Romans 12:12

Joyful in Hope...Patient in Pain...Constant in Prayer!

by Pastor James Lincoln on January 7, 2007

 

This morning I want us to return to the second half of Romans twelve, to a list of exhortations Paul sent to the Christians at Rome. In it he reveals how Christian love shows up in every day life.

The chapter can be divided into two pieces. Authentic Worship: In vv.1-8 Paul addresses authentic worship. Instead of being consumer driven,¹ Paul says that authentic worship is about the worshipper becoming consumed in his service to God. He says in v.1, On the basis of God's tender mercies, "...present your bodies to God as a living sacrifice which is your reasonable or spiritual worship." The sacrifices he refers to were utterly consumed. Authentic worship is about becoming consumed in the service of God; it's not about having all our preferences served. Unless we begin to think of worship primarily in terms of what we give instead of what we get we will be dissatisfied with worship. Oh, it may give us a temporary lift. However, by definition worship that is self serving is a contradiction. Then Paul lists several ways we can worship through service down through v. 8.

Authentic Love: Beginning in verse nine he picks up the idea of authentic love. But, what does love for God and others actually look like? How does authentic love show up? How can we be a faithful witness to the love of Christ that has been poured out in our hearts? Beginning in verse nine Paul tackles these important questions.

The List: Paul speaks to these questions with twenty-one short rapid-fire exhortations. Now, because our country has been so enormously blessed by its Christian heritage these things don't sound revolutionary to us. But they were enormously extraordinary in the urban life of first century Roman. Paganism was a dark and loveless culture. And one reason why it was so was because it was an immoral culture. Immoral pagan gods and goddesses couldn't inspire much morality among their followers. That's why he begins in verse nine by saying that sincere love is a love that hates evil. Love does what is good. Today's worst television soap operas are tame compared to the immoral and cruel misadventures of Zeus, Hera, Cybele, Aphrodite, Mithras and Isis. Against this immoral pagan backdrop Paul says, "Love one another with brotherly affection...honor one another and be zealous in serving (not lazy and holding back). If the Christians would take these exhortations to heart they would shine like stars against the dark night of Roman paganism where love had grown ice cold.

Paul's list along with Jesus' teachings like, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...Give preference to one another...It's better to give than to receive." These things weren't just slogans. They became the lifestyle commitments that stood out in stark contrast against the immorality, cruelty and narcissism of Roman paganism.

Inspired by God's word Christians did care for the sick and suffering even during the great plagues when all the pagans ran for the hills as fast as they could. The Christians took in orphans, widows and honored the elderly. They took up the lot of slaves. In the first two hundred years of the church it was the Christians' response to long standing miseries of life that inspire much of its growth. By the 4th century, half the population of Rome professed to be Christian.

The power of Christianity rested no only on its promise of life after death and the forgiveness of sins. But also on the way the power of Jesus gave an effective antidote to many of the miseries of life here and now. It still does.

That's how I became a follower of Christ. I was miserable. A Christian man and his wife bore witness to contentment in life even when life was not dealing them out a lot of good things. I could see it in their eyes and in their love for me and others. When I asked this man what made him different he told me that Jesus was the source of his freedom. That was enough for me. When the Roman emperor Julian tried to revive paganism in Rome he knew that that the pagans would have to match the Christians in their love and benevolence. In a letter to a pagan priest he wrote this,

"I think that when the poor happen to be neglected and overlooked by the priests the impious Galileans observe this and they devote themselves to benevolence. They support not only their poor, but ours as well. Everyone can see that our people lack help and aid from us."

But he was asking the impossible. Because paganism was utterly incapable of generating the commitment needed to motivate such love. Again, their own gods and goddesses were self-serving, capricious, and narcissistic. They themselves weren't virtuous or benevolent.

It's hard for us to appreciate how revolutionary and blessed a list like this is. With it Paul is calling the Christians at Rome to bear witness to the beauty, goodness, selflessness and humility of the gospel by loving God, and each other and all people in these practical ways. If they would they would shine like lights in the dark world of paganism. God is calling his church today to also shine as lights in the darkness. He calls us to pick up the same specifics of love for God and others that he did the Roman Christians.

