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The Roman Road 5 February 2006
Part 1 in a series on ?¨Tools for Sharing Christ?Æ Pastor Mark Nieting
How many of you remember Burma Shave signs? From 1925 to 1963, groups of 5 or 6 fairly small roadsigns advertising this particular brand of brushless shaving cream were found in 7,000 different spots around our country. Designed to be read in sequence as you drove by at 40 or 50 miles per hour, they ?¨worked!?Æ Here are a two of my favorites:
The whale put Jonah down the hatch
But coughed him up because he scratched. Burma Shave
And: Pity all the mighty Caesars They pulled their whiskers Out with tweezers. Burma Shave
Unfortunately, interstate highways and higher speeds put them out to pasture, but the idea can work for us Christians learning to share our faith with other people. Most of us think that faith sharing has to be tremendously complicated, with lots of Bible passages and hard sell messages. That??s not always the case. Sometimes, simple is best. Simple we can remember. Simple we can share.
I was watching the Comedy Channel on cable late one night this week. One of the hosts was lampooning politicians?ñone of them was his guest?ñ. because they talk so much and say so little. He asked for a Bible and when it was produced, he turned immediately to John 3: 16. (I was surprised?ñ.he knew right where it was!) He asked the politician to read it?ñ.OUT LOUD. When he was done, he said, ?¨Jesus Christ put the core meaning of the entire Christian faith into one verse of the Bible. If Jesus can do that, why can??t politicians??Æ
Our purpose here isn??t to poke fun at politicians. Our purpose is to learn how we can share the message of Jesus Christ with the world in a simple and straightforward, easy-to-grasp manner, and to do that today, we are going to use a short sequence of Bible verses, all from Romans, which is why we call this method, ?¨The Roman Road.?Æ
Take our your bulletin insert?ñ.and grab a pen or pencil. And while you are doing that, let??s discuss Roman Roads for a minute. One of the main reasons that God chose the time He did for the birth of Christ had to do with Roman roads. The Romans built 53,000 miles of roads to maintain and defend their empire. Some of them still exist today. They were 8 feet wide in straight places and 16 feet on curves. From 20 BC on, mile-markers were set up along all Roman Roads, all beginning at ground zero, a large pillar near the temple of Saturn in Rome.
The ?¨ground zero?Æ for our study today is the bottom passage on the study page. Let??s read it together. ?¨For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.?Æ Where is this passage found? JOHN 3: 16.
Write that reference in the lowest ?¨signbox,?Æ the closest one to you on the road. I??m sure this is a verse that you already know by heart?ñ.but if you don??t, MEMORIZE IT!
Most people believe IN God, but most people also sense a separation FROM God. We know God must be good and holy. But we also have to know that we haven??t measured up to God??s desire for us to be holy and perfect. For God to be God?ñ..and for love to really mean something, God gives each of us a choice. We can choose to love ourselves and follow our own selfish and sinful pursuits, which is sin. In our sin, we cannot know God and cannot know His love for us. Therefore we are lost and separated from God?ñand it might be forever!
The Bible verse that backs this up is the next one ?¨up?Æ on the road. Read it with me: ?¨All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.?Æ The text to write in this box is Romans 3: 23. Do that now.
Notice the first word. It??s easy to share because the playing field is level. ALL have sinned. Most folks, even if they think they are pretty good people, KNOW that they aren??t perfect?ñ.and in this verse, Paul simply reminds us of this fact. Turn to the person next to you and say these words, ?¨I am a sinner and so are you.?Æ Come on, you can do it. (Although I sense some of you are ENJOYING calling the person next to you a sinner! We have to do this gently!)
Let??s move along the road. The next sign?ñthe next verse?ñ reads like this (let??s read it together) ?¨For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.?Æ The text to write in this box (the third one up) is Romans 6: 23. Do that now.
Wages are payment?ñit??s what we have coming to us because of the work we have done. The wages, the just payment for our sin, is death?ñeternal death. This is because God IS just and because God IS perfect and because a holy God cannot allow sin and evil into His perfect heaven. If we remain in our sin, and few people can argue that they aren??t sinners in SOME way, we have no life with God. We may be physically alive?ñ.for now?ñbut we are spiritually dead, and if we continue in that condition, we will be separated from God for all eternity.
