Second Sunday of Lent - Saints by Calling

 

 

Sermon Lent Second Sunday

March 1, 2026

Saints by Calling

 

Today is the second Sunday of Lent which is a Christian observance whose origins can be traced back to the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. It was that same council that formulated what is known as the Nicene Creed – a response to the Arian heresy, claiming Jesus was a created being and not God in the form of a man. And, as an aside, Jehovah’s Witnesses are the theological descendants of the Arian heresy. Mormons and Judaism also deny the full deity of Jesus, who is coeternal, coequal, and coexistent with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

As I said last week, Lent is a season within the Church liturgical calendar intended to bring Christians into a deeper relationship with Christ. I’ll speak to that point again in a few moments, but first I want to address a misconception that Lent is simply a time to ‘fast,’ a time to give up something enjoyable during the 40 days of Lent.

 

A simplistic example is how some give up chocolate or ice cream during Lent. But ‘fasting’ something just for the sake of a religious performance was never the intent of the men who first initiated the celebration of Lent back in that 4^th century.

 

In fact, fasting from something enjoyable simply for the sake of doing something ‘religious’ misses the entire purpose of the season. Anyone can give up something enjoyable to demonstrate how religious they are – and yet, in their heart, displease God.

 

The idea of performing some external action without an accompanying internal change of heart is – well, ‘nothing new.’ Solomon said it well: “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So, there is nothing new under the sun. ¹⁰ Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages which were before us.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8-10.

 

The prophet Amos lived several centuries before Jesus was born. Listen to God’s rebuke of Israel through that prophet: “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. “Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:21-24 

 

Isaiah, a contemporary of Amos said similarly: “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? “Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him?” Isaiah 58:5-7.

 

So, what good is fasting from chocolate if we continue to lie and cheat and gossip?  What good is giving up ice cream or television if we are unwilling to forgive those who have offended us? Lent is not about simply the fasting of pleasures. If our heart remains unchanged, the fasts are worthless.

 

For those who celebrate the season, the observance of Lent ought to be about where our heart is. As must ALSO be true of every other day around the calendar, the forty days of Lent are about whose we are, and to whom we belong.

 

And such questions provide a good segue into our examination of our text for today. Listen to the beginning of St Paul’s letter to the Christians at Rome. “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . . among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:1,6-7

 

Above all things, Paul considered himself a ‘bondservant’ of Christ Jesus. But let’s pause a moment and examine the Greek word Paul used here, doulos, and is translated in some bibles as ‘bondservant.” But in the ancient Greek and Roman world, doulos was a person owned by a master. A slave. One who had absolutely no legal autonomy, who was kept in lifelong service to his or her master.

 

The apostle Paul deliberately applied the word to himself to amplify the point of Christ’s sovereignty, rule, and ownership over his life. He was willingly a ‘slave’ of Jesus Christ, owned by Christ and kept in lifelong service to his Master.

 

However, because modern English speakers often associate “slave” with race-based bondage and brutality, some Bibles soften the word by translating doulos as ‘servant.’ But, as theologian Douglas Moo correctly acknowledges, translating the Greek word as servant instead of slave simply “diminishes the radical claim of belonging to Christ.” (ChatGPT)

 

So, let’s go back to the text: “Paul, a bond-servant [slave] of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . .

 

As many of you know, the word ‘apostle’ is a person ‘sent’ by someone as a messenger. In the New Testament the word is properly associated with the twelve apostles of Christ. But the word also has a broader sense in the Scriptures as one who is ‘sent’ to others with the message of the gospel. For example, Barnabas and James, the brother of the Lord, are both called apostles (see Acts 14:14, 1 Corinthians 15:7, and Galatians 1:19).

 

The point? Do you know that you are sent by Christ with His message? We know this to be true simply from the Lord’s commandment to us in that last chapter of Matthew’s gospel: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

 

That commandment is not only to the paid clergy. That commandment is to you. And to me. And to every other man or women who calls Jesus their Master and Lord. And this season of Lent is a perfect time to take that Biblical view into account. God has sent us into our world here at Ashwood Meadows with a message of hope and promise – and yes, of warning to repent and believe the gospel.

 

But – and this is important – there can be no ‘being sent’ for effective ministry without our first being a slave of Jesus Christ. There can be no ‘being sent’ for effective ministry without our willful and purposeful subordinating ourselves as a slave to the full and final authority of Jesus Christ in lifelong service.

That means, no bus driver can be sent by God into fruitful work among his coworkers apart from first being Christ’s slave. No CEO can be sent by God into fruitful work among his subordinates apart from first being Christ’s slave. No doctor can be fruitful for Jesus Christ apart from first being His slave. No lab technician, no hotel employee, no businessman or woman can be fruitful for Jesus Christ apart from first being His slave.

