August 12, 2025 • 27 mins
Director of College Ministries Savannah Charlish-Inman blesses us with a farewell sermon by demonstrating that what may seem like simple administrative housekeeping in Romans 15 is in fact a radical political and spiritual statement of a new humanity in Christ.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Would you turn in your Bibles with me to Romans 15
, 22 through 33?
.
That is why I have beenprevented many times from coming
to you.
But now I no longer have anywork to do in these regions and
I have strongly desired for manyyears to come to you Whenever I
(00:20):
travel to Spain, whenever Itravel to Spain, for I hope to
see you when I pass through andto be assisted by you for my
journey there, once I have firstenjoyed your company for a
while.
Right now I am traveling toJerusalem to serve the saints,
because Macedonia and Achaiawere pleased to make a
contribution to the poor amongthe saints in Jerusalem.
(00:41):
Yes, they were pleased andindeed are indebted to them, for
if the Gentiles have shared intheir spiritual benefits, then
they are obligated to ministerto them in material needs.
So when I have finished thisand safely delivered the funds
to them, I will visit you on theway to Spain.
I know that when I come to you Iwill come in the fullness of
(01:03):
the blessing of Christ.
Now I appeal to you.
I will come in the fullness ofthe blessing of Christ.
Now I appeal to you, brothersand sisters, through our Lord
Jesus Christ and through thelove of the Spirit to strive
together with me in ferventprayer to God on my behalf.
Pray that I may be rescued fromthe unbelievers in Judea, that
my ministry to Jerusalem may beaccessible to the saints and
(01:25):
that, by God's will, I may cometo you with joy and be refreshed
together with you.
May the God of peace be withyou, amen.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Amen.
This past spring I got to go toItaly and spend some time in
Rome, and while I was there, Igot to go on a theological tour
(01:52):
through St Peter's Basilica, ledby a young man who was studying
at the Vatican in the processof becoming a priest.
For two hours I got to walkthrough the Bible made tangible,
and architecture and art, as mytour guide walked through
detail after incredible detail,saying things like I don't know
(02:12):
if you remember when Peteryeeted himself out of the boat.
If you get the chance to goever, I highly recommend finding
a Gen Z priest to give you atour.
It was unforgettable.
But in particular, there wasone moment that I've come back
(02:32):
to over and over again as we'veworked our way through Paul's
letter to the Roman church, andit was listening to 1 Peter
being read as we stood on thelarge circle of red periphery
right at the entrance of thechurch.
Now, for the very few of youhere who hear red periphery and
aren't immediately in awe of theweight of this moment, the
profundity of it is intertwinedwith its symbolism inherent to
(02:56):
the piece of stone Specifically.
To walk across this stone is aspiritual and political
pronouncement that Jesus is theone true king.
This is because periphery is astone that is solely derived
from Egypt, and so its rarityelevated it to being associated
(03:16):
with imperial authority and wasused almost exclusively by Roman
emperors for thrones,sarcophagi and architectural
elements.
In fact, the ancient emperorsloved periphery so much that
they quarantined it toextinction.
So, from the late empire onward, the only way to get this
purple-red stone was by reusingor re-carving an old piece.
(03:39):
So to have inlaid this stone tothe entrance of the church of
all of humanity was anintentional statement that,
while emperors once sat uponthis stone to receive worldly
glory, the faithful, no matterhow poor or seemingly
inconsequential, now step overit.
(03:59):
It is an unequivocal statementthat earthly power is ultimately
subservient to God's divinepower and that all are equal in
God's eyes.
And so, as we stood on thisstone in the church built upon
the ground where it's believedthat Peter lost his life for the
truth of the gospel, welistened to the words he'd
(04:21):
written to the young church in 1Peter.
Peter, an apostle of JesusChrist to God's elect exiles
scattered throughout theprovinces of Pontus, galatia,
cappadocia, asia and Bithynia,who have been chosen according
to the foreknowledge of God, theFather, through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit, to beobedient to Jesus Christ and
(04:43):
sprinkled with his blood.
Grace and peace be yours inabundance.
As we've read through Romansand worked through the
invitations to unity,consecration and mission, and
Christ.
Jesus's love for us, I've comeback to this moment over and
over again because, despite itssimplicity, I've been genuinely
(05:04):
moved by the fact that, becauseof Christ, someone like me can
tangibly experience the truththat no amount of power or
wealth can bring me closer to orseparate me from the eternal
truth that, in through Christ, Ican trod over a symbol of one
of the greatest empires theworld has seen because of the
(05:25):
greatest sacrifice the world hasever known.
It seems to me that this truthis the core theme guiding every
point in Paul's letter to theearly church in Rome.
And so, while I admit that thistext seems unassuming at first,
seems unassuming at first,there's something profound about
(05:48):
the way Paul weaves everysingle theme of his letter into
these last few lines.
And so, as I have said manytimes, and in the spirit of one
more sermon together, look backat the text with me verse 22.
This is why I've often beenhindered from coming to you, but
now that there is no more placefor me to work in these regions
and since I've been longing formany years to visit you, I plan
(06:11):
to do so when I go to Spain.
