A LIFE OF SERVICE
Romans 15:1-13
The
book of Romans presents the freedom that we have in Christ. It is a freedom from sin and a freedom from
ceremonial obligation. It is also a
freedom to serve. That is what Tim
Keller calls the “upside down” aspect of the kingdom. We don’t usually equate freedom with
service. We tend to think just the
opposite. We tend to think that, if you
are free, then you do not have to serve.
We tend to think that, if you are free, that means others are there to
serve you.
There
is a point to that. The reason you are
free is because there is One who performed the
greatest possible deed of service in your behalf. The holy Son of God left heaven’s splendor to
come and serve you. Now He calls you to
go and to do the same to others. Being
united to Christ is a call to come and to serve.
SERVICE
TO OTHERS
Now
we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and
not just please ourselves. 2 Let each
of us please his neighbor for his good, to his edification. (Romans 15:1‑2).
These
two verses give a summation of everything Paul has been describing in the
previous chapter. In that chapter, he
called for the strong to stop judging the weak and for the weak to stop judging
the strong. He also called for the
strong to be ready to limit their liberty for the weak so as not to offend or
to be the cause of stumbling for a weak believer.
Now
the strong believer is called to do even more.
Rather than being called merely to refrain from causing the weak
believer to stumble, the strong believer is called to actually bear up and
support and edify and build up the weak believer.
I
worked for many years in the fire-rescue service. It was my job to respond to emergency scenes
and to help people who were in need. I
didn’t get there and say, “You folks need to be stronger so that I can stay
back at the station and play checkers.”
No, my whole reason for being in that profession was to bear the
weaknesses of those who were in need.
The
Christian is called to grow and to be strong, not just so that he can look in a
mirror and admire his spiritual muscles, but so that he can be of help and of
service to those who are not strong. We
are to be in the construction business — the business of building up other
believers.
The
problem is that we live in the age of personal gratification. Paul says that we are not to just please
ourselves and this stands in contrast to a world system that says, “Please yourself!”
THE
EXAMPLE OF CHRIST’S SERVICE
3 For even
Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, "The reproaches of
those who reproached Thee fell upon Me." 4 For whatever was written in
earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and
the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:3‑4).
Notice
the flow of thought as it continues from verse 1. It is seen in the repetition of the word
“please.”
|
Verse 1 |
Verse 2 |
Verse 3 |
|
We are not to
be only pleasing ourselves |
We are to
please our neighbor for his good |
Even Christ did
not please Himself |
Our
example is Jesus. His entire earthly
ministry was about serving others. He
was not born to enjoy pleasures. He
could have continued to enjoy all the pleasure of heaven by staying there and
by not coming to earth. But He
determined to serve others rather than His own pleasures. Instead of a life of relaxation and
self-gratification, Christ chose to take the reproaches of the world upon Himself. He did that
for us. He did that to be of service to
us.
Paul
cites an Old Testament passage that was Messianic in its scope. If you look back to the Old Testament, you
will find that this same concept of the Messiah coming to serve others and to
please them instead of pleasing Himself is an Old Testament concept. The quote is taken from Psalm 69:9.
For zeal for Thy house has consumed me,
And the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have
fallen on me. (Psalm 69:9).
John
2:17 tells us that after Jesus cleansed the temple of the moneychangers and
those buying and selling, the disciples recalled this passage as being a
picture of the zeal that was demonstrated in Jesus. From that same Psalm, Paul focuses upon the
second stanza and notes that it is also a picture of Jesus.
There
are those who look at such Psalms and sayings in the Old Testament and do not see
Jesus there. Some scholars are quick to
point out that Psalm 69 is a Psalm of David and that the experiences described
therein are David’s experiences. I
agree. But there is more to the Psalm
than only the experiences of David. It
also foreshadows and looks forward to the greater Son of David. It looks forward to Jesus and that tells me
something about the Old Testament. It
tells me that whatever was written in earlier times was written for our
instruction. The Old Testament is
not a closed book to us and it is not a useless book to us. It exists for our instruction and we ought to
read it for our instruction because it tells us about Jesus and it teaches us
to hope for what will take place in the future.
The
central message of the gospel is summed up in the statement that the
reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me. The gospel tells us how the anger of man
against God was brought to a head and placed upon Christ and that this was
accomplished as the ultimate work of service on our behalf because it was that
very reproach that God used to atone for our sins.
|
Man’s Action |
God’s Action |
|
Put Jesus on the cross as a
sign of their hatred of God |
Took the action of Jesus on
the cross to become the salvation of men |
|
An act of hate |
An act of love |
Paul
has already noted that it was while we were enemies of God that Christ died to
save us. Now he shows that the very
thing that was meant as an act of hatred against God was used by God for our
salvation.
A
PRAYER FOR UNITY
5 Now may
the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same
mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; 6
that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:5‑6).
|
Someone wrote a book a few
years ago about the Prayer of Jabez and it
became a best seller because its focus was on what you can get from God. By contrast, this prayer has as its focus
what you are to do for others. |
Verses
5 and 6 are given in the form of a prayer.
