12/5/21 Romans 15:4-13 “In the Lap of Jesus!”

03 Dec 12/5/21 Romans 15:4-13 “In the Lap of Jesus!”

12/5/21  Romans 15:4-13         “In the Lap of Jesus!”

I think that this is one of the most exciting times of the year.  Our family is just finishing up a round of 4 birthdays on Tuesday.  So on Wednesday we can begin to look forward to Christmas.  And we all know that when Christmas comes we generally get presents.  We also know that this is the favorite time for kids.  I really don’t think that they are too excited about this yet because we still have almost 3 weeks until Christmas.  But I’m pretty sure that they will get much more excited the closer we get to Christmas.  I’m also sure that moms and dads and grandparents have a little different perspective on all of this.  I know that we have to go through a lot of work to get ready.  I know that we have to figure out how we are going to pay for all of these things.  I know that there can be a downside to all of this celebrating.  But we wouldn’t do it if it were not for the reward of having happy children receive their presents, or a happy spouse or brother or sister or just anyone who is special.  As I mentioned last week, why don’t you buy a gift for someone you don’t know very well or even a perfect stranger.  The end result of all our entire getting ready for Christmas is that our hopes will come true.  We all hope that this will be a great Christmas.  Hope is a wonderful thing to have.  It is because of Jesus Christ that we have hope.  He is the reason for the season and for life.  He gives us hope for all things.  If you are struggling to get through this season, then refasten yourselves to Jesus and He will get you through this.  Don’t listen to your TV sets for hope.  There is none there.  Our government gives us no hope at all.  If you want real hope, then listen to Jesus and you may never have another Christmas that you think that you can’t get through.  Today’s passage is one of hope.  Paul is trying to reach the Romans as they are losing sight of Jesus.  Let’s see if any of this is useful to us today.

I think that all of you know that I get to meet a lot of people as I travel and visit in various places.  It is always a little tricky meeting someone for the first time.  It is really helpful for me to know if they are an optimist or a pessimist.  I like to know if they think that the glass is half full or half empty.  If I know this, then it is a lot easier to have a meaningful conversation.  One of the easiest ways to find this out this is to say, “Hi, how are you?”  If I get the answer, “Terrible!  I’m catching the flu but I think that it is the bubonic plague.”  Or  “Terrible!  I just lost my job.  My whole family is in the hospital and they are repossessing the house.” Or here’s one that I used to hear once a week, “I’m pretty good for a Monday.”  If I get one of these kinds of answers I know that I really have my work cut out in this conversation.  On the other hand I knew a fellow who used to always reply, “Great! Things couldn’t be better.”  It didn’t matter how things were going in his life, this is how he answered and he meant it.  I would talk to him very differently than to someone who was so down.  Many times, the biggest difference between the optimist and the pessimist is that the optimist has a love of Jesus Christ; they have hope.

This is how Paul begins our reading today.  He tells us how we can have this love of Jesus.  He tells his readers that the Bible as they knew it was written so as to teach the people.  Remember that this is not the Bible as we know it.  It is only parts of the Old Testament.  Paul was one of the first writers of the New Testament and it would be many, many years before the New Testament was put together.  Therefore, they only had the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible.  The reason that I am putting a little emphasis on this is that the Old Testament teaches us the same as the New Testament.  As a matter of fact, the Old Testament paves the way for the New Testament and it is totally relevant.

We have a problem with our reading of either Testament today.  Many of us don’t read our Bibles so that we can learn.  I would go so far as to say that many of us don’t read our Bibles at all.  In order to hear the Word of God, then we must first read what He says in the Bible.  There is no way of getting around this.  If you haven’t done so yet, then put a time aside every day to read the Bible.  You will not regret this.

So, let’s say that you do read your Bibles.  How do you read them?  Do you read them as a history book?  Do you read them just because you are supposed to read them?  Or do you read them with the idea that you can disprove most of it?  If we are reading for these reasons, then we might as well put it down again.  There are many wrong ways to read the Bible.

We need to read our Bibles so that we get something out of it personally.  I love to read the Bible in the mornings.  I love it when God sends an idea to me through the Scripture.  You should not believe the ideas you get when reading the Bible are your own.  This is Jesus speaking to you.  This is Jesus telling you how to get out of debt.  He is telling you how to have a better marriage.  He is telling you how to be a better father or mother.  He is talking to you as you read these precious passages.  Go to this book at least once a day and read of the love that Jesus has for you.  If you want to give yourself a Christmas present that will last and be great, just set aside some time to read the Scriptures.

The next thing that Paul tells us about here is unity.  The Roman church was having a real problem in this area.  Remember that this is the capital of the Roman Empire.  The city is full of slaves, soldiers, officials of their law, government people and all the support people.  It is a big city.  It is also a pagan city.  Paul has begun a new Christian church here and it is having some trouble like all new churches.  They have people wanting to do things their way.  They have others who want to worship Jesus in addition to other gods.  There is a lot of internal turmoil.  In addition to this they have all of the usual persecution.  When I think of this, I think of all the hurt that others inflicted upon these people because they didn’t believe what the rest of the culture believed.  There sure has been a lot of anguish throughout history just so that we can meet here today.  Anyway, they lacked a sense of unity.

