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Romans 13:1–5  Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

We are approaching another presidential election, which has become very interesting. Many of the folks I’ve talked to have voiced their displeasure with both candidates from the major parties. Let me just encourage you to pray about it, ask God to give you wisdom and discernment, and don’t neglect your right to vote.

Can you be respectful of and obedient to a government with which you strongly disagree? The answer, of course, is yes. Christians have been doing that down through the ages. However, our first and foremost allegiance is to our God. These words from Romans 13 are to understood in the context of all Scripture, which also tells us “We must obey God rather than men!” (Acts 5:29)

When Paul encourages the faithful in Rome to submit to the governing authorities, they were under a regime that was hostile to those who followed the one true God. Yet they were called to be good citizens and more: they were to live such good lives that others would notice and wonder why. And that would open the door for them to share the reason for the hope that was in them: what Jesus did for all people through His life, death and resurrection.

That is our calling still today. We are to live as citizens of God’s kingdom here on earth, no matter who the governing authorities may be. We are to let the light of Christ shine through us in our words and actions. After all, we know that for Jesus’ sake we have forgiveness for all our sins and life forever with him.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I mentioned last week that Cheryl and I volunteered as workers for Vacation Bible School at our congrgation. It was a great week and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. This past Sunday our worship service was a celebration of VBS as well, with the kids singing a couple of the songs they learned.

Last Saturday, we attended a birthday party for a friend of ours. A member of the guest of honor’s family was visiting with me, and asked me what I was doing these days. I told him we just finished a week of VBS at the church. He had a puzzled look on his face, He said, “I thought you were retired?” I replied, “I am. But that doesn’t mean I have stopped serving Jesus!”

I look at it this way: Full-time ministry is no longer what I do for a living. It is what I do because I was given new life by Jesus. I am still called by God to minister to my neighbor whenever and wherever I can do so. It may be helping out at my congregation, preaching somewhere so another pastor can go on vacation, helping a friend move into assisted living, sitting down and listening to someone share what is going on in his or her life. As long as I am physically able, I will continue to help with things like Disaster Response and Habitat for humanity.

Each day I ask God to help me be His witness to the people I encounter. I want them to know the love of God in Christ that I know. I want them to have the certainty of sin forgiven and life eternal, all because of what Jesus did for us. I don’t want to retire from that until Jesus welcomes me into His presence.

Romans 12:9–21  “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This is quite a list of “dos” and “don’ts.” The things on this list would go a long way in easing the plight of the less fortunate all around us. Our world would be a better place if we would follow these guidelines. They all make sense and are good things to do.

But let’s be clear on what this list is and what it is not. This is not a “how to get into heaven” to-do list. You can’t earn that yourself. Rather, this is a list of things to do because you know you are going to heaven. You are going there because of what God did for you in sending Jesus. God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to be our Savior, and everyone who believes in Him gets the benefit of what He accomplished. His love – our response.

In case you missed it, Paul frames our response to God’s love in terms of love: “Love must be sincere…be devoted to one another in brotherly love.”  He warns us not to be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

When I was in Youth Group many years ago, a popular then-contemporary Christian song had the refrain “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love.” Will they know that about you by the way you are living?

ROMANS 8:31-39   What then shall we say in response to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all–how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies.  Who is he that condemns?  Christ Jesus, who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:  “For your sake we face death all day long;  we are considered ad sheep  to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present not the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There was a farmer who had a large rock in the middle of one of his fields.  Year after year, he worked around that rock, always growing more distressed by its presence.  Through the years, he had broken a cultivator and two plows on that rock, not to mention the loss of the valuable farm land in its vicinity.  Finally, he decided to be done with it.  He would remove it from the field, no matter how much work it would take.  When he put his pry bar underneath the rock, he was surprised to find that it was less than a foot thick.  With just a small amount of effort, he was able to loosen it and haul it away in his wagon.  He smiled when he thought how he had let that rock haunt him for all those years, not knowing that it would be this easy to remove.

Do you have problems that haunt you?  Most people do.  All of us have hardships and suffering in our lives.  And just like that farmer, most folks let their problems get to them or get the best of them.  Your problems may be in your home, family, job, finances, or from any other number of places.  Sometimes it even seems as though everything gangs up on us at once, and that there is no escaping your afflictions.

All of the problems that you and I have in this world are the result of sin in our lives.  This is not to say that God punishes specific sins with specific afflictions. Rather, we know that problems in general are the result of sin in general. We have all sinned. We all need help.

