Christ, the Servant of the Gentiles Romans 15:4-13 KCC, 2 nd Sunday of Advent, 2013 Turn to Romans 15 please. Our text shows three things that Christ brought us: mercy from God, praise to God, hope in God. But we ll start with the church in Rome. Many of the believers in Rome were Jewish Christians, men and women who all their lives had lived by God s instructions to Israel through Moses. They were like Peter, who had never eaten anything unclean. Like the rich young ruler they had kept all the commands since they were young. And now they had put their trust in Christ. And, there were also many Gentile Christians in the church at Rome, people who knew little about Moses or God or the Old Testament, but now had begun to trust in Jesus. Romans was written to help both groups understand the gospel, and to bring unity to this group. It occurred to me last night that having separate churches was not even considered. No one thought of having a Jewish Christian church and a Gentile Christian church. How about that. Our text is from Romans 15, but we ll talk a bit about Romans 14 first. The believers in Rome disagreed about whether or not you could eat meat that the butcher had offered to some idol before he sold it to you. Was it okay for believers to eat that? Or not? The believers disagreed about whether or not you could drink wine. Was it okay, or not? They also disagreed about special days. Was every day the same? Or were their special days when we should live differently, like the Jewish Sabbath for example? Jewish believers had more rules about these things than Gentile believers. And in response to all this Paul wrote things like: Don t condemn each other. Don t despise each other. Who are you to judge someone else s servant the person you judge belongs to Christ, not to you. Live in peace with each other. Live to build each other up. Paul did not say who was right and who was wrong, in these things. There is room in churches for different people in the church body to have different opinions on such things. We can still live in unity. Now let s read our text: Romans 15:4-13 - For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 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 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.
2 As it is written: Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name. 10 Again, it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people. 11 And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him. 12 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. 13 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. V4- For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Everything written in the past means what we call the Old Testament. Everything written in the past was written to teach us. Everything written in the past was written to teach us. Everything written in the past was written to teach us. So that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. People, we re going to need endurance, and we re going to need encouragement. When we get tired and discouraged, that s normal. Of course we ll get tired and discouraged. But the teaching of the Scripture gives us endurance and encouragement, in many different ways. It written, says Paul, to do this. So that we d have hope more on hope later. Vv5-6 - May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we learn that God gives endurance and encouragement. We get it from the teaching of the Bible, and we get it from God himself. These are not two separate sources. God uses Scripture. His Spirit works along with the Bible to keep us going, and to encourage us. And it is a particular kind of endurance and encouragement: to help us get along with each other. What makes us tired and discouraged is leaving peacefully with each other, accepting each other. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had. But that s not the goal. Treating each other as Christ Jesus treated us is not the goal, it is one step closer to the goal. The goal is to glorify God together. The goal is unified worship. So that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a lot about praising God in our text. It s here in v6, again in v7, again in vv9-11. This is Advent. We re celebrating that Jesus came. Why did he come? So God would be glorified and praised. And we do worship God. We sang songs to him today, because Christ came. V7 - Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
3 Paul is writing to those Jewish Christians and those Gentile Christians, people who had such different ideas about what godly living looked like. And he s also writing to us. Accept each other just as Christ accepted you, welcome each other just as Christ welcomed you (ESV), treat each other just as Christ treated you. We don t have to agree about everything, but we do need deeply gracious toward each other. And our model is how Christ has been gracious to us. We are kind and patient with each other just like Christ is kind and patient with us. But again, the goal is not simply our grace toward each other. We do this in order to bring praise to God. I have noticed this kind of thinking quite often in the Bible, and it always surprises me, because it is not how I think. Often in the Bible, the reason to do one thing and not another is to bring glory to God, to bring thanks to God, praise to God. So try this on in your minds: If I do the right thing here, it will bring praise to God. If I do the right thing here, it will make God look good. If I do the right thing here, God will be thanked. That s thinking like a Christian. I do not think like this very often. This sermon is for me, too, make no mistake about that. Our Father in heaven, may your holy name be honoured. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. And now we get to vv8-9a, which is the center of today s Scripture. Christ the Servant of Jews and of Gentiles (vv8-9a) V8 - For I tell you [that opening shows that what s coming is particularly important] 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 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. This sentence answers the question: why did Jesus come? We think we know the answer to that, and generally we do, but our answers tend to get to simple. The Bible s answer to that is richer, fuller, it has more sides to it, than how we usually think. This sentence is why our text is an Advent Scripture. Advent means Coming, and Advent is about both Comings of Jesus, his first coming, his birth, and also his second coming. More on that next week. 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. Christ came to show the Jews, to show Israel, that God was truthful, that God kept old promises. The Jewish believers needed to hear this, and the Gentiles needed to hear this as well.