Have you ever been a part of a group that just had no unity?  I think that we have all been there and I also think that we all find it rather unsettling.  It is just hard to get things done.  It reminds me of this great story I read a while ago and then I forgot who told it.  Anyway it is not my story.  There was a pastor who loved to go on canoe trips.  He would try to go on at least one every year.  And every year that he went, someone would get into the canoe for the first time and it would tip over.  He even had the honor of doing this a couple of times.  Unfortunately, when this happened, they would usually be far away from anyplace so they would have to dry off while wearing their clothes.  It would be miserable.  Anyway, on one trip there was a couple who were new to canoeing.  They told everyone that they knew enough of what they were doing to be ok for the trip.  So they launched their canoe when no one was watching.  The pastor turns around and there they are in the canoe, facing opposite directions and paddling against each other.  It would have been a sight to see.  Anyway, they lacked unity until they turned around and faced the same direction.

I think that the Christian church lacks unity today.  Satan has got us fighting about all kinds of things to keep us distracted from our main job.  I really find it surprising when there is a guest and they tell me that where ever they came from, the preacher never talked much about Jesus Christ.  This just blows me away.  How can we have a Christian church and not talk about Jesus?  It is just natural for me to talk about Jesus.  If you ever got together and told me not to talk so much about Jesus, I would have to say that it would be time for me to move on.  It is just something that I have to do.

Instead of talking of the Scriptures and Jesus, more and more we find our preachers talking about topics of this world.  We would much rather talk about homosexuality or sexting or lies our government tells us than talk about the love that Jesus has for you.  Social justice is another rabbit hole we go down.  All these topics are important and we need to talk about them but we need Jesus in our hearts first.  Generally I don’t stand up here every week and try to hold a discussion.  I would rather stand here and try to tell you about Jesus and His love.

Today, Paul is trying to tell us that the unity that he is talking about is very important to us now.  Do you know of the power that you have today?  Chances are you will not be this powerful again until we meet next week in prayer.  If you think individual prayer is powerful, just think how powerful our prayer is when we pray as a group of people each time we gather.  Satan is dancing around outside today in a rage as Jesus is smiling down upon us as we pray and hold church.  When we pray as one, we have a lot of power through Jesus Christ.  Private prayer is important and you know how I feel about that.  But public prayer is also very important because of the obvious reasons plus it holds us all together.  We are one in Christ when we gather and pray.  These are powerful moments when we are together.  Don’t ever be afraid to bring prayer requests to me.

Now when we have these two things, learning from reading our Bibles and unity with one another in Christ, then we will have hope.  These Romans needed to learn this so they could pull together and they would eventually become a great leader in the early church.  But they needed to be reinforced and given hope.

If you think about it, we can’t do anything without hope.  Have you ever seen someone who has given up and has no hope?  I invite you to drive to Fargo or any city and work in one of the food kitchens for the poor.  You will see a lot of people where this kitchen is their only hope.  You will also see people who have given up and have no hope.  It is very sad to see such things and this is why there is such a need for ministry in some of these areas.  These people need to know that Jesus loves them just as much if not more than anyone else.  Some of these people have great stories to tell as to how Jesus came into their lives and helped them to turn things around.  This may take some time but hope comes as we live with Jesus in our hearts.

But we don’t even have to go to a city to see this.  We can go to our own bars in the area and see people who put their hope in alcohol.  There are others who put their hope in drugs.  They think that they can get away from their troubles for a bit by doing this.  Then the next morning they wake up and they are right back to where they were before.  These people need hope that will last and last.  These people need the hope that only comes through Jesus Christ.  Don’t be afraid to let the Holy Spirit work through you to help those who don’t know Him.

I have seen people change right here as they have attended our activities.  I have seen new people come to our services.  I have seen others return to our services.  I have seen the Holy Spirit take them and give them the message and the hope that they need.  It is the hope that is only found in Jesus.  Some people feel that it is through my preaching that new people come and stay.  I tell you that you are all wrong.  It is because of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit that all of this happens.  There are many people who could stand up here and do a great job every Sunday as long as they are filled with the message of hope through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ gets the credit for all the good things that happen here.  It is not me and it is not any of you.  It is Jesus Christ.  Through the Holy Spirit, he makes you feel good when everything is going wrong.  He helps you to get through the death of a loved one.  He helps you get through depression and despair.  I have never understood how people can say that they just can’t believe in Jesus.  It is like saying that they don’t believe in anything good, because Jesus is the cause of all good.  He makes me feel so good that there are times when I just wish I didn’t have to deal with the world, but only with Jesus.

All this reminds me of a quick story told by Randy Aly.  It seems that an ingenious teenager was getting tired of reading bedtime stories to her little sister so she decided to record several of the stories on tape.  Then she told her sister, “Now you can hear your stories anytime you want.  Isn’t that great?”  The little girl looked at the machine for a moment and then replied, “No.  It doesn’t have a lap.”

Now I don’t care how old you are or think you are.  We all need a lap once in a while.  We need the lap of love and hope. We need the lap of Jesus!  Jesus loves each and every one of you.  He will give you all the hope that you will ever need if you just come to Him.  All that He wants to do is give and give and give.  I praise the Lord for the day He first gave me life in Him.  And thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.