 

I’ll bring that point closer to home, no one can be fruitful for Jesus Christ as an aunt or uncle or grandparent apart from first being a slave of Jesus Christ. And now, let me drive the point even closer: no retiree can be fruitful for Jesus Christ apart from first being His slave.

 

The season of Lent, like every other season of the year, ought to be spent in some personal introspection, taking time to reflect on the integrity of our walk with Christ, including our willingness to not only hear His voice when we sin, but to also immediately repent and turn from that sin.

 

And Lent ought also to be a time of extrospection – taking time to turn our attention outward to the needs of others. As Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi: “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4

 

There are perhaps dozens of ways the Christian can demonstrate kindness toward others – both here at Ashwood and those outside this facility. Listen to Paul’s words to the Christians at Rome: For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment . . . [and] Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness . . . devoted to prayer,  contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” (See Romans 12)

 

Some of you attended the service a few weeks ago when I included in your handout some ministries you might consider for financial support – whether with a lot of money or a little. I have other copies if you would like one.

 

And now, let’s turn our attention to the remainder of today’s text in verses six and seven: “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God . . . among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:1,6-7

 

We’ve already examined verse six, concluding that every Christian is called by Christ to bring His message of salvation, righteousness, and judgment to others. But now I focus our attention on verse seven – a key text in our understanding of how God looks at each of His adopted children, born into His family through our faith in Christ. Paul writes in verse seven: “To all who are beloved of God in Rome, called saints.

 

The Greek word hagios means “A most holy thing; Sacred.”  It’s the same word used of the Holy Spirit (e.g. Matthew 1:20); It’s used of Jesus (Acts 4:27); and it’s used of the Scriptures (Romans 1:2).

 

I want us to get that idea in our hearts. The Holy Spirit, through the writers of the New Testament, calls every true Christian ‘holy.’ ‘Sacred.’

 

In his commentary on the book of Romans, James Montgomery Boice, writes, “A saint is not a person who has achieved a certain level of holiness. A saint is one whom God has set apart for himself. It is what God has done, not what we have done, that makes us saints.”

 

Other commentators stress the point that ‘sainthood’ is state of being before it is our behavior. Our godly transformation flows from what we already ARE because of what God has done for us in Christ.

 

The church at Rome was comprised of sinners, just like the church at Ashwood Meadows. But – and this is a CRITICAL ‘But’ – many of you know the research that tells us of the well-established psychological principle which suggests that we often become – at least in part – what others think of us.

 

In his book, Human Nature and the Social Order, sociologist Charles Horton Cooley postulated that people develop their self-concept based on their perception of how others view them. In other words, Cooley believed that we form our self-image according to how we think others think of us.

 

Now let’s make some personal application of Cooley’s point:

 

God thinks of you as a SAINT. That’s what He calls you because that is not only what He THINKS of you, but also it is what you ARE. You are a saint, washed and purified from sin through your faith in the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus.

 

Does that mean we no longer sin? Of course not. Our sin nature remains in us, but it no longer reigns over us. Knowing God’s assessment of us ought to change our self-concept. Knowing God’s assessment of us as saints ought to work its work in us to say no to sin.

 

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthians – a church plagued by a wide array of damnable sins: “Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9b-11

 

Our godly transformation, slow as it may be for most of us, our godly transformation will inevitably conform us into the image of Christ, because the Father says it will. Listen again to Paul:

 

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)

 

Notice the verb tenses. Predestined. Called. Justified. Glorified. All past tense. In other words, in God’s eternal view, it’s a fait accompli. It’s already accomplished.

 

In one of my recent messages, I reminded us that saints are just the sinners who fall down – and get up.

 

So? Look at yourself in the mirror later today and remember how often you’ve fallen in your life – AND how often you’ve gotten up. That’s why you’re here today, and each Sunday, isn’t it? You got up.

 

Some of you have faced terrible disappointments and unmet expectations in life. Some of you struggle with chronic pain that often takes over your thoughts. Others grapple with loss, loneliness and fractured families. On and on, the trials go.

 

But you’re here, in this sanctuary, still seeking Him. Still serving Him. Still following Him.

 

The Season of Lent reminds us of the path to Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday is pitted with the same setbacks and thorns, and blood, sweat, and tears that every saint of God has experienced to one degree or another in their journey toward that Celestial City.

 

I prepared this message hoping to stimulate our hearts to steadily continue to mature into the saint God not only calls us, but also knows us to be. I hope that each of us are encouraged to work day by day in His Vineyard – not only here at Ashwood Meadows, but wherever He will yet lead us. And I hope that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts will always be acceptable and pleasing to Him to loves us. May God make is so.

