Ministry on our minds

Ministry on our minds – Rome and beyond

Romans 15:14-33

Martha and I had the privilege of spending last Sunday afternoon with our missionaries, Dan and Ginny Bryant and their two sons. Many of the things they talked about were the kinds of things that happen to all of us. But some of their experiences we can’t relate to. Like having people knock at your front door all day long asking for food and money and help. Like having trouble getting things accomplished because you have the only car in the village and become the village taxi, driving very sick people to the hospital, or meeting other needs. Dan and Ginny, in some ways, have become slaves to their village. Have you ever thought of missionary life in that way? Paul says to the Corinthians, “we have become your servants for Jesus’ sake” (II Cor. 4:5).

Talking to them helped me revise my definition of a “missionary.” What is a missionary? Have you ever thought of missionaries as slaves to their target people? Are you a missionary? Does God want us to be missionaries? Was the command to “make disciples” given to you and me? The answer is “yes.” Perhaps we are not missionaries in the specialized sense of going across oceans. But in the general sense of going across cultures and back yards and apartment floors, God wants us to do the same things that Dan and Ginny are doing in West Africa. What is a missionary? This passage introduces us to what is on the mind of a missionary. Check to see if these same kinds of things are on your mind.

1. Paul had a PLAN – to go somewhere, to reach out. Verses 22-29 show us that Paul wasn’t sitting on a beach waiting for unbelievers to come toward him. He was buying tickets to go out on gospel ventures. He was traveling. His plan included three types of outreach, as seen in the three locations he mentions, Spain, Rome and Jerusalem.

A. He planned to carry the gospel to Spain – 28 Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. You see this also in verse 24, whenever I journey to Spain. Paul was getting a ticket for Spain. He could have chosen to aim for France, or Romania, or he could have gone south into Egypt. But he chose Spain. What was he going to do there? This was an unreached area; the people were largely ignorant of the gospel, and Paul was going to give out the good news of the death and resurrection of Christ.

B. He planned to carry the gospel to Rome – 22 For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. 23 But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, 24 whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.

For years Paul had wanted to go to Rome. But Rome was a church that was filled with believers. Paul was a pioneer missionary, who specialized in those people who had never heard the gospel. Why go to Rome, which already had the gospel? Because his ministry included believers as well as unbelievers.

Think about the fact that Paul was finishing the writing of this wonderful epistle to the Romans. They had his thoughts on paper. They could read them. They knew what was on his mind. So why did he have to visit the church? Because there is something that can’t be communicated on paper; something that doesn’t come through a CD or DVD. There is a benefit to being with others in person. Rome needed Paul the person, as well as Paul’s book of Romans; and Paul needed the believers in Rome.

Here’s one of the greatest Bible authors, and he realizes that believers need more than his writing; they need him! And he needs them. Does that say anything to you? We need one another; we need to simply spend time with one another. It’s the presence of people, it’s the face-to-face contact that is such a contrast with “Bedside Baptist” on Sunday morning. The blessings that come from our fellowship cannot be communicated through the TV. The TV may help; a CD may help, but it is absolutely mandatary that it be accompanied by fellowship with other believers.

C. He planned to carry the gospel to Jerusalem. Paul’s ticket to take the gospel to Jerusalem involved a large gift to help meet their needs. Missionaries are involved in meeting physical needs as well as spiritual needs. The fact that we have gathered $4600 for the victims of Katrina is an example of the outworking of the gospel. 25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 26 For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. 27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. 29 But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

Paul has spent probably a year traveling around what is today Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey, raising funds for famine victims in Jerusalem. Paul is writing from Corinth, probably at about 57 AD. He has talked about this offering in I Corinthians 16:1; II Cor 8-9; 9:2, 12; also Acts 19:21; 20:22. No one knows what had happened in Jerusalem and why the saints were so poor, but Paul wasn’t analyzing why, he just wanted to help meet their needs.

Notice why in verse 27. Why buy a ticket to take large amounts of money to poor saints in Jerusalem? Answer? To say “thank you” to them. Jerusalem had supplied the original missionaries who reached out to the Gentiles with the blessings of the gospel. The natural response now, is for the Gentiles to say “thank you” with plain old money. Verse 27 says that Gentiles have a duty to pay because they are, literally, debtors. There is a mortgage on their spiritual lives, because someone in Jerusalem went into debt to get the gospel out to Gentile-land. The sacrifice may have been monetary, or the sacrifice may have been with their lives. But now that the Gentiles have received the enormous blessing of the Gospel, they have the privilege of informing the Jewish believers how much they appreciate the gift given them. It’s an act like this that welds the body of Christ together into a unity. Each group, Jewish and Gentile, becomes indebted to the other. As each serves the other, they get to know one another, and love develops.