I hope to see you while passingthrough and to have you assist
me on my journey there, after Ihave enjoyed your company for a
while.
It's important to note that Paulis in fact asking for money
from the Roman church.
At the time Paul was writingthis letter, there was a famine
that was devastating parts ofthe Roman Empire, and this
(06:33):
famine catalyzed a fundraisingcampaign by Paul from the
Gentile churches, not only forthe practical realities of
providing funds to care for thepressing needs of the community
in Jerusalem to care for thepressing needs of the community
in Jerusalem but also as atangible expression of God's
working through the church,reflected in unification and
(06:56):
selfless love amongst the newbelievers.
For Paul, giving money to carefor the Jewish church wasn't
merely a donation, but anintentional and direct statement
that the disagreements betweenJewish and Gentile believers is
transcended by thetransformative power of Christ's
love and freedom, workingthrough their hearts and minds
because of the indwelling of theHoly Spirit amongst God's
(07:18):
people, revealing God's powerthrough expressed acts of love,
joy, patience, kindness,goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control Inthe midst of great tension and
fracturing.
For the Roman church to givemoney to the believers in
Jerusalem was an explicitstatement that Christ's death,
(07:39):
resurrection and ascension hasushered in a new kingdom that
cannot be conquered or destroyed.
As the theologian ThomasSchreiner summarized it, the
collection for believers isvitally related to the Pauline
mission for the generosity ofGentiles for the poor in
Jerusalem, testifies to thesolidarity of the new people of
(08:01):
God and is tangible evidencethat the promises made to
Abraham are being fulfilled.
And is tangible evidence thatthe promises made to Abraham are
being fulfilled when Jews andGentiles are in harmony in
Christ, then the new humanitypromised in the Old Testament is
becoming a reality.
If you remember the movements ofthis letter, one of the key
points for Paul is showing howJesus is forming a new covenant
(08:23):
family and people from allnations.
Paul goes on to claim thatthese people are the new
humanity that fulfilled God'spromises to ancient Israel, and
now Jesus stands as the head ofthat humanity.
The result of this new humanityis that when a person trusts in
Jesus, their life is joined tohis and what's true of him
(08:45):
starts to become true of them.
It's when people accept theiridentity as Jesus-like humans
that they are liberated tobecome wholehearted people who
can love God and their neighbor.
And so, as humanity has beenadopted into the promises of
Christ, paul writes that theonly response is for these
Jewish and non-Jewish Christiansto become a unified church
(09:09):
community.
However, I'm not sure if you'venoticed this or not yet in your
own lives, but living closelyand in unity with one another is
made very difficult by otherpeople.
Just think about the people youlike and spend time with and
the friends that you choose, andthe yet inevitable disagreement
(09:32):
that still arises in theserelationships.
I mean, I think about when wewere leaving St Peter's Basilica
.
There was an American manexiting near us and he was
wearing a shirt with MartinLuther's face on it and it said
nailed it.
And for those not immediatelyfamiliar with the Reformation
(09:54):
history, martin Luther was atheologian whose criticisms of
the Catholic Church birthed theProtestant Reformation and the
splitting of the Protestantsfrom the Catholic Church.
And he did this by nailing his95 theses to the door of the
Wittenberg Castle Church inGermany, and since then Martin
(10:16):
Luther is not known for being abeloved saint within Catholic
theology.
So to show up to the church thatthe Catholic tradition believes
was built on the literalgrounds where St Peter died, and
that this is the one truechurch.
As Jesus said to Peter, youwill be the rock upon which my
(10:37):
church is built.
You can imagine how it wasreceived to arrive there
unapologetically, walking aroundthe church with this image
glaring back at you.
As Landon and I were bothshocked and laughing, because it
is a little funny, we were alsotaken aback by how many of us
(11:01):
Christians walking through thatchurch confessed Jesus is Lord
and how quickly obvious itbecame that we clearly did not
agree on certain things.
And if this is true of thatsmall of a moment, how much
greater is the tension when youtry to mix entire cultural
traditions and experiences,different upbringings and belief
(11:24):
systems, languages and socialnorms.
If we think that it's hard toreconcile our beliefs with our
Catholic brothers and sisters,we can begin to appreciate the
challenges facing the earlychurch as Jews and Gentiles
tried to navigate, learning tobe like Jesus under immense
persecution and economichardship.
(11:47):
And so, with this in mind, lookback again at the text with me,
starting in verse 25.
Now, however, I am on my way toJerusalem in the service of the
Lord's people there, forMacedonia and Achaia were
pleased to make a contributionfor the poor among the Lord's
people in Jerusalem.
They were pleased to do it andindeed they owe it to them, for
(12:09):
if the Gentiles have shared inthe Jews' spiritual blessings,
they owe it to the Jews to sharewith them their material
blessings.
So after I've completed thistask and have made sure that
they have received thiscontribution, I will go to Spain
and visit you on the way.
I know that when I come to youI will come in the full measure
of the blessing of Christ.
(12:32):
In many ways this passagecaptures the details, the lived
theology that Paul has spent theentire letter moving towards.
