GOD GRANTED PAUL ENTHUSIASM FOR THE GOSPEL.

Singing: (Psalms and Hymns are from the "Book of Praise" Anglo Genevan Psalter)
Psalm 37:1,16
Psalm 25:9,10
Psalm 40:1,2,7
Psalm 22:8,9,10
Psalm 119:17,18

Beloved Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The apostle Paul was not ashamed of the gospel. Are you?

It is a fact that the world in which we are allowed to live considers the gospel of Jesus Christ rather a ridiculous faith. So faithful Christians get called fundamentalists, get scorned as leftovers of an unenlightened age. But: we don’t like being laughed at, don’t like being considered odd, queer, out-of-tune. So the temptation is great, very great, to adapt the faith to today’s culture. Take the sharp edges off the gospel, decide not to speak about some controversial points of the gospel, bring some contemporary thinking into the church: all of it takes away something of the embarrassment we feel about the gospel, takes away the ridicule of the world.

The holiday season has come to its end, and so we’ve returned to our regular posts in God’s kingdom, be it in the home, be it at school, be it in the factory. In the daily tasks we’ve received in God’s kingdom, we need to struggle with the ups and downs of life, need to cope with Satan’s attacks, with illnesses and headaches, with financial stresses, with tensions in the families. The answer in the struggles we face this year is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well now: do you feel embarrassed with this gospel? A bit uncertain as to the real value of the gospel in the nitty-gritty of your circumstances at home, at school, at work? A bit embarrassed to speak about this gospel in the midst of the dust and the dirt of your daily work because of the scorn you’re sure you’ll receive from workmates, school friends, family members?

I proclaim to you today the Word of God about the enthusiasm God granted to Paul concerning the gospel of Christ. By God’s grace, this sinner was not ashamed of the gospel, and by God’s grace we have no reason to be ashamed of it either. On the contrary!

I summarise the sermon with this theme:

GOD GRANTED PAUL ENTHUSIASM FOR THE GOSPEL.

1. It really is, brothers and sisters, an odd formulation that Paul uses in our text. He says he’s "not ashamed". We’d sooner expect him to speak in positive terms, to say something like: "I have complete confidence" in the gospel. Or: I’m enthusiastic about the gospel. The negative formulation suggests that Paul is defending himself in the face of persons who came with precisely this accusation; Paul, they said, doesn’t dare to come to Rome because he’s ashamed of the gospel. To which Paul replies: "I am not ashamed of the gospel."

I need to draw your attention here to what Paul has written in the verses preceding our text. The vss 8-15 reflect Paul’s burning desire to come to Rome; a missionary trip to the capital of the world has been on Paul’s agenda for some time. That’s vs 13: "I often planned to come to you." So he had prayed to the Lord to please open the opportunity to preach in Rome (vs 10). But, the apostle adds, I "was hindered until now." Just what hindered the apostle from coming to Rome need not concern us today. The fact is: he wished to go to Rome, but couldn’t. And apparently certain persons in Rome held that against Paul; they explained his failure to come with the accusation that Paul didn’t dare to come to Rome with the gospel, that Paul in his heart knew that the gospel of Jesus Christ did not have what it took to answer the demands and expectations of Roman society. Maybe the gospel was OK for the Jews, and maybe for the Greeks also, but not for the Romans….

Actually, we can understand something of the criticism of such persons. Romans: they were the supreme rulers of the entire known world. Their emperor, one of themselves, was acclaimed as the world’s saviour. Shall the Christian faith now proclaim that salvation is totally and only available through a non-Roman? Indeed, through the life and death of a despised Jew?? Surely, such a faith needs some doctoring to make it acceptable to civilised people; its insistence that a man died for the sins of the world (and not a woman) is offensive to sensitive feminists, and its insistence that a white man died for the sins of the world (and not a black man) is offensive to the multiculturalists of Rome, and its insistence that it wasn’t a Roman who died for the sins of Romans makes the Christian faith simply unacceptable to self-sufficient, self-respecting rulers of the world.

And that’s to say nothing of the manner of the Saviour’s death. We need to know, beloved, that if there was any death despised by a Roman, it was death on a cross. Crucifixion: that was a traitor’s death, a rapist’s death, but definitely, definitely not the death of a decent person - let alone a Roman. And the Christian faith would insist that the Saviour of the world died through crucifixion?! Let it be clear: this gospel is not only foolish; it is right down ridiculous. No self-respecting Roman would give his ear to such a gospel - let alone embrace it for truth. No wonder Paul isn’t fronting up in Rome; he knows his gospel will be a profound embarrassment, just does not fit in Roman culture, Roman society, Roman hearts…. "Paul is ashamed of the gospel…."