This is Paul’s prayer for the Romans.
At the end of this chapter, he will ask the Romans to pray for him
(15:30-31), but for the time being, he prays for them. Paul’s prayer is directed to the God who gives perseverance and encouragement. There is a
reason that God is described in such a way.
He is described this way because we, His followers and worshipers, are
also to be in the business of giving perseverance and encouragement.
Paul
prays that the Lord might make his readers at
This
unity of mind is to be according to Christ Jesus. The reason we can be of the same mind is that
we have the mind of Christ and we are to think as Christ thinks. That is an important distinction. Too often, we see Christians who are busy
browbeating other Christians to get them to think their way. But if we take on the mind of Christ, we will
all start thinking together without having to engage in such activity.
What
is the mind of Christ? How do we hold to
the same mind according to Christ? We determine
to take the attitude and actions of a servant, even as Christ took the role of
a servant. We seek to build up the
CHRIST’S
SERVICE TO THE GENTILES
7
Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of
God
8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the
circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the
fathers, 9 and for
the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, "Therefore I
will give praise to Thee among the Gentiles, And I will sing to Thy
name." 10 And
again he says, "Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people." 11 And again, "Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him." 12 And again Isaiah says, "There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the
Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope." (Romans 15:7‑12).
This
section begins with a command. It is a
command to accept one another. Do
you see what has happened? Paul prayed
in verses 5-6 that God would grant the Roman believers to be of the same mind
and now, on the basis of that prayer, he commands them that they accept one
another.
|
Romans 15:5-6 |
Romans 15:7 |
|
May God grant
that you be of the same mind |
Accept one
another, acting as though you were of the same mind |
Part
of this need for mutual acceptance came from the diverse backgrounds of those
within the church. It was made up of men
and women, slaves and free, poor and rich.
Yet the greatest social barrier was not any of these. The greatest social barrier was the one that
existed between Jew and Gentile. It is
for this reason that Paul goes to considerable lengths at this point to explain
how the coming of the Gentiles into the church was always a part of God’s plan
and program. He introduces this idea in
verses 8-9:
|
The serving ministry of
Jesus was to... |
|
|
The Jews |
The Gentiles |
|
He became a servant to the
circumcision on behalf of the truth by confirming the promises given to the
fathers... |
Those promises given to the
fathers told of how the Gentiles would come to glorify God. |
The
fact that the Gentiles would come to glorify God and become part of the church
was promised, at least in part, in the Old Testament. That means the action of Jesus in bringing Gentiles
into the church was a service that God was doing on behalf of the Jews because
it was a part of keeping that Old Testament promise to the Jews.
Paul
quotes four different Old Testament passages in rapid succession to show how
the Old Testament promised that the Gentiles would become part of God’s chosen
people.
|
Psalm 18:49 |
Therefore I
will give thanks to Thee among the nations, O LORD, And I will sing praises to Thy name. |
|
Deuteronomy 32:43 |
Rejoice, O
nations, with His people! |
|
Psalm 117:1 |
Praise the
LORD, all nations; Laud Him, all peoples! |
|
Isaiah 11:10 |
Then it will
come about in that day That the
nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will
stand as a signal for the peoples; And His
resting place will be glorious. |
The
point Paul makes by quoting these four passages is that a part of the Old
Testament promise to the fathers for the coming Messianic kingdom was to be
that this kingdom would involve the Gentiles coming to praise and worship the
Lord.
A
HOPEFUL BENEDICTION
Now
may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may
abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13).
The
previous verse ended with a reference to hope.
It spoke of the root of Jesse, a reference to Jesus, and how in Him
shall the Gentiles hope. Paul picks
up that same thread as he gives a benediction from the God of hope. That is a wonderful title for God.
|
As oxygen is to the body, so is hope to the soul. Hope is like a trapeze artist who hopes the
hands will be there to catch him.
There is a confident assurance as he lets go his secure perch and
flies through the air, but there is also a momentary gap as he hurtles
through the air and just prior to the connection of the hands of safety and
security. It is in that time of
hurtling that you find hope. — TJ
Campo |
Hope
is a part of our Christian faith.
Indeed, hope has been defined as faith in the future tense. We have faith in what Christ has accomplished
in the past, we have faith in God’s work in the present, and we look in hope to
that which He will bring about in the future.
Paul
gives a benediction here. It is given in
the form of a prayer. He has already
prayed for the believers at
|
God of Hope |
(Would do...) |
That you would abound in hope |
|
How does He do this? |
What
does the God of hope do that results in you abounding
in hope? He fills you with all joy
and peace in believing. That is
merely a shorthand way of saying that He fills you with His Holy Spirit so that
this same Spirit bears the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
|
God of Hope |
Fills you with His Spirit |
That you would abound in hope |
|
Results in the fruit of the Spirit |
Do
you want to be filled with hope in this hopeless world? You don’t get hope by trying to be
hopeful. You get it by being filled with
the Spirit and you get it as a byproduct of the Holy Spirit working in and
through you as you serve others.
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