If we lose sight of themotivating theme of the letter
that there's a new humanityushered in by Christ, we are at
risk of forgetting that theRoman Empire was an oppressive
regime that promised peace andprosperity through force and
(12:56):
fear, maintaining factions andseparations amongst ethnic
groups, allowing people tomaintain their cultural
practices, but only if they werewithin the legal boundaries of
the empire.
This means that the stakes ofwhat Paul is writing here is not
only politically scandalous butspiritually radical For people
(13:18):
across ethnic lines to cometogether and give material
support to a community theyhadn't met yet was utterly
perplexing and even foolish tothose living in the ancient
world.
I mean, it's not hard for us tothink of the devastating floods
in Texas this summer thatkilled almost 150 people, or the
horrific fires in LA thatkilled and displaced hundreds of
(13:41):
people, and how quickly thesituation became political
discussions as relief effortswent underway.
In many ways, our politicalcontext shares the same mindset
that who you give money to iswho you support, that money is a
scarce resource and that theserealities take priority in the
(14:02):
face of needs and disaster.
Particularly if we think aboutthe life of the Romans, it's
estimated to that up to 80% ofthe population lived in poverty,
and so money itself was adeeply political thing For the
poor.
Models about the collapse ofthe Roman Empire were predicated
(14:22):
on the idea that the end ofRoman dominion was the decline
of a certain quality of life or,on the other hand, that the end
of Roman oppression spelled newliberties and wealth for the
peasantry.
And so, just as issues todayare quickly politicized for the
point of garnering support orundermining those currently in
(14:43):
power, the famine facingJerusalem was equally political,
as famines were often blamed onthe mishandling of grain by
Roman politicians.
And, to be clear, I'm notsaying that there weren't
legitimate political issues thatneeded to be discussed.
Rather, my point is that whenwe take this context into
consideration and realize howmuch we actually share with the
(15:07):
early church in Rome, itmagnifies how radical Paul's
challenge was that thesedisagreements and the factions
they cause are secondary to andsubservient to the selfless,
compassionate response of Christin the face of suffering.
In this way, paul's relieffunding efforts cut across
(15:29):
political and theologicaldivides to get straight to the
core of what it means to be adisciple of Jesus that we are
God's people in Christ, filledwith his spirit.
We are the renewed Israel, thepeople of the covenant, a new
humanity.
Our primary identity is rootedin the confession that Jesus is
(15:55):
Lord and believe that God raisedhim from the dead, and this
defines us over and againstthose who worship other gods and
lords.
In short, paul views the verypresence of the church and its
obedient life as a living,breathing testimony to the world
of who its rightful God andLord now are Captured
(16:20):
beautifully by NT Wright.
Paul's aim was to extend therule of Jesus, the world's true
Lord, planting cells of peopleloyal to Jesus, whose loyalty
would be evidenced not least bytheir unity across traditional
and ethnic cultural lines.
To that end, he had taken acollection from Gentile churches
and was on his way to Jerusalemto give it to the Jewish
(16:42):
Christians there.
It was a powerful symbol thatJesus is Lord and that the
principalities and powers whokeep the world divided up into
separate categories andallegiances are not.
This is the heartbeat of Paul'smessage when he writes in
Ephesians for our struggle isnot against flesh and blood, but
(17:02):
against rulers, against theauthorities, against the powers
of this dark world and againstthe spiritual forces of evil and
the heavenly realms.
Therefore, put on the fullarmor of God so that, when the
day of evil comes, you may beable to stand your ground, and
after you have done everythingto stand.
(17:22):
So, stand firm then, with thebelt of truth buckled around
your waist, with the breastplateof righteousness in place.
No-transcript For Paul.
The key dynamics that he'saddressing include the weak and
the strong, the relations of theChristians within the Roman
(17:44):
state, the offering beinggathered for the struggling
church in Jerusalem, his ownintended mission to Spain and
the practical question of howthese believers are supposed to
live together amid such variedconcern and all of what that
looks like in five or six housechurches.
His letter proposed is run by anarrative in his mind, as he
(18:07):
intends to explain that hisgospel, that mostly his gospel
to the churches that mostlydon't know him, as he solicits
support for his Spanish missionand seeks to pastorally persuade
the strong to embrace the weakas family, while encouraging the
weak to grasp thetransformative newness of
Christian life.
The underlying story here isnot merely Paul's own, but his
(18:29):
reading of God's unfolding andunexpected plan for history,
revealed in Israel's scripturesAt its core.
What this means is that,despite the unassuming nature of
this part of the letter, whatPaul is really doing here is
taking the concept of grace andsalvation through Jesus Christ
(18:49):
and presenting it as a concretereality.
Specifically, his point is thatall of humanity has been
invited to participate in thefreedom that comes from knowing
the one who made us, and thatthat invitation is so
transformative that it isembodied and testified to in the
(19:10):
very ways that we orient ourlives.
Teach the Roman church is thatevery act of selfless love is
not only a rejection of theempires whose existence is
dependent on division and fear,but that also having been
transformed ourselves throughChrist's love in such a way that
(19:33):
we become agents of that lovedethrones evil itself.
It is something so miraculousand divine that the only way to
explain it is through theoutworking of the Holy Spirit in
God's people.
