Unity in Mission
“Unity in Mission”
(Romans 15:7-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 6, 2005)
Introduction: The Promise
Anyone who has experienced life in another part of the world knows something of the power of cultural divisions. Our assumptions about how life should be conducted, and our understanding of the details of daily practices can be very different than those who live in other lands. Who could possibly unite people across vast cultural divides? Who could heal the breach that exists between nations that have been enemies for centuries? Even within our own nation we readily see how regional differences bring about challenging divisions among the people of one land. In a world of great diversity we also are aware of the hostility that can form between people of various racial groups, or between people who have different political ideas concerning the issues of our day. But larger than all of these divisions is the Old Testament distinction between Jew and Gentile. Who could break down that wall?
If we are to answer that question, it will help us to go back to the beginning of the Jew/Gentile distinction. The Jews were the people of a promise made by God many centuries ago. In Genesis 12 God made a promise to an elderly man, a man whose wife was unable to conceive and who was now well beyond the age of having children. This promise and the progress of its fulfillment brought about the beginning of the Jewish nation – the people of the promise of God. Here is what God said:
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
This one weak old man blessed by God would be the beginning of something that would lead to great blessing upon all the people groups (families) of the earth. How would this blessing come about? From one man (Abram or Abraham) and his son (Isaac) and grandson (Jacob or Israel) would come one nation (Israel). And from that one nation would come would eventually come one man (Jesus, the promised Messiah). And from that one man would come a salvation so great that it could not be contained within the boundaries of any nation. This is the story of the Bible. It is a great story. It is a story that will change your life if you will hear it and believe it.
Let me summarize the enormity of God’s plan with one verse from John’s gospel spoken by Jesus Christ:
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
News this good cannot ultimately be kept secret. It bursts beyond the boundaries of any city or nation. It tears down barriers of division and brings a powerful eternal hope to those in distress. We who have heard and believed this news are called to welcome others as Jesus Christ has welcomed us.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 15:7-12 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." 10 And again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." 11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him." 12 And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope."
(7) The Command: Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
There is an important command given here for the church. The church is to be a welcoming body. Of course the Bible tells us that the church is not to welcome a false teacher (2 John 10-11). We are also told that we are not to welcome someone in order to be involved in worthless disputes with him (Romans 14:1). These exceptions aside, we are to warmly welcome all kinds of people into the body of Christ.
What does it mean to welcome someone into this extended family? Think about the way that our children are enthusiastically welcomed into their new families at birth. Let me use the illustration of my two youngest children.
I will always remember the searching brown eyes of the young fellow who looked up into my eyes moments after he was born. He was so alert and serious, this precious gift of God. We welcomed Jeff with much love and care. Several years later our youngest child was born after a very long labor. The doctor placed her into my arms and I danced with my little girl Kristin. Her birth gave us great joy.
Can your imagination and memory capture that idea and apply it to the extended family for which Jesus Christ died? Treat every new member as a brother or sister in a common unity of love and purpose. It will help you if you can see the family resemblance in the new child of God. It will not be seen in the color of the eyes or the shade of the skin. It can be found in the God-given desire to glorify and enjoy the Lord forever. When we see that in another person, we see God’s family, and lesser divisions crumble like walls that return to dust under the weight of the towering unity that we share in the love of God. This helps us to live a life of mutual sacrifice, and to think of another person’s needs before our own.
You are to welcome one another as Christ welcomed you – an overwhelming thought to be sure. He saw your eyes coming alive at your spiritual birth into the family of the Lord, and he immediately recognized the family resemblance. You were brought into His loving arms and He danced for joy with you. If we have been united with Him for the glory of God, then we have also been united with one another in Him. He is our great common bond, and we are to welcome one another warmly in His name.
(8-9a) The Gospel Reason: Christ became a servant to the Jews in order that the Gentiles might glorify God.
This pathway of sacrificial welcoming is one that our savior traveled. In His life of love He kept all the Law for us and fulfilled the very thing that was the “dividing wall of hostility” between Jew and Gentile.
Ephesians 2:11-21 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands- 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Jesus lived out His earthly ministry almost entirely among the Jews. Yet in that ministry to the circumcised came the fulfillment of the true promises of God given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed, so that all the nations of the earth would glorify God.
John 1:11-14 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(9b-12) A small sample of Old Testament evidence
Paul ends this morning’s passage by citing four texts from the Old Testament. If we examine each of these in its original context, a progressive message of blessing to the Gentiles emerges in the specific verses that the Apostle Paul quotes to the Roman church.
Psalm 18:43-50 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me. 44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me. 45 They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds. 46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! 47 He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, 48 who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me. 49 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name. 50 He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
Those who were enemies of God would receive the testimony of God’s power and faithfulness for his chosen people.
Deuteronomy 32:36-43 36 The LORD will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. 37 He will say: “Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in, 38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! 39 See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. 40 I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, 41 when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. 42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.” 43 Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.
