David Heath-Whyte
NB: This is what I intended to say, for the genuine article, listen to the audio version
Intro
Imagine that one day you get on a train in St Albans to go to London, and you get a seat, and start to read a Christian book that you've bought from the bookstall here. It's the slow train, and so it stops in Radlett, and a few people get on - including a shortish bloke with black hair, who sits next to you. As he sits down, you see he's wearing a little skull cap - he's a Jew. You smile and nod, and get on with reading your book. But before a minute is up, he says to you: "Oh, are you reading about Jesus Christ?"
Well - let's freeze the cameras, and think about your options.
If it were anyone else, you might think - "hey, here's a great opportunity: I'm going to be able to share my faith with this person - we're going to be able to talk about Jesus, and maybe I'll be able to say something that will help this person to trust in him!"
But this guy is a Jew: and that might make you think of all sorts of obstacles to stop you thinking about evangelism, sharing the Gospel, with him.
Maybe you'll think: he's got his own religion already.
Or: Jewish people don't want to know about Jesus.
Or: I'll offend him if I say too much.
This is how we've programmed to think by our society: it's politically correct, it's socially acceptable - you certainly won't be "imposing" your faith on anyone if you think like this.
And as we unfreeze the cameras again - we see you turning to him and saying: "Oh yes, just something I picked up the other day. Nice weather today, isn't it? Are you getting off at West Hampstead, or...?"
The trouble is: God wants that man to hear about Jesus, and to put his faith in Jesus. It doesn't matter that he comes from another religion - in fact, being Jewish gives him a head start!
We've been looking at Romans 9-11, where Paul answers the question: why don't his people, the Jews, accept Jesus as their Saviour? And it's been helping us to think about our friends who don't believe.
In chapter 9 we saw God's Sovereignty, and were encouraged to Weep, to Rejoice and to Persevere. Last week we saw Human Responsibility: how important it was to believe the Gospel, and so how important is to proclaim the Gospel.
This week, we going to see that there is hope, and Paul encourages us to think God's way about the Jews (and everyone else) - not the world's way.
What does God want me to think, when that man with his skull cap says: "Are you reading about Jesus Christ?"
And we're going to see that, when it comes to spreading the message about Jesus, God wants us to be Inclusive, Respectful, and Optimistic.
Inclusive.
First of all, God wants us to be Inclusive. v.1-10.
rejected?
Look at v.1 "I ask then: Did God reject his people?"
Paul had a lot of experience of sharing the Gospel with "Israelites" (Jewish people) - but very few became Christians. We saw at the end of chapter 10 that God knew that his people would be stubborn and unresponsive to the Gospel of Jesus.
It would be tempting to think that God has rejected these people, and so they should be excluded from Paul's evangelism, and ours.
v.1 "I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew."
election
Remember chapter 9? Being saved is not about what family you're in, it's about God's sovereign choice. Who is it who believes in Jesus when they hear the Gospel about him? It's those whom God "foreknew" - people he chose in advance - the "elect". And God has chosen some Jews to believe in Jesus - like Paul himself!
It's just like in Elijah's time, says Paul - Elijah was a great man of God, living in a desperate time in the history of Israel: the whole nation, it seemed, had turned to the false god Baal - and Elijah cried out(v.3) "Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me"? And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal."
God had decided, out of his loving generosity, to have mercy not just on Elijah, but on 7000 others.
In the old testament, these faithful few that are left trusting in God, at any time, are called the "remnant".
Just like in a carpet shop - there was a roll with 30 yards of carpet - and now there's only 10ft remaining, it's a remnant.
And Israel, in Elijah's time, and later, had a remnant - there were a few left, chosen by God, to trust in him.
today's remnant
And it's still the same: v.5 "So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace."
There are today Jews who are chosen by God to believe the Gospel. They can have God's Righteousness - they can be right with God, v.6 not by works, not by following the law, but by trusting in Jesus - it's by God's grace: his generous free gift of forgiveness - through faith in Jesus.