Today’s passage tells us that God is for us, He is on our side. He is the one who justifies. He did this by sending His Son and promising that everyone who believes in Him as their Savior can claim the righteousness of Christ as their own!  This is something secure in your life:  when God declares you forgiven and righteous for Christ’s sake, you can be confident that it is true. And He wants you to know that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:5-14 5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: “The man who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

Law and Gospel. The essentials of God’s Word. Both are necessary. Both have their place. Luther wrote about it this way: “We should understand ‘Law’ to mean nothing else than God’s word and command, in which He directs us what to do and what not to do, and demands from us our obedience or ‘work.’ … On the other hand, the Gospel or the faith is a doctrine or word of God that does not require our works. It does not command us to do anything. On the contrary, it bids us merely to accept the offered grace and forgiveness of sins and eternal life and let it be given to us.”

In other words, the Law tells man what God demands. The Gospel tells man that Christ has fulfilled all those demands for him. The Law requires us to be perfect. The Gospel freely gives us the perfection God requires.

In the passage above, Paul mentions the righteousness that comes from the Law only to show that it is impossible for us to achieve. The Law tells us that we can’t be good enough. The righteousness we need is that which God makes available and gives to us through Jesus. He sent Him to die for sin. God raised Him from the dead as the victor over sin and death. Believing that means you are saved.

Those of us who have been brought to faith have the responsibility to pass the message of Law and Gospel on to others. Law and Gospel properly divided and proclaimed is the message that everyone in every generation needs to hear. God does not change. Neither does His message. And to some extent, people remain the same. Everyone is still sinful. The message of Law rings true to every generation. And when a conscience agrees with what the Law proclaims, the Gospel is welcome. In every age, Christ remains the answer to sin. That will remain constant until the resurrection of all the dead in the final judgment. The faithful will then be with Christ in perfection. Only at that point will the proclamation of Law and Gospel no longer be necessary.

People today desperately need to hear the message of God’s anger over sin, an anger that has been appeased by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and the escape from that anger that is available to everyone who believes that Jesus is his or her Savior. We share that in different ways with different people, but the message is unchanging. The way we share it is not as important as the message itself. If we are careful to faithfully proclaim God’s message, Law and Gospel, it will be heard.

Throughout my ministry I remember many conversations with people who were concerned about their children and grandchildren. But their concern was not simply for this world. These people were concerned that their children and/or grandchildren were not following Jesus and seemed to have no faith in Him. These were tearful conversations. I remember in particular one man telling me that he told his grandson, “I’m afraid I won’t see you in heaven!”

That is the attitude of Paul at the beginning of chapter 9 of Romans. His concern was for his extended family, the Jewish people, the physical descendants of Abraham. He recounts how they had it all: they were chosen by God, saw His glory, heard His promises, were given the Commandments and the Temple and were the descendants of Abraham. But they ignored God’s greatest gift – the promised Messiah who had come.

Paul expressed that he would gladly give up his own salvation if it would mean the salvation of his people, but it doesn’t work that way. Paul could not and does not have to pay for the salvation of anyone. Jesus already did that for the whole world.

Paul asserts a truth that should comfort us, that God allows anyone who believes His promises to be part of His people, whether they are physical descendants of Abraham or not.

Romans 9:25   As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one…”

God is full of compassion and mercy, but those who receive the benefit of what Jesus did are the ones who put their faith in Him. You don’t get forgiveness by being good, trying hard, or having Abraham’s blood in your veins. You get it for Jesus’ sake. He lived for you. He died for you. He rose for you. And by God’s grace, through faith, you get the rewards His actions earned.

Romans 9:30-32  “What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.”

We cannot believe for someone else or pay their way to get into heaven. But we can continue to pray for them, share our faith with them, let the light of Jesus shine for them so that they can see the difference He makes in our lives. The Holy Spirit can and will use our witness.

ROMANS 8:28-30   And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called;  those he called, he also justified;  those he justified, he also glorified.

A lamb and its mother passed a pig pen each morning on the way to the pasture. Watching the pigs wallow in the mud seemed like such fun, and on one terribly hot day the lamb asked his mother if he could jump the fence and wallow in the cool mud. “No,” she replied. The lamb asked the usual question: “Why not?” The mother just replied, “Sheep don’t wallow.” Of course, this didn’t satisfy that little lamb. He felt his mother was being arbitrary and had no good reason to forbid him to play in the mud. So as soon as his mother was out of sight, he ran to the pig pen and jumped the fence. He was soon feeling the cool mud on his feet, his legs, and then his stomach. After a few minutes, he decided that he had better go back to his mother, but he could not. He was stuck. Mud and wool don’t mix. His pleasure had become his prison. He cried out and was rescued by a kindly farmer. When cleaned and returned to his fold, his mother said, “Remember: Sheep don’t wallow.”