The gods of the Gentiles are nothing. The nations are invited to rejoice instead in the one true God along with all his children, and to turn away from oppressing His people.
Psalm 117:1-2 Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! 2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!
Again the nations are called to praise the Lord, now because of His eternal faithfulness, rather than because of his vengeance against His enemies.
Isaiah 11:1-10 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-- 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
This great mission of making the enemies of God into His worshippers is centered around one man, who is called here “the root of Jesse.” Jesse was King David’s father, yet this Son of David would be before David’s father Jesse. He is the Son of God. He is the hope of the elect of all the earth both Jew and Gentile.
The promise of God will come to the nations, but not without discomfort and strife. Yet enemies who are far off will be made friends as they embrace the Messiah, surrender to Him, and praise Him in the covenant assembly.
POINT: Christ gave himself so that even people like us would be welcomed into His family
From the Jews would come would come the Root of Jesse. And from that one man would come a salvation so great that it could not be contained within the boundaries of any nation. This is the story of the Bible.
Application: Seeing your part in the bigger picture
Abraham had a part in that story. The promise was spoken to him and he believed. He had a son, and it all began. Of course, Jesus had the central role in the story. He ministered to Jews and atoned for the sins of the whole Israel of God, made up of elect Jews and Gentiles for whom He died. The early church had its part to play. The message of Jesus went forth beyond Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. But now you have your part to play in this Bible story. For you will welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Church, do you see your part in this grand proclamation of hope? You are to be a “greeter” in the fullest sense of the word. You cannot be everywhere at once. God has brought you here to this corner of the world. Consider this your primary station in the world-wide mission of the church.
From the vantage-point of your daily life, how will you welcome others as Christ has welcomed you? Make it your regular practice to consider the people that you are likely to have contact with every day. Ask yourself this important question: “Am I prepared for the encounters before me this day?”
It is hard to believe that we will do a good job of spiritual welcoming if we are not dedicated to the worship of God. It is also hard to believe that people will find here a welcoming environment for a new believer if they cannot see and know that we welcome one another with great joy, seeing the family resemblance in the eyes of our brothers and sisters. Do you feel estranged somehow within this body of believers? When did that distance come? What can you do to remove it?
Do not be content to view those around you as anything less than precious and beloved children of God, who, like you, have been welcomed by the Lord Jesus into the family of God. Welcome one another with great joy, and receive new babes in Christ with happiness that comes from above.
(Romans 15:7-12, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 6, 2005)
Introduction: The Promise
Anyone who has experienced life in another part of the world knows something of the power of cultural divisions. Our assumptions about how life should be conducted, and our understanding of the details of daily practices can be very different than those who live in other lands. Who could possibly unite people across vast cultural divides? Who could heal the breach that exists between nations that have been enemies for centuries? Even within our own nation we readily see how regional differences bring about challenging divisions among the people of one land. In a world of great diversity we also are aware of the hostility that can form between people of various racial groups, or between people who have different political ideas concerning the issues of our day. But larger than all of these divisions is the Old Testament distinction between Jew and Gentile. Who could break down that wall?
If we are to answer that question, it will help us to go back to the beginning of the Jew/Gentile distinction. The Jews were the people of a promise made by God many centuries ago. In Genesis 12 God made a promise to an elderly man, a man whose wife was unable to conceive and who was now well beyond the age of having children. This promise and the progress of its fulfillment brought about the beginning of the Jewish nation – the people of the promise of God. Here is what God said:
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
This one weak old man blessed by God would be the beginning of something that would lead to great blessing upon all the people groups (families) of the earth. How would this blessing come about? From one man (Abram or Abraham) and his son (Isaac) and grandson (Jacob or Israel) would come one nation (Israel). And from that one nation would come would eventually come one man (Jesus, the promised Messiah). And from that one man would come a salvation so great that it could not be contained within the boundaries of any nation. This is the story of the Bible. It is a great story. It is a story that will change your life if you will hear it and believe it.
Let me summarize the enormity of God’s plan with one verse from John’s gospel spoken by Jesus Christ:
John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
News this good cannot ultimately be kept secret. It bursts beyond the boundaries of any city or nation. It tears down barriers of division and brings a powerful eternal hope to those in distress. We who have heard and believed this news are called to welcome others as Jesus Christ has welcomed us.
TODAY’S PASSAGE:
Romans 15:7-12 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." 10 And again it is said, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people." 11 And again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him." 12 And again Isaiah says, "The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope."
(7) The Command: Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
There is an important command given here for the church. The church is to be a welcoming body. Of course the Bible tells us that the church is not to welcome a false teacher (2 John 10-11). We are also told that we are not to welcome someone in order to be involved in worthless disputes with him (Romans 14:1). These exceptions aside, we are to warmly welcome all kinds of people into the body of Christ.
What does it mean to welcome someone into this extended family? Think about the way that our children are enthusiastically welcomed into their new families at birth. Let me use the illustration of my two youngest children.