So, v.7 in general the people of Israel have failed to get right with God - except for the chosen few, the remnant, the "elect," the rest, v.8-10, have been hardened against the Gospel.
Are the Jews rejected by God?
By no means: God has chosen some to believe in Jesus - so all need to hear the Gospel.
In our evangelism: don't exclude the Jews, include them.
their own religion?
Of course, we might have other reasons for wanting to exclude them: we might think: "They have a religion, they're all right, they don't need Jesus"
It's a bit like watching a friend trying to open a bottle of beer with a torque-wrench, when you've got a bottle opener: and you say to yourself: he's all right, he's got a tool. You need a tool to open a bottle of beer - I've got a tool, and he's got a tool as well - so he's OK.
But that's crazy - your tools are different - yours works for opening bottles, and his doesn't!
And Jesus is different from all the other religions. He works for getting to God, and they don't!
When Jesus hung on the cross, whose sin did he bear?
Anyone's sin, and everyone's - whether they would end up being born in Israel as Jew, Iran as a Muslim, St Albans as a nominal Christian, or in Australia as a Jedi Knight: they need Jesus.
We all need God's grace in Jesus: we need to receive God's Gift of forgiveness and new life - and only Jesus has made that possible by his death and resurrection. And He has said we need to turn to Him to receive it.
And so no-one, least of all the Jew, is to be excluded as we share the best news in the world.
Let's be: inclusive
"Are you reading about Jesus?" says the Jewish man on the train - this is an opportunity to share Jesus.
Be Inclusive.
Respectful (11-24)
And God wants us to be Respectful, v.11-24
contempt
It was very tempting for the Gentiles in the church to look down on the Jews. The Jews had turned away from Jesus, and it looked like there was no hope for them. They seemed to have been cut out of God's purposes - so if you were a Gentile who trusted in Christ, you could feel quite smug about yourself, and scornful about them.
Some might even have said: 'Jews should be disliked, because it was the Jews who got Jesus crucified.'
But Paul wants none of that - in fact the true disciple of Jesus will have great respect towards the Jews.
Why?
blessing through disobedience!
Because if it hadn't been for the disobedience of the Jews, the Gospel wouldn't have come to the Gentiles.
Have a look at v.11: "Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious."
I'm very grateful that, on 27th May, my brother-in-law had a speaking engagement with the Cambridge University Christian Union,. Why? because it meant he couldn't go to the test match at Lords with some vicar friends - and there was a spare place, for me! And though Vaughan was faithful and gave the CU a good talk, I bet he envied me sitting in the Mound Stand in the sunshine!
Because he couldn't go to the test, I could. And because Israel didn't get Jesus, we Gentiles did.
Because they rejected Jesus: he died on the cross - and so I can be saved!
Because they rejected the Gospel: Paul was kicked out of every synagogue, and the Gospel got to the Gentiles!
Now, v.12: "... if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fulness bring!"
Look what blessings we've got because they rejected Jesus - so what great blessings will come if they turn to Jesus and accept him?!!!
And Paul longed for that to happen - so v.13end: "... I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them."
We respect Jewish people, because, v.11-16, their loss has brought our riches in Christ.
grafted-in
And because, v.17-24 - they are not beyond restoration - after all, us Gentiles who are strangers have been grafted in.
Imagine an olive vine, says Paul, v.17 - cultivated to grow olives to eat.
Some original branches have been broken off, and other branches from a wild olive have been grafted on.
Well, the vine is God's faithful people. The unbelieving Jews have been broken off; the Gentiles who have come to faith have been grafted on, and benefit from God's blessing.
So: have you been grafted in? v.18 don't boast - be grateful!
And by the way: v.20 if you are unfaithful, you can be broken off again, can't you?
And: v.23 If they come to faith - God can graft them in again - easily - because they're a cultivated branch in the first place - where you were wild.Respect the Jews - their loss has brought our riches, and they're not beyond recovery: you have come in only by faith, and they can too.
respect all over
Be Respectful - and not just with Jewish people, but with everyone:
How come we know and understand the good news of Jesus? Because we're great? we're cool and we've sussed it? NO - because of God's grace and mercy. There's no room for boasting - only humility, and respect.