And it's a miracle that Paulknows only come from the prayers
reflective of a deep life andlove with Jesus.
(19:56):
Look back at the end of thetext with me, starting in verse
30.
I urge you, brothers andsisters, by our Lord, jesus
Christ, and by the love of theSpirit, to join me in my
struggle by praying to God forme.
Pray that I may be kept safefrom unbelievers in Judea and
that the contribution I take toJerusalem may be favorably
received by the Lord's peoplethere, so that I may come to you
(20:19):
with joy and, by God's will and, in your company, be refreshed.
The God of peace be with youall, amen.
Paul's letter to the church sitsin the tension of casting the
vision for what it means to be apart of God's kingdom and the
painful realities of it not yetfully being manifested.
(20:40):
When he asks for prayers forsafety from persecution and that
the rest of the churchparticipate in the invitation of
Christ to unity and selflesslove.
He knows that these things onlycome through the work of God's
redeeming grace, and so, just asPaul prays that the Roman
church will give anacknowledgement of the love that
(21:01):
binds them together with thechurch in Jerusalem, paul prays
that that same church wouldaccept their gift, making a full
acceptance of a new humanity, anew kingdom and the one
righteous king who binds it alltogether.
In many ways, this text isPaul's confirmation that the
(21:22):
unity of the church is a corereflection of the work of the
Holy Spirit in us and only comesabout because of Christ's love
made real to us.
And it's this call toindividual transformation made
real and communal relationshipthat remains alive and well for
us 2,000 years later.
(21:44):
Like the early believers in Rome, we recognize that, although
Jesus' resurrection hasinaugurated a new creation, we
now live in the in-betweenbetween that decisive event and
the final redemption still tocome for us and the whole world.
And since most of the worlddoes not yet know Jesus as Lord,
and we too ourselves are notyet perfect, we live in the
(22:07):
tension between what we arealready in Christ and in spirit
and what we shall be when Jesusappears again and completes his
work in us.
This means that the tensions,fears, pains and longing we feel
is often reflective of the realbrokenness we see in the world
around us.
But the good news this morningis that this thing that brings
(22:31):
us together every week is notmerely a belief system or good
instructions, though it is bothof those things in the best way.
What Paul is really commendingthe church to embrace, and what
is most important for us toremember, is that what we have
available to us right now is arelationship with the creator of
(22:51):
the universes, who not onlymade you out of an act of divine
love, but made you in the fullpursuit of the entirety of who
you are.
And he gave his life anddefeated death so that you may
know the freedom you weredesigned to experience.
And it's this perfect love thatcasts out the fear that tries
(23:14):
to choke the good news of thegospel, as Paul writes in his
letters to the Ephesians, for hehimself is our peace, who has
made the two groups one and hasdestroyed the barrier and the
dividing wall of hostility bysetting aside in his flesh the
(23:34):
law with its commands andregulations.
His purpose was to create inhimself one new humanity out of
the two, thus making peace andin one body to reconcile them
both to God through the cross,by which he put to death their
hostility.
As we come to a close and Iinvite the worship team up one
(23:59):
of the things I find mostprofound is that, in following
this letter, paul's prayers areanswered, but in a somewhat
ironic way.
The collection was apparentlyaccepted by the Jewish
Christians, but Paul'ssubsequent arrest in the temple
precincts raises suspicionsabout him again in the churches
(24:20):
he had not yet attended.
Paul was in fact delivered frompersecution in Judea, but only
by being locked up by the Romansfor two years.
And Paul did get to Rome andexperience a measure of joy, but
he arrived there in Romanchains.
And yet, in the midst of all ofthis, paul is unwavering about
(24:42):
the power of Christ and hisvictory over the empire that
will ultimately martyr him.
For Paul, the fulfillment ofGod's redemption was not in
conquering the political ranks,but rather it was seen in the
transformation of God's creationinto the people of blessing he
created them to be.
(25:03):
And as Paul witnessed this,despite the persecution that
followed him, he remainedsteadfast through his ministry
that every profession of Christas king reflected a victory that
had already been won.
For Paul, christ is the activeworker in the things of which he
(25:25):
is talking about, and Paul wassimply the instrument called
forth by his own transformationafter encountering Christ.
As he writes in 1 Corinthians 6,I planted the seed, apollo's
watered it, but God has beenmaking it grow.
So neither the one who plantsnor the one who waters anything,
(25:47):
but only God who makes thingsgrow.
The one who plants and the onewho waters have purpose, and
they will each be rewardedaccording to their own labor,
for we are co-workers in God'sservice.
You are God's field.
God's building.
Unity, consecration and missionis the work of the Spirit
(26:12):
through God's people, in thepresent and the future, putting
into practice for us and for thewhole cosmos what has been
accomplished in Christ.
God will put the world torights, achieving what empires
have tried to claim to have done.
And it is this hope thatsustains us as we learn to
(26:35):
become people who testify to thegoodness of the gospel we
proclaim, embodied in ourselfless love toward one another
, in service to Christ.