But God is also LOVING. He created us and grieves over our sinful separation from Him. To make this right again, God is willing to give us something we HAVEN??T earned, a free gift with no strings attached. He has sent Jesus Christ, His Son, into the world?ñ.and Jesus paid the price of our sin.
Turn to the person next to you, the one you so gleefully called a sinner before and read them this verse. (Do this now). Now remind them?ñ.say this any way you want to?ñthat God sent Jesus to give them the gift of life. (Do this now)
Let??s pull off on a rest stop along the Roman Road and get a perspective on how we share Jesus Christ. The most important thing we CAN do is to share Jesus with people who don??t know him. It??s allowing the Holy Spirit to use US as a tool to save another soul. If each Christian would reach only ONE other person for Jesus this year, within a few years there would be NO unbelievers! Imagine!
Here??s a few hints on how to USE tools like the Roman Road. First, don??t preach it, talk it. Most people turn ?¨off?Æ if they feel we Christians are finger-pointing. Second, be realistic. Don??t infer that faith in Jesus makes life a bed of roses. Is your life always that? Be we CAN say that Jesus helps us through the tough times! Avoid saying negative things?ñ.whether it??s the world, other churches, other denominations. This doesn??t help at all. Use common ground with the person you are talking to. If they are lonely, talk about how you??ve been lonely. If they are insecure, share your insecurities and how Jesus has helped you. Keep what you say short and to the point?ñ..the Roman Road is only 5 steps! And do it in a loving and careful way. After all, God loves them! OK?
Now let??s pull back on the road and look at the next verse, the 4th one up. Read it with me: ?¨But God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.?Æ The reference for this box is Romans 5: 8. Write it in now.
Through Jesus?ñand now the person you are sharing with has heard about Jesus in two verses?ñ.God has given us a way to be saved. Jesus went to the cross for us and paid the price for our sins. He did it out of love. He did it because it had to be done. God is loving, but God is also JUST. The price of sin had to be paid, and Jesus paid it. Turn to the person next to you and tell them right to their face?ñ..remember, look them in the eye when you say this, ?¨Jesus died on the cross for you!?Æ OK? Let??s practice that now. Do it!
Very good?ñit may take a lot of courage, because the devil doesn??t like people to hear this, but remember that you are empowered and blessed by the Holy Spirit when you share this good news with someone!
Now we??re at the last sign?ñ.and almost at the end of the Roman Road. Let??s read that top verse together: ?¨If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!?Æ This reference is Romans 10: 9-10?ñwrite it in the last (the top) box. Being saved isn??t about religious rituals, although God can certainly use them. Being saved is about what God wants to do for each and every person, having them know and trust Jesus Christ as their Savior. A person receives God??s free gift of love and life by placing their faith in Jesus Christ. To believe means to take God at His word?ñ.which you and I already do!
Turn ?¨that sinner?Æ next to you. Ask them if they understand that Jesus died for them and their sins on the cross. (Do it now) Ask them to tell you that they believe what Jesus did and if they would like to receive Jesus as their Savior. (Let??s practice that).
In a ?¨real?Æ setting this might not happen right away?ñ.and that??s ok. God lets some of us ?¨plant?Æ and some of us ?¨water?Æ and some of us ?¨harvest,?Æ and we don??t know which we will be?ñ.we simply want to be agents of God??s love in the world to those around us, one person at a time.
Jesus said to His disciples that He would teach them to be ?¨fishers of men.?Æ That??s what we are learning?ñand practicing today. Ask God to give you ONE time this week to share Jesus with ONE person?ñand walk the Roman Road with them. Let??s list the verses one more time: John 3: 16, Romans 3: 23, Romans 6: 23, Romans 5: 8 and Romans 10: 9-10. Take the sheet home, learn it, and then use it!
THE ROMAN ROAD?ñ.Tools for Sharing Christ, part 1
Start at the Bottom and work up to the top... Imagine you are driving down the road the seeing these verses coming at you like Burma Shave Signs!
Romans 10: 9-10 ?¨If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.?Æ
Romans 5: 8 ?¨But God demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.?Æ
Romans 6: 23 ?¨For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.?Æ
Romans 3: 23 ?¨All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.?Æ
John 3: 16 ?¨For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.?Æ
START HERE?ñ.and go ?¨up the road!?Æ
You Are What You Eat! January 29, 2006
1 Corinthians 8: 1-13 Pastor Mark Nieting
Four quick questions: How many of you love broccoli? (?) Is it good for you?
