Romans 1:16: I am not ashamed of the Gospel!

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 05 July 2009
By Captain Michael Ramsay

Click here to read a 2014 version based on 1 Corinthians: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/05/1-corinthians-117-25-romans-1-and.html

Click here to read an abridged 2018 version: https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2018/01/romans-112-17-i-am-not-ashamed-of-gospel.html
 
Wednesday was Canada Day. I love Canada Day – (or Dominion Day as we used to call it) – I always have. You know what one of the things that I love is? I love the quizzes that come out around this time – I know, who loves quizzes but, hey, I used to be a teacher – let’s see how you do…

Who is our head of State?
What is our national animal?
What are our two national sports?
Who was the first PM of Canada?
When did Saskatchewan join confederation?
Upon what passage of scripture was Canada founded?

(answers at bottom)[1]

I also love the picnics and all the fun things to do. This past week, Susan the girls and I had the opportunity to check out the Canada Day events at the park. It was good. It was fun. It was a good break from unpacking and there was even free cake!

It is neat the way different communities celebrate Canada Day. In Nipawin – where we just came from – as part of the festivities, a preacher would be invited to conduct a service for the community at an historical church there. (Last year we had that opportunity and Susan preached a great sermon.)

Growing up in Victoria, every year we used to have a big picnic and fireworks. It is a perfect chance to see everyone. I remember one Canada Day in Victoria when Rebecca was very little. We went to some Canada Day celebrations at Fort Rodd hill (which is an old historic fort). It was fun: they had a lot of things that we could see and do from days gone past. We could see people dressed up in historical costumes. They even had various mascots dressed up like animals walking around: great for kids, right?

And there was even one person who was dressed as a tree giving balloons to the children and telling them about the environment and this tree came to say hi to us and leaned over to offer Rebecca (who was 2 at the time) a balloon and asked her, “Do you like trees?” and she answered – as sweet as can be – “not trees that talk and walk”

Young kids are great for innocently speaking their mind. They are not ashamed to speak their mind. This is actually some of what Paul is speaking about in the passage we are looking at in Romans today, Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…”

This is important and the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans is clearly an important work. World-renowned Biblical scholar, N.T. Wright, the Bishop of Durham claims that “Romans is neither a systematic theology nor a summary of Paul’s lifework, but it is by common consent his masterpiece.”[2] Romans 1:16-17 clearly states Paul’s idea of salvation[3] and so I thought this would be a good passage to begin our walk down Romans Road which we will be taking this summer because, as Susan has mentioned, we would certainly all like to feel comfortable enough to lead our friends and others to the Lord. In order to do this we can’t be ashamed of the gospel.

We are talking about being ashamed of the gospel but first can anyone tell me what the gospel is?[4] (This is important) The word gospel literally translated means ‘good news’ – it is a rendering of the Greek word euangelion, which means ‘good news’ or ‘good message’ (cf. Isa 40:9, 52:7) - so the gospel is good news. And what is this good news? The good news is that we can be saved from eternal death and damnation.[5] We can actually be bodily raised from the dead to eternal life and even more than that: it is the totality of the Christian message[6] and through the power of God we can start to experience that new life this very day! And this is good news and we should definitely not be ashamed of this!

There are some things that people are more commonly ashamed of; What are some of these other things? I know that many people are not forthcoming about their weight either because they have too much of it or, like me, not nearly enough. I know that I was caught off guard the other week when a reporter asked for my age and then he asked for my wife's age – I gave him mine. As far as Susan’s was concerned, I told him he’d have to asked Susan himself.

We can sometimes be ashamed of our mistakes as well. I was reminded the other day of a story relating to Susan and my honeymoon. On our Wedding night, we had reservations at a bed and breakfast (Abigail’s in Victoria, BC) that was a grand old building and looked just like a castle from the brochure. It was in a really neat area of the city too with a number of castle-like buildings around but none of these castles seemed to want to put their addresses where they could be easily seen so after quite a little bit of driving around we find the one that looks like the brochure and I leave the car out front and go up the main entrance in my kilt, in my full wedding regalia. I knock on the door. I tell them that we have reservations for the night. And the lady who answered says, “not here you don’t” – it is at that time that I realise that she is dressed in a Nun’s Habit…I had knocked on the door of the nunnery…an interesting place to wind up on your honeymoon. Whoops. She was kind enough to direct us to the correct castle though…this event was more than a little bit of an embarrassing mistake: one that I was at times certainly a little ashamed to tell.