I will always remember the searching brown eyes of the young fellow who looked up into my eyes moments after he was born. He was so alert and serious, this precious gift of God. We welcomed Jeff with much love and care. Several years later our youngest child was born after a very long labor. The doctor placed her into my arms and I danced with my little girl Kristin. Her birth gave us great joy.
Can your imagination and memory capture that idea and apply it to the extended family for which Jesus Christ died? Treat every new member as a brother or sister in a common unity of love and purpose. It will help you if you can see the family resemblance in the new child of God. It will not be seen in the color of the eyes or the shade of the skin. It can be found in the God-given desire to glorify and enjoy the Lord forever. When we see that in another person, we see God’s family, and lesser divisions crumble like walls that return to dust under the weight of the towering unity that we share in the love of God. This helps us to live a life of mutual sacrifice, and to think of another person’s needs before our own.
You are to welcome one another as Christ welcomed you – an overwhelming thought to be sure. He saw your eyes coming alive at your spiritual birth into the family of the Lord, and he immediately recognized the family resemblance. You were brought into His loving arms and He danced for joy with you. If we have been united with Him for the glory of God, then we have also been united with one another in Him. He is our great common bond, and we are to welcome one another warmly in His name.
(8-9a) The Gospel Reason: Christ became a servant to the Jews in order that the Gentiles might glorify God.
This pathway of sacrificial welcoming is one that our savior traveled. In His life of love He kept all the Law for us and fulfilled the very thing that was the “dividing wall of hostility” between Jew and Gentile.
Ephesians 2:11-21 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands- 12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Jesus lived out His earthly ministry almost entirely among the Jews. Yet in that ministry to the circumcised came the fulfillment of the true promises of God given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that through Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed, so that all the nations of the earth would glorify God.
John 1:11-14 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(9b-12) A small sample of Old Testament evidence
Paul ends this morning’s passage by citing four texts from the Old Testament. If we examine each of these in its original context, a progressive message of blessing to the Gentiles emerges in the specific verses that the Apostle Paul quotes to the Roman church.
Psalm 18:43-50 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations; people I did not know are subject to me. 44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cringe before me. 45 They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds. 46 The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! 47 He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me, 48 who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from violent men you rescued me. 49 Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD; I will sing praises to your name. 50 He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
Those who were enemies of God would receive the testimony of God’s power and faithfulness for his chosen people.
Deuteronomy 32:36-43 36 The LORD will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. 37 He will say: “Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in, 38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! 39 See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. 40 I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, 41 when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. 42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.” 43 Rejoice, O nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.
The gods of the Gentiles are nothing. The nations are invited to rejoice instead in the one true God along with all his children, and to turn away from oppressing His people.
Psalm 117:1-2 Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! 2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!
Again the nations are called to praise the Lord, now because of His eternal faithfulness, rather than because of his vengeance against His enemies.
Isaiah 11:1-10 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD-- 3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. 10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.
This great mission of making the enemies of God into His worshippers is centered around one man, who is called here “the root of Jesse.” Jesse was King David’s father, yet this Son of David would be before David’s father Jesse. He is the Son of God. He is the hope of the elect of all the earth both Jew and Gentile.
The promise of God will come to the nations, but not without discomfort and strife. Yet enemies who are far off will be made friends as they embrace the Messiah, surrender to Him, and praise Him in the covenant assembly.
POINT: Christ gave himself so that even people like us would be welcomed into His family
From the Jews would come would come the Root of Jesse. And from that one man would come a salvation so great that it could not be contained within the boundaries of any nation. This is the story of the Bible.
Application: Seeing your part in the bigger picture
Abraham had a part in that story. The promise was spoken to him and he believed. He had a son, and it all began. Of course, Jesus had the central role in the story. He ministered to Jews and atoned for the sins of the whole Israel of God, made up of elect Jews and Gentiles for whom He died. The early church had its part to play. The message of Jesus went forth beyond Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. But now you have your part to play in this Bible story. For you will welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Church, do you see your part in this grand proclamation of hope? You are to be a “greeter” in the fullest sense of the word. You cannot be everywhere at once. God has brought you here to this corner of the world. Consider this your primary station in the world-wide mission of the church.
From the vantage-point of your daily life, how will you welcome others as Christ has welcomed you? Make it your regular practice to consider the people that you are likely to have contact with every day. Ask yourself this important question: “Am I prepared for the encounters before me this day?”
It is hard to believe that we will do a good job of spiritual welcoming if we are not dedicated to the worship of God. It is also hard to believe that people will find here a welcoming environment for a new believer if they cannot see and know that we welcome one another with great joy, seeing the family resemblance in the eyes of our brothers and sisters. Do you feel estranged somehow within this body of believers? When did that distance come? What can you do to remove it?
Do not be content to view those around you as anything less than precious and beloved children of God, who, like you, have been welcomed by the Lord Jesus into the family of God. Welcome one another with great joy, and receive new babes in Christ with happiness that comes from above.
posted by Pastor Magee at 10:30 AM
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