Our reading today is from Romans 15, verses 5-3, on page 1141 of the Church Bibles.
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So that with one mind and one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth,
so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed,
and moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.
As it is written,
Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles.
I will sing the praises of your name.
Again it says,
Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.
And again,
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
Let all the peoples extol him.
And again Isaiah says,
The root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations.
In him the Gentiles will hope.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Great, let's pray.
As we come to God's word, let's pray.
Father, we do thank you so much for your love and kindness to us.
And thank you that whoever we are and wherever we are from,
we find that in your word, by your spirit, you speak to us.
And so we pray that might be our experience this morning.
How we ask, Lord, that you might cut through the noise and the distractions in our hearts,
and that you might speak to us clearly.
That you might encourage us and challenge us and rebuke us.
Whether you might bring us life and hope in the Lord Jesus.
As we pray in his name.
Amen.
I think it's probably quite easy towards the end of a letter like Romans
to imagine maybe that we've covered all the important stuff.
So we've done things like sin and judgment and justification and sanctification
and all those kind of things.
And you might think, well, okay, surely now we're like just finishing off the last little bits.
Perhaps this is like school, you know, in June.
What are you actually doing in school in June?
You know, you're just watching DVDs by now.
All the main stuff has been covered.
And, you know, the teacher's just thinking about their holidays.
And you're just kind of winding up.
Well, listen, it's not like that in Romans, okay?
In Romans, it keeps going right to the very end.
And I think what we've got in these last few chapters are some really, really important implications,
especially for us in the place that we find ourselves as a church this morning.
Paul is going to tell us here that because Christ is for all people,
so therefore our church should be for all people.
You could put it another way, that the way Christ saves should shape the way that church behaves.
Paul's sentence in verse 7 is this, that Christ accepts the nations,
and so the church should accept the nations as well.
Now, I know this week that welcoming or accepting the nations has come under great scrutiny.
We've had riots, haven't we, in Northern Ireland this week on this issue.
But Paul is not making a political statement here about how open or closed the borders of a nation should be.
That's really outside the scope of what Romans 15 is about.
His concern is not so much for a nation.
His concern really is for the church.
And his point is that the church should have open borders to the nations,
for the very reason that Christ has open borders to the nations.
So that for us this morning, regardless of who we are or where we're from,
we're all welcome in the church of Jesus Christ.
Now, what I want to do with our time is to spend it in this passage
and to split it into essentially three slightly unequal parts.
The first part is just to think some more about what it means for Christ to accept all kinds of people
and how that works out in church life,
and then to think of some of the implications of that,
both for the glory of the Lord Jesus and for our good and our joy.
So let's start with Christ for all people means church for all people.
Christ for all people means church for all people.
Really, this is the center of the passage.
So let's have a look at verse 7.
Let me read it to you again.
Accept one another then, just as Christ accepted you,
in order to bring praise to God.
For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth,
so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed,
and moreover that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.
Now, the language here, you might notice, is very similar to last week's passage.
Last week's passage, we were told to accept one another weak and strong
because God accepts us weak and strong.
But here the scope is wider, right?
The scope here is to our national identities,
specifically here, the nation of the Jews,
literally the circumcision in the passage,
and the Gentiles, literally the nations,
taethne, the uncircumcised.
And notice how Paul explains this.
Keep your eyes on the passage.
Christ's acceptance of the Jews,
how was that?
What was that like?
Well, it was by becoming a servant of them
on behalf of God's truth
to keep the promises made to the patriarchs.
In other words, Christ accepts or welcomes the Jews
by serving them according to God's ancient plan and promise.
A promise that was made generations before.
So Paul is not here so much interested in the nation of Israel
as we might think of it today.
He's rather thinking about the Old Testament Israel,
the people of the Old Testament promises,
the circumcision.
And his point is that Jesus came to serve those
who had faith in the Old Testament promises,
by fulfilling Old Testament promises.
So that the Jewish believer is to look at Christ and go,
he's exactly what I was waiting for.
He is the one I was looking for.
He is the fulfillment of all that was promised to us.