I have also attended more than a few Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in my time. I can tell you that their meetings provide a very safe place for people to tell stories that we would certainly be otherwise ashamed to tell. The format for discussion there is very much like a testimony Sunday. We mention what we were like, what happened, and what we are like now. The reasons we wouldn’t want to share the stories in too many other places are twofold. 1) We wouldn’t want anyone to think that we are celebrating our sins and as a result tempt anyone else into the life of a drunkard (Dt 21:18-21; Prov 23:21, 26:9; 1 Cor 5:11, 6:10). And 2) we have changed. In many cases we are ashamed of what we have done. We are ashamed of how we were before we invited God to deliver us from our addiction but we should not be ashamed of what God is doing with us now.

This is gospel: Jesus died and rose again so that we can be free from sin. And we can be free from death. There are some people who don’t realise this yet. They aren’t yet experiencing the power of the gospel of Salvation. They live as if they are not free. It reminds me of last September.

Last September, After Hurricane Ike struck, I was asked to head down to Galveston Island in Texas as part of a team from Canada to help out with Emotional and Spiritual care.[7] More than 1 million people were saved from the hurricane and flood that followed as they obeyed the evacuation order but some refused to evacuated. No one needed to die but some refused the offered salvation and around 100 people were found dead as a direct result of Hurricane Ike. Bodies were still being found while I was down there. I spoke with people whose family members had refused the provided salvation from the storm and suffered the natural and logical consequences. It was not easy - the people knew that their loved one's rejected the salvation from the storm.

Homes were destroyed. Businesses were destroyed. The sewers, the water, and the phones were still not working when we were down there. People were housed in shelters both on and away from Galveston Island. Many still had no place to go. Power was still out in some of the parts while we were posted there. The power outage means that even for families that did not lose their stoves and refrigerators in the hurricane and the subsequent flood – and most did; there were many refrigerators destroyed and lying on the side of the road for pick up – they were unable to keep or cook any food. They didn’t have food and they didn’t have water.

Food and water: this is a big part of the salvation that the Lord provided through The Salvation Army mission down there. We had around 30 food trucks (called canteens) from which we help to serve around 75 000 hot meals every day and give the people water and ice. Ice is very important. It was around 90 F during our time there. And the food: many people told me that without The Salvation Army they wouldn’t have eaten at all. They wouldn’t have survived. We thank the Lord for the service He provided to this community through many people. We prayed for them. We continued to pray that the Lord would continue to save the people down there. Our work there was very much His saving work through us.[8] This I think is also very much a part of the totality of salvation that the Apostle Paul is speaking about in Romans 1– the real salvation for both the here and now as well as forever in Jesus’ impending, proleptic Kingdom.[9]

We were honoured and privileged to see many people saved not only from their suffering here and now but we were honoured and privileged to celebrate with people as they gave their lives to the Lord so that they could experience that salvation forever. We weren’t ashamed of the gospel, we shared the good news and some people grabbed hold of it and chose to live.[10]
In our own daily lives here - in our regular Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday lives - do we point people to that same salvation that is offered to all or are we ashamed of the Gospel? Jesus tells us that if we deny Him before men, he will deny us before God (Matt 10:33). That sounds fair.

How do we do at not being ashamed of the gospel? How do we do at being bold for the gospel (Phil 1)? As our friends or colleagues are speaking about life, do we tell them what we have heard from God or what we have read in the Bible? When someone shares their struggles with us do we share with them the strength to persevere that is offered through Jesus Christ? If we feel that God is prompting us to ‘lead someone to Christ’ – do we do it? I have one friend of mine who didn’t. The next day he heard that fellow he was ashamed to share the gospel with died. No more chances.

There is even more than this - of course - because Salvation is about the future but it is also about the present. We were missionaries in Vancouver’s infamous Downtown Eastside a few years ago; Salvation is this: Can you imagine if you have a friend who is living on the street? He is very poor and suffering from various illnesses and struggles through the most painful of lives thinking that he is all-alone. Now, imagine that you know his father. Imagine that you know that his father wants your friend to come home and live with him because his father was very well off and in his father’s house there are many, many rooms (John 14:2). Imagine that you know his father’s first born – his only truly begotten. Imagine that he told you to invite him home and imagine that you don’t and your friend lives out his whole life alone and sick. Imagine that you didn’t share this information because you were afraid? Imagine that you didn’t share this information because you were ashamed? Imagine if every time you saw your friend it became harder and harder to share the good news of his father that loves him because you were too embarrassed to admit that you hadn’t told him yet? Imagine if he suffers and dies and you didn’t remind him on every possible occasion that there is another way, that he could have turned to his father and lived. If that happens, what kind of friends are we?

