This summer four men from our church will be
traveling to Uganda to work with Curt and Dede Iles for the purpose of
identifying an unreached people group for our church to begin working
with. This will be the first of
hopefully many trips to this part of the world in an effort to see God use us
to make disciples and plant churches among a people group who are unreached (meaning that less that 2% of
their population is evangelical Christian) and unengaged (meaning that there is no known effort to reach them with
the gospel). I’d like to take the time
today to lay a Biblical foundation for why this missionary effort is so
important from Romans 15:17-24.
In Romans
15:17-24, Paul shared his ambition to preach the gospel of Christ among
those who have never heard. His ambition
reveals a passion for the fame of Christ’s name among the nations. Paul would say in Romans 1:5 that he and the other apostles had “received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith
for the sake of his name among the nations.” John Stott makes the following comments on this
passage: “The highest of missionary
motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is),
nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive
is, especially when we contemplate the wrath of God…), but rather zeal –
burning and passionate zeal – for the glory of Jesus Christ… Only one
imperialism is Christian…and that is concern for His Imperial Majesty Jesus
Christ, and for the glory of His Empire.”
“We should be “jealous” …for the honor of his name
– troubled when it remains unknown, hurt when it is ignored, indignant when it
is blasphemed. And all the time anxious
and determined that it shall be given the honor and glory which are due to it.”[1] This
same passion should burn in the heart of every believer in Jesus Christ. All believers should possess a passion for
the fame of Christ’s name among the nations, especially those who have never
heard. My prayer is that God would use
this passage to fan such a flame for His fame in our hearts today.
[17] In
Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. [18] For
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished
through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, [19] by
the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from
Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of
the gospel of Christ; [20] and thus I make it my ambition to preach the
gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's
foundation, [21] but as it is written, “Those who have never been
told of him will see, and those who
have never heard will understand.”
[22] This
is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.
[23] But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions,
and since I have longed for many years to come to you, [24] I hope to see
you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you,
once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
(Romans 15:17-24 ESV)
Here is what I want to consider from this passage
today: What does a passion for the
fame of Christ’s name among the nations look like? This passage reveals that such a passion
surfaces in two ways in our lives.
I.
A People with a Sacred Pride (17-21)
The first way in which passion for the fame of
Christ’s name among the nations surfaces in our lives is in making us a people
with a sacred pride. Paul says in verse
17 that he has reason in Christ to be proud of his work for God.
Now it may seem strange to use language like pride in such a positive
sense, but upon further investigation, we see that we have to make a
distinction in this passage between sacred pride and sinful pride. Paul’s pride is not in himself or what he has
done, but in what Christ has
accomplished through him (18). It is right to be proud of God! It is right to
boast in knowing God (Jeremiah 9:23-24). It is right to boast in the cross of Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14).
What was this work that Christ had accomplished
that Paul was so proud of? He describes
it in two ways in this passage. He first
describes this work as bringing the
Gentiles to obedience by the power of the Spirit of God (18-19a). Notice how conversion is described here: as
bringing others to obedience. Conversion is spoken of this way because in true
conversion people receive new hearts that are inclined to obey God (Ezekiel 36:26-27),
and this is part of what disciple making is: teaching people to obey Jesus’ commands (Matthew 28:19-20). Paul also describes this work that Christ has
accomplished through him as the preaching
of the gospel where Christ has yet to be named (20). By “named,”
Paul means among people who have yet to call
upon Jesus’ name for salvation (Romans 10:13). This is another reason why I call this a
passion for the fame of Christ’s name among the nations.
Because this is a passion for the fame of God’s
name and not our own, success will always result in proper boasting and a
sacred pride if it is present. This is the
Christian life: a life of constant dependence upon God and of constant
rejoicing over and boasting in what God is accomplishing in us and through
us! Are you boasting in what God is
doing in your life? Does anything come
to mind? Perhaps is because you are not
depending upon Him for anything and you are not concerned about the fame of His
name in your life. You have to be
concerned about the fame of His name in your own life if you are ever going to
be concerned about it among the nations.
And true passion for His name leads to a desperation for His power and a
sacred pride over what He accomplishes.
II.
A People with a Sacred Ambition (19-22)
The second way in which passion for the fame of
Christ’s name among the nations surfaces in our lives is in making us a people
with a sacred ambition. Paul says that
his ambition is to preach the gospel of Christ where Christ has yet to be named
so that he is not building upon another’s foundation. Notice right away that this passage is
describing two types of gospel work. There is (1) the work of laying a foundation
and there is (2) the work of building upon a foundation.