In other words, Jesus has not come to bring
some sort of distinct salvation for the Jews
and then a different distinct salvation for the Gentiles.
No, he's brought the salvation that was promised to Abraham,
Moses and David.
First for the Jews and then for the Gentiles,
as Paul put it in chapter one.
Perhaps you're one of those people who,
when you're waiting for a train or maybe you're flying somewhere,
that you perpetually check that you're on the right platform
or at the right gate.
You like that?
You're kind of worried,
am I really in the right place?
Am I going to get on the wrong train
and end up in the wrong place?
Is this my stop?
Is this my gate?
And in a sense,
that's Paul's kind of sense here
for the Jewish nation,
for the circumcision.
He's saying,
listen,
on platform,
Jesus,
you're in the right place.
This is going to the destination
that you were promised.
He is the one that you've been waiting for.
You don't need to wait for anybody else.
Climb aboard Jesus.
You'll end up exactly where Abraham said you would.
But,
and this is the key to all this,
it's not the destination of just the circumcision
or the Jewish destination.
The destination is not the nation of Israel
because verse nine,
look down at it,
these Old Testament promises given to Abraham
were not just so that the circumcision
might glorify God for his mercy,
but so that the nations
might also glorify God for his mercy.
Now,
to you and I,
that might not sound that radical,
right?
We're perhaps used to hearing it.
Okay.
What I think you're saying,
Steve,
really basically is that Jesus came
to save Jews and Gentiles.
Are you going to tell me something
I don't know yet?
Right?
You might think that's just
fairly common knowledge.
But in Paul's day,
this needed saying over and over again,
there were people contradicting this
all the time.
There are still people who contradict it.
But the truth is,
God does not have one plan for the Jews
and another plan for everyone else.
No,
there's one plan,
there's one saviour,
there's one promise,
there's one destination
all the way through the Bible.
And that destination is all nations
praising God through Jesus Christ.
Now,
that is so important to Paul
that he underlines it
with four Old Testament passages.
So,
he quotes David in Psalm 18,
I will praise you among the nations.
He quotes Moses from Deuteronomy,
rejoice you Gentiles with his people.
He quotes the psalmist in Psalm 117,
praise the Lord all you Gentiles.
Finally,
he quotes Isaiah in verse 12,
the root of Jesse will spring up,
the one who will arise to rule over the nations.
In him,
the nations,
the Gentiles will hope.
Now,
all that emphasis is really,
really important.
because it means,
doesn't it,
that I can look each of you
in the eye this morning
and say to you,
without any kind of qualification,
without having to kind of
make any sort of nuance
or sort of
make an exception in any way,
I can say to you,
listen,
this morning,
Jesus is your saviour.
He came for you.
Wherever you're from,
however you got here,
whatever your religious
or national background,
whether you've been to Jerusalem
or whether you grew up in Watford,
Jesus is the saviour for you.
In fact,
there is no other saviour
other than Jesus Christ.
And what you need to know
is that Jesus has no national preferences.
Yes,
he came in fulfilment
to the ancient promises
of the Jewish nation,
but he came to them
for the nations
that we might all praise him.
So again,
let me try and say it to you
as clearly as I can,
whoever you are this morning,
whether you feel like
you belong here or not,
what you must know
is that Jesus Christ
this morning
is calling out to you.
And he says,
come,
follow me.
I came for you.
Your problem,
he says,
the problem common
to all humanity,
my problem,
is not a political problem,
it's not a financial problem,
it's not even a geographical problem
that I might be
in the wrong place.
My problem instead
is a moral
and a spiritual problem
that you and I,
regardless of who we are,
stand before the holy God
who made us
in exactly the same way.
Sin
and condemned for us
because we've not lived
for him
or worshipped him.
And Jesus says,
listen,
I am the only one
who can deal
with that problem.
I am the only one
who can deal
with that problem.
And I came
not just for the Jews,
not just for the Brits
or the Jamaicans
or the West Africans
or the Brazilians.
I came for anyone.
And he does that
by taking on our guilt,
satisfying justice
in his death on the cross,
making us new
by the Spirit
and bringing life
and reconciliation
with the God
who made all of us.
