
“And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” 1:6
I wonder if at times we are guilty of not believing that God’s love and power are for all? It isn’t that if I asked you about this, you would argue against this central truth of Scripture…no I think you would agree with me that the Gospel is good news for all…
Am I right?
But when I see what we do, I sometimes wonder…do we?
If we really believed what we say we do…wouldn’t we be a bit more diligent at sharing it with our friends, our family? Wouldn’t it make sense that if this really is good news…?
I am not in the position to invest large of sums of money in anything, but if I was…and someone told me that they had invested in a business or a fund that had remarkable returns I would be grateful to get my money are join them. But if they found a great opportunity and kept it to themselves – well I might wonder why they did that.
When we got here – July 2000 – we made our usual trek to find a good doctor, a good dentist, a place to get our hair cut, our dog taken care of…but what we also REALLY wanted to know was – where was the good Chinese Food take out place!
Investments are important – a good doctor necessary – Chinese food critical…
But all this to say, if we tell others about these kind of important things, why do we keep eternal matters to ourselves? Is it in the name of being ‘sensitive’ or politically correct?
God can change lives – He CAN make good people better but He needs us, requires us to be the agent through which people hear the Good News.
We are in the season of LENT – a time of self discipline and for many a time of denial.
I’ve heard many people, many of them young people, talking about what they ‘are giving up’ for Lent. Some are giving up chocolate, or coffee, or time used in a selfish endeavour.
But what if we gave up keeping Jesus to ourselves? What if we really decided to put Jesus on the front burner, to make His change in our lives a point of discussion? What if instead of pulling back into the closet of our own personal beliefs we opened up to others our own personal story?
If the Easter story has any power it is because it is a personal story – of how God’s power became the power to change lives…the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, the same power that sent the disciples into the streets of Jerusalem where some from Rome heard the Good News, put their faith in Jesus and returned to Rome to be the church which now Paul addresses.
One final note:
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." Romans 1:16,17
If we are ‘not ashamed of the Gospel’, that is if we can share it with others then we do something that is quite significant for our own faith.
We give evidence to two things:
1. that we believe it is good news – and that it has been and continues to be good news for our own life….
2. that we believe that it has power to it…
But there is one more important aspect to this…that is to live with God’s power demonstrated in us.
• When our tongues praise God for good.
• When we trust when we have every reason to doubt
• When we do good though the opportunity is ours to be safe
• When we build others up rather than tear them down
• When we decide to be giving rather than greedy
• When we help those in our sphere of influence who are in need
• When we ministry becomes about living rather than program
• When prayer is important enough to be practiced
All these things demonstrate God’s power. And in case you feel that being religious is a demonstration of God’s power, I remind you of God’s Word to the Pharisees:
“Jesus replied, ‘You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God’.” – Matthew 22:29
To know about the Gospel is one thing but to demonstrate it another…the only way I can demonstrate the power of God is to be under it.
It is this ”gaining ones life by loosing it” ! When I am under the will of God, when the Holy Spirit has reign in my life that people will see the Power of God for themselves.
Is God’s Power evident in me?