 

Amen

 

 

Lenten Message -- Search Me

First Sunday of Lent

Search Me, O God

 

Today is the first Sunday of Lent – a season within the Church liturgical calendar designed to lead the faithful Christian into a deeper relationship with Christ. I’ll speak more about that in a few moments, but first, let’s look at our primary text for today’s message which sets the stage – so to speak – for all that I want to bring to us this afternoon. Please follow along as I

read from Genesis 36:31-39

 

“Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel. Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah. Then Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah became king in his place. Then Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites became king in his place. Then Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the field of Moab, became king in his place; and the name of his city was Avith. Then Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah became king in his place. Then Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth on the Euphrates River became king in his place. Then Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of Achbor became king in his place. Then Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar became king in his place . . . .”

 

I hope you caught my repeated emphasis on the verb, ‘died.’ Everyone in this sanctuary is sadly and mournfully acquainted with death. I know about death. My mom is dead. My father and my adopted father are both dead. My brother-in-law is dead. Nancy’s mom, dad and stepdad are all dead. My cousin is dead. Nancy’s cousin is dead. Another of her cousin’s wife is dead. And many of our friends are dead.

 

And one day I will be dead. Nancy will be dead. You will be dead. Our children who survive us will one day be dead. And such is the pattern of life since the Garden of Eden.

 

Several years ago, I learned a Latin phrase, Memento Mori. The meaning of the phrase resonates with me, and I’ve mentioned it before. It means, “Remember, you must die.”

 

The origin of the phrase goes back to a custom in ancient Roman society. When a general returned to the city after a great victory on the battlefield, he’d parade through the streets on a golden chariot to the cheers of the crowd. But because such tributes could lead to pride and a false sense of his own importance, a slave –one of the humblest servants – was to remind him of his mortality by whispering to him: “Look behind, remember that you are a man”.

 

For the same reason, “Memento mori” has often been used to remind great men that regardless of their exploits and glories, their epilogue is the same as everyone else’s: One day they will die.

 

Now, I admit at the outset of today’s message, that all of this talk about death sounds dark and depressing. But truth be told on this first Sunday of Lent, “Memento mori” is an invitation to wisely reflect on the brevity of life – and on the vanity of human ambitions.

 

Solomon understood life’s brevity and the uselessness of accolades and possessions. Listen to what he wrote: “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other . . . all is vanity.” Ecclesiastes 3:19.

 

And at the end of his life he offered this counsel to all who have ears to hear: “[This is the] conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13b-14)

 

Now then, all of what I have said these last few minutes segues us back to the season of Lent. Lenten preparation usually includes fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.

 

So yes, Lent is very much associated with death, which is why Christians receive ashes on their forehead, to symbolize our eventual death and remind us of our human frailty. That’s why the pastor recites these sober words of warning as he places the ashes on the forehead: “Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return. Repent, and believe the gospel.” 

 

Very much like what the victorious Roman general would hear: “Look behind you. You are just a man.”

I pause for a moment to reiterate a most important point: While Lent is strongly associated with death, Lent is ALSO strongly associated with the hope – the expectation – of eternal life which Christ alone offers to anyone who receives by faith His gift of forgiveness and the remission – the erasing – of their sins. And that’s why confession and honest repentance are so integral to this season of preparation.

 

Some might ask how a person prepares for both death AND for the hope of eternal life. Well, let’s let the word of God guide us. For example, here is Mark 1:1-4 – “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”— “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

 

How to prepare? First – repentance and ongoing, day by day taking ownership of our sins – as King David took ownership of his adulterous sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. Listen to his ‘mea culpa,’’ his admission to God that his sins were his own fault: “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight.” (Psalm 51:1-4)

 

I pause again to make this further point about Lent because there always lurks behind this season’s observance the danger of compartmentalizing our self-examinations, There’s a danger that through the rest of the year we dilute the Holy Spirit’s voice to our souls to put aside even what we might like to call ‘little’ sins.

 

Human nature is such that we usually prefer to avoid the hard part of DAILY carrying our cross, of DAILY living the Christian life with a holy integrity. It’s human nature to slowly, nearly imperceptibly, harden ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s daily call to live lives marked by ongoing repentance. It’s just easier to set such things aside and bring them forward only during the various liturgical seasons.

 

Repent. That’s what John told those coming to him for baptism to do. And the first recorded words of Jesus were the same. Listen to Mark 1:15 where the Lord announced: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 

Repentance is not a popular idea in our culture – which ought not surprise us. It was the Lord Jesus who said, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” (Luke 13:24); And again (Matthew 7:13b-14) “The gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

 

Repentance. I wonder if that might be a reason the Lord warned His followers: “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I say, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24

 

I think it’s hard for a rich man to get into heaven when they trust in their own resources and their own philanthropic ‘goodness’ instead of living a life marked by mea culpas. And although the Lord didn’t say it, I think it’s just as hard for someone who’s lived for decades outside of true Christian faith to come to a saving faith because once they realize they’ve been wrong all this time about sin, righteousness, and judgment – it’s hard for them to lay aside their pride and admit to God AND to others that they’ve been wrong for 50, 60, or 70 years.