And so, as we near the end ofthis letter and you meditate on
the words of truth and let theSpirit convict you and inspire
(26:58):
you, I will leave you withPaul's same words the grace of
peace be with you all, amen.
Would you turn in your Bibles with me to Romans 15
, 22 through 33?
.
That is why I have beenprevented many times from coming
to you.
But now I no longer have anywork to do in these regions and
I have strongly desired for manyyears to come to you Whenever I
(00:20):
travel to Spain, whenever Itravel to Spain, for I hope to
see you when I pass through andto be assisted by you for my
journey there, once I have firstenjoyed your company for a
while.
Right now I am traveling toJerusalem to serve the saints,
because Macedonia and Achaiawere pleased to make a
contribution to the poor amongthe saints in Jerusalem.
(00:41):
Yes, they were pleased andindeed are indebted to them, for
if the Gentiles have shared intheir spiritual benefits, then
they are obligated to ministerto them in material needs.
So when I have finished thisand safely delivered the funds
to them, I will visit you on theway to Spain.
I know that when I come to you Iwill come in the fullness of
(01:03):
the blessing of Christ.
Now I appeal to you.
I will come in the fullness ofthe blessing of Christ.
Now I appeal to you, brothersand sisters, through our Lord
Jesus Christ and through thelove of the Spirit to strive
together with me in ferventprayer to God on my behalf.
Pray that I may be rescued fromthe unbelievers in Judea, that
my ministry to Jerusalem may beaccessible to the saints and
(01:25):
that, by God's will, I may cometo you with joy and be refreshed
together with you.
May the God of peace be withyou, amen.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Amen.
This past spring I got to go toItaly and spend some time in
Rome, and while I was there, Igot to go on a theological tour
(01:52):
through St Peter's Basilica, ledby a young man who was studying
at the Vatican in the processof becoming a priest.
For two hours I got to walkthrough the Bible made tangible,
and architecture and art, as mytour guide walked through
detail after incredible detail,saying things like I don't know
(02:12):
if you remember when Peteryeeted himself out of the boat.
If you get the chance to goever, I highly recommend finding
a Gen Z priest to give you atour.
It was unforgettable.
But in particular, there wasone moment that I've come back
(02:32):
to over and over again as we'veworked our way through Paul's
letter to the Roman church, andit was listening to 1 Peter
being read as we stood on thelarge circle of red periphery
right at the entrance of thechurch.
Now, for the very few of youhere who hear red periphery and
aren't immediately in awe of theweight of this moment, the
profundity of it is intertwinedwith its symbolism inherent to
(02:56):
the piece of stone Specifically.
To walk across this stone is aspiritual and political
pronouncement that Jesus is theone true king.
This is because periphery is astone that is solely derived
from Egypt, and so its rarityelevated it to being associated
(03:16):
with imperial authority and wasused almost exclusively by Roman
emperors for thrones,sarcophagi and architectural
elements.
In fact, the ancient emperorsloved periphery so much that
they quarantined it toextinction.
So, from the late empire onward, the only way to get this
purple-red stone was by reusingor re-carving an old piece.
(03:39):
So to have inlaid this stone tothe entrance of the church of
all of humanity was anintentional statement that,
while emperors once sat uponthis stone to receive worldly
glory, the faithful, no matterhow poor or seemingly
inconsequential, now step overit.
(03:59):
It is an unequivocal statementthat earthly power is ultimately
subservient to God's divinepower and that all are equal in
God's eyes.
And so, as we stood on thisstone in the church built upon
the ground where it's believedthat Peter lost his life for the
truth of the gospel, welistened to the words he'd
(04:21):
written to the young church in 1Peter.
Peter, an apostle of JesusChrist to God's elect exiles
scattered throughout theprovinces of Pontus, galatia,
cappadocia, asia and Bithynia,who have been chosen according
to the foreknowledge of God, theFather, through the sanctifying
work of the Spirit, to beobedient to Jesus Christ and
(04:43):
sprinkled with his blood.
Grace and peace be yours inabundance.
As we've read through Romansand worked through the
invitations to unity,consecration and mission, and
Christ.
Jesus's love for us, I've comeback to this moment over and
over again because, despite itssimplicity, I've been genuinely
(05:04):
moved by the fact that, becauseof Christ, someone like me can
tangibly experience the truththat no amount of power or
wealth can bring me closer to orseparate me from the eternal
truth that, in through Christ, Ican trod over a symbol of one
of the greatest empires theworld has seen because of the
(05:25):
greatest sacrifice the world hasever known.
It seems to me that this truthis the core theme guiding every
point in Paul's letter to theearly church in Rome.
And so, while I admit that thistext seems unassuming at first,
seems unassuming at first,there's something profound about
(05:48):
the way Paul weaves everysingle theme of his letter into
these last few lines.
And so, as I have said manytimes, and in the spirit of one
more sermon together, look backat the text with me verse 22.
This is why I've often beenhindered from coming to you, but
now that there is no more placefor me to work in these regions
and since I've been longing formany years to visit you, I plan
(06:11):
to do so when I go to Spain.
I hope to see you while passingthrough and to have you assist
me on my journey there, after Ihave enjoyed your company for a
while.