And Jesus says this morning,
whoever you are,
wherever you're from,
come to me.
Come and hear
this ancient word of grace.
You know,
I previewed that
with Adam
just in a few words.
I told him
that one would come
who would crush
the serpent's head.
That was me.
It was promised
to Abraham
who was given
circumcision as a sign.
It was then explained
to Moses in more detail
as he was given
the law and the temple.
We shadowed it in David
who was the king
and the champion.
But now,
says Jesus,
I have come.
I fulfilled all of that.
I am the new Adam.
I am the circumciser
of hearts.
I am the new temple,
the new place
that you come
to meet with God,
the place the old temple
was pointing to.
I am the final king,
the champion.
So all that searching
that you've been doing
ends with Jesus Christ.
Christ is for all peoples.
That means,
next step,
so church should be
for all people.
Because we're told,
aren't we here,
that we are to accept
one another
in exactly the same way
as Christ accepts us.
Now notice it really carefully.
Verse 7 does not say,
make sure the church
is for all kinds of people
as if the diversity
of nations in the church
is something that we are doing.
Essentially,
the instruction is not that.
Essentially,
the instruction is,
don't stop this.
Don't resist this.
Don't stand in the way
of what Christ is doing.
Don't let your sinful tendency
to be unfriendly
and unwelcoming,
to be ungenerous
to those unlike you.
Don't let that stop the church
from being what Christ
has always made it to be.
Instead,
take that acceptance
that you have from Christ,
that acceptance
that took you
from wherever
and whenever you were
and brought you
into God's family
by his grace
and his mercy
and turn that around
and use that for others,
accepting them
in fellowship
in just the same way.
Maybe I can say to you
this morning
if you're not a Christian
and someone's brought you
to church this morning
and you wonder,
why is it
that the friendship
that they extend to you
seems so much richer
and deeper
and better
and more loyal
than anything else
you've experienced?
Let me say that
is because
what you are experiencing
is the welcome
of the Lord Jesus Christ
through there.
That's what he's saying here.
So we become conduits
for Christ's love
of the nations,
which the end of verse 7
brings praise to God
because really
it's his welcome
on display.
Now before
we think about
the implications of this
let's just
think about
the power
of what Paul
is saying here
for a moment.
Notice that Paul
is assuming
that it is possible
for a local church,
for the church in Rome
that he was writing to
or our church
now today,
it is possible
for us to contradict
the work of Jesus Christ.
I mean there are
a number of ways
of us doing that, right?
We could contradict
the work of Jesus Christ
by saying something like
Jesus wasn't really divine.
That would contradict
the gospel, wouldn't it?
Or we could say
Jesus didn't rise
from the dead.
That would also
contradict the gospel.
If you go to churches
and they say those things
they're not telling you
the truth.
Jesus is divine,
he did rise from the dead.
But what Paul
is writing to
church in Rome
and saying to us
this morning
is he's saying
no, there's another way
of contradicting
the gospel of Jesus Christ
and that is by being
unwelcoming
to people who are
not like you.
You can tell a church
that loves Jesus
where Jesus is at work,
where Christ is present
by his spirit,
not so much because
the music sounds
a certain way,
you know,
oh yeah,
those are the chords
that Jesus plays.
It's not that, is it?
Not because they dress
a certain way,
that's not proof.
Not because they all
look the same
or look like they're
from the same place.
No, rather you can tell
that Christ is present
in a church
because the person
next to you
who looks nothing like you,
who sounds nothing like you,
who looks like they're
from a completely
different background to you,
turns to you and says,
hello,
welcome.
It's really lovely
to see you this morning.
So pleased you're here.
And it's as we extend
that welcome
towards one another
that we pass on
the acceptance
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It means, doesn't it,
if you're in a place
where people just hang around
with people who are
exactly the same as them,
where people only really
talk to people
who are the same age
or the same background,
you're not really
in a church.
And the message here
isn't, you know,
oh, what you really need
to do is try harder
and dig deeper.
