MYSTERY: if God is sovereign, what is our role? 

Peter Mitchell, Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) 

Give us grace, O Lord, not only to hear your Word with our ears, but also to receive it into our hearts and to show it forth in our lives; for the glory of your name. Amen.

I remember the very first time that I met my wife, Moya. I was treasurer of the Fellwalking Society at Newcastle University, and she was queueing up to pay her subs. In the 47 years since then, we have walked a great many miles together, but one visit to the Lake District stands out. It was March 1980, Moya and I, with our friend Chris, were walking from Ennerdale to Honister, via the col between the summits of Brandreth and Haystacks.

As often happens in mountains, light snow in Ennerdale became heavier as we climbed. When the path had levelled out, we could no longer see more than a few feet in any direction and were up to our knees in snow. However, we had appropriate clothing and equipment, knew where we were, where we were heading and how long it ought to take us. So, we sent Chris ahead, on a compass bearing, until he could only just be seen, and then followed in his footsteps, repeating this for over a mile, until we were confident that we ought to be just above the old drum house. At that moment, the clouds of snow began to thin, and we caught glimpses of the ruins. The descent to Honister was then achieved with little difficulty.

This summer, we have been exploring Paul’s letter to the Romans. Andrew Ollerton, author of ‘Romans: a letter that makes sense of life’, produced a diagram to guide us through our study. It shows another mountain journey of adventure and discovery, beginning with the gospel of truth, then descending into the valley of sin, to climb the cliff of salvation onto the ledge of peace, before the final ascent of freedom to the summit of hope, which is where we left the story last week, gazing at the amazing view.

So, what now? Surely the only way to go from the top is down? Will this be an anticlimax? Definitely not! And we remain high on the mountain. On our journey so far, we have celebrated the power of the gospel, and God’s plan to restore us and all of creation. We are about to discover the difference that this made to the early church in Rome, and how we might be expected to respond to all that God has done for us. But, as we leave the summit, we become enveloped in a cloud of mystery, just as Moya and I were when we reached the top of the Loft Beck in a white-out and completely lost sight of the way forward.

Paul knows that on any journey there will be testing times, when the conditions become arduous, we can’t see the way forward nor the hidden dangers, can’t trust our own senses perhaps, and must rely on the one thing in which we can trust. For Moya and me on the fells this was keeping our eyes fixed on our compass, which kept us on the right path through the confusion of snowdrifts and lack of visibility, until the clouds began to clear. For the early church, as it is for us today, this was keeping their eyes fixed on Jesus, the way, the truth and the life.

Andrew Ollerton suggests that Paul’s arguments in chapters 9-11 of his letter to the Romans may feel much like the mist closing in, and that these chapters form the most dense and intricate argument anywhere in Paul’s letters. Other commentators agree, variously describing this as ‘one of the most difficult and obscure passages,’ and ‘quite a dense and daunting bit of theology’. Now, I realize that I might not be selling this very well, and you may be forgiven for wondering why we are even bothering with it, but please bear with me, as I attempt to pick out the highlights from this ancient writing which still speaks strongly to us today.

God is sovereign, so we shall never understand his ‘unsearchable’ judgements; his ways are ‘inscrutable’, as Paul puts it. There are mysteries in life which cannot neatly be resolved. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that we have all the answers. Rather, we have somewhere to go with our questions; to a loving heavenly Father whom we can trust even when life doesn’t make sense. But God has also revealed himself and his truth in the gospel and has called us to respond. Mystery and revelation in tension. The sovereignty of God is both a great comfort when life is tough, and a motivation for us to play our part in the fulfilment of God’s larger purpose.

If I have whetted your appetite, chapters 9-11 of Paul’s letter are something of a literary sandwich, in which Paul, drawing on Old Testament scripture, writes concernedly about the plight of those of his fellow Jews who have stumbled over God’s stumbling-stone and have rejected Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah.

Anti-Jewish politics is not only a recent, disturbing phenomenon, it was also in the background as Paul was writing, and he is thinking about the divisions between the unbelieving Jews and the followers of Christ, how he sees God honouring his ancient covenant commitment to the Israelites, whom he chose first, and how they too will find their promised salvation, alongside the Gentiles; fruitless olive branches broken off and then grafted back into a metaphorical olive tree.

It is a fresh re-telling of Israel’s story, but with Jesus as its climax; God’s grace replacing obedience to his law as the means to salvation. This is covered in chapters 9 and 11, where Paul leads us into and through the mists of his deep theology. The filling between these passages, chapter 10, finds Paul leading us out of the mist again, clarifying the role that we must play in a practical way.