It's important to note that Paulis in fact asking for money
from the Roman church.
At the time Paul was writingthis letter, there was a famine
that was devastating parts ofthe Roman Empire, and this
(06:33):
famine catalyzed a fundraisingcampaign by Paul from the
Gentile churches, not only forthe practical realities of
providing funds to care for thepressing needs of the community
in Jerusalem to care for thepressing needs of the community
in Jerusalem but also as atangible expression of God's
working through the church,reflected in unification and
(06:56):
selfless love amongst the newbelievers.
For Paul, giving money to carefor the Jewish church wasn't
merely a donation, but anintentional and direct statement
that the disagreements betweenJewish and Gentile believers is
transcended by thetransformative power of Christ's
love and freedom, workingthrough their hearts and minds
because of the indwelling of theHoly Spirit amongst God's
(07:18):
people, revealing God's powerthrough expressed acts of love,
joy, patience, kindness,goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control Inthe midst of great tension and
fracturing.
For the Roman church to givemoney to the believers in
Jerusalem was an explicitstatement that Christ's death,
(07:39):
resurrection and ascension hasushered in a new kingdom that
cannot be conquered or destroyed.
As the theologian ThomasSchreiner summarized it, the
collection for believers isvitally related to the Pauline
mission for the generosity ofGentiles for the poor in
Jerusalem, testifies to thesolidarity of the new people of
(08:01):
God and is tangible evidencethat the promises made to
Abraham are being fulfilled.
And is tangible evidence thatthe promises made to Abraham are
being fulfilled when Jews andGentiles are in harmony in
Christ, then the new humanitypromised in the Old Testament is
becoming a reality.
If you remember the movements ofthis letter, one of the key
points for Paul is showing howJesus is forming a new covenant
(08:23):
family and people from allnations.
Paul goes on to claim thatthese people are the new
humanity that fulfilled God'spromises to ancient Israel, and
now Jesus stands as the head ofthat humanity.
The result of this new humanityis that when a person trusts in
Jesus, their life is joined tohis and what's true of him
(08:45):
starts to become true of them.
It's when people accept theiridentity as Jesus-like humans
that they are liberated tobecome wholehearted people who
can love God and their neighbor.
And so, as humanity has beenadopted into the promises of
Christ, paul writes that theonly response is for these
Jewish and non-Jewish Christiansto become a unified church
(09:09):
community.
However, I'm not sure if you'venoticed this or not yet in your
own lives, but living closelyand in unity with one another is
made very difficult by otherpeople.
Just think about the people youlike and spend time with and
the friends that you choose, andthe yet inevitable disagreement
(09:32):
that still arises in theserelationships.
I mean, I think about when wewere leaving St Peter's Basilica
.
There was an American manexiting near us and he was
wearing a shirt with MartinLuther's face on it and it said
nailed it.
And for those not immediatelyfamiliar with the Reformation
(09:54):
history, martin Luther was atheologian whose criticisms of
the Catholic Church birthed theProtestant Reformation and the
splitting of the Protestantsfrom the Catholic Church.
And he did this by nailing his95 theses to the door of the
Wittenberg Castle Church inGermany, and since then Martin
(10:16):
Luther is not known for being abeloved saint within Catholic
theology.
So to show up to the church thatthe Catholic tradition believes
was built on the literalgrounds where St Peter died, and
that this is the one truechurch.
As Jesus said to Peter, youwill be the rock upon which my
(10:37):
church is built.
You can imagine how it wasreceived to arrive there
unapologetically, walking aroundthe church with this image
glaring back at you.
As Landon and I were bothshocked and laughing, because it
is a little funny, we were alsotaken aback by how many of us
(11:01):
Christians walking through thatchurch confessed Jesus is Lord
and how quickly obvious itbecame that we clearly did not
agree on certain things.
And if this is true of thatsmall of a moment, how much
greater is the tension when youtry to mix entire cultural
traditions and experiences,different upbringings and belief
(11:24):
systems, languages and socialnorms.
If we think that it's hard toreconcile our beliefs with our
Catholic brothers and sisters,we can begin to appreciate the
challenges facing the earlychurch as Jews and Gentiles
tried to navigate, learning tobe like Jesus under immense
persecution and economichardship.
(11:47):
And so, with this in mind, lookback again at the text with me,
starting in verse 25.
Now, however, I am on my way toJerusalem in the service of the
Lord's people there, forMacedonia and Achaia were
pleased to make a contributionfor the poor among the Lord's
people in Jerusalem.
They were pleased to do it andindeed they owe it to them, for
(12:09):
if the Gentiles have shared inthe Jews' spiritual blessings,
they owe it to the Jews to sharewith them their material
blessings.
So after I've completed thistask and have made sure that
they have received thiscontribution, I will go to Spain
and visit you on the way.
I know that when I come to youI will come in the full measure
of the blessing of Christ.
(12:32):
In many ways this passagecaptures the details, the lived
theology that Paul has spent theentire letter moving towards.