I mean, it does involve
our effort,
but really this is
the power of the Lord.
This is his acceptance
working into our acceptance.
And so we're not
to resist it.
Don't resist the spirit.
Don't resist what he's doing.
You know, contrast that
with what's been happening
in our nation this week.
Or you could put it like this,
the mood of our nation
at the moment.
You know, the riots
and the trouble this week
are basically because
people are worried,
aren't we,
that we can't afford
to welcome people.
You know, if we open
our borders,
it means less to go around.
And like I'm saying,
Paul is not commenting
on that directly.
He really is not interested
in the nations of this world.
He's interested in the kingdom
of God, the church.
And he's very clear,
isn't he?
We can open the borders
of church just like
Jesus Christ has
because the resources
for welcome are unlimited.
That's why.
God is not limited
in his resources
to welcome people.
He has endless resources
of forgiveness and mercy
for all who would come.
And so we best make sure
whatever we do
that we don't with our attitudes
or our words to others
close them down
and block the pipeway.
So if you're a Christian
this morning,
this is your home
and you're welcome here.
If you've come through
the door of Jesus Christ,
he stands wide open
to all people
of all backgrounds
saying welcome home.
Welcome.
Now the implications of this
are around verses 7 to 12.
You may have noticed
if you're very, very observant
as the Bible was read
by Natasha earlier
that verses 5 and 6
and verse 13
are very similar.
They kind of like
sandwich our passage
between them.
So verse 5 and verse 13
start in the same way.
May the God.
And then they both have a
so that following them.
And really if you like
these are sort of like
prayerful blessings
from Paul to the people.
He's saying this
I am praying this to God
I'm asking God for this
but I also want everyone
to hear so that you
know what I'm asking for.
So let's deal with
each of them in turn.
The first one is to do
with God's glory.
God's glory.
Look at verse 5
let me read it to you again.
May the God
who gives endurance
and encouragement
give you the same
attitude of mind
toward each other
that Christ Jesus had
so that with one mind
and one voice
you may glorify
the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now the first give
in that sentence
in verse 5
is not actually there
in the Greek.
It's literally
may the God of endurance
and encouragement.
Just like verse 13
is the God of hope
and we'll look at that
in a moment.
So here it is
God who possesses
the endurance
and the encouragement
and yes he gives it to us
in passing it on
to his people
the attitude of Christ
so that through
the endurance
and encouragement of God
we might think
of one another
in the same way
as Christ thinks of others.
Now that's exactly
what we've been seeing
isn't it?
Christ accepts us
so we've been given
this mind towards others
so we also accept
one another
on the same terms.
His acceptance
flows through us
and we do that
don't we?
So that
verse 6
in a wonderful unity
of mind and voice
we might glorify God
and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ
one voice
proclaiming his glory.
Perhaps we could put it
this way
gospel culture
if you like
gospel culture
is both massively broad
and also incredibly narrow
at the same time.
Right so gospel culture
the culture of the kingdom
of God
is so broad
you cannot possibly express
the culture
of the kingdom
of God
with just one
national culture.
You have to
in order to represent
gospel culture
it has to be
all nations.
We saw that didn't we
and we're going to see it again
in Revelation 7
in a few moments.
So yes
the sinful parts
of those national cultures
they will be
outside of gospel culture.
It is
it's broad
but it's not so broad
to scoop up
the sinful parts
of different people's cultures.
cultures
but it's bigger
than any one subculture.
But it's also really narrow
because gospel culture
is centered
unified
one voice
on Jesus Christ
is united in him.
Not in such a way
that obliterates
national identities
making one
national identity
and language
but by
holding the breadth
of everybody together
in one voice
in Jesus Christ.
And that's Revelation 7
isn't it
that we were looking at
with the children.
After this I looked
and there before me
was a great multitude
that no one could count
from every nation
tribe
people
and language
standing before
the throne
and the Lamb
wearing white robes
and holding palm branches
in their hands
and they cried out
in a loud voice
salvation belongs
to our God
who sits on the throne
and to the Lamb.
Now notice
you can still see
in Revelation 7
the different
national
and cultural differences.