Old Testament scripture taught that obedience to Hebrew law was the key to God’s blessing. But Paul says that Christ is the culmination of the law. Because Jesus, the only fully obedient Jew, has fulfilled the law, he has opened a new way of blessing, equally available to Jews and Gentiles. Faith in Christ is now the only requirement for joining the covenant people of God. There is no ethnic bias or racial discrimination; the message of Jesus applies equally in Johannesburg and Jerusalem, in Beijing and Bethlehem.

And there are no degrees of citizenship in God’s kingdom. In Roman society the wealthy could buy privilege and elite status, but before God you cannot buy salvation. The rich, the poor, the famous and the marginalized are equally welcome. Which is good news indeed; the gospel message humbles the powerful and empowers the humble.

But for Paul, it is not enough simply to be spiritual, or vaguely to believe in God. He urges his readers to be more confident and more active in their faith, and says, “If you confess with your lips, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” Yes, says Paul, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’.

In that culture, names were important; they described the character of a person and defined them. But the personal name of God was so sacred that no Jew would dare to pronounce it when reading scripture and they replaced God’s Hebrew name (Yahweh) with the word we translate as LORD, which is why this word appears in capital letters throughout the Old Testament. In Jesus, God has now been revealed personally to his people, and this is why Paul says that the Old Testament prophecy that ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD (capitalized - meaning the name of God) shall be saved, is fulfilled by Jesus.

This is a radical statement. For Romans, to say that Jesus was Lord was, by implication, to say that Caesar was not Lord, and that was an offence punishable by long terms of imprisonment or death. Even today this can be a brave thing to say, as it involves standing out from the crowd and declaring openly that our allegiance lies not with any of today’s politicians, leaders or celebrities but with Jesus. We are called, says Paul, firstly to believe wholeheartedly that Jesus is Lord and then to profess that faith with our mouths.

There follows a logical train of Paul’s thought. If salvation depends on belief and confession, calling on the name of the Lord, appealing to him to rescue us, how can those who have never heard about Jesus be saved? And how are they to hear about him unless somebody is sent to tell them? Paul suggests that this is the Christians’ calling, to spread the gospel message, to draw people to encounter Jesus for themselves, that they in turn might come to call on his name and be saved.

In ancient times, news of major events was taken to people by heralds, who walked the land, speaking the headlines to those who lived outside the big cities. Any bringer of good news would be welcomed with open arms. Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah, and this is where the opening lines of our hymn ‘How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news’ come from. Today we might say ‘How beautiful are the fingers of those who send messages of good news on social media.’

Our challenge then is to earn ourselves the accolade of ‘Beautiful Feet’, or perhaps ‘Beautiful Wheels’, where that is our accustomed mode of transport. Some people are keen conversationalists and might relish being God’s herald, but others are a little more reticent, becoming tongue-tied when it comes to explaining our faith, hoping that no-one will ask difficult questions about things like pain, abuse and tragedy, or pour scorn on our beliefs, or accuse us of hypocrisy, or simply of being out touch. So, here are a few suggestions from experienced evangelists.

Begin by praying; ask God where and how he wants you to help him. Then let your Beautiful Feet take you out somewhere, to meet people where they are. A smile is a good, positive way of communicating. If people speak to you, listen, and show an interest in them. Acknowledge their concerns and show that you care. Ensure that people feel comfortable and safe talking with you. Look for opportunities to share your own experience of the difference that Jesus has made in your own life. Be open and honest and speak with integrity. Illustrate your points with appropriate bible stories if you can. Offer to pray with or for people: for their sick child, frail parent or trouble at work, for example. Do not be afraid, but keep praying, and let God guide you. Remember that this is God at work, and we are helping him, as far as we can.

So, why not commit, this morning, to having at least one conversation about Jesus with somebody you meet? Think about where your Beautiful Feet will take you this week. Then, as you leave the church, or go through to the church hall, you will find a giant foot. Add one or more Post-it notes to the giant foot, to say where you are expecting to go this week, and therefore where you might just find an opportunity to proclaim your faith, and to talk about Jesus.

Let us pray.

Loving and gracious Father, wherever we go this week, help us to be bearers of the good news of the gospel, sharing it with others in our words and actions. Please give us the courage to speak about you when the opportunity arises, so others may come to know you. Amen.