If we lose sight of themotivating theme of the letter
that there's a new humanityushered in by Christ, we are at
risk of forgetting that theRoman Empire was an oppressive
regime that promised peace andprosperity through force and
(12:56):
fear, maintaining factions andseparations amongst ethnic
groups, allowing people tomaintain their cultural
practices, but only if they werewithin the legal boundaries of
the empire.
This means that the stakes ofwhat Paul is writing here is not
only politically scandalous butspiritually radical For people
(13:18):
across ethnic lines to cometogether and give material
support to a community theyhadn't met yet was utterly
perplexing and even foolish tothose living in the ancient
world.
I mean, it's not hard for us tothink of the devastating floods
in Texas this summer thatkilled almost 150 people, or the
horrific fires in LA thatkilled and displaced hundreds of
(13:41):
people, and how quickly thesituation became political
discussions as relief effortswent underway.
In many ways, our politicalcontext shares the same mindset
that who you give money to iswho you support, that money is a
scarce resource and that theserealities take priority in the
(14:02):
face of needs and disaster.
Particularly if we think aboutthe life of the Romans, it's
estimated to that up to 80% ofthe population lived in poverty,
and so money itself was adeeply political thing For the
poor.
Models about the collapse ofthe Roman Empire were predicated
(14:22):
on the idea that the end ofRoman dominion was the decline
of a certain quality of life or,on the other hand, that the end
of Roman oppression spelled newliberties and wealth for the
peasantry.
And so, just as issues todayare quickly politicized for the
point of garnering support orundermining those currently in
(14:43):
power, the famine facingJerusalem was equally political,
as famines were often blamed onthe mishandling of grain by
Roman politicians.
And, to be clear, I'm notsaying that there weren't
legitimate political issues thatneeded to be discussed.
Rather, my point is that whenwe take this context into
consideration and realize howmuch we actually share with the
(15:07):
early church in Rome, itmagnifies how radical Paul's
challenge was that thesedisagreements and the factions
they cause are secondary to andsubservient to the selfless,
compassionate response of Christin the face of suffering.
In this way, paul's relieffunding efforts cut across
(15:29):
political and theologicaldivides to get straight to the
core of what it means to be adisciple of Jesus that we are
God's people in Christ, filledwith his spirit.
We are the renewed Israel, thepeople of the covenant, a new
humanity.
Our primary identity is rootedin the confession that Jesus is
(15:55):
Lord and believe that God raisedhim from the dead, and this
defines us over and againstthose who worship other gods and
lords.
In short, paul views the verypresence of the church and its
obedient life as a living,breathing testimony to the world
of who its rightful God andLord now are Captured
(16:20):
beautifully by NT Wright.
Paul's aim was to extend therule of Jesus, the world's true
Lord, planting cells of peopleloyal to Jesus, whose loyalty
would be evidenced not least bytheir unity across traditional
and ethnic cultural lines.
To that end, he had taken acollection from Gentile churches
and was on his way to Jerusalemto give it to the Jewish
(16:42):
Christians there.
It was a powerful symbol thatJesus is Lord and that the
principalities and powers whokeep the world divided up into
separate categories andallegiances are not.
This is the heartbeat of Paul'smessage when he writes in
Ephesians for our struggle isnot against flesh and blood, but
(17:02):
against rulers, against theauthorities, against the powers
of this dark world and againstthe spiritual forces of evil and
the heavenly realms.
Therefore, put on the fullarmor of God so that, when the
day of evil comes, you may beable to stand your ground, and
after you have done everythingto stand.
(17:22):
So, stand firm then, with thebelt of truth buckled around
your waist, with the breastplateof righteousness in place.
No-transcript For Paul.
The key dynamics that he'saddressing include the weak and
the strong, the relations of theChristians within the Roman
(17:44):
state, the offering beinggathered for the struggling
church in Jerusalem, his ownintended mission to Spain and
the practical question of howthese believers are supposed to
live together amid such variedconcern and all of what that
looks like in five or six housechurches.
His letter proposed is run by anarrative in his mind, as he
(18:07):
intends to explain that hisgospel, that mostly his gospel
to the churches that mostlydon't know him, as he solicits
support for his Spanish missionand seeks to pastorally persuade
the strong to embrace the weakas family, while encouraging the
weak to grasp thetransformative newness of
Christian life.
The underlying story here isnot merely Paul's own, but his
(18:29):
reading of God's unfolding andunexpected plan for history,
revealed in Israel's scripturesAt its core.
What this means is that,despite the unassuming nature of
this part of the letter, whatPaul is really doing here is
taking the concept of grace andsalvation through Jesus Christ
(18:49):
and presenting it as a concretereality.
Specifically, his point is thatall of humanity has been
invited to participate in thefreedom that comes from knowing
the one who made us, and thatthat invitation is so
transformative that it isembodied and testified to in the
(19:10):
very ways that we orient ourlives.
Teach the Roman church is thatevery act of selfless love is
not only a rejection of theempires whose existence is
dependent on division and fear,but that also having been
transformed ourselves throughChrist's love in such a way that
(19:33):
we become agents of that lovedethrones evil itself.
It is something so miraculousand divine that the only way to
explain it is through theoutworking of the Holy Spirit in
God's people.
And it's a miracle that Paulknows only come from the prayers
reflective of a deep life andlove with Jesus.