This is what it is like. When Christ returns it will be like a thief in the night (Matt 24:42-44). The time and the hour is unknown (Matt 25:1-13) but we know it is coming and he is coming to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42, 2 Tim 4:1, 1 Pet 4:5) and some will go off to eternal happiness and some to hearing weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Luke 13:28). To know this is good news, believe it or not. It is like when the hurricane struck Galveston Island. Even though 100 people chose to stay behind and perished, even though we met with, spoke with and prayed with people whose family members chose to reject salvation from the hurricane. The people knew it was coming, they had a choice, and as a result thousands of others were saved.

Can you imagine if the news announcers were so ashamed of the fact the hurricane was coming that they didn’t share information that it was coming? Can you imagine if the meteorologists were so ashamed of the fact that they did not know the exact time and hour the hurricane was going to strike that they didn’t tell anybody? Can you imagine if your neighbour knew that the hurricane was coming and she evacuated but she never told you because she was ashamed because she couldn’t explain exactly what, why, where, how, and when the hurricane was coming? Can you imagine the horror as you look up to see your life being swept away – and no one ever told you how to be saved because they were ashamed?

Well, there is no need to be ashamed: an eschatological hurricane is coming and it is a lot more dangerous than Hurricane Ike. There are people in this city here today who are sleeping in their beds or watching their TVs right now who have no idea that the end is coming. There are people like the homeless man of our earlier analogy who are living their life away from the shelter of our Heavenly Father’s house when he wants nothing more than to have them safely at his side. There are people out there who are lost and just waiting for us to point them to salvation.

So today, let us do that. Today let us be like the rescue workers who go around pointing people to safety. None of us know when our lives are going to end. We may be taken tomorrow. None of us know when the Lord is returning and bringing with him the end to our world. But, like the weatherman watching the storm, we do know that the things of this earth are going to pass away (Matt 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33, Rev 21:1) and it is our job to share with everyone we meet the good news of the way to salvation so that they do not need to perish but instead can experience the full power of God for Salvation.

It is our responsibility to share the Gospel for, indeed, the Gospel is the power of God for all to be saved both now and forever. To this end then, I encourage us all to look for opportunities to share the good news of salvation in the upcoming weeks here so that all of us here may turn to God and experience the full power of His Salvation.

Let us Pray.

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[1] Answers: Queen Elizabeth II, the Beaver, Lacrosse and Hockey, Sir John A. MacDonald, 1905, Psalm 72.
[2] N.T. Wright, The Letter to the Romans (NIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 395.
[3] Michael Ramsay, 'The Good News of Romans: Paul and the Gospel and Salvation (Romans 1:16-17)', Presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Winter 2007). Available on-line: http://sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Paul,%20the%20Gospel%20and%20Salvation
[4] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p. 47: “The gospel is not merely the initial proclamation of Christ which wins converts, but is the whole Christian message and claim in terms of the rest of the letter.”
[5] Cf. Don Garlington, “A ‘New Perspective’ Reading of Central Texts in Romans 1-4,” Prepared for Evangelical Theological Society: 15 August 2006. Cited 20 02 2007. Online: http://www.thepaulpage.com/Rom1-4.pdf.12. and James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p.39.
[6] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p.45.
[7] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay,' 2 Corinthians 9:12-15: Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift! (Hurricane Ike relief)' Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 October 2008 and the Rotary Club of Nipawin, October 2008. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/10/2-corinthians-912-15-thanks-be-to-god.html
[8] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p. 47
[9] Cf. Joel B Green. ‘The Gospel of Luke’. NICNT. Vol. 3. (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), p. 25.
[10] The term translated ‘salvation’ has a range of meaning from ‘bodily health, preservation, and safety (cf. e.g., Mark 5:23,28,34; 6:56; 10:52; Acts 27:34), to – as is frequently the case in the Psalms and Isaiah - deliverance from peril and restoration to wholeness. God’s righteousness here is linked with the provided salvation. (cf. e.g., Pss 35:27-28; 72:1-4; 85:9-13; 96:13; 98:2-3, 9; Isa 9:7; 11:1-2; 45:8, 22-25; 51:5-6; 53:10b-11; 61:1-2, 11; Jer 23:5-6; Mal 4:2). Don Garlington, “A ‘New Perspective’ Reading of Central Texts in Romans 1-4,” Prepared for Evangelical Theological Society: 15 August 2006. Cited 20 02 2007. Online: http://www.thepaulpage.com/Rom1-4.pdf.12 :“In other Psalm texts, it is surely striking that the psalmist prays for the Lord to deliver him in his righteousness (Ps 31:1; 143:1, 11; 71:1-2, 15; cf. 79:9). In these instances, deliverance from the enemy is the godly person’s salvation.”