Sin is like that. It can look so nice and appealing, and we think we can escape it whenever we wish, but it just isn’t so. What looks like a pleasure will turn into a prison. We become bogged down in the mire of our evil deeds. We were stuck and could do nothing to remove ourselves. Yet someone came and pulled us out: Jesus! And not only did he free us, he also cleaned us up, so that we were once again white as snow in the sight of our heavenly Father. And then our Good Shepherd gives the sheep of His flock this advice: My Sheep don’t Wallow in Sin.

Instead of wallowing in sin, you are to follow the guiding of your gentle shepherd. You are to conform your lives so that they are always more like His. He has called you to be His sheep. As the passage above tells us, those he called, he also justified. All the filth of your sin has been removed through faith in Jesus Christ as your only hope of rescue. You have been made clean again. Why would you want to go back to wallowing? The proper response would instead be to live according to his purpose.

Where do you find out how to conform your life to the likeness of Jesus? What is your manual for living according to his purpose? It is God’s Word. The Psalmist speaks of it:

“Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right.” (Psalm 119:137)

“Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Psalm 119:97)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

Is this true of you? Do you recognize that God’s law is actually good for you? Do you study it so that you can know his will? If you are going to live according to his purpose, you must know what that purpose is, and you will find it only in His Word.

This week Cheryl and I are helping with Vacation Bible School at our church. One of our daughters is also here helping, and four of our grandchildren are staying with us and attending. Those of you who have volunteered for VBS know that it is a rewarding experience, getting to share the love of God in Christ with the children all week long. It is also exhausting, and you are a special kind of tired by the end of the week.

Already several times this week I have witnessed “meltdowns.” Kids who get overstimulated will often times overreact to things. I was thinking about the circumstances that led to the “meltdowns” I saw and was reminded of this passage.

James 4:1–10 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

One kid wanted something another kid was playing with. You want something but don’t get it. Another kid thought he should get to go before everyone else. You cannot have what you want. Arguments ensued. What causes fights and quarrels among you?

These were teachable moments. However, people don’t always want to learn the lessons that God wants us to learn. This is true for adults as well as children. But look at the wonderful advice God gives us here through James:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.

We skip over that all too quickly. God promises that if we resist the devil, he will flee. But our first instinct always seems to be to give in to our sinful desires. Lord, have mercy.

The words “Grieve, mourn and wail” in verse 9 are all calls to and signs of repentance, turning away  from your sin and turning back to God. “Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom” is a further call to repentance. It is turning from trying to find satisfaction in the things of the world and seeking to live God’s way.

We strive to do this because we know what God has already done for us. It is our response to Jesus having paid the penalty for our sin and then conquering death for us. That is why try, each day, to humbly submit my life to Jesus. It is what we were trying to teach the kids at VBS, too.

MARK 6:34  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So he began teaching them many things.

The compassion of Jesus shows us how we are to act toward others. He is the example to follow.  As those who were lost, and have now been found by God, we should be able to relate to those who are still lost. Those of you who are adult converts probably have a good understanding of this. You remember what it was like to not have a relationship with Jesus. But even those who are life-long Christians know that without God we would be lost and despairing. Though our punishment for sin is removed because of our faith in Christ, we still have the problem of sin in our lives, so we know what our fellow men are going through.

There was a small boy who had lost his right hand in an accident. He felt badly about it and did not want to see anyone. His father said, “I’m going to bring the minister in to see you,” but the boy said, “I don’t want to see him!” The father brought him in anyway, and when the boy looked up, he saw that the minister had no right arm: just an empty sleeve. He said, “I don’t have a hand either. I lost my arm when I was a boy, so I know how it feels.” Naturally it was easy for the boy to talk to this man who “knew how it felt.” So what about those who are still lost? You were there once yourself, you can relate to them, knowing how it felt. Do you have compassion on them, that gut-feeling that leads you to act on their behalf? Are you making an effort to reach them with the message of free salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?  If you follow the example of Jesus, such will be your compassion.

Of course, compassion is to be shown to all men, fellow believers as well as those who have not yet come to faith in Christ. We should be conscious of the need to act upon our feeling of wanting to help. This includes all of our actions and our speaking. And since we do a lot more speaking than anything else, we should be especially sensitive to showing compassion in what we say.