(19:56):
Look back at the end of thetext with me, starting in verse
30.
I urge you, brothers andsisters, by our Lord, jesus
Christ, and by the love of theSpirit, to join me in my
struggle by praying to God forme.
Pray that I may be kept safefrom unbelievers in Judea and
that the contribution I take toJerusalem may be favorably
received by the Lord's peoplethere, so that I may come to you
(20:19):
with joy and, by God's will and, in your company, be refreshed.
The God of peace be with youall, amen.
Paul's letter to the church sitsin the tension of casting the
vision for what it means to be apart of God's kingdom and the
painful realities of it not yetfully being manifested.
(20:40):
When he asks for prayers forsafety from persecution and that
the rest of the churchparticipate in the invitation of
Christ to unity and selflesslove.
He knows that these things onlycome through the work of God's
redeeming grace, and so, just asPaul prays that the Roman
church will give anacknowledgement of the love that
(21:01):
binds them together with thechurch in Jerusalem, paul prays
that that same church wouldaccept their gift, making a full
acceptance of a new humanity, anew kingdom and the one
righteous king who binds it alltogether.
In many ways, this text isPaul's confirmation that the
(21:22):
unity of the church is a corereflection of the work of the
Holy Spirit in us and only comesabout because of Christ's love
made real to us.
And it's this call toindividual transformation made
real and communal relationshipthat remains alive and well for
us 2,000 years later.
(21:44):
Like the early believers in Rome, we recognize that, although
Jesus' resurrection hasinaugurated a new creation, we
now live in the in-betweenbetween that decisive event and
the final redemption still tocome for us and the whole world.
And since most of the worlddoes not yet know Jesus as Lord,
and we too ourselves are notyet perfect, we live in the
(22:07):
tension between what we arealready in Christ and in spirit
and what we shall be when Jesusappears again and completes his
work in us.
This means that the tensions,fears, pains and longing we feel
is often reflective of the realbrokenness we see in the world
around us.
But the good news this morningis that this thing that brings
(22:31):
us together every week is notmerely a belief system or good
instructions, though it is bothof those things in the best way.
What Paul is really commendingthe church to embrace, and what
is most important for us toremember, is that what we have
available to us right now is arelationship with the creator of
(22:51):
the universes, who not onlymade you out of an act of divine
love, but made you in the fullpursuit of the entirety of who
you are.
And he gave his life anddefeated death so that you may
know the freedom you weredesigned to experience.
And it's this perfect love thatcasts out the fear that tries
(23:14):
to choke the good news of thegospel, as Paul writes in his
letters to the Ephesians, for hehimself is our peace, who has
made the two groups one and hasdestroyed the barrier and the
dividing wall of hostility bysetting aside in his flesh the
(23:34):
law with its commands andregulations.
His purpose was to create inhimself one new humanity out of
the two, thus making peace andin one body to reconcile them
both to God through the cross,by which he put to death their
hostility.
As we come to a close and Iinvite the worship team up one
(23:59):
of the things I find mostprofound is that, in following
this letter, paul's prayers areanswered, but in a somewhat
ironic way.
The collection was apparentlyaccepted by the Jewish
Christians, but Paul'ssubsequent arrest in the temple
precincts raises suspicionsabout him again in the churches
(24:20):
he had not yet attended.
Paul was in fact delivered frompersecution in Judea, but only
by being locked up by the Romansfor two years.
And Paul did get to Rome andexperience a measure of joy, but
he arrived there in Romanchains.
And yet, in the midst of all ofthis, paul is unwavering about
(24:42):
the power of Christ and hisvictory over the empire that
will ultimately martyr him.
For Paul, the fulfillment ofGod's redemption was not in
conquering the political ranks,but rather it was seen in the
transformation of God's creationinto the people of blessing he
created them to be.
(25:03):
And as Paul witnessed this,despite the persecution that
followed him, he remainedsteadfast through his ministry
that every profession of Christas king reflected a victory that
had already been won.
For Paul, christ is the activeworker in the things of which he
(25:25):
is talking about, and Paul wassimply the instrument called
forth by his own transformationafter encountering Christ.
As he writes in 1 Corinthians 6,I planted the seed, apollo's
watered it, but God has beenmaking it grow.
So neither the one who plantsnor the one who waters anything,
(25:47):
but only God who makes thingsgrow.
The one who plants and the onewho waters have purpose, and
they will each be rewardedaccording to their own labor,
for we are co-workers in God'sservice.
You are God's field.
God's building.
Unity, consecration and missionis the work of the Spirit
(26:12):
through God's people, in thepresent and the future, putting
into practice for us and for thewhole cosmos what has been
accomplished in Christ.
God will put the world torights, achieving what empires
have tried to claim to have done.
And it is this hope thatsustains us as we learn to
(26:35):
become people who testify to thegoodness of the gospel we
proclaim, embodied in ourselfless love toward one another
, in service to Christ.
And so, as we near the end ofthis letter and you meditate on
the words of truth and let theSpirit convict you and inspire
(26:58):
you, I will leave you withPaul's same words the grace of
peace be with you all, amen.
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