That Jewish guy who got on the train at Radlett - his Scriptural roots are the very foundation of who Jesus is and what he's done; and that's a real link that you've got with him, perhaps you can talk about that and help him to hear about Jesus? Wouldn't it be great if he came to faith in his Messiah? What a blessing that would be!
Be Respectful
Optimism. What will happen? God will save people, Jew (25-36)
God wants us to be Inclusive, Respectful, And, Optimistic, v.25-36.
there will be mercy
Around us people are saying: "faith is out-of-date, it's so 20th Century! the church is in decline - it'll disappear soon. Don't bother with evangelism, hardly anyone will be converted!"
Looking at his people, Paul might have thought: why do I even bother any more, so few are responding? And we might look at our friends, our children, our parents, our husband, or wife - and despair.
But God tells us here that he is going to have mercy on people. He's going to have mercy on Jewish people - loads of them, and he's going to have mercy on Gentiles - loads of them. Be Optimistic about Jews coming to faith, and Gentiles.
Mystery...
Look at v.25: "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved."
The mystery, the amazing insight into God's purposes, is: that the whole point of Israel's unbelief is to bring Gentiles in to God's people. And so "all Israel will be saved".
All Israel?
What does he mean "all Israel?"
He might mean that there's going to be a time when the people of Israel turn to Jesus in repentance and faith, en mass.
On the other hand, 9:8 "...it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring." Paul has said often that the Real Israel, in God's eyes, are Christians: Jews and Gentiles who trust in Jesus.
So when he says "All Israel will be saved" he's saying that God will fulfil his purposes by grafting in Gentiles, and Jews, by faith.
This was God's purpose all along: v.28-32: both Gentiles and Jews have been disobedient to God, in different ways, for different reasons, but God's purpose was to make it so that, in that disobedience, he would have mercy on all - not every person in the world, but all kinds of people, Jews and Gentiles.
Praise
v.33: We might not understand it all, we certainly can't work out every aspect of God's purposes - he is so far beyond us. But just as Paul ends in praise, we can Praise God too - he's going to have mercy on people!
We can be Optimistic.
Out-of-bounds?
Optimistic about Jewish people - from God's point of view, they are not 'out-of-bounds' for evangelism, whatever people might say.
This is why we support Pedro Santos and his family, working in Israel. Pedro is a Jew by birth who has become a Christian. And he tries to share the message that Jesus is the Messiah, with other Jews. This year in our annual Gift Day (next month), our overseas project is going to be something he's involved with: we want to raise money so that they can build a garden cafe at a place called "The Baron's Palace" in Tel Aviv. It's a historical site, owned by Jewish Christians, that many Israelis like to visit. And when they visit, they ask Pedro and others about Jesus. If they have a garden cafe, then there'll be more time for them to ask, and more time to talk about Jesus their Messiah. So get praying for that now - and think about how you'd like to give.
Closer to home, perhaps you have friends or neighbours who are Jewish: be Optimistic: God may be planning to have mercy on them - in which case (10:14) "How ... 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?" Off you go! it could be you!
And if God wants to have mercy on all - then that must include people who at this moment are Buddhists, Muslims, Scientologists, Bahai, and Jedi Knights! You name it, from God's point of view, they are all eligible to hear the Gospel that Jesus is the way to know God, to be right with God, to have life with God, forever: turn to him, and believe in him. And God is in the business of having mercy on people, whoever they are.
Be Optimistic.
Hmmm
Well, what do we think about sharing the Gospel with people who have a religion?
What about sharing Jesus with a Jewish person?
The world wants us to keep Jesus to ourselves.
But what does God want?
God wants us to be Inclusive: He hasn't rejected the Jews, they need to hear about Jesus - as does everyone.
God wants us to be Respectful: The Jews aren't beyond coming to faith, and what a blessing that would be for us!
God wants us to be Optimistic: He's in the business of having mercy on people, disobedient people, still.