4 V9 - And, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. Christ came, was born in Bethlehem to Mary, why? To be a servant to Jews, to show them that God is truthful, keeping old promises, and to be a servant to Gentiles, to show them that God is merciful. Christ was sent as a servant to both Jews and Gentiles, but, in our Scripture today, not for exactly the same reason. He shows Israel that God is truthful, and shows Gentiles that God is merciful. I will focus Christ the servant to Gentiles, because we are Gentile believers, and also because the rest of our text today speaks mostly about Gentiles. You need to think about our ancestors back then, back in the time of Moses, in the time of David, in the time of Jesus and of Paul. Our family lines go back that far, and I don t know how or where they were living, but it was dark. Our ancestors back then, yours and mind, were far from God. Why did Christ come? As a servant, to bring God s mercy to us, to bring us light and life, to change our whole lives around. But, some of you probably noticed, the goal here again is not just to show God s mercy to Gentiles. It is that Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy. In our Scripture today, Gentiles get three things because Christ came. We get mercy from God, we get praise to God, and we get hope in God. First, God showed us his mercy. Our ancestors were far from God, not interested in him, living dark and disobedient lives, and he had mercy on us and brought us into his family, made us a part of his special people. Christ came so this would happen. Second, God gave us praise to God. Is this a gift to us? Is praising God not a gift to God? In some ways praising God is certainly a gift we bring to God. But the Bible also assumes that praising God, thanking God, worshipping God, is a gift to people. Scripture assumes that praising God is the most satisfying and fulfilling thing we could possibly do. We were made for it. It is the best thing we could do, for our own souls and minds. Oh, we say, but it s so much work, I don t feel like it, I have so many troubles! Our text has already spoken twice about endurance, and encouragement troubles are always a part of this picture. But Paul himself, who had lots of troubles, was always looking for a reason to give thanks to God, and then giving God thanks. And he encouraged us to the same. Praising God just means that we re in good relationship with God, right relationship. God made us, feeds us, saved us, promised a great inheritance, and many other things. That s his part of the relationship. Our part is to thank him, worship him, praise him. Saying that we are made to glorify God, and saying we are made for relationship with God, and pretty much the same thing. God gave Gentiles reasons to praise him, and in invited us to praise him, and make no mistake: that is a gift to us. Christ brought us mercy from God, and he gave us praise to God.
5 Now, in vv9-12, four OT texts to show that Gentiles praising God was his plan all along. V9b - As it is written: Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name. This is from Ps 18, also 2 Samuel 22. It is David s thanks to God for helping him defeat Gentiles. David praised God in the midst of Gentiles that God helped him conquer. All the Zionist Jews at Rome loved this quote. But wait, it changes. V10 - Again, it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people. This is different. It is from the song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32, and now Gentiles rejoice with God s people, with Israel, Gentiles and Jews praise God together. So there is a progression from the first quote. In the first quote Gentiles just listened, but in v10 Gentiles and Jews praise together. V11 - And again, Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him. Here the progression goes farther. The call is just to the nations, to the Gentiles. Ps 117:1. All nations, all Gentiles, all peoples, praise God and lift him up. V12 - 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. David s father was Jesse. The root of Jesse was Isaiah s poetic way of speaking about David s descendant, the Messiah. V9a said Christ came so Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy. These four quotes from the OT show both the Jews and the Gentiles that this was God s plan all along. But the last quote changed from Gentiles praising to Gentiles hoping. Gentiles will put their hope in Christ. This was already back in 15:4 - so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. V13 - 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. The third thing Christ came to bring Gentiles was hope. In him the Gentiles will hope. Christ brought us mercy from God, he brought us praise to God, and hope in God. Verse 13 calls our God the God of hope. I m not sure I like that, because it means I m waiting for something I d rather have right now. But, again, in the Bible, hoping in God is a very good place to be. People who hope in God are fortunate already, right now, simply because they hope in God. Why is that good? Because God is faithful, he delivers. What he says he ll do, he does. He s incredibly loyal to people who ve put their trust in Jesus. If we are hoping in God, waiting on God, we have it made, because God will NOT let us down. We don t know exactly what he ll do, or when. But it s only a matter of time, God will deliver those who hope in him. If we hope in God, we have it made, this can only end superbly. May you overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit. I tend to see the Holy Spirit as the one who brings God s power and life now, all kinds of gifts now, keeps promises now. If we had more of the Spirit, we wouldn t need to hope so much.
6 Not so, people. The Spirit s power causes us to overflow with hope. The Spirit makes us confident in our future, and excited about it, full of optimism, because our God through Christ has great things in store for us. In Romans, this is the second Coming of Christ. Gentiles used to be without hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12). In the Bible, that s as black as it gets. But Christ has come, and now we have hope, because our God has made promises and always keeps them. People who hope in God will win in the End.+ Christ brought: Mercy from God. Praise to God. Hope in God. Prayer: Our Father in heaven, and you are also the God and Father of Jesus our Lord, we thank you. We praise you for your mercy to us. We praise you for buying us out of our darkness, bringing us into your family, making us your children, giving us many reasons to worship you and thank you. We praise you for giving us hope. We are waiting on you, Father, we are counting on you. Amen.