Scripture: Romans 10:8-15 NLT
“The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”
And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
When our son played on his first beginners basketball team, those boys practiced hard.
I mean hard.
They worked on the coach’s offensive play over and over again.
They learned where to stand.
They learned where to run.
They learned when to pass.
They learned when to cut.
They learned how to move as a team.
And when game day came, they ran the play beautifully.
They passed the ball. They moved into position.
They followed the coach’s instructions.
They looked organized. They looked prepared.
They looked like they knew exactly what they were doing.
There was only one problem. Nobody shot the ball. Not one time.
They ran the play, but they never took the shot.
So, when the game was over, the coach looked at the team and said, “You ran the plan perfectly!” And he was right. They had run the plan perfectly. But they lost the game.
Because basketball is not won by running a play.
Basketball is won by putting the ball in the basket.
Now, if you have been around church for any length of time, you already know where this is going. Because sometimes churches can do the same thing. Sometimes we Christians can do the same thing.
We can know the plan.
We can speak the language.
We can attend the church services.
We can sing the worship songs.
We can quote the Bible verses.
We can believe the right doctrines.
We can receive the grace of God for ourselves. And still somehow forget that the gospel was never meant to stop with us.
Romans 10 reminds us that the message of Jesus is beautifully simple and eternally serious.
Paul says “the word is near you. It is on your lips and in your heart. That is the message of faith. If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
That’s grace and the mercy of God. That’s the good news of Jesus Christ. But Paul doesn’t stop there. He keeps going.
He then proceeds to ask a series of questions that should cause all of us to stop in our tracks. “How can people call on the one they have not believed in? How can they believe if they have never heard of Him? How can they hear unless someone tells them? And how can anyone tell them unless they are sent?” In other words, Paul says, “Don’t just run the play. Take the shot.” Don’t just receive the gospel. Share the gospel.
Don’t just celebrate that grace has reached you. Remember that somebody else is still waiting for grace to reach them.
Because the grace that saved you was never meant to end with you. It came to you so it could move through you. It blessed your life so it could become a blessing through your life. The gospel is not a private possession. It is a public invitation. And today, Romans 10 is going to call us back to the heart of Christian faith: the gospel that saves us is also the gospel that sends us.
You see! God saves us by grace and sends us with grace.
Let me remind you that you have the message of grace in you.
If you are a disciple of Jesus, you have heard the message. And I want discipleship, being accountable disciples, growing as disciples and making new disciples to become normative in our life and habit of the conference.
Here’s the message: Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. He was buried and raised to life on the third day. That is the gospel truth. That is the gospel message. That’s a message of grace which we live by.
The message is at hand. It is readily accessible. It’s already there. That message of grace is not at arm’s length, it’s in you.
It’s on your lips to openly declare. But it’s on your lips for a reason.
It’s on your lips with purpose delivered from the Holy Spirit.
This is about making disciples of Jesus Christ. Disciples of Jesus Christ share the message of salvation to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
This is about multiplication in the kingdom of God.
God saves us by grace and sends us with grace.
There’s more: The grace of God makes us right with God.
Verses 10-13
10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him.
13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
That’s good news that just keeps getting better. If you believe, then you are made right with God. Oh! But wait.
Let’s not overlook this: it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
If the grace of God matters, and I think it does, and we have received it, and I suspect that most of us have, then we are transformed and will share that message of great grace.
With our mouth. (I feel an Isaiah moment coming on, Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips, living among those of unclean lips). We need the coal to touch us that the message that brought us to salvation is the message filled with grace passing through our lips to a world, families, the work places, the schools, the communities and yes in the church…that needs to hear of that grace! They need to hear the good news.
This is about being aware that though we live in this world, we belong to a Kingdom that is out of this world. We are sent into the world to make disciples of the King of kings. This message that we profess to believe in, should take us out of ourselves.
We worry about ridicule
About embarrassment
Or inadequacy or
Having the perfect words
He does not ask us to do this in our own strength. In His grace, He sent the Holy Spirit to guide us.
God saves us by grace and sends us with grace.
VS 14-15
14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
We haven’t saturated our neighborhoods, schools and workplace with the gospel yet. There are so many who do not believe and they don’t know how to call on God to save them.
People all over know something is wrong, but they don’t know what to do.
Give them Jesus.
They won’t know it is Jesus they need if we don’t tell them.
And we need to understand that Jesus has already commissioned us to go.
If we are a disciple, Jesus has already sent us.
The message is not to just keep to ourselves. The gospel starts with go. We are already sent to proclaim the good news.
Friends, take the shot and share the gospel.
God saves us by grace and sends us with grace. You are SENT!
Rev. Kari Howard
Associate Conference Superintendent