It's not
one language
or one identity
rather God
is glorified
by the unity
of the diversity
who are worshipping him.
It's as they come
with all their
different languages
a great multitude
that no one can number
but they are singing
praises to Jesus.
When I was a child
my parents used to
take me to a
Christian conference
in Wales
in Aberystwyth.
It was amazing
I went every year
I think between
the age of zero
and the age of 18.
It used to meet
in packed out
old churches
and they would sing
old hymns
and I listened to
some really amazing
preachers down the years
and that was mostly
because I was banned
from the children's ministry
which is a totally
different story
and you can ask me
that later
if you'd like to.
But from time to time
one of these
great Welsh preachers
would say something
like this
they'd say
do you know what
this hymn is so much
better in Welsh.
In heaven
we'll all be singing
in Welsh.
And I'd sit there
as a kid going
I can't even read
the road signs
in Wales.
Am I not going to be
allowed to sing
in heaven?
And the truth is
isn't it
Revelation 7
that says
really
Welsh is the language
of heaven
but
so is English
so is Lingala
so is French
so is Patois
so is German
so is Spanish
they're all the languages
of heaven
and we will sing
together
not in confusion
but in unity
of the glory
of Jesus
salvation belongs
to him
he saved me
what's that?
And so here's the thing
for us as a church
God is glorified
by us
not by us enforcing
a single strong culture
expecting everyone
to look the same
and sound the same
and dress the same
we glorify God
not by aiming
for young adults
or for families
or for people like this
or people like that
we glorify God
by the differences
between us
united in Jesus Christ
and so the message
really is
come as you are
you know
if you've got
a great Scottish accent
like Louise
praise God
in that language
in that accent
we'd love to hear it
if you want to
if you want to come
in a suit and a tie
you come in a suit and tie
that's great
you're very welcome
if you want to come
to church
in a track suit
like a road man
you come to church
in a track suit
you're very welcome
we'd love to have you
if you want to wear
your national dress
wear it
you're welcome
if you want to clap
you clap
not now
but if you want to clap
you can clap
if you feel a bit
uncomfortable clapping
because you've got
the same issue
that I've got
which is a lack
of rhythm altogether
and it just makes
it sound terrible
then that's fine
you just stand there
with your hands
in your pockets
because we don't
want to rob God
of the glory
that belongs to him
and the glory
that belongs to him
is that we're all
different
but we're saved
in the same way
through Jesus Christ
now that doesn't mean
that church is chaos
and it doesn't mean
either that church
is a platform
for showing off
who you are
rather church
is a platform
for Jesus Christ
to show off
how great he is
and so we focus
on him
the second implication
here in verse 13
is slightly different
we've gone from
God's glory now
to look at our good
and let's think
about our joyful hope
our joyful hope
let me read verse 13
to you again
may the God of hope
fill you with all joy
and peace
as you trust in him
so that you may
overflow with hope
by the power
of the Holy Spirit
notice here again
God is the possessor
of hope
he is the God
of hope
in fact as you look
back at verse 12
you can see that
in a sense
God is our hope
our hope
is to be with God
in him
the Gentiles
the nations
will hope
our hope then
is to be
with God
and notice
that this God
of hope
fills us
with joy
and peace
as we hope
in him
so that we are
overflowing
with hope
or really
overflowing
with him
as he fills us
with the spirits
it's amazing really
isn't it
Paul wants us
to remember
that as hard
as we're working
now
as much
as we want
our church life
to be brilliant
as much
as we want
to welcome
and accept
one another
whoever we are
wherever we're from
still the gospel
is not just about
now
it's about
the future
gospel is about
hope
the church
is about
something bigger
and better
and more glorious
than just local church
our hope
is not to be
here
but is to be
with God
with him
eternally
in him
we want to be
in the Revelation 7
crowd
don't we
that we've been
thinking about
praising him
and being with him
and notice
that
it's that
future hope
it's the hope
of being there
that brings us
in the present
joy
and peace
because for all
the wonders
of local church
right now
and for all
of the great
things that we
enjoy in
Christian fellowship