Paul’s words here do not mean that the second type
of work is not important. Passages like 1 Corinthians 3:5-10 teaches that both
foundational work and the work of building upon that foundation are important,
and also that God ultimately is the builder of the church. Paul is simply stating here that his primary
ambition here is the foundational, pioneering type work. As a matter of fact, it is precisely because others were building upon Paul’s
foundation that Paul could say he didn’t have “any room for work” from Jerusalem to Illyricum (23). Paul’s foundational work in his missionary
journeys was to plant church planting churches where disciple-making disciples
would be made in key cities. This left
behind an outpost of gospel coworkers that could fan out into the surrounding
areas and build upon the foundation that Christ had lain through Paul.
Notice also that Paul’s ambition is rooted in and
motivated by Scripture, specifically the Old Testament (21). Isaiah
52:15 is cited here, a passage about God’s Suffering Servant (Christ). Isaiah
52:13-15: [13] Behold, my
servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.
[14] As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond
human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of
mankind—[15] so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their
mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that
which they have not heard they understand.
Paul viewed the mission of the church as taking the good news of this
Suffering Servant to kings, and nations, and peoples who had never heard of
Him. Some commentators even say that
Paul’s desire to go to Spain was rooted Old Testament prophecies. [18] “For
I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all
nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, [19] and
I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the
nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to
the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they
shall declare my glory among the nations. [20] And they shall bring all
your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in
chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain
Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in
a clean vessel to the house of the LORD.
(Isaiah 66:18-20 ESV)
Notice also that Paul’s ambition had kept him from
coming to the believers in Rome yet (22).
It kept him from doing some things that he really wanted to do and from
seeing some people that he really cared about.
If the church is going to take the gospel to the nations, sacrifices
will have to be made, and they will be worth it for the sake of His name.
Finally, notice that this ambition is not exclusive to missionaries like
Paul. Paul stated that his desire was to
take his next missionary journey to Spain and to “be helped” on his journey by the Roman believers (24). In other words, Paul’s ambition is to do the
foundational work in Spain of preaching the gospel among those whom have yet to
hear of Christ and he hopes that those who are not doing foundational work in
Rome, but are building upon the foundation will partner with him prayerfully and financially to help him do this
foundational work. So even though they
are not going to do the foundation work they should still have a passion, or an
ambition, to see it done. This sacred
ambition is something that should be in the heart of every believer, whether
they get to do the foundational work themselves or simply partner with others
who will do it.
When I think about Paul’s ambition, I’m reminded
of missionary David Livingstone. David
Livingstone (1813-1873) was a medical missionary to Africa that God used to
open up what was then called “the dark continent” with the light of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. He did so at great cost
to himself personally (was attacked by a lion and constantly battled sickness)
and his family (lost his wife and new born child on one of their
expeditions). He had originally planned
to be a medical missionary to China, but after hearing missionary Robert Moffat
speak, he resolved to become a missionary to Africa instead. The words of Moffat that haunted him were, “I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun,
the smoke of a thousand villages, where no missionary has ever been.” This awakened a passion in Livingstone to
“preach the gospel beyond every other man’s line of things.” He explored and ministered in the continent of
Africa until his dying day. When he died
on May 1, 1873, he was found in the early morning hours kneeling beside his bed
with his face in his hands. Before returning his body home, they removed his
heart and buried it in the African soil.
It was a symbolic gesture for one whose heart was to declare the fame of
Christ’s name among the nations.
Do you have such a Bible saturated ambition in
life? Let me give you three applications
from this passage and the surrounding context to express this ambition. I have given them to you before, but I want to
show them to you here so that you can see these are not just three neat ways
that someone came up with to be involved in missions. The first way is to pray. Paul asks for the
Roman believers to pray for his future plans and missionary endeavors (30-32). If your not sure how to pray for missions,
some excellent prayers are found in Matthew
9:35-38, Ephesians 6:18-20, Colossians 4:3-4, and in the model prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.
The second way is to give of your time, talents, and treasures towards missionary
endeavors among the unreached. Paul’s
plans were to take his next missionary journey to Spain and be “helped” on his journey by the Roman
believers (24). When we contribute
resources towards those who are doing foundational work, we are partnering with them in the work of
preaching Christ among those who have never heard (Philippians 1:5). Finally,
when we have opportunity, we can go
to the nations to preach Christ there ourselves. Paul is our example of “going” in this
passage (20). I once heard a pastor say
that any Christian who didn’t have a passport was out of the will of God! While that might be a bold statement, I do
agree with him in principle: every believer should position himself or herself
to go if called to.
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