The Message and the Messengers
The Message and the Messengers by Rev. L. John Gable
May 27, 2018
We have been taking our time making our way through our study of Romans, that is until last week when we did kind of a “fly over” of chapters 9, 10 and 11 in which Paul gets in to a conversation, perhaps better a debate, with himself regarding God’s election and Israel’s unbelief, resulting in what he calls a “mystery.” I told you rather than getting in to that debate with him I was going to leave those chapters to your own study and reflection, which I meant, but that being said, I would like for us to look at a beautiful little section in chapter 10 together this morning.
Romans 10:5-21. Let us listen together to God’s Word to us.
5Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” 6But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)
8But what does it say?
“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
14But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? 15And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” 16But not all have obeyed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
18But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have; for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” 19Again I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” 20Then Isaiah is so bold as to say “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
This is the Word of the Lord!
Reading this passage I am reminded of the game I know you have played with your children or grandchildren, the game we call “Warmer/colder.” You see something they don’t see, and as they go searching for it you say, “Warmer or colder” as they get closer or farther from it. The game is fun and I’ll liken it to the life of faith, both for those who are finders and those who are seekers, for all of us are continually in a process of getting “warmer or colder”.
We often think of faith as being something of a possession, either something we have or do not have. I either have a car or I don’t have a car, but that is somewhat misleading when it comes to the life of faith, because faith is more like a relationship, which rather than being fixed and static (either I have it or I don’t), is more fluid and dynamic (I am continually moving in or out, closer or farther, warmer or colder).
I was recently in a conversation with someone, likely one of you but I’m sorry I don’t really recall which one of you, who was saying that he, or it may have been a she, finds it strange that sometimes they feel very close and intimate with God, strong in their faith, but that never seems to last, suddenly or gradually they feel removed and at a distance. How could that be? It didn’t make sense to them. It makes perfect sense to me since I think of faith as being dynamic rather than static, ever changing rather than fixed, as being more of a relationship than a possession. It is for that reason that so many of us can relate to the father in the Gospels who brings his young son to Jesus to be healed, who in response to Jesus’ question says, “I believe, help my unbelief.” Too often we think of having faith or of not having faith in a binary way, either we do or we don’t, whereas it might be helpful for us to think of it as being on a spectrum, a continuous movement of getting “warmer or colder.”
In light of that, listen again to Paul’s teaching in Romans 10 where he says, “The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart.” The Word is Scripture, God’s Word is open and available and accessible to us. The Word is Jesus Himself. In the opening of John’s Gospel we read, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God…and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” Jesus is the Word, God “in human flesh/incarnate”. He is not hiding from us, to the contrary, He has come to us in a way that we can see and know, listen to and understand, and rather than being distant and aloof, He promises always to be near to us and continues to invite us to come closer. That is, to get warmer! So for this reason, Paul says, “we don’t need to ascend up to heaven to find Him” (colder, colder), “Or descend down in to the abyss” (colder, colder). Rather, “He is near to you, on your lips and in your heart” (warmer, warmer). And the great joy and reward of the search comes when we make the great discovery we call “faith”, the kind of faith that restores us back into a right relationship with God, for as Paul writes, “If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your hearts that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” So coming to faith is like finding the pearl of great price, or the treasure buried in the field. Warmer, warmer becomes hot, hot, hot and the truth of the Gospel is that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved/brought close/welcomed in.”
But, just like in the warmer/colder game we are not left alone to try to find our own way in to a right relationship with God. That would be an exercise in futility, like saying to a child, “I want you to find something but I won’t tell you what it is or where it is hidden.” No, God has given, and continues to give, many hints and clues and even “hint givers” to help us in our discovery. By using a series of questions Paul enlists and encourages those who know where the treasure is hidden to help others find it, rather to find Him, for Jesus is the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price.
We read, “But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim Him? And how are they to proclaim Him unless they are sent?…For faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes through the Word of Christ.” So we, who were once seekers who have now become finders, are called and commissioned to become tellers to still others. Quoting the Psalmist, Paul writes, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring Good News!” The Greek word for Good News is euangelion, from which we get our word “evangelism”. Once we have found the treasure that is Jesus we get to be, “good news tellers!” There is great joy in helping others discover what we have found for ourselves. We who know the way are blessed to help lead others in the way and to the Way, but in doing so we need to make sure that our words of guidance and direction are clear and not misleading…warmer/rather than colder. We don’t need to have all the answers to every question a seeker may ask, but we do need to know with certainty the Way to the Truth who is the Life. As one has put it, “As messengers we need to make sure that our mess doesn’t mess with the message.”
Yet there is one critical aspect where my “warmer/colder” analogy breaks down and doesn’t hold true for the life of faith. The children’s game is built on the premise that something is hidden and will remain hidden until it is found, suggesting that even it doesn’t want to be found, but that is not true of God. Believe me when I say, God is not hiding from us. Rather, He refuses to remain hidden. He desires to be found by each and every one of us. Again, “The Word is near to you”, so we don’t have to look very hard to find Him. He is hiding in plain sight.
There is still another aspect of my analogy that doesn’t quite work. In our seeking after God we often think that it is all up to us, as something we have to do for ourselves, so upon our discovery we say, “I found it! I found God!” While there is a measure of truth in that, I think it is more accurate to say, “God found us!” and in many cases He is found even by those who didn’t realize they were looking. As Paul quotes the prophet, “Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, ‘I have been found by those who did not seek Me, I have shown Myself to those who did not ask for Me.” Friends, God is not playing “hide and seek” with us, trying to remain hidden and unfindable, rather He is actively seeking us, in ways beyond our awareness or understanding, in order that we might be found by Him.
Some have spoken of this seeking and finding in the life of faith as being like a “double search”. Imagine a child who becomes separated from their parents at an amusement park. The child stops at an attraction or casually wanders off and suddenly is separated from their parents. Now as soon as the parents realize the separation the search begins, often before the child even knows they are “lost”. The search is desperate and frantic, the parents looking for the child and they quickly enlist others to help them search. Everything else is put on hold for this is of greatest importance. Then once the child realizes their separation they too begin searching, seeking to be reunited with their parents, seeking to be “found”. And then it happens, they see each other through the maze of people and run in to each other’s arms. There is great joy and relief! The search is over, but it begs the question, who has found who, which of them found the other? Both were seeking and both were found. It was a “double search”, and so it is with God and us. God is not hiding and undiscoverable, rather He is actively seeking us; He too is even enlisting messengers to help in the search; and He will keep searching for us until we are found. Why? Because of His great love for us as His children. He will not leave us lost or alone.
Friends, whether we feel ourselves to be lost or found, closer or farther, warmer or colder, the great Good News of the Gospel is “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, found, restored back into a right relationship with the One who promises always to be near.”