Bible Passage: Romans 10:12-17
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: February 6, 2022

Bulletin February 6, 2022

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

You’ve got this friend.  Let’s just say his name is “George.”  You like George.  Pleasant fella.  Always nice to talk to.  But one thing bothers you about George.  Over time, it has become obvious to you from comments he has made that George does not believe in Jesus.

This really bothers you.  Because you don’t just like George; you love him.  And I am not speaking now about romantic love, I am referring to Christian love.  You can’t help it.  It’s the way we Christians are.  You want George to go to heaven!  You have never even once thought about George’s ethnicity – couldn’t care less! – but in the back of your mind you know the truth of our text:  There is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord is Lord of all, who gives generously to all who call on him.  Yes, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (v. 12-13)  You want George to “call” on the name of the Lord!  You want George to take on his  lips the precious name of Jesus.  You want George to “call” on that name in confession, in prayer, in praise, in witness.  You want George to  be saved.

At this point, Paul wants to ask you a question.  How can they call on the one they have not believed in? (v. 14)  That’s a great point!  How can George call on Jesus if he doesn’t believe in Jesus?  How can George pray to Jesus if he doesn’t believe that Jesus is God’s Son who can answer prayer?  Why would George open a hymnal and belt out “Beautiful Savior” or “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” if he doesn’t believe that Jesus is his beautiful Savior or his living Redeemer?  Why would George open his mouth and tell others about Jesus if he himself doesn’t believe the news he shares?  It is a fact:  they cannot call on the one they have not believed in.

This leads to another question:  How can they believe in the one about whom they have not heard? (v. 14)  Paul raises another excellent point!  How can George believe that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, lived for him, died on the cross for him, and rose from the dead on the third day for him, if he has never heard the story of how Jesus Christ, God’s Son, lived for him, died on the cross for him, and rose from the dead on the third day for him?  People do not come into this world with their brains “pre-populated” with the stories of Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter.  George needs to hear!

Ready for another question from Paul?  How can they hear without a preacher? (v. 14)  George needs a preacher!  And when we hear the word preacher, we needn’t imagine that Paul here has in mind a man in a white robe with a stole around his neck who has attended Seminary.  The word Paul uses for “preacher” is a word that simply means “one who proclaims or announces something.”  George needs someone who will open their mouth and talk to him.  Whether that person wears a white robe on Sunday mornings, or they come wearing blue jeans on Thursday afternoon makes little difference.  George needs a “preacher,” an “announcer,” a “proclaimer.”

Question:  How can they preach unless they are sent? (v. 15)  When I hear this verse, I think about one of those military planes filled with paratroopers.  Every one of them is loaded with gear and hooked to the parachute line.  When they are finally over the drop zone, the order comes to “Jump!”  What good would it do if none of them jumped?  What good would it do this world if all of those who are “loaded” with the Good News of Jesus just sit here together with our bags packed, but we never jump?  We have been sent into the world with good news!  Perhaps it would be good for us to hear our great commission from our Great Commissioner once again:  Go and make disciples of all nations… (Matthew 28:19-20)

Can you imagine how beautiful that must look to people who are in an occupied war zone when they look up and see the sky filled with paratroopers floating down to rescue and liberate them?  Paul uses similar language.  Except he doesn’t talk about parachutes, he talks about feet.  How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, who preach the gospel of good things! (v. 15)  Feet.  Those are the things we use to get us from here to there.  Those are the things you can use to get from here to George.  To the casual observer, your feet may be knobby with bunions and kind of gross.  But if you are the one who brings peace to George’s heart and soul by bringing him Jesus, those feet are the most beautiful thing in the world!

Paul summarizes the whole thing this way:  So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ. (v. 17)  So simple, isn’t it?   Faith comes as a result of hearing the message about Jesus Christ.  What a comfort that is for us who have been sent, right?  Faith doesn’t come from science, logic, persuasion, evidence, cleverness, humor, eloquence, personality, brilliance, or quality of presentation.  Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through the word of Christ. 

I don’t know if there really is a “George” in your life.  If there is, if you are like most, the thought of telling George about Jesus scares you, maybe a little.  Maybe it scares you a lot…to the point of paralysis!  If that is so, let us take our timidness, our “quietism,” to the cross.  There is the one who lived boldly for us.  There is the one who dies boldly for us! There is Jesus being everything you ought to be.  There at the cross we will begin to find the boldness we seek to talk to George.

And remember the grace of God in your life.  Somewhere along the line, someone was sent to you.  And their beautiful feet brought the gospel to you.  Maybe they were feet attached to a preacher in a white gown who stood by a font as he applied water to your head in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Maybe they were different feet.  But they were beautiful feet, because they brought you good news of peace and the gospel of good things.  They brought you Jesus!  And through that message, you have faith and salvation.  Remembering God’s grace to you, look at George.  Poor George cannot by his own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, his Lord, or come to him.  Now look at your feet.  Can they, will they, be beautiful for George?

Amen.

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