How many of you love fatty foods?
Are they good for you?
You??ve heard the expression ?´you are what you eat.?? It??s as true for entire countries as it is for individuals. Take the Pilgrims, for example. They quickly found out that wheat?ñthe staple for proper English families?ñ would not grow in Massachusetts. Corn grew just fine, but back home in England, corn was what you fed to pigs. So the Pilgrims copied the Pequot Indians and began to grow and even like eating corn. But when their leader went back to England and made the case that corn was good to eat, the English looked at him like he was recommending eating dog food. It??s when Winthrop realized his people weren??t as English as they used to be. It was one of the realities that fed independence!
What you eat and how you eat it can define a person. It??s as true today?ñ.when we struggle with junk food and trans-fats as it was in Colonial America and in the Corinthian church of the first century. 1st Corinthians is a New Testament book that focuses on keeping a Christian community together and working in harmony. While chapters 1-4 have general doctrinal remarks, chapters 5-12 deal with some very specific issues of how Christians live and work and worship together.
Paul knows that he cannot be the lawgiver and decision-maker for the disputes in every Christian community in Greece, Asia Minor and Rome. For Paul, the natural law of God??s creation and the Jewish laws of the Torah have been fulfilled in the love of God through the coming, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?ñ.and ultimately, in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that love is the force that guides everything that we as Christians do. He focuses much of what he says on the tension between individual Christian freedom and the considerations of the entire body of Christ AND how their decisions and practices reflected on the non-believing community around them.
In today??s text, Paul addresses the critical question of whether or not Christians should eat meat that has been offered to idols. It??s important for us to realize that idol-food was a big deal in first century Corinth?ñ.and actually most of the ancient Mediterranean area.
The Corinthians were doing what was done by people everywhere at the time. Meat from animals was considered by pagans to be the pre-eminent gift from the gods and so animals were offered in sacrifice and thanksgiving TO the gods by different forms of ritual slaughter. Some of the animal was burned on the altar (for the god) and the rest was distributed among the participants or to the local community, mainly through the local meat markets. It??s kind of gross, but it was very economical. You could get much better deals on ?¨slightly used idol meat!?Æ
The practice posed a tough problem for the Christians of Corinth. They didn??t want to be associated with meat that had been sacrificed to Greek gods. Given the choice, most of them would rather not have touched the stuff. But it was tough to avoid since it would pop up at the local market or at a neighbor??s barbeque or in a church covered dish supper. It was by far the most common way people acquired meat. So, some of them didn??t want to be identified with the pagan practices, and yet quite a few of them believed that they had the freedom to do whatever they wanted?ñ.so they bought it and ate it.
I suppose that a fairly close analogy today would be that as good German Lutheran Christians we should be free to have an October-fest with all the brats and cold beverages Augie Busch can provide. We are free to do so, but does it reflect well on us in the community in which we live and minister?
What??s a Christian to do?
From what we can deduce from ?¨reading backwards?Æ into the text, some of the Corinthian leaders must have written to Paul about the situation. Their argument went most likely like this: There is only One God?ñso therefore these Greco-Roman idols aren??t actually gods, so what should it matter what we do with the meat offered to them, since there really isn??t a ?¨them!?Æ
I absolutely love how Paul begins dealing with this. He agrees (verse 4) that idols really don??t exist?ñ.that they are nothing but blocks of wood or stone and therefore, meat that is offered to an idol is really offered to nothing. ?¨There is no God but one,?Æ Paul says, and Jesus is Lord over all that is, so He has the power even over food sacrificed to idols. In verse 8, Paul says, ?¨Food doesn??t bring us near to God. We are no worse if we do not eat it and no better if we do.?Æ Sounds like a done deal, right?
Wrong.
Problem was, not everybody in Corinth had the knowledge Paul talks about. Like British aristocrats who looked at corn and thought ?¨pig food,?Æ there were Corinthian Christians who looked at idol-meat and thought ?¨pagan poison.?Æ If they ate it, their consciences would be defiled. There were also Christians who worried about their Christian witness: that the world would not see them as differentiated from the pagans.