Listen: It’s as true today as it was when St Paul penned these words to the Christians at Corinth: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”  

 

And what is that word of the cross? Certainly ‘repentance’ threads its way through the warp and woof of God’s message to humanity. There can be no salvation without true repentance. Christ’s atoning sacrifice on that cross can be of no value to anyone without true repentance.

 

But there is yet another word of the cross, a word directly related to repentance, and we would be wise to pay attention to this truth: The attitude of REVERENCE and a healthy fear of Almighty God is the second means of preparation for the celebration of Easter and a year-round walk with Christ.

 

The greater our awareness of God’s holiness, of His glory, and His majesty, the greater will be our reverence and our healthy fear of Him. And the greater our reverence and fear, the greater will be the self-debasing of our pride and of our greater desire to fall on our faces in repentance.

 

Let me say a few words by way of example about what I mean by a healthy fear of God. He loves us, loves us like the Rock of Ages. He sacrificed His own Son on that Cross so we might live in glory with Him.

 

BUT – although He loves us, loves us, loves us – He is not one to be trifled with. He is not one to be dismissed. He is not one to be taken for granted. He is not a doting Grandfather-type who turns a blind eye to our sins. He is the unequaled holy Lord and Creator of the heavens and earth. The brightness of the noonday sun is pitch dark when compared to the brilliance of His holiness.

 

You may remember what Isaiah said when he saw the glory of God: “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts”; The apostle John, when he saw the Lord Jesus in His majesty, wrote: “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.” (Revelation 1:17). To the great Moses, God said, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

 

When God gave His commandments to Israel and Mount Sinai, Moses wrote: “All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance . . .  ²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:18, 20)

 

The Christian’s healthy fear of God – wherein we know He loves us, but we are also assured that He will punish our disobedience and irreverence – it is that fear of God that will keep us from sin.

But I perceive much of the Church has lost its fear of God. Otherwise, how is it that so many, even in pews and pulpits, are so cavalier with the Holy, Holy God – even to refer to Him as ‘the man upstairs”?

 

How? I think it’s the result of either our thorough lack of understanding of who we are and who HE is – or it’s a consequence of our presumption of God, of taking Him for granted. And make no mistake, presumption inevitably builds an ever-darkening barrier between us and God.

 

Indeed, if one properly observes Lent with a renewed focus on repentance and reverence, we’ll recognize that barrier is our conscious or unconscious attempt to not only dilute God’s glory in our eyes, but also to diminish in our minds our grave need for honest and daily repentance.

 

It’s not possible to treat God with the reverence He deserves and which He requires when we excuse away our sins, even what we call little sins. Truth be told, there is no such thing as a sin so little that is not damnable if not repented.

 

And make no mistake, irreverence inexorably leads to presumption – deadly presumption. We find a plethora of tragic examples in Scripture of irreverent presumption. One example occurs early in the Torah. Not only were the priests Nadab and Abihu sons of Aaron the High Priest – but they received an invitation from God to dine with Him (Exodus 24:9-11). And yet, not many days later, God killed them when they performed their priestly office “with strange fire” (See Leviticus 10:1-2).

We can’t know for certain what the strange fire was, but I infer from the context that the two sons of Aaron treated God with neither obedience nor reverence. Perhaps they presumed on their relationship with God because they’d eaten a meal with Him. Perhaps they believed they no longer needed to act as reverently or as obediently toward God as He required of others. Perhaps they presumed they were among His ‘favorites.’

Presumption toward the Almighty is a perilous attitude because it deceives us into thinking our walk of holiness and of God’s unchanging requirement for our ongoing obedience, holiness, and repentance does not strictly apply to us.

 

After Macbeth learned of his wife’s death, he voiced a grim monologue of life – not too unlike Job’s grief-stricken defense to his three so-called ‘counselors.’

 

Listen to Macbeth tell it: “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot; Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

 

Macbeth, like Job and Solomon and countless others before him and after him gives honest reflection to life’s brevity and the vanity of possessions and tributes and power and wealth. And the Lenten season, if properly observed, helps bring a godly perspective to it all.

 

“As for the days of our life,” wrote Moses, “they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years; Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away . . . .  ¹²So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:10, 12)

 

I close today’s message with this counsel: As we heard at the beginning my message when I quoted from Genesis 36 the litany of those who died, the Latin phrase, Memento mori, should be the theme of our lives – not just during the 40 days of Lent, but through the remainder of our years. We each need frequent reminder that we will die – and after that comes God’s judgment. That sober recognition ought to make King David’s prayer resonate with each of us and compel us to often ask God:

 

 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24

 

Yes, Lord, search us and lead us in the everlasting way and build within us a lifestyle of honest and ongoing repentance and of great reverence for You. Amen and amen.