That’s why Paul calls this money “fruit” (28). It’s not just “dirty money,” it’s not even a “contribution;” it’s a spiritual response from people who are saying, “we realize what you have done for us and we want to say, ‘thank you.’” The fact that they are saying, “thanks” is fruit. It’s an indication not only of salvation, but of growth, and a new understanding as to what God has done for them. This means that the sack of coins that Paul is carrying, is sacred. It is an offering to God from hearts that know and appreciate His work in their lives through Jewish people in Jerusalem.

Have you ever thought about the debt you owe to the person who brought you to Christ? Where is that person now? What kind of state are they in? Have you ever thought of what you can do to help them? Maybe you can help them with a couple of $100 bills.

Planning as a missionary involves Spain, thinking of who you can take the gospel to for the first time. Planning as a missionary involves Rome, thinking of who you can encourage along in their Christian life. Planning as a missionary involves Jerusalem, thinking of who you can encourage in their Christian lives by meeting their physical needs.

Do you have any plans? Are you going anywhere? Across the street? To a specific person in your office? To a relative? How about writing a letter that gives to a friend your testimony as to what Christ has done for you? Here’s the point that I think God wants us to get out of this section: You are not going to do any more missions work than you PLAN to do.

Bob Welch made a plan to reach a little town in the Ivory Coast, not that far from where Dan and Ginny are today. He took his wife and three children, ages 4, 6, and 7 to this place of few roads, no medical services, in the homeland of the Senufo tribe, a group of 750,000 fanatical animists. There were no other missionaries in the area, and no known believers. Almost everyone in the tribe was illiterate and they had to start from scratch. No schools taught the language so they had to point to objects, listen to the words, and try to imitate them. One of the first pieces of excitement was when the son of the village chief asked one day how he could receive Christ. It wasn’t easy, but they lived there for 32 years and when they left, there were two national pastors leading a church of 400 that was actively reaching out to surrounding villages and schools. The effect of a PLAN.

2. Paul understood his Mission – to BE what God had called him to be. What was Paul to do when he arrived in these three towns? He clearly understood his specific roles.

A. He was a messenger of the Gospel – so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation, 21 but as it is written: "To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand."

He “preached the gospel of Christ.” He “fully preached the gospel of Christ.” And he made it his aim to go where others had not yet gone to tell the story of mankind’s need and God’s supply of that need through Jesus Christ.

He had come to the conclusion that he had fulfilled his goal so that verse 23 says, “there is no more place for me to work in these regions.” What did he mean by “fully?” As a pioneer missionary with the desire to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, he focused on the urban centers and trained his disciples to go to the outlying areas with the gospel. He wanted his ministry to increase by multiplication, rather than addition. So he trained others to do what he was doing. And he had finished his project.

B. He was a priest of God – 16 that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Grace has made him a “minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering (as a priest) the gospel of God, so that the offering (as a gift) of the Gentiles might be acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The striking thing here is that Paul describes his ministry to non-Jews in Jewish terms! He views himself as a minister with a priestly duty, meaning that he offers sacrifices and gifts to God. His primary “offering” is Gentile people he has brought to Christ. His desire is for them to be an offering acceptable to God because they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. This is language of the temple sacrifice; and it is being applied to those who historically have been excluded from the temple – Gentiles. Paul considers his ministry to the Gentiles as fulfilling the commission of Israel. They are the ones who are to offer sacrifices acceptable to God. Paul is now fulfilling that Israelite responsibility by offering, not animals and grain, but people (Edwards, 345).

He is not offering a sacrifice for them; that was already accomplished by Christ. He is ministering to them that they might become the sacrifice that is acceptable to God, by, as Romans 12:1-2 says, presenting their bodies a living sacrifice.

It’s obvious here that Paul is looking for more than just an initial “yes” to the gospel. He wants people to pray the prayer of repentance and faith towards God. But he wants them also to grow and experience the blessing of full surrender as he does. He wants them to become usable instruments of God – a sacrifice acceptable to Him.

C. He was a “power broker” – working in God’s power –

17 Therefore I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient -- 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God,

Paul’s job was impossible. As he planned and set himself to do it by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he discovered that God wanted to enable him to accomplish what was impossible. He now wants to glory in the things God has done – the words, the deeds, the signs, the wonders, all demonstrating the super power of the all powerful One. This is what ministry is – speaking words, doing what God directs you to do, and watching the power of the Holy Spirit working behind the scenes convicting people, opening their eyes, and bringing them to Christ.

“To make the Gentiles obedient.” Have you ever thought that you have power to “make” anyone obedient? This statement implies that we have more God-given power than we think. As parents, often speaking the word without raising our voices is all that is needed. As neighbors, speaking the truth in love. As witnesses, simply the strong contrast between how someone else is living and our statement of purpose in life can be a shock to an unbeliever’s system. As members of Belcroft, simply the statement of “this is what we need to do,” or “this is what God wants me to do,” provides all kinds of encouragement and guidance for other members.

