Sunday, April 15, 2012

What's Your Passion?


(These are the sermon notes for 4/15/12)
Romans 9.1-5
(Intro example of boy's offering, Arkansas fans, diamondback plate on church bus, preaching)
We all have something we are passionate about. But what happens if our passion is misunderstood?
To this point, imagine what the casual observer is thinking, or hearing: Paul, an Apostle to the Gentiles.  The overall message is that the Law of Moses counts for nothing in the grand scheme, in fact, should be set aside. A battle of tradition. There are no more laws, instead there is total freedom. Has Paul turned his back on his upbringing? Has he rejected Judaism? The tone of the letter suggests this is what motivated Paul to begin chapter 9 as he does. He gives a passionate stance on Judaism. Listen for that passion as we read the passage.
From Paul, I learned that passion, his passion for the salvation of the Jews, motivated him. Of course, this isn’t in the text, but in harmony with the book of Acts, with his confession as a preacher. As we know, Paul was zealous for the faith in Judaism. He was the point man at Stephen’s execution. He tells the Philippians that in his zeal he persecuted the church, as for legalism, he was perfect. (3.6)  He was misguided. Then he saw the light.
From there, Jesus redirected Paul’s energies. His focus became proclaiming Jesus to first the Jew and then to the Gentile. Paul would tell the church of Corinth that though he could demand to earn his living from preaching, he won’t. That’s not his motivation. Christ was his focus. Seeing souls come to Christ was his reward. (1C 9.16) He goes on telling how committed he is.
Now to achieve this, he became all things to all men. His focus is that when he would enter a community, he would first go to the synagogue to preach. Acts 13.4 and then 13, Paul arrives at Cyprus, enters the synagogue, then in Paphos, again does the same. Time and again, Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles would seek first the Jew. The exception was in Philippi where there was no synagogue. Lydia became his first convert there.
So studying Paul’s life, and his writings, we see that this is something that he took quite personally. Why? Because, this from our text, verses 3-5, God chose the people of Israel to bless in all accounts. They have the promise of salvation, the first to be adopted, the glorious works of God, and finally the lineage of the Savior of the World. All God did for our salvation, to restore the fellowship, he used the people of Israel, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. And for God to so bless one people above all others, his own kin in many cases, it hurts to see them turn their backs on Christ.
But alas, Paul did what he could, preaching, sharing, loving them. Some were saved, but many were not. He knew he couldn’t replace Jesus, though he’d make the same sacrifice if it’d help. One cannot look at Paul and say he lacked passion for his fellow Jews. Do we?
No, I am not talking Israel, though next week, we will look at their role, and their future role in events of the human journey. What I am drawing is correlation between Israel and the USA. We are, if I may be arrogant, the new Israel as far as having been a nation to enjoy a hedge of protection, of God’s favor. Our culture is based on biblical interpretation. We look to the betterment of our neighbor, or we once did.
The Church of the USA has done more to advance the Gospel than any other nation during that time period years gone by. Now let’s draw closer to home. Arkansas is in the middle of what is called the Bible Belt. One might expect people to know more about Christ than anywhere else, at least more so than in California, Arizona or even New York. Yet the churches are seeing a negative growth. People are leaving faster than they are coming. I don’t care what label you put on the building. It’s true for every church in this county.
Why? This is happening because people see the church as irrelevant. Our “Christian” radio stations and other media aren’t helping in this. Example: Person “coming to Christ” not encouraged to plug into local church. Station is church.
But let’s focus right now. Let us be sure that our aim isn’t to fill our seats. That’s what God will do when we carry out the mission. When we meet here, it’s so we can corporately give thanks to God, to break bread, to be encouraged by the Word to live this week by His strength. Our focus during the week is to be spreading the Gospel, to share God’s love to a hurting world.
Our motivation is that we should be moved by the state that we are in, the rampant increase in immorality, the rapid decrease in respect for God as well as His children. Our motivation is that our children, nieces, nephews, parents and siblings are headed for hell and we might be the only ones who can stop them.
And in that light, it makes it very personal. It’s not just our families. It’s also our friends. It’s our neighbors in the next apartment or across the lawn or down the highway. It is those who we interact with on a daily basis.
The only way that the church, that you and I can make a difference in this world for God is to develop the passion for our immediate world as Paul had for the people of Israel. Only then, only when God’s love flows through us will people see our message. Only then will people call on the name of the Lord. Is this your passion?

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