 

Ashamed of the Gospel

 Ashamed of the Gospel

My text today comes from the first chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome. I focus today’s message on this text because it’s a necessary and critically important truth that we must hear, especially in our religiously pluralistic American culture:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, (the apostle wrote,) “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile].” (Romans 1:16)

One definition of ‘ashamed’ is to be reluctant or unwilling to do something because of embarrassment. Paul’s text here in Romans 1 cuts to the heart of a growing problem facing many of today’s Christians in America because the media, the educational system, the courts, the marketplace, Hollywood, and even many churches have been slowly squeezing Christians into the mold called ‘religious pluralism.’ That ought to frighten us because that mold has the effect of reducing Jesus the Christ to just one of many religious teachers and prophets.

Religious pluralism is the belief that different religious worldviews are equally valid, equally true, and equally acceptable to God. Therefore, all religious roads lead to God.

If anyone thought the ‘all roads lead to God’ philosophy through to its logical conclusion, the idea doesn’t make sense on any level. There can only be one truth, not a half-dozen. For example, the doctrines of Judeo-Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are not only diverse in their understanding of sin, righteousness, and judgment, but they are each diverse in their understanding of the nature of God.

Tragically – and I use that word purposely – a growing number of Christians in our modern pluralistic era – even those who have been in the Church for decades – are becoming increasingly reluctant to draw a proverbial line in the sand and boldly and unapologetically declare what the Bible declares to be the ONLY truth – that which is found in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures about sin, righteousness, judgment – and specifically what God tells us of the Person and role of Jesus in our eternal destiny.

A study conducted last year by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway Research found that almost half of evangelicals (47%) believe “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” Another eight percent are unsure. Said another way, only 45% of evangelical Christians fully believe the Bible when it tells us Jesus Christ is the ONLY road to eternal life that is acceptable to God.

Clearly, that's a hard truth for many today to swallow in our age of religious pluralism. But God has never been one to mince words. He has never been one to equivocate or be ambiguous. And neither should we His servants when people ask us the reason for our hope of eternal life.

Only biblically-based Christianity holds the definitive answer to the question about sin, forgiveness of sins, eternal judgment, and eternal life. And I emphasize ‘biblically based’ because there are multitudes in seminaries, church pulpits and church pews who do not believe the bible to be the final and unconditionally authoritative verdict of Almighty God, revealed to humanity as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let me repeat that for emphasis. There are not multiple truths about sin and forgiveness of sins, eternal judgment and eternal life. There is only ONE truth. And that truth is what we call the ‘gospel’ – the manifestation of God’s love for humanity and fully evidenced by His sacrificial offering of His Son Jesus as payment for our sins.

God tells us from Genesis through Revelation, our nature is thoroughly and hopelessly corrupted by sin. On the other hand, God’s nature is thoroughly and ineffably holy. The bad news is in all that is this: Without God's personal intervention, our utter sinfulness and God’s incomprehensible holiness can never be reconciled. But the good news is in all that is this: God DID intervene in humanity’s otherwise hopeless situation.

Therefore, it is only that gospel message – that ‘good news message’ – that holds the only key to eternal life. Why? Because the gospel is God’s specific revelation how and why God sent His Son to die on that cross and be resurrected from death on the third day.

Please do not mistake this point: God’s divine revelation in the Christian Bible and His divine intervention into sin-saturated humanity that completely separates Christianity from ALL other religions – past or present.

I wonder if many of those in pulpits and in pews each Sunday have developed a scorn of the apostle Paul’s warning: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) And do they summarily dismiss what he added later in the same letter to the church at Rome: “The wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

The preposition, ‘in’ Christ Jesus our Lord, is critical. It is only those who are IN Christ Jesus who receive the free gift of God. No one else. Not Muslims. Not Hindus. No one. Not even Jews who reject Messiah Jesus’ sacrificial atonement for their sins. Only biblical Christianity can correctly answer the question: What can wash away my sins? What can make me whole again?

The answer is: Nothing can make us whole again except the blood of Jesus.

I want to make sure I am as clear in my explanation as I possibly can. What do bible-based Christians mean when we talk of Jesus’ sacrificial atonement for our sins? It’s this:

God’s utter holiness requires divine judgement of sin. There is no wiggle room in God’s righteousness to overlook even what we might call minor sins. But on the other hand, God’s love arouses His mercy toward the sinner.

The tension between God’s judgment and His love resulted in the Mosaic sacrificial system which joined the two under the cleansing power of blood – sacrificial blood. The last half of Exodus, and the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy especially focus attention on the animal sacrifices which functioned as a substitutionary atonement for the sinner. When the Jewish Levitical priests laid their hands on the heads of the sacrificial animals, the sins of the penitent were transferred to the animal who then shed its blood in atonement for the penitent’s sins.

I believe it was St Augustine who said, “The New Testament is concealed in the New, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.” In other words, the Old Testament lays the groundwork – the foundation – of the truths revealed to us in the New Testament. And so, back to the Mosaic sacrificial system – the blood sacrifices pointed to what God would do centuries later on Calvary’s hill.

