By Pastor Greg
To know love and to feel loved; to know and believe that you have value and worth as a person. This is the desire of every heart. We all long to feel loved and valued. We all long to know that our life has purpose and meaning. Some people seek to find fulfillment in personal relationships. Many people turn to religion to find value and worth. And in Christianity a person who is thirsty for love and value and purpose and significance can find their deepest longings fulfilled when they believe in their hearts that Jesus is Lord and confess faith in the promises of God. Only in Christianity will you find that, “nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). But as beautiful as this promise is, many reject it. Many refuse to accept it. Their reasons vary, but many people chose to remain thirsty; still longing for the desires of their heart while the answer is right in front of them.
For those who have tasted the glorious things of God, it is hard to believe that someone would refuse. It makes no sense at all, which is exactly the way the Apostle Paul feels about his fellow countrymen. He just can’t understand why many Jews refuse to believe that their Savior had come. It is this lament that Paul talks about in Romans 9, 10, & 11. In chapter 9 he points out that the Jews have a long history of rejecting God. And in chapter 10 he points out that instead of believing in God’s promises they believed in God’s rules and regulations. The Jews were striving to make themselves right with God when in reality all God was asking for was faith.
As Paul talks about this rejection, he asks several questions. Maybe someone asked him these question. Maybe it was an issue within the Roman Church. I mean, if I were a Gentile Christian and learned that God had already revealed Himself through the Jewish people, I too would wonder why these people did not accept Jesus as their Messiah. My mind would be filled with a ton of questions. So to answer them, Paul writes to these Gentile Christians in Rome with his answers. And we’ve heard some of the questions already. “Did the Jews need a Savior”? Absolutely, says Paul. Everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. “Maybe the Jews were right with God because they followed His rules”. Not at all, says Paul. It has been and still is faith which makes a person right with God. And in this next section we hear another question the Gentile Christians must have been asking (Read Romans 10:14-21).
The question apparently asked was, “Did the Jews hear and understand the message of faith”? Absolutely, says Paul. They heard and understood, yet chose not to believe. And God knew they would choose not to believe (Isaiah 53:1). God continually called the people of Israel to first believe in their heart then follow His commands. Yet they refused. Many of the Jews simply went through the motions, or worse. Some even ignored the commands of God; simply believing that they were right with God because they were born a Jew. And in light of this, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah that He would permit Himself to be found by the Gentile nations because Israel continued to rebel (Isaiah 65:1-2).
What did all of this mean to the Gentile Christian’s in Rome? That’s what Paul discusses in the next chapter. But what does this mean to you and me today? Is there a lesson here that we need to hear? Absolutely. Perhaps the most important lesson for a believer is found in verses 14-15 – the idea of being sent.
It seems to me that our society has missed the main point in Paul’s command here. Even the Church has a tendency to miss the point. Paul is not talking about the professional minister here. The idea of telling others about the Good News is not limited to only those who have been professionally trained and skilled and called. Maybe it’s because some translations use the word preacher in verse 14. This word is not a title used to describe a person, but a verb used to describe an action. Notice that Paul merely speaks of being sent to proclaim, not called to lead. This is a significant difference. Some are called to lead. All are sent to proclaim.
This idea of being sent to proclaim is easily seen in the demon possessed man from Gerasene. In Luke 8:26-37 we meet a demon possessed man who lived among the tombs. This is the story of where Jesus cast the demons into a herd of pigs. Once healed, this naked disciple, now in his right mind, wants to travel with Jesus and the apostles. But instead Jesus sends him back home with the command to, “describe what great things God has done for you.” So he (the man) went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.” Jesus did not call the man to be a leader, but He did send Him to proclaim; to preach. And this man faithfully obeyed.
This story takes on greater significance when we realize the affect his telling had on those who heard him. Sometime later Jesus again travels to the region (compare Matthew 15:29-31). However, rather than chase Jesus away like they had done earlier, Matthew says that many came to Him. They glorified God because the lame, the sick, the blind, and the mute were healed by Jesus. And the difference in the crowd is because this former demon possessed man went back home proclaiming Jesus as the Christ.
One important truth we must remember is that God calls a few to specific leadership responsibilities within the Church. But He sends everyone to preach the Good News. And we do not preach only within the walls of a church building. We can proclaim this Good News no matter where we are or what we are doing. A person need not become a set apart minister in order to share the gospel. As a matter of fact, a person is probably more effective when they proclaim this Good News right at home; right where they live or work.
Our responsibility is to go and tell. Sure, not all who hear will believe. But that doesn’t mean we stop telling. And neither should we delegate the telling to only a few individuals. All have been sent to preach; to proclaim what great things Jesus has done. Wherever we are sent, we must tell others about the wonderful things that God has done. We do not know what will happen WHEN they hear the Good News. But we do know that they must at least hear it.
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