The best course?ñthe best advice?ñ according to Paul to the Corinthians...was to avoid eating it at all. Paul knew there was nothing really poisonous about the stuff, but as a compassionate Christian brother, he didn??t want to do anything to cause a brother or sister to stumble in their faith. It??s right there, crystal clear, in verse 13: If what I eat causes a brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again.
What does Paul mean by this? You are what you eat. Or, in this case, you are what you don??t eat. Paul??s refusal to eat meat shows that he values love over knowledge. More than anything, instead of asserting his freedom and showing his independence, which a more immature Christian might do, Paul wants to behave in a way that nourishes, strengthens, and builds up the entire Body of Christ.
Most of us modern, Western Christians do not encounter the exact same conundrum faced by the Corinthian Christians, but the principles are still the same.
Here??s an example. About 25 years ago I had an uncle by marriage who was a Lutheran pastor (not LCMS). Periodically he enjoyed meeting his friends for lunch in an establishment where the sign on the door said ?¨No shirt: No shoes: No service?Æ but the sign didn??t apply to the female employees?ñ.if you catch my drift. He said he enjoyed wearing his clerical collar and watching the expression on their faces. Now he may have been ?¨Free in Christ?Æ to engage in such behavior, but was it good for the body of Christ? Was it a good witness?
That story reminds me of the difference between two of the visual arts, one being in the ?¨good for us?Æ category and the other not?ñ..art and pornography. As the old saying goes, it??s art if you can look at it with your mother. Art won??t cause anyone to stumble, but pornography will. You are what you eat?ñ..and sometimes it doesn??t hurt to go on a diet! And how many of us ever believed the people who said they were buying one of ?¨those magazines?Æ just to read the articles! You are what you eat!
?¨Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up,?Æ says Paul to the Corinthians (8:1). By focusing on the way of love, we can become a community in which people who do have differences can get along. Paul himself focused on the local community of Christians in Corinth, helping them to get along with each other in love and helping them to present a unified message to the community around them.
In today??s culture of global media and global economy, followers of Jesus Christ have to pay attention to much more than just our own neighborhoods. We love buying lettuce for next to nothing, but do we consider who might be suffering so we can do that? And a simple comment like that can divide us right down the middle: some taking up for the cause of the sweat-shop farm workers and others defending free-market economy and free trade.
In our world today, Paul??s words in 1 Corinthians 8 means that we have to work hard to develop a Christian community of love and care so that we can work at developing such strong bonds with each other that we wouldn??t think of creating any stumbling blocks for one another, no matter what. It means placing the needs of others ahead of our own needs. It means praying to understand those who think differently than we do, not just praying that they will change their minds and come around to our point of view. It means turning the other cheek rather than throwing another stone. It means developing strong personal relationships with each other and sharing Christian principles among ourselves, all so that we can survive and grow as a family of faith.
You are what you eat?ñ..God knows that and we do too. The devil, the world and our own sinful flesh are happy to dish up a daily diet of junk food, some of it physical, which is bad enough, and much of it emotional and spiritual. God wants us to be well nourished and well balanced as the Body of Christ. That??s why He gives us Jesus, the Bread of Life. That??s why He offers us the ?¨Fruit of the Spirit: (Let??s see if we can remember the Fruit of the Spirit. We??ve learned it before.) Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Now that??s a diet we can LIVE ON together!
We??ll close on this. The Sunday School teacher asked, ?¨Now Johnny, tell me, do you say your prayers before eating??Æ ?¨No, ma??am,?Æ the boy replied, ?¨We don??t have to. My mom is a good cook!?Æ
So is God?ñ.. let??s eat what HE SERVES!
Amen.
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Simon of Cyrene Carrier of the Cross
Matthew 27: 32 and Mark 15: 21 March 22, 2006
There are two places that many Lutheran Christians would love to visit at least once in their lifetime: one is, of course, the Holy Land?ñ.to see the places that we hear about in the life of Jesus, and the other is Germany?ñ.to visit the places central to our Lutheran heritage. While for us these are places of great spiritual meaning, a ?´pilgrimage?? isn??t a requirement for our faith or our salvation.