It will be true, brothers and sisters, that we for our part tend to think of Roman society in Paul’s day as being vastly different from our society in Australia today. No doubt it’s true: Australia today is not Rome of 2000 years ago, and Rome of 2000 years ago is not Australia today. On this point, though, there is no difference: as Roman society was inherently hostile to the Christian faith, so also modern Australian society is heartily hostile to the Christian faith. We today are given to understand from all sides that the gospel of Jesus Christ just does not answer the questions and the troubles of today’s society; this gospel insisting that a man died for the world is offensive, the thought that a Jew paid for Australian sins is repugnant, the thought that a death in Palestine 2000 years ago benefits Australia today is ridiculous. That God is absolutely sovereign and the human race dependent on Him is too humiliating to be acceptable. Historic Christian faith, as in: the truth of the Bible, is seen to be poles removed from the climate of today’s world (and in fact it is). So the pressure is on to adapt the faith, to take away something of God’s sovereignty, and to add something to man’s ability and our contribution to salvation. The gospel of Christ needs to be made more modern, more Australian, more tolerant of other faiths, of other saviours, of other churches. It all comes down, beloved, to this: there is a measure of embarrassment with the faith, a measure of shame amongst Christians about the gospel, an inner urge to condone the neighbour’s beliefs - no matter how far removed from the Word of God. And yes, we’re aware of that embarrassment, and affected by it too; that’s one reason why we find it hard to speak of the gospel to people around us.

But listen now, beloved, to Paul’s reaction to the accusation that he’s somewhat ashamed of the gospel, to the thought that the gospel of Christ doesn’t really fit in Rome. He’s categorical, he’s very dogmatic: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." The reason why Paul has not yet come to Rome has got nothing to do with a hidden embarrassment about the gospel; it’s instead got everything to do with the fact that to date the Lord has not answered his prayer, has not yet provided an opportunity to go to Rome. As far as Paul is concerned (he says in vs 15), he is completely "ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also." No shame for the gospel with Paul! That Rome rules the world, that Rome despises crucifixion, that Rome abhors the Jews, that Rome thinks in terms of ‘we can save ourselves’: nothing of it dampens Paul’s desire to preach the gospel precisely to the Romans, nothing of it makes Paul think again about the wisdom of taking the gospel to Rome, none of it makes him insecure and hesitant to speak of His Lord and Saviour. Paul is adamant: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ."

For our part, congregation, we want to know why Paul has no hesitation, has no second thoughts about speaking the gospel to the Romans. We for our part certainly do have hesitations…. That brings us to our second point: the cause for Paul’s enthusiasm for the gospel.

2. Why, brothers and sisters, is Paul so enthusiastic to bring the gospel to Rome? To put the question differently: why is he so positive about the gospel of Christ?

The apostle himself tells us of the cause of his enthusiasm in the second part of vs 16. Notice the little word ‘for’ connecting the second phrase to the first. Paul is "not ashamed of the gospel" - why not?- "for it is the power of God to salvation." See there why Paul is so eager to proclaim the gospel even in a place like Rome: Paul knows the power of this gospel, knows what this gospel can do.

This gospel, he says, is not an advice to people that one can take or leave. It’s not a drug either that makes one feel good for a while. Nor is this gospel simply a ticket to heaven and nothing more. Rather, says Paul, this gospel is "the power of God". That is to say: the God Who in the beginning spoke so that what did not exist came into existence, displays His same eternal power through the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ - and it comes to men through the preaching- is in fact the power of almighty God. That gospel lifts people up. That gospel changes people, sets people on fire.

Granted: to the observer the gospel may appear to be powerless, just a message, a set of cold beliefs that may or may not be relevant in ones chosen culture or situation. But Paul disagrees: that gospel, he says, is God’s power. Pepper on the table gives every appearance of being ineffective, powerless, harmless. But crunch some pepper between your teeth, and its power, its burning heat becomes evident in a very sensational manner. The gospel that Paul wants to preach in Rome: it isn’t the weak, insignificant message it appears to be. Sink you teeth into the gospel, and its bite, its power, its effectiveness becomes most evident.