This divine truth of Christ’s atonement for sins is only one of the scores of God’s truths that make Christianity completely incompatible with every other religion and religious faith.

Speaking of the New Testament concealed in the Old, listen to Isaiah, written seven hundred years before Jesus was born, listen to him speak of that reconciliation:

“He [the Messiah] was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.” (Isaiah 53:3-6, NLT)

Jesus, the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, removed – erased, atoned for – our sins with His own blood when He died on that cross. His bloody death became a substitutionary atonement for all who call on Jesus for forgiveness of their sins. As the apostle Paul reminds us: [God] made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Most people bristle at the idea that we are each and all sinners who justly deserve eternal and forever agonizing punishment. Many of us think of ourselves as not-so-bad, especially when we compare ourselves with REAL sinners – like cold-blooded rapists and murderers.

But when we compare ourselves with others, we merely demonstrate our total ignorance of the infinite holiness of God. The sun itself, in all its noonday brilliance, is as dark as night when placed next to God’s holiness. And God demands our holiness be as HIS holiness. Jesus was not speaking in hyperbole when He commanded us, “Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).

Unlike religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and even Old Covenant Judaism, only the New Covenant Judaism – also known as Christianity – only Christianity holds the answer to the otherwise irreconcilable problem of sin and God’s forgiveness. No other faith addresses God’s holiness and His mercy as Christianity addresses it.

Other faiths tell their adherents if they pray often enough and in the right way, or if they do enough good deeds to outweigh their bad deeds, they might get into heaven.

Christian faith is eternally unique because in – and only in – the Christian Bible God tells us the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. It word tells us salvation is a gift not based at all on our works or our heritage. Salvation is granted to us solely by God’s grace. And because salvation is His undeserves gift, no one can boast and say, “I deserve eternal life.” (see Ephesians 2:8-10)

Listen to what the former Pharisee, St. Paul, wrote to a disciple named Titus: “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7)

When the same former Pharisee wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the [Gentile] – he was writing to a people steeped in religious pluralism. Rome, and the nation of Greece before Rome, were known for the multiplicity of gods. But God sent Paul to Rome – and throughout Greek speaking Europe and Asia Minor – to tell them the truth about salvation.

God sent Paul, just as He sends us, to a religiously pluralistic world. It’s the Great Commission Jesus Himself commanded of us: Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Holy Trinity – in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28)

Declaring Jesus as the only way for men and women to gain eternal life will not win many friends among those who want to live and let live, who insist on being open to other ideas about God and eternal life. In our pluralistic culture where it is unpopular to believe in absolute truth, the message of the gospel is a lightning rod for those who disagree with Christ’s exclusive message. Telling others Jesus is the only door to eternal life might also get us killed.

Well, so be it. As St. Paul wrote to the Christians at Galatia, “If I were trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)

As disciples and followers of Jesus, we must decide every day, will we compromise with those who believe all roads lead to heaven? Or will we stand unashamed with Christ, and the history of all the martyrs who died for God’s eternal truth?

God became Man. He lived a sinless life. He died as a substitutionary sacrifice for your sins and mine. Only through Christ can anyone be reconciled with the Father. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

Nobodies Telling Everybody

My primary text for today is from the apostle Paul’s letter to those in the church at Rome. Many of you will recognize the text. Many of you will have memorized the text years ago: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

 

And that text reminds me – as it might remind some of you – of what the Lord Jesus told His disciples just before He ascended back to the Father:

 

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

 

The gospel: The story – the promise that the Holy God makes to penitent sinners like you and me and every person in this building and every person on this planet. It is the promise of the Holy God to always accept our repentance, the promise to always forgive our sins, to wipe them from His memory, to change the trajectory of our lives, to replace our spiritual darkness with His light, His promise to spare us from His wrath and give us an eternal future with Him.

 

That’s the gospel message in only a few sentences. It’s the message of God’s unmerited, undeserved, and unearned love for each of us.

 

Before I get into the heart of my message, let me tell you about two people I’ve known from my ministry here during the last ten and a half years. The first is an 85-year-old woman. A gentle soul. For years she faithfully attended our bible studies and church services. But, sadly, dementia slowly took control of her mind. And yet, it was always apparent that she loved the Lord Jesus. It was also evident that her love for the Lord sustained her in the increasing fog of her dementia. Eventually, her family moved her to a higher level of care.

 

The other person I knew was in his early 80s. He was also a nice person, and I enjoyed talking with him whenever we were able to sit and talk. But unlike the woman I just told you about, this man didn’t have time for Christ. He made that clear to me on several occasions over the years. He was content with his life without Jesus. And then the day came when he was found dead in his apartment upstairs.