Things were different for Simon of Cyrene. Cyrene was a coastal city in what is now modern-day Libya. Although it was in North Africa, Cyrene was a Greek city in which Jews settled in large numbers. The Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 16:2) required Jews to offer the Passover at the place where the Lord ?¨chose as a dwelling for His name,?Æ which was Jerusalem. Every Jew tried to make that pilgrimage at least once in a lifetime, and so Simon was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover at the same time Jesus was there to offer Himself as the Lamb of our Salvation.
With Jerusalem FILLED with Jews from all over the world, it??s no wonder that both Messianic expectations and Nationalistic fervor ran high during Passover. The idea of the coming Messiah and the resurrection of the Jewish nation were related threads, and during the Passover, Jews would come, sacrifice, pray, and hope that the Messiah would come and lead their people out of the Roman captivity, just as God gave them Moses to free them from slavery in Egypt.
As a Jew, Simon of Cyrene was well acquainted with the Old Testament prophecies about the expected Messiah. He expected that the Messiah would come from the family line of King David. He knew that there were expectations that the Messiah would come to rule in such a way that peace and harmony would be the norm, and there would be a ?¨chicken in every pot and a cart in every driveway.?Æ There was certainly the understanding that the Messiah would destroy Israel??s enemies and bring on a new age of freedom.
But the last expectation of the Messiah?ñtaken especially from the Servant Songs of the prophet Isaiah and from the Psalms of David, was that the Messiah would be a ?¨Suffering Servant.?Æ Listen to Psalm 22: ?¨Dogs have surrounded me, a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.?Æ
All this was present in Jewish theology at the time of Jesus, but no one had put it all together. Only in the light of Jesus?? actual death and resurrection can we see the big picture. So we don??t know what kind of expectations brought Simon of Cyrene to Jerusalem. Jews coming to Jerusalem were used to seeing their fellow Jews hanging on crosses along the roads?ñ.it was a common tactic of the Romans to keep their subjects in line. We can be sure Simon didn??t expect to be drafted to carry the cross of one of them. But there he was, confronted with a man who was condemned to death.
Who was this ?¨criminal??Æ What had he done? There were a few hints available to Simon. First, there was the crowd that followed the condemned man?ñsomething a bit unusual. Next, there were the women, weeping and wailing as they followed the procession. There were Jesus?? words of judgment spoken to the ?¨daughters of Jerusalem.?Æ So by being there and by doing what he was grabbed out of the crowd to do, Simon of Cyrene came into contact with the Word of God made flesh.
What else Simon knew about Jesus, especially ahead of time, we don??t know for certain. How long Simon stayed at the foot of the cross we don??t know either. But this much is clear: When Mark mentions Simon of Cyrene, he is identified to the Church as ?¨the father of Alexander and Rufus.?Æ Alexander and Rufus must have been believers well known to the Church by the time of the writing of the first Gospel, or else their mention by Mark doesn??t make any sense. Possibly this is the same Rufus as the one greeted by Paul in Romans 16: 13 as the leader of the congregation in Rome?ñ.although Rufus was a fairly common name then.
Clearly the mention of the two sons of Simon tells us that faith in Jesus Christ was the result of Simon??s encounter on the way to Calvary. And it was there that ?¨The Son of Man (was) lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.?Æ (John 3: 14-15)
Throughout the history of the church, there have been words spoken about Simon. Chancel dramas and chapel services have imagined dialogues between Simon and his two sons, words that testified to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and words used by the Holy Spirit to engender faith in their hearts. Simon has been an encouragement to Christian fathers ever since, encouragement for fathers to point their children to the Savior, who gave His life for them. And some have even dared to condemn or criticize Simon for his role in the crucifixion.
Was the crucifixion an accident? Was Jesus smitten only by the Romans? No. The cross wasn??t just a sad miscarriage of justice, it was all part of God??s plan. The Father in heaven, not mere men, struck His Servant?ñ.and why? ?¨He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes we are healed.?Æ The whole thing here is an exchange?ñ.Jesus?? life for ours, Jesus?? suffering in place of ours. He takes the punishment, all of it, and we get the benefits!
As it happened, people watched and people believed. Simon did what God had planned, and for him, and for his sons, the question of ?¨Who is this man??Æ was answered. Truly He, Jesus, IS the Son of God, and our Savior.
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