There is a balance here. When we get discouraged because the duties seem so overwhelming, we need to remember that we are not required to provide the power needed for the duties, God does that. We don’t want to confuse the servant in the mission with the Lord over the mission. Our responsibility is to obey, His responsibility is to direct and enable. He does the work through us (Edwards, 346).

Thus Paul wants to boast as the servant who watched the Master accomplish His specialty. He spoke only of what Christ added to the weak and feeble things he did that made them “mighty signs and wonders.” At the same time that Paul was awed at his commission to be a vessel for God’s use, he entertained no delusions of personal grandeur.

Do you realize who you are? You are an important part of the body of Christ; you are a light to people around you in darkness; you are a minister of God’s great news; you are a missionary to your children, you are a missionary to your family, to your neighbors. You have the opportunity to make your children lovers of the Bible, lovers of God, lovers of people with needs. Take them to places where there are needy people; let them see you work to help out those at a soup kitchen, those in a mission. Let them see you get your hands dirty for Christ. Take them all to serve God somewhere, somehow. Let them see the power of God in action through you the servant.

Clarence Hall tells the story of being with the US forces early in 1945 when they were beating out their bloody victory in Okinawa. They were the first forces to come upon a remote village of Shimabuku, where about 1000 people lived. They came upon the village and stopped dead in their tracks because two little old men barred their way. They bowed low and began to speak. The interpreter listened and then shook his head, and said, “it seems that we are being welcomed as “fellow Christians.” One says he is the mayor of the village, the other is the schoolmaster. As they toured the village they couldn’t believe their eyes. Okinawan villages were normally dirty and despairing; this one shone like a diamond. They were everywhere greeted by smiles and dignified bows. The homes were spotless, the fields were terraced, fertile and neat, the storehouses and granaries were full and they had a prized sugar mill.

Piecemeal the story came out. Thirty years before, an American missionary on his way to Japan had paused at Shimabuku and stayed only long enough to introduce these two old men to Christ, teach them a couple of hymns, leave them a Japanese translation of the Bible and exhort them to live by it. They’d had no contact with any Christian since. Yet during those 30 years, guided by the Bible, they had managed to create a Christian democracy in its purest form (from RD, 11/60, 204-5).

Think about that – a brief stop by a missionary resulted in an entire village being transformed for Christ. That is the power of God. That’s the same way God works in your life. You say a word to someone and what happens goes beyond anything you ever expected; you do something helpful and it not only makes one’s day, but one’s month. It seems sometimes that God takes things that you don’t even think about doing, and makes them permanent in the lives of others. That’s the benefit of serving Someone so powerful!

Have you ever thought about the fact that you are an important part of the body of Christ; you are a light to people around you in darkness; you are a minister of God’s great news; you are a missionary to your children, you are a missionary to your family, to your neighbors?

3. Paul depended on a SUPPORT TEAM – the local church. He wrote this missionary letter to his support team. He knew and trusted these people, even though he had never visited the church. I said to Dan and Ginny last Sunday, “what can we do to help and encourage you?” Their answer? “Write, send e-mails, communicate. We feel alone at times out there.”

A. His support team was made up of faithful people. Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another (14).

I see three components here in Paul’s evaluation of the maturity level of the Romans: (1) They were full of goodness – in the sense of realizing how important the weaker brothers are and wanting to include them in the family. He is confident that they will obey his directions in chapter 14. (2) They were complete in knowledge – “you know these things so well that” – what he has said is not new to them. As I was speaking to you from Romans 14, you knew that what I was saying was nothing new. The ideas had been planted in your life from childhood. You can relate to the small child who is left out or overlooked by the bigger ones. You know what it is like. And developing a heart for weaker brothers, and/or developing a love for stronger brothers/sisters, is not beyond your thinking capacity. He was writing to people who understood. (3) They were competent to instruct one another – “able to teach others all about them” – “instruct” is the word noutheteoo our word for a certain type counseling. They were competent in counseling. It is the combination of goodness and knowledge that prepares one to counsel others. And the church in Rome was prepared.

Is Paul trying to flatter them? I don’t think so because of the word “confident.” It means “very confident.” There are no questions in Paul’s mind about the status of their Christian growth. “I myself am very confident” in spite of the way I have talked or what you have read into my talk. I am strongly convinced that you yourself are spontaneously, without being commanded, full of goodness and knowledge and counseling ability. Thus Paul is not writing this book to “persuade” them as much as to “remind” them. He is not writing because they lack goodness, but because they are full of goodness.

In spite of their maturity as Christians and Paul’s confidence in them, he has worked hard to help them. They need help, just like everyone else: Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God (5).