with one another
it is still
not quite
home
and even if
we do a really
brilliant job
we will always
sense deep
in our hearts
somewhere
this is
this is just
not quite
the right
place
not quite
home yet
Andrew Barnett
and I went
to some
lectures this
week at my
old seminary
in North
London
and we
sat in the
very same
lecture theatre
that I'd sat
in nearly 25
years ago
to listen to
my lectures
and as we
were walking
out Andrew
said to me
this must feel
really good
for you
it must feel
like you're
coming back
home in a
way
I explained
no it
didn't feel
like that
at all
I remember
being there
as a student
who couldn't
afford the
fees
so basically
I was allowed
to sit in
on the
lectures
as long
as I didn't
try and answer
any of the
questions
and you know
the lecturers
were very
kind to me
and so were
the other
students
but I never
really felt
like I
should be
there
and it
was funny
just going
back to it
so many
years later
and still
having that
same
feeling
I don't
really
really belong
here
I don't
really fit
in
and we get
that don't
we in lots
of different
places
maybe you've
experienced
it this
week
we're
complicated
people
and any
sense of
feeling at
home
is really
elusive
this side
of glory
we are
all of us
aren't we
deeply
insecure
and really
what Paul is
saying here
is that actually
that is not
really an issue
of geography
there is no
place that you
could travel to
that you would
feel perfectly
at home
as a Christian
and the problem
isn't just
imposter syndrome
that you are
sat in that
lecture theatre
full of all
these really bright
people and you
know that you're
not there on the
same terms as
them like I
felt
as if
oh if only
you had a bit
more self-confidence
Steve then
you'd feel at
home
it's not that
is it
no those
things are
really just
symptoms of
a deeper
problem
you know
if you feel
a little bit
sort of
I'm not quite
sure where I
fit in at
church
actually there's
a sense
in which you
couldn't really
move to
another local
church and
find it much
better
if you're
sitting there
think well
if only there
were more
people my
age I'd
feel a bit
more at
home
these are
all symptoms
aren't they
the deeper
problem is
that all of
us live
our lives
in this
world away
from God
that despite
his presence
being with
us by the
spirit we
are still
yet to be
fully with
him as we
will be in
glory and
while church
is meant to
be the best
of it this
side of glory
the gospel
says that
home is not
the local
church but
home is with
the Lord
that's our
home
because we're
not getting
there in
our lives
rather Christ
is taking us
home and
that brings us
peace in the
present you
know we said
earlier didn't we
about that feeling
of anxiety of
wondering am I
really on the
right platform is
this really going
to be my bus am
I going to end
up in the right
place is this the
right plane am
at the right
gate and that
Jesus is saying
to the Jewish
I am your
savior I will
take you to the
right place well
really what Paul
is saying here
is this and in
Jesus Christ you
know you're on
the bus and he
will take you
home you will
be there and
however lumpy and
bumpy the journey
is you will be
home so every
cultural gaffe we
make every
accidental offense
that we cause
will be one more
little reminder
do you know
what your net
you're not yet
home but you
will be one day
and there we'll
receive this
glorious welcome
from the king
who died for us
who says I've
been waiting for
you welcome
home welcome
home let me
pray as I
close
heavenly father we
want to praise you
and thank you
that the lord
jesus christ is a
savior for all
kinds of people
that whoever we
are this morning
wherever we're
from whatever our
backgrounds however
good or bad or
otherwise we feel
like we've been
jesus is just the
savior that we
need and thank
you that he is a
savior who promises
to bring us home
to be with you
eternally and
lord we want to
ask that this side
of being home
that our local
church would feel
like a kind of a
mini oasis along
the way a resting
place a place of
peace and joy and
welcome and
acceptance and we
thank you that
because of where we
live and the time
that we live in there
are so many different
people in this room
and we thank you and
praise you for each
one of them we
thank you for all the
different stories in
the room of your
goodness and your
love and your
kindness and your
mercy and we pray
that you would be
honored and glorified
as with all of our
differences with
united voice we
praise jesus and as
we point to his
glory and his
majesty in his
name we pray
amen