Romans 15
When clouds form and darken around us whether that is the economy, job security, family issues, we easily gravitate to the question, ‘how will this affect me?’ It is the natural response to first think that way and Paul is stepping on the brakes and saying no, we can’t keep thinking that way. We who are in the ‘strong’ position need to lead by example and be the first to respond. It is followers of Jesus who are known to be on the ground running when a crisis hits. One CBC reporter wrote about his recent travels to places where there have been natural disasters that stated I just want to go somewhere that Christians haven’t been the first to arrive. We have a reputation to uphold, a rallying cry from our Saviour to manifest endurance and encouragement giving way to hope. We are agents of hope in a world that can so easily become insulated and isolated.
We have to keep fighting that same mentality that says, ‘Well it doesn’t affect me personally so it is not my issue.’
When I was in Jerusalem, our group visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and Ran, our tour guide shared about the perpetrators, the victims and the bystanders.
Hope only rises up as we
1. Transfer the WEIGHT to Christ v1-4
Have you ever tried to reach out, do the right thing and then had your motives questioned?
Or maybe you were the one in your family who has been turned into scapegoat after you reached out to bring mediation or tried to break the code of silence.
It could be your very faith that has got you into all this hot water because you spoke out.
Public Enemy #1
Most of us easily carry insults, pain, mistakes longer than affirmation, blessing and triumphs. We are more prone to negativity and sometimes it is really hard just letting go. We get the fact that God forgives us, but we don’t forgive ourselves. The tendency is to replay the scenario again and again
Jesus often stood between hostile parties as a mediator and absorbed so many insults. He was slandered and came under viscous attacks. He was misunderstood, mistreated all the while still reaching out and holding the olive branch. He was accused falsely and remained silent and ultimately was crucified on a cross as a Lamb led to slaughter.
‘Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us’
There are times when the last inclination in your body is to grab your Bible and to try to figure out God, what is it that you want me to learn through this process? However, it is at that most difficult point of acceptance that we are always on the verge of a great spiritual breakthrough.
Then notice that it is not just about learning although insights and a fresh revelation of God is always welcome but there is great encouragement and endurance found right in that place as well. This is the attitude of a follower of Jesus, this is the modus operandi of someone who has really laid the burden down at the foot of the cross.
It is often during the times that we are discouraged, that we are tempted to despair and we easily become impatient and try to solve the problem ourselves by our own devices.
So, when God speaks to me through His Word, hope springs up and it gives me encouragement in the midst of the defeat and frustrations and difficulties.
You can really live in a posture of hope through the strength that comes from being right here –under the Word. There are really two ways to read the Word – under and over. The Pharisees were all over the Word. We must come under the authority of the Word on our lives and when we do we will slowly take on the mindset of Christ.
Conversely when you neglect the presence of the Word in your life, your will be so easily drawn into discouragement and despair.
The clearest indication for me personally when I get into that ‘woe is me’ spot is when I grab my journal and notice that the page is blank.
The fact is that God is always wanting to speak to us, but the question is are we willing to take the time to listen?
2. Become INTERDEPENDENT and really rely on each other v5-12
• We are people of reconciliation because God ultimately reconciled us to Himself and that is why we commit to living in a spirit of unity.
That means that I will go to bat for you in your absence. I will stand up for you and not let people drag your name through the mud.
It also means that I will call you on your ‘bad behaviour’ before I complain to everyone else about it.
• Accept one another just as Christ accepted you. We are called to receive each other and respect each other
An inability to forgive displays a lack of understanding of the price paid so that we could go free. When we allow ourselves to be dragged into a spirit of destructive competition, we can really get ugly.
Leave the comparison game to the reality TV shows. Let’s be free of the power struggles, the jealousy and coveting that destroys human relationships.
Here’s another great question on the whole area of acceptance. Do you see people in the process of becoming something better, namely more Christ-like or do you see them as bound by their past, namely, what they have said or haven’t said to you or what they have done or haven’t done to you.
Practically speaking, do you carry a ‘sanctified grudge’ against someone? It is so easy to stereotype others. We can so easily pigeon hole people by saying well, that person is ‘so into themselves’ or they are so ‘unreliable, you can’t depend on them to follow through’. But let me remind you that this is the way of religion because religion puts people into boxes and judges them by who they are, not by what they can become. Religion is the way of rules and it cements certain opinions about people, but real Christianity deals in ‘potential’. It is all about what God is doing in a person, that is the heart of the gospel. If God always dealt with us in regards to our performance, He would never have sent Christ to die for us.
God loves us. He sees us as people of great worth, incredible value and so much untapped potential. He forgives and He keeps on forgiving. He is always looking for the opportunity to really show up when we jump on the opportunity to speak these very things through us into people’s lives.
It is what Gary Thomas refers to as ‘God -sight’
He writes God-sight begins with humility – I deserve hell but God has chosen to spare me – and then gets seasoned by gratitude, shaped by awe and maintained by reverence. Because of what God has done for me, I cannot look at others in quite the same way I once did.... It gives us fresh hope and beautiful glimpses of what is possible through God. Human eyes can be blinded by fear, pessimism and shame.
So, when was the last time we looked at our children that way and thought about their future that way? Do we hold them back because of our spiritual blindness or do we launch them into hope because we can see what they can become by God’s transforming presence.
How do you see Junior Highs?
When we only look at people through human eyes we can easily become cynical of even their best efforts but when we see them with God behind them and in them, it changes all that.
We have a wonderful ministry here that is reaching out to many youth in our community thanks to the efforts of Sam, Lori, Marcia and my son Jordan who has self-labelled himself our assistant youth leader. He has taken his role as icebreaker and mixer guy very seriously. It has been awesome to hear of two of those students who have come to faith in Jesus this week and another one just a few weeks earlier. It is because our leaders see their potential in Christ that changes everything!
Think about the people that have surprised you because of how God has changed their life and encourage them this week. You can be part of the Holy Spirit’s work in bringing endurance and encouragement to their souls!
3. BELIEVE and RECEIVE the power of signs and miracles through the Holy Spirit. v13-19
Miracles are the intervention of the supernatural into the natural.
Rylan’s class is anxiously awaiting soon to be butterflies that have gone through the process of chrysalis. The incredibly intricacy and beauty of that in itself is a miracle.
When I was with Phil in Nepal a few years back I came to a church where they were celebrated God’s incredible miraculous work through bringing one of their own back to life. I have shared in phenomenal stories like this and I also want to not forget the greatest miracle...a transformed life!
We celebrated Sharon’s 39th on Friday night and had friends from all of our places of ministry and it was amazing to reflect on how God has done incredible things in them
They are the living proof of transformation that cannot be denied. They reveal the unmistakeable fingerprint of God on His children and their formation into Christlikeness.
The greatest miracle of all is a life transformed by God and it is that precisely that we want to be boasting about.
Go to where God is moving. Feed your holy discontent. Expose yourself to people who have seen God move in supernatural ways.
The Takeaway
Hope is the overflow of endurance through the Word and encouragement of the Holy Spirit releasing the supernatural into our lives.
Hope was never meant to be a static thing. The desire of God for our lives is that we will continue to grow in the overflow of our lives. It is discovering just how deep the well really is within us and the importance of how it can flood over into the lives of others in intensity, depth and proportion.
Questions For Discussion
1. How does God speak to you? How can you listen more clearly?
2. How is your God-sight? Can you see people for what they are becoming rather than for who they are?
3. Are you able to identify someone that you ‘need to go to bat for’? What practical things can you do to really make your presence felt?
4. Reflect on someone who has ‘surprised’ you spiritually. Seek them out , encourage them and discover their modus operandi!
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