This morning we come to verse twelve. Now, here Paul takes the spotlight off how we treat others and shines it on how - by the grace of God - we can respond when we feel threatened, cynical or mistreated or when we face the miseries of life ourselves. This verse focuses on internal responses we choose within ourselves when things aren't as they are supposed to be. We bear witness to the light of God's love not only by the way we treat others but also by our disposition in the face of serious testing. Our responses in the season of testing reveal where our real joy and hope really rest. Our responses can glorify God in a way that Christ can become more real and convincing in the world. It was through the light of a man's disposition and inner life that showed me light at the end of the tunnel. Here's how, through his disposition, a Christian can bear witness to the love of God that has been poured out in your heart through the Holy Spirit. Three ways:

1. Rejoice in hope.

2. Persevere or endure in Tribulation.

3. Remain constant in Prayer.

If we can lay hold of these three blessings and find them to be the disposition of our lives in Christ we can shine a great light in a dark world.

1. Rejoice in hope.

Now, Paul was forever calling believers to rejoice. He says in Phil.4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice." The angel told the shepherds to, "Fear not I bring you good tidings of great joy." The reason joy is so critical is because the gospel is good news of great joy. If we can't lay hold of joy it means that we aren't internalizing or believing the gospel.

Over Christmas I was struggling. My lack of joy wasn't matching the gospel. Christy, my oldest daughter, recognized it. After one sermon that didn't go so well she could tell I was missing the blessing. So, she said, "Dad look at me." So I did. And here's what she did. She smiled at me. Now, at first I resisted. I didn't really want to be glad. She persisted, "Dad, look at me." She was smiling. Like ice melting in the sidewalk, my heart began to warm up to the idea. Then she said, "Have you ever noticed that if you just keep smiling at a person and if they look at you long enough it's really hard for them to not smile back?" I was struck by the power of her smile and her joy. Things weren't going that great for her. Things aren't always easy for single women supporting themselves. She was just choosing to let the good news of the gospel prevail over the stuff that would steal her joy. And she wanted the same for me.

Notice that Paul doesn't simply say "Rejoice." He never does this. He never says anything like, "Just be happy." He never let's that hang in the air alone. He always connects it with the source. Simply to tell someone to be glad without giving them a good reason why they should be glad is insufficient. The gospel isn't a self help program where by the power of your innate ability you turn a switch and you rise above all the lesser creatures who can't.

Paul says, "Rejoice in Hope." Life in first century Rome wasn't hopeful. Over half of the population lived in slavery. People in the cities experienced frequent catastrophes, fires, diseases and plagues. Remember this was before penicillin or before people used soap for hygienic purposes. It was before the chimney had been invented so all the cooking and heating was done over insecure wood fires in the family room. The rooms were smoky. Sewers and ditches ran through the middle of narrow streets where everything was dumped, especially chamber pots at night from the second and third stories of street apartments. The threat of fire was enormous. Most of the water was lugged in jars from public fountains with little left over for scrubbing floors or washing clothes. Rome literally stank! That's why the ancients were so fond of incense. When night fell on the city so did the shadow of danger. Everyone fled to their homes and barricaded themselves in. Life was known by anxiety, misery and lots of suffering. Under Roman law fathers had the legal right to kill their babies if they didn't approve of them. Guess who suffered? It was the girl babies, of course. Fortunately, the Christians would go to the beaches and the forests where most of these babies were left and rescued them and took care of them.

Look, there wasn't much to rejoice about in their circumstances. However, Paul said, "Rejoice in hope." Beloved, Joy must have a worthy object to last. I think that's why so much of our joy today is so short lived. Are we hanging heavy weights on thin wires that can't hold the weight of our aspirations? If your joy is based on your will power it will last as long as you have the will power to be joyful. For most that's not very long. A more worthy object is the hope we have in Christ. Beloved, that's eternal, infinite joy that can't be measured, spoil or fade away. This joy gave Jesus the power to endure the cross for us in hope. Heb. 12 says, "For the joy set before him Jesus endured the cross." The greatest act of love that ever was - the death of Jesus for sinners like us - was endured, funded and sustained by joy. Jesus rejoiced in hope. He filled his mind and heart with the glorious outcome and blessing of the gospel that reconciles sinners to God and saves us from death and hell. He found enough joy in this to endure the cross. Where do you get your joy?

Beloved, trouble, conflict, cancer, mental illness, death are all normal conditions of life in this fallen world. But Jesus has come. He has broken into our tribulation and taken it on himself. He carried our sins, bore our curse and absorbed God's wrath in our place. He conquered death and hell and Satan. He opened up the doors of heaven for us and has seated us with Him at His right hand. This is for all who will trust Him. He gave us His Spirit. He gave us His promises. He has dealt with us with His tender mercies and He will deal with the world with absolute justice. Not one act of injustice no matter how small will go unpunished. That should frighten us if it weren't for the grace of his mercies.