Most of you know that a huge horse can be controlled by a tiny device placed in its mouth, called a bit.  Such a little instrument has a big influence. Likewise, the tongue, although a small part of our anatomy, has an amazingly great impact on our lives. We might tend to underestimate the power of the tongue because it is so small and is hidden away in the mouth.  It produces a product that floats on air, is invisible, and is gone as quickly as it comes into existence–WORDS.  And if you doubt the tremendous impact of words, consider these phrases: “You’re fired.” “It’s cancer.” “She’s dead.” “You blew it.” “What happened to your face?” Think how devastating these words are in your life. Yet words can be just as powerful in a positive sense. “You’re cured.” “You won! “ “Good job!” “You look good today!” “I’m proud of you!” What you say can be a tremendous way of showing compassion to others.  And there is no greater way to speak your compassion than to share the declaration that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World.

However, words are not enough. It is true that the Word works faith in hearts, and our words can be powerful. The Word of God is what creates faith in the hearts of men, and faith is what saves you through God’s grace. But faith without works is dead. We must practice what we preach. Our compassion for others must take the form of words and deeds. There is an old Japanese fable about a man who died and went to heaven.  When he got there, he was surprised to find a shelf that was completely covered with human tongues. When he asked his heavenly guide about it, the guide explained, “Those are the tongues of people who spoke sweet words about virtue, who said what was right, but never did anything to follow their words. So, their tongues have come to heaven, but the rest of them is somewhere else.”

Make sure your compassion is not like that. You should emulate the feeling of Christ, feeling for others so deeply that not only do you feel it and speak it, but you also act upon those feelings. Your compassion should lead you to volunteer to help when help is needed, even if it might be an unpleasant or distasteful task. It could be as simple as offering to bring someone to church, or as complicated as trying to reconcile yourself to someone with whom you have a long-standing feud. following the example of Jesus, you will visit the sick, pray for those in need, give your offerings to support the church, bring food to the meal being served after a funeral.All these are a part of expressing compassion. You are showing the same kind of concern that God showed for you in
Jesus. And Why? Because you know what it means that Jesus died and rose again
for you. He has given you eternal life. That should have an impact on your life.

MARK 6:30-34   The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught.  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”  So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.  But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So he began teaching them many things.

This passage speaks to us of compassion, specifically the compassion of our Lord. Let’s set the scene for this passage.  It begins by saying The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all they had done and taught. Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the message of repentance, to cast out spirits, and to heal.  So they return to tell Jesus that they had done what He commanded. The compassion of Jesus had led Him to send them out on this mission of mercy.

Upon their return, notice what Jesus does. He knows that they had labored hard in the task He had given them, and he wants to give them time to recuperate:  Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Once again, we see the compassionate nature of our Lord, in wanting to care for His disciples’ physical needs.

When Jesus and His disciples tried to get away by themselves, they were unsuccessful.  The crowds followed them.  And Jesus told them to leave Him alone, right?  No, we are told that He had compassion on them. Rather than turn them away, He taught them what they needed to know.  Truly our Lord is full of compassion.

So then, just what is compassion? The dictionary says it is a deep feeling for the suffering of others. That’s not a bad definition, but it doesn’t even begin to describe what this word means in the original language. The Greek word here is SPLAGXNIZOMAI. This word is untranslatable into one word in English. It is more than just pity. It is not just that He felt sorry for them. It speaks of a tenderness that comes from deep down inside you–literally a gut feeling. This feeling wells up inside of you until it becomes like a lump in your throat. This feeling for another person is so deep that it is not just something you feel: it causes you to act. You can’t feel that much without doing something about it. Such is the compassion of our Lord. He felt for those around Him and He did something about it.  His compassion led Him to send out His disciples to preach repentance and the Good News. His compassion dictated that He allow His disciples a period of rest. And His compassion told Him that He could not turn away this crowd without giving them something, so He taught them.

We are not told here exactly what Jesus taught these people. However, I would imagine that it was pretty much the same message He shared throughout His ministry. He most likely told them about the love of their compassionate heavenly Father. He felt for mankind, His perfect creation which had corrupted itself through disobedience. And God’s compassion was such that it led Him to act: He acted by sending a Savior, someone who would bear the burden of our disobedience to bring us back to God. Jesus was that very one sent to save us. Not only did He come to us, but He came as one of us. He was human, though without sin.  And since He was one of us, His compassion was rooted in knowing who we are and what we go through. He understood us completely, and dedicated His entire being to helping us out of the hopeless situation we had entered through out sin. Faith in His life of perfect obedience and His sacrifice for sins makes us acceptable before the throne of God.

More thoughts on compassion tomorrow.