 

So, did God love each of them so much that He sent His only Son to Calvary to pay the penalty for their sins and to offer them eternal life? Of course He did. But of the two, only one accepted God’s offer through Christ. As far as I know the other rejected Christ and went to an agonizing eternity.

 

Those two people serve now as a backdrop to the theme of my message today, the title of which is, “Nobodies Telling Everybody.” Please listen to these words from Isaiah:

 

“In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” . . . .Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

What do we know about Isaiah? Not much, except that he was a ‘nobody’ in the history of Israel until he responded to the Lord’s call, “Here I am. Send me.”

 

‘Nobodies’ telling everybody. What is it the Lord Jesus commissioned His disciples to do? If you know your Bible you know what He said: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Matthew 28:19-20

 

Why that commission? Why that COMMAND? Because a joyous eternal life or an agonizing eternal death hang in the balance for everyone. Everyone. You, me, pastors, priests, deacons, person in the pew, our parents, siblings, cousins, friends, neighbors, presidents and prime ministers, kings and queens.

 

Everyone.

 

And I will assure you, on the solid foundation of Scripture, a degree in theology is NOT a prerequisite to make disciples and be a co-labor with Christ to save people from eternal death. What IS required is obedience to Christ.

 

You may remember the story of the demoniac in Mark chapter five. After Jesus cast out the demons, the townspeople begged Jesus to leave their city. As the Lord got ready to go, the formerly demon-possessed man pleaded that he might go with Jesus. But the Lord said this to him: “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19

 

In other words, Jesus told a ‘nobody’ to tell everybody about the Somebody who can save their souls.

 

Think for a moment of Jesus’ disciples – not just the 12, but all those who followed Jesus? They were all virtually unknown in their communities. They were day-laborers. They were fishermen. They were hated tax collectors. Some were prostitutes, others were disabled beggars.

 

They were Nobodies telling everybody.

Here are only a few more Biblical illustrations of ‘nobodies.’ There was Elijah. St James tells us in his epistle that Elijah was a man with a frail human nature just like ours – an imperfect man who nonetheless was committed to God. (James 5:17). And when this ‘nobody’ heard God call him to Mount Carmel to contend with the 450 prophets of Baal, he went.

 

He went even though those hundreds of false prophets had the full support of the godless government run by Queen Jezebel and King Ahab. (1 Kings 18) But after Elijah saw the great miracle God worked on Mt Carmel, what did he do when Jezebel threatened his life? He ran in fear for his life.

 

Yes, Elijah was a man with a frail human nature, just like ours.

 

What about Peter?  He also was a ‘nobody’ before he obeyed God’s call to be a fisher of men. The apostle clearly had his faults, didn’t he? He publicly denied knowing his best friend and Lord – three times. And it was Peter who, years later, was guilty of hypocrisy in his relationship with Gentile Christians.

 

And while the apostle Paul was certainly not a ‘‘nobody’’ in his Jewish culture, he also had his share of frailties that didn’t end after he met Christ. You may remember he confessed in his letter to the Christians at Rome how wretched a sinner he was – doing what he didn’t want to do and not doing what he wanted to do. And then there was that thorn in his flesh – what it was no one knows – but it dogged him until the day of his death.

 

We could spend two college semesters examining the lives of so-called ‘nobodies’ throughout Scripture who turned their world upside down for the one true God.

 

And we could spend entire college semesters examining the so-called ‘nobodies’ in church history who turned their world upside down for Jesus; People like Monica, the mother of Augustine of Hippo, or of Francis of Assisi, or John Wycliff, Fanny Crosby, George Mueller, John Newton, Amy Carmichael, William Wilberforce – all former ‘nobodies’ who simply said “Yes” to God’s call to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Nobodies just like you and me – who can do great things for God, if only we’d say, ‘Yes’ to His call.  

As I prepared this message I thought of the song by the Christian group, Casting Crowns. Here are some of the lyrics of their song titled: “‘nobody’”:

 

“Why You ever chose me/Has always been a mystery/

All my life I've been told/ I belong at the end of the line
With all the other Not-Quites/With all the Never-Get-It-Rights
But it turns out they're the ones/ You've been looking for all this time
“'Cause I'm just a ‘nobody’/Trying to tell everybody/All about Somebody who saved my soul.

 

Many Christians put people like Elijah and Isaiah and Peter and Paul on pedestals, surrounded by halos. We tend to think we could never be so valuable to God’s kingdom as they were. And it’s a terrible mistake to think that.

Certainly, those men and women deserve our respect, even our emulation. But to suggest they were super-Christians is something for which I am certain they themselves would rebuke us. Their spiritual strength rested squarely and exclusively on the Rock of Christ – just as yours and mine must always rest.

 

In our current culture where the gospel is mocked – and with increasing frequency Christians find themselves on the wrong end of political correctness when they proclaim God’s truths which contradict the culture’s version of truth. And in this current culture, God help us to never be ashamed of the gospel, to never compromise the gospel, to never dilute the gospel, because the gospel of Christ is the ONLY power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jews and to the non-Jews. There is no other name – no other road under heaven – by which we must be saved.