What, then, is the bite, the power, the effectiveness of the gospel? Says Paul: "it is the power of God to salvation." The term ‘salvation’ leads our thoughts invariably to heaven, it prompts us to think of what happens when we die: we go to heaven or to hell; ‘to heaven’ is salvation, ‘to hell’ is damnation. Paul says that the gospel "is the power of God to salvation", and we understand that to mean that the gospel has in itself the power to open for us the door to heaven. That’s salvation.

As it turns out, my brothers and sisters, that is a most inadequate understanding of what ‘salvation’ is all about. The term ‘salvation’ in the Bible catches far more than the notion of going to heaven, far more than justification, redemption, and the like. Repeatedly in the Old Testament the term ‘salvation’ is used to describe the deliverance God gave from very physical enemies as the Egyptians (cf Ex 14:13), the Philistines (Judg 15:18), the Ammonites (I Sam 11:9). That is: God’s people Israel were oppressed in a very physical and painful way by persons who took away their freedom, who enslaved them, made life exceedingly bitter for them to the point that they had to drown their own sons in the Nile. That God gave ‘salvation’ does not mean that God promised to take them to heaven on the day of death; that God gave ‘salvation’ means that God gave very physical deliverance from very physical oppression. So God opened up the Red Sea and led His people out of Egypt and drowned Pharaoh and his host. God gave strength to Samson so that he could kill numerous Philistines and so deliver Israel from their oppressors. God sent Saul to Jabesh Gilead to deliver the men of that town from the Ammonites who threatened to pluck out their eyes. Concrete deliverance from concrete problems: that’s salvation.

So David in Ps 37 speaks of the ‘salvation’ God gives in the context of "evildoers", "workers of iniquity" who "plot against the just", who seek "to cast down the poor and needy", who borrow from you and don’t pay back. Shall we say: these are the sharks of everyday society. Again, in Ps 40, David is confronted by those who laugh at him, by those who wish him evil, by those who would destroy his life. These are the Absaloms and the Ahithophels and the Shimeis of David’s life, it’s the neighbour who would mock David’s reliance on the Lord, the son who has no respect for his father, the trusted adviser and co-worker who secretly undermines you. In that context David sings of the deliverance God gives, of God’s salvation. His thoughts are not with the relief he will receive when he dies and receives the crown of righteousness; with ‘salvation’ David refers to very real help from God in very concrete trials.

No, beloved, this is not to say that David was delivered from the sharks who pursued him so that he was free of every harassment from his creditors. It is to say, though, that David received from God grace to believe that these sharks could not touch him unless his Father in Jesus Christ permitted it. It’s to say that David received from God grace to believe that whatever his God in wisdom set on David’s path in this vale of tears was inherently good; my Father in Jesus Christ provides me with all things necessary for body and soul, and turns to my good whatever adversity He sends me in this life of sorrow (cf LD 9).

This, my beloved, is precisely what Paul means in Rom 1. He says in our text that "the gospel of Christ" is "the power of God to salvation". Then he adds in vs 17 the reason why this gospel is the power of God to salvation. He says: "For in it" - that’s the gospel- "the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith." The phrase "righteousness of God" captures the whole matter of justification - we dealt with that material just before Christmas with LD 23, and will come back to it, the Lord willing, this afternoon with LD 24. It’s what Paul writes about in the coming chapters of the book of Romans, and captures the very heart of the gospel: God has sent His only Son into the world to pay for the sins of God’s elect. Because Christ died for us, God in mercy declares us innocent before Him, not guilty, righteous. So: we do not face His wrath in this life; always, in things we experience as good or as bad, we are safe in His hands, so that "all things must work together for my salvation" (LD 1). That gospel of justification, of sinners being freely adopted by God to be His children so that they are loved by God, protected by God, safe in His hands: that’s the glorious message of the gospel.

We understand: the gospel of justification, the good news that God is your caring and loving Father for Jesus’ sake, gives an enormous peace in the midst of the trials we are experiencing in this life of sorrow. To know that the almighty Creator of heaven and earth is not angry with me on account of my sins but has instead forgiven those sins, to know that this eternal God loves me dearly and sovereignly so that He wisely works all things to my good: that certainly takes the pain out of the ridicule and the scorn and the oppression I feel from persons around me. Of course, this is a gospel I need to embrace by faith; as Paul says: it’s "from faith to faith", it’s faith "from first to last". But still, this gospel certainly takes the sting out of the sufferings of this life, it provides deliverance from all the oppressive questions of ‘Why is this happening?’ and ‘How is it going to turn out?’ and ‘What will happen tomorrow?’ For this gospel would have me know that I’m safe in the hands of my faithful God and Father.