Peter says, "In hope we rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full of glory." (1Pe.1:8).

Now this joy is serious business. To refuse the joy of the Lord is an act of rebellion. In Deuteronomy 28:47 Moses said that one reason God sent Israel into exile was because she didn't serve the Lord with joy. "Because you did not serve your God with a joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things...therefore you shall serve your enemies..." Notice that joy and gladness are signs of obedience or rebellion. Notice the outcome if you don't lean and rest on God for your joy..."you shall serve your enemies." Christy didn't want her dad to be held captive by the enemies of his soul. It will be one or the other. You were made as much for joy as you were for worship. And you will find joy somewhere even if it is in being miserable.

So, beloved rejoice in the hope of the gospel. All that Christ could be for you He is for you. If you are in Christ you are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. You have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Rejoice! And smile at those who are struggling to lay hold of this by faith.

2. Be patient in tribulation.

Tribulation is something that happens to you. It's the environment where all virtue happens. It's the normal experience of believers in this life. If you are seeking to be free of tribulation you are seeking something that is non Christian. Our joy will be an embattled joy. It's to be fought for in the context of tribulation. We aren't called to rejoice without tribulation. We are called to rejoice in spite of it or even because of it.

"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Rom 5:2-5

Our faith is refined in the kiln or fire of testing. And God is the one who knows the perfect temperature that separates the dross from the gold. And he will not let it get one degree to hot or too cold to fulfill his purposes for us. Not one experience of suffering you will ever face is arbitrary, useless, out of God's control or without a good end. As Joseph said, "What men mean for evil our God means for good." No one can trump God's purposes in the life of His children.

That's why Daniel's friends could say to Nebuchadnezzar when he was about to throw them in the fiery furnace for not bowing down to his image:

"Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." Dan 3:16-18

That's why Paul and Silas could sing hymns of joy and praise to God when they were chained up in a dark prison cell. And just as the pitch and power of an opera singer can shatter lead crystal, so the joy of the lord shattered the joylessness of their circumstances.

The Roman world needed a witness to a sustainable joy and a hope that would endure even when things don't go our way. Jesus gives that grace to those who wait on him. Their strength shall be renewed as the eagles (not like a frantic hummingbird fluttering but like an eagle soaring on the thermal currents of God's love.

Finally, He writes, "... be constant in prayer".

The word "constant" doesn't mean that every minute you are praying. It means to persist in prayer. Persevere in it; stay at it; don't give up or slack off. Be habitual. It is the exact opposite of random, occasional, sporadic, and intermittent. In other words Paul is calling us to make prayer a regular, habitual, recurring and disciplined part of you life. Treat prayer the way you treat eating, sleeping, and bathing (hopefully). Don't be hit and miss about it. Don't assume it will fill in the cracks of other things. Dealing with God deserves more than a dial up on the fly. All relationships suffer without focused attention. Our relationship with God is the same. So, God is calling us to regular planned meetings with God in prayer which praise him for who his is, thank him for what he has done, ask him for help, and plead with him the cause of those we love and others. It's offering up our desires unto Him of things agreeable to His will, in the name of Jesus, with confession of sins and grateful acknowledgments for his mercies. So, this New Year resolve by the power of grace that is within you to pray. And if you haven't lived up to previous resolutions, keep at it and stay with it and keep coming no matter how many times you've missed it. Our deep need is to know God. And the way He has chosen for us to know him is through prayer. It's through prayer that he blesses us and renews his love for us. "Cast your cares on Him for He cares for you." Without prayer we can't lay hold of the blessings of His great care.

I love that scene in the OT when Jehoshaphat was surrounded by a multitude of enemy soldiers. He was afraid and so he cried out to God and said, "We are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You." Jahaziel said, "Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude for the battle is not yours but Gods." Do you pray...will you pray?

So how will you love God and others this coming year? How are you going to let your light shine in the darkness? Where are you going to get the strength to endure when the going gets really rough? How are you going to sustain joy? How will you deal daily with sexual temptation, and covetous desires? What will you do to keep Jesus and your heavenly treasures more precious to you than everything else in this world? Will you pray? Will you pray for yourself, your family, your friends and your church? Will you be constant in prayer? Will you remain patient through the seasons of testing? Will you make the joy of the Lord your strength?"

Paul says, "Beloved...by the deep mercies of God...rejoice in hope...persevere in tribulation...be constant in prayer." Amen.