Who knows how long it took Paul to write Romans? He definitely didn’t whip it out in one evening. It may have taken months of preparation. At the same time he is investing all this work in people he admires, to a church he has never visited. Question: How many letters have you written to, let’s say, Calvary Baptist church in NY city, or Cicero Bible in Chicago? You say, “I’ve never been there.” That’s the point! Would you ever stop to write a letter to a group of people you had never visited? And remember, Paul is not just dashing off an e-mail paragraph to these people. He has taken the time to pen this enormous letter of information and instruction. Does the amount of time and effort he has put into this letter say anything about his love for them? He has worked hard, in fact he is living his life to help them.

B. They are an integral part of his work – He needs their help – 29 But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. 30 Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, 32 that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Notice the request: “would you pray for me?” “I beg you, brothers,” that you not only pray for me occasionally, but that you would “strive together with me” in prayer. The word “strive” is a gymnastic word which suggests sweat and effort because there are spiritual foes which battle every attempt to pray. Even though the readers were a long ways off and could not know at any time what challenges he was facing, yet God knew and was able to make their prayers effective. We pray the same way for missionaries today who are miles distant, when we don’t know the circumstances. In spite of our ignorance, God can translate our requests into effective answers (Stifler, 241).

So often we have little concept of the value of our prayers. I think personally that the very fact that I am here today, standing up and speaking to you, is a result of your prayers. You have prayed for us in so many ways, and God has answered. That’s the way it needs to work, and I thank you for your faithfulness. John Calvin said, “Since therefore to be assisted by the prayers of believers is so great a blessing of God that even Paul, the chosen instrument of God, did not think of neglecting it, we shall be greatly remiss if worthless and wretched creatures like ourselves despise it” (317-18).

Paul knows that going to Jerusalem, for him, could life threatening. There were fanatical Jewish unbelievers who were much like Muslim extremists today – ready to kill any non-believer on sight – especially someone who had been one of them and had left their band to become a Christian. What he was doing in preaching the gospel in Gentile cities was dangerous, but what he was going to do in heading back to Jerusalem was even far more extreme.

So he is asking them to pray specifically that he might be rescued from the extremists. Secondly, he is asking them to pray that his service to the saints might be acceptable – by the ones he is going to serve. The believers might misunderstand and refuse Paul’s offering for them. Isn’t that amazing? That people might respond like the state of Louisiana has to gifts – and not receive them. Notice how Paul treats this possibility: he says, “Acceptable to the saints” – Paul’s love for these poor people has been so great that he has spent weeks, maybe months of his life working for those who he feels may not be prepared to welcome his work. How could this happen? They may say, “we don’t need any help from those heathen Gentile dogs that you have been ministering to.” He understood that even saints can be led astray by false accusations and hold wrong opinions of your ministry. But in spite of the fact that they may mistreat him and misunderstanding his intentions, he continues to speak of them honorably – “saints.”

And sure enough, the events in Jerusalem took place completely differently than Paul’s hopes. Acts 21 records how Paul fell victim to a plot, was nearly beaten to death in the temple by an angry mob of Jewish extremists, was rescued by Roman soldiers, and languished for two years under in jail in Caesarea. He finally reached Rome as a prisoner in chains to appeal his case in a trial before Caesar. Did Paul ever reach Spain? We don’t know. But it is clear that he was released from Roman prison and traveled around in those parts preaching and teaching, from which he wrote I and II Timothy and Titus. He obviously was re-arrested and later executed in Rome during the latter years of Nero’s reign (64-68 AD).

And the end result of all of this is that I may come unto you with joy. Have you ever thought about the fact that the man who went through much suffering in his service for Christ, lived his life in JOY? Here was a happy missionary! To see God deliver him in Jerusalem, to see the looks on the faces of the poor saints in Jerusalem, to realize a new chapter in his life of carrying the gospel to Rome and Spain, all these brought much joy into his heart and life in spite of the chains that accompanied his travel to Rome.

There is a joy that comes from the freedom of knowing that you are serving God fully with no strings attached, that nothing can match. What a thrill to be on the team, the winning team, and to have the Coach, the author and finisher of our faith, leading and directing us. Paul ends by pronouncing on his readers the blessing of the God of Peace (13). He has spoken of the danger he faces at Jerusalem, he has expressed his fears and the content of his prayers, but his God was the God of peace who could protect him from being dismayed or disturbed in days to come.

To review: What does “ministry on our minds” mean? It means a plan to go across the street, or around the world with the message. It means a mission to live as a messenger, a priest and a power-broker, teaming up with Jesus Christ in His mission. It means a support group of people you love and respect, who pray for you and encourage you. Are you a missionary? That’s God’s plan for you.

10/12/05, BBC

30Rom15'14-33.MEF, 11/07/05