And Yes: such a gospel is "the power of God". Imagine: being safe in the hands of eternal God: that takes the worry out of life, that takes the edge off the hurt I feel from being abused, that provides contentment in the poverty and the loneliness and the tensions around me. Such a gospel replaces anxiety with contentment, worry with peace, hopelessness with joyful perspective: for Jesus’ sake I’m safe today in the hands of the eternal Father of my Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Well now (third point): shall Paul keep this gospel to himself? Shall Paul keep this gospel from the Romans on the grounds that such good news doesn’t really answer the particular needs of Romans? Shall Paul think in terms of: ‘the Romans will laugh at this news of forgiveness through the death of a Jew on a cross’, and so clamp his mouth shut? Shall he think in terms of: ‘the Romans will be offended by such a message, and so I’d better adapt it somewhat to make it more agreeable to Roman culture’? The apostle is adamant, beloved: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ!" Though the Romans are so proud, though the Romans despise the Jews, though the Romans have the power and authority to imprison and torture and kill the bearer of such offensive messages, Paul knows: this gospel is "the power of God to salvation", this gospel provides the answer for those thousands upon thousands of Romans now caught in the futility of their idolatry, enslaved in their addiction to homosexuality, pained by their wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, burdened by the envy, the murder, the strife, the deceit so common in Roman society. Paul knows it: the answer to the hurts of Rome is nothing else than the gospel, undiluted and pure, for that gospel is the "power of God to salvation". So he’s keen to preach the gospel even in Rome, and that’s why he prays, keeps on praying that the Lord may please open the way for him to go even to Rome.

And God, we know, heard the apostle’s prayer and opened the way for him to go to Rome. Sure, he came to Rome as a prisoner instead of a free man. But God turned his arrest to good, for through the labours of the captive Paul, the gospel came not just to the people of the street (Acts 28:30f), but even into the palace of Caesar himself (Phil 1:12f). You see: the gospel of Jesus Christ is "the power of God to salvation", "for the Jew first and also for the Greek" and therefore even for the Roman; all called from eternity by God to salvation come to faith through this gospel.

Shall we, my brothers and sisters, be ashamed of the gospel? Shall we assume that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not really the answer to the concrete troubles of Australian society? Shall we think that the gospel ought to be adapted, altered, amended to today’s culture to make it acceptable, effective, able-to-help, less offensive? Let it be fixed in our minds, beloved: the gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to the troubles of every Australian in 1998 - whether the Australian is Free Reformed or Roman Catholic, Christian or Bhuddist, male or female, of European descent or of Aboriginal descent, rich or poor, in the kitchen or at university, building boats or driving truck. Whether the problem be homelessness or disregard for authority, whether it be unemployment or race relations, whether it be drunkenness or single parenthood, the answer is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know: people may not agree that the gospel is the answer, but please remember: the fact that the human heart is sinful makes the human heart unable to judge what is truly good for us.

But God says that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to every need in society, because that gospel is the power of God to salvation, is the good news of God granting righteousness to any and all who believe in Him so that there is no place for wrath from God any more in the trials of this life; because of the work of Jesus Christ there is room only for peace with God, forgiveness, and therefore His blessing in the midst of poverty, marital strife, AIDS, etc. It is first of all for us to believe this gospel in the midst of our own struggles and problems, and then in turn we can speak about it with others in their concrete problems and struggles.

Our holidays have come to an end, and so that we are back to our daily tasks somewhere in the midst of Australian society. Let there be none in our midst, my beloved, who are ashamed of the gospel. I know, you are not Paul, God’s "chosen vessel…to bear [God’s] Name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). But you are children of God, made righteous before God through Jesus Christ, and you have tasted the gift of the salvation God gives in the grind of this life. In the midst of the hurt and the pain that characterises Australian society today, believe and confess that "the gospel of Christ … is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes." So: speak, speak, of the ultimate remedy God has given: the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Romans of long ago needed the gospel, and Australians today need it too. Amen.