 

The year 2026 is not a time for Christians to be silent about the gospel. The night is rapidly descending when no one will be able to work openly for Christ. Charlie Kirk is only the latest American martyr who died because of his bold and unwavering Christian faith. And he will not be the last American Christian martyr.

 

A newly released report shows that in 2024 churches in the US were targeted in 415 separate acts of hostility including vandalism, arson, bomb threats, and gun-related incidents.

 

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins describes the trend as a sign of a deepening cultural hostility toward faith. He added, “The American ‘woke’ Left has been intentional in spreading its hostility toward the Christian faith throughout every corner of America.”

 

Another troubling statistic, this one reported by the religious advocacy group, Catholic Vote, found that of the hundreds of attacks against Christians and churches – only 30% resulted in arrests. Said another way, 70% of the perpetrators got away with their violent anti-Christian bigotry.

 

And just last week . . . Did you read about the mob that invaded a Minnesota church last Sunday during their worship service, terrifying both adults and children?

 

Let me now take us back to the healed demoniac – the ‘nobody’ to whom Jesus said, “Return to your people and tell them what great things God has done for you.”

 

Which ought to beg these next two question for application: So, ‘Nobody’ – what has Christ done for you? And how can you share Him with others? Here are four Biblically rooted strategies to make disciples of all nations.

 

The first strategy involves talking the gospel. Do our friends and acquaintances know we attend church, prayer meetings, or Bible studies? Do they ever hear us talk of our faith in Jesus? Do they even know we are a Christian? Are we silent when we should speak, and do we speak when we should be silent?

 

Second, the gospel message must also be more than talked. It must also be walked. Does our walk match our talk? Do we ignore or rationalize what the Bible calls sin – as we looked at last week – or are we quick to repent? Are we guilty of gossip, of complaining, of an unwillingness to forgive others? Do we compromise our lifestyle to be accepted by family, friends, or acquaintances? Do we place the approval of friends over the approval of our Savior? Do we vote for politicians who support laws and policies that would cause Jesus to publicly rebuke us?

 

The third strategy to fulfill the Lord’s Great Commission has to do with financial stewardship – to give our dollars to those who do His work in ways and places where we cannot. The apostle John, in his letter to a local church about the itinerant preachers who occasionally visited them, wrote: “Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the brethren, and especially when they are strangers . . . Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers with the truth. (1 John 1:5, 8)

 

I’ve included in your handout a list of charities and other organizations that I believe are worthy of financial support. Even if you can only afford a dollar a week, it is just as easy for God to multiply whatever we give as it was for Him to multiply the fish and loaves. But the point is – give what you can to the work of Christ. There isn’t time now to quote the 25th chapter of Matthew’s gospel, but I urge you to read it in its entirety on your own. All three stories in that chapter are interrelated.

 

Finally, strategy number four: Prayer. Do not think lightly of the power of prayer. Neither walking nor talking nor giving can accomplish much if the much is not undergirded with prayer.

 

As you know from reading the gospels, the Lord Himself spent a lot of time in prayer to the Father. Matthew 14:23, Luke 5:16, and Luke 6:12 are only a few examples. And you remember He taught His disciples to pray – for example, Matthew 6 and Luke 18.

 

And among the disciples, we also know St. Paul believed in the power and efficacy of prayer. When you have time, look at 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 and Ephesians 1:16-19. And then read Colossians 4:2-4.

 

Please hear this: NO ONE is impotent who serves our omnipotent God. Never think prayer is a ‘small thing.’ Remember again what God did with two fish and some loaves of bread. It’s prayer that undergirds ALL the fruitful activities of anyone who strives to fulfill in himself or herself the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. There’s no other supernatural power in all creation more effective than prayer that can defend our family, our friends, our nation, or our church from the supernatural assaults of the devil.

 

Most people on earth do not have a clue of the ferocious and deadly supernatural war waged by Satan and his minions for our eternal souls. And the weaponry of our warfare is not of human strength but of God’s supernatural power. Paul talks of that power in 2 Corinthians 10 and Ephesians chapter six. We cannot turn there now, but I urge you to examine those divine instructions on your own.

 

Let’s go back for a moment to the two people I spoke about at the beginning of my message. It’s for people like them that God sent His Son to die on Calvary. And God has privileged every Christian – of whatever role or age or status in life – God has given us the privilege to work with Him to save others from a life of heartache brought on by sin, and to save them from an eternal agony in the Lake of Fire.

 

God has privileged us to walk and to talk and to give and to pray that others will choose to follow Jesus – before death or dementia robs them of that choice.

 

What has Jesus done for you? Then tell others. Walk the talk. Give.

 

And pray.

 

“I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)