Romans 15:17-22 Good News!

Romans 15:17-22  Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.  I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.  So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.  It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.  Rather, as it is written.  “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.”  This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. 

Paul constantly and aggressively pushed out the gospel to areas that had not been evangelized.  He preached the gospel throughout Asia Minor and Macedonia and to the Greeks in Athens.  His message of Jesus the Messiah to the Jews who lived in those areas was not accepted well, but many of the Gentiles, or barbarians, as Paul would call them, readily received this message of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.  Now, Paul is telling the Roman Christians that he desires to come to them.  He wants to preach the Good News not only to them, to support their faith, but also to those Romans who had never heard about Jesus Christ, the resurrected One.  Paul’s life was given over to his Master on the road to Damascus.  The challenge of preaching the Good News to the world was always on his mind and heart.  He was definitely a slave for the Lord.  On the road to Damascus, Jesus stopped him in his tracks and gave him a mission that he would never forget.  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.  “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”  (Acts 9:3-6)   Paul did what Jesus told him.  He was led to Damascus, for he was blind.  In Damascus, Ananias, a prophet, told him about God’s intentions for his life.   But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go!  This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”  (Acts 9:15-16)  Immediately, when the Jews realized Paul, the persecutors of Christians, had changed his allegiance to the Christians, they tried to kill him for his betrayal.  From that time on, Paul was in constant danger of being murdered by the Jews.  Throughout the area, including Jerusalem, he was never assured of another day of life.  In those days, traveling from one city to the next was a dangerous activity.  No highway patrol, no police to protect you from the marauders and thieves as you traveled from city to city.  Therefore, with a price on his head, Paul was not only in danger from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles.  Yet, he continued to push his ministry into the frontiers of godlessness.  Now, in this letter, he writes to tell the Romans that he intends to visit them on his way to Spain.  His next venture, his next field of ministry, will be Rome and Spain.  Paul’s commission from Christ still burns in his soul, no matter what the consequences for his biological life. In Paul, we find the consummate servant of the Lord.  But we, too, are to be his servants in everything we do. 

Every Christian has this dynamic commission on their lives: He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  (Mark 16:15-16)  The angels when announcing the birth of Christ said that this child would be a blessing to the whole world.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”  (Luke 2:10)  How can Jesus bless the whole world if the people of the world have not heard of him?  We have already read of Paul’s zeal for spreading the Good News:  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?  As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!  (Romans 10:14-15)  We who are alive today are to spread the Good News to the people with whom we come into contact or to the people with whom we associate.  We are to personify the Good News.  People should see the resurrected Lord in the way we act and live.  Our conversations should be righteous in nature, not dwelling excessively on the mundane, worldly things of this life.  People should know us as positive people of goodwill, people who are honest, upright in our interactions with them.  And when they find us as trustworthy and caring people, they will be more likely to allow us to minister in words the Good News to them.  In our prayers, we should ask God to strengthen our daily intentions to spread the gospel of Christ.  Many people and books tell us how to live: various doctrines, religions, philosophies, presentations, and the like try to help us make these few years of our brief existence meaningful.  Words upon words have been written, have been spoken, about the purpose of life.  However, most people are quite bogged down into just the process of living from day to day.  In their best of intentions, they try to incorporate into their lives some of these ideas about a purposeful life.  With the seeming confusion around us, some people have just given up in finding a deeper reason for their lives; they live only to eat, drink, and be merry.  Paul would have agreed with this choice if there were no resurrection.  He wrote: If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.  (1 Corinthians 15:19)   But as we all should know, Paul understood he had something precious to offer: he came into people’s lives with the Good News, the news of ETERNAL LIFE for anyone who would believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Paul brought eternal life everywhere he went.  We too are to bring this gospel message wherever we go.

How should we live then?  When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He gave us the answer: “It is written: ’Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  (Matthew 4:4)  We should seek God every day, read his Word.  We need to pay attention to the Holy Spirit inside of us, leading us on God’s paths.  Our lives should be full of faith rather than based on our senses.  As new creatures, transformed barbarians, we need to know the still, quiet voice within us saying lovingly, “Follow me and I will make your lives significant for others, for those in a dark, sinful world.  I will make you lights.  Through you, I will feed the poor, I will stroke the brow of the feverish, I will house the homeless, I will take care of the old, the helpless.”  We are to be the light of the world.  Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.  A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:14-16)  By being a light, we separate ourselves from those who live only for themselves.  So many doctrines, philosophies, and religions are attuned only to self, the bettering of self.  We, who are IN CHRIST, become people who love their neighbors as themselves.  The gift of the Spirit has been given to us to serve others.  He has come to set us free from the bondage to our wills of serving self, so we can accept the will of God, of serving others.  However, beware of the hardening of your hearts, beware of going back to the barbarian nature of serving ourselves first.  This nature originated from the very beginning in the Garden.  Adam and Eve felt they could make a better creation by having their own way, serving themselves.  Yes, they thought God’s plan of creation was good, but they could make it better by eating of the tree of knowledge.  They said, we will serve ourselves at that tree.  This placed man above God’s will.  From that time on, we have seen conflict, wars, killings; for self was placed above everything and everyone else.  But Paul and all believers are to bring the Good News of sacrificial love to others through words and actions.  We are to expound to the world that a new creature is needed within us, a new creature that can only be established by believing in Jesus Christ and his works.  As He was resurrected to a new life, we must also be resurrected with him to a new life that displays love for our neighbors, for the world.  Faith in Jesus makes us new creatures.  We will accept the purposes of God into our hearts.  We will become fully committed to the plan of God in this world.  Those who find themselves alive IN CHRIST, will have peace to bring to the world.  Their very words will be of peace, mercy, and grace.  This peace can bring harmony to families, to communities, to nations.  Paul is going to Rome to speak and act out that wonderful Good News.  Let us go to our communities to share and personify the Good News.  When we come to the end of life’s journey, may we all be able to say with our brother, Paul, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.