Romans 15:8-22 | Chosen for a Purpose

Good morning! It’s good to see you all this morning! I’m glad to be with you and if you’re new here or new to Christianity, I want to remind you that God is glad to be with you as well!

That’s what Romans has been telling us. Because of Jesus, God has grace for you and I which means that He is always happy to see you! Regardless of how your day or week went, because of Jesus, when you enter the throne room of God, there will always be a smile upon His face. Because of Jesus, God will always be happy to see you!

Now, as Wes pointed out last week in the first part of Romans 15 it’s important that we work hard as a Church family to stay united around this central truth and that we work to get along with one another in our fellowship!

Right we looked at Romans 14 and 15 and learned how to get a long in Church!

And towards the end of Wes’ message last week he laid out for us the why. Why is it important that we work as a community to get a long and stay united around Jesus? Why do we accept those with whom we disagree about disputable matters? We do this because the witness of the church is the hope of the world.

In a culture that has become more divided than ever, the unity we share and show to our world will become increasingly attractive! As Wes said, no one looks at group of people who argue and fight and thinks, boy I’d love to join up with them or man I’d really like to know that God these people serve!

Right, if we want to be effective in our witness, then we need to give people a reason to want to know Jesus.

Tim Keller, who recently passed, said we need to share the gospel and good news of Jesus in such a way that makes people think, wouldn’t it be great if that were true, and then we show them through nature and the Scriptures that it is!

And so to start this morning, I’d like to share something with you that I believe every heart longs to be true.

Let’s start with this question.

Do you feel chosen?

We’ve all been apart of the scenario out on the playground in some capacity or another where we’re picking teams. It’s a brutal life lesson for all involved, isn’t. And always at the end, there is a kid who doesn’t get chosen, he or she is left till the end and the last team just has to kind of absorb them. It’s brutal. But it’s not just the last to get picked that has to deal with hurt. If you’re not picked first, you’re left feeling a little second class.

These experiences mark us don’t they. And these experiences are relatively inconsequential compared to how are parents treated us and how coaches treated us and how the adults with whom we felt connected to in our life treated us.

Church, it is impossible to go through this life without being hurt in some way. It’s impossible to go through this life without being made to feel left out, less than, or forgotten in some way or another.

So let me ask you, in your heart. In the secret quiet place of your soul do you feel chosen. Do you feel special? Do you feel like you fit in somewhere with someone who matters to you? Or do you feel forgotten? Do you feel like a fraud, like second class or a second rate man or woman who doesn’t have what it takes?

Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you’re special? That you matter to someone important? Would it make all the difference in the world to know that someone important sees you and appreciates you for you, flaws and all! Wouldn’t knowing that you have someone in your corner, who’s chosen to make you their focus, to be your cheerleader, coach and confidant? Wouldn’t it be nice to be special to just one person and to be made to feel like that person was always with you, always for you and always glad to see you?

Wouldn’t that be amazing if you could have something like that?

It would and Romans 15:8-22 tells us that in Jesus you have it!

If you’re new to faith, you might not know this and that’s ok, but if you were to even just leaf through the Bible, you’d quickly discover that God is a God who chooses! He chooses the least likely and the less thans! He chooses the weak and then sets His affection on them in a way that brings them a long in the most glorious and beautiful ways, in ways that make other people stand amazed at His Mercy and Grace!

And from early on in Genesis, we’re told that God chose Abraham to make a people for Himself. The Jews! The nation and people of Israel. They’ve never been a strong people or a large people. They’ve always been flawed and weak and yet God chose them! He chose them to be the people that He would eventually be born into!

Now if you’re not careful, as you would read the story of the Jews, God’s chosen people in the Bible, you might start to feel a little left out or a little less than because most of us in here, probably all of us, aren’t Jewish by genetics! And you might start to think as a lot of Jews during the days of Jesus thought, that if you aren’t Jewish, God could careless about you! But you would be wrong!

As we’re about to read, Jesus didn’t come only to choose the Jews, He came also to choose you! The God of the Bible is not just the God of the Jews, no He is the God of all creatures Jews, Gentiles, Black and White, Man, Woman, and Child.

In Jesus you have been chosen friend!

Look with me at Romans 15 starting in vs. 8.

Romans 15:8–13 (NIV)

8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed 9 and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing the praises of your name.” 10 Again, it says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles; let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Here we see Paul reminds us that Christ Jesus came to choose the Jews and to Choose then Gentiles. He came so that the affection of God might be experienced by all peoples of every tribe and nation!

Now Paul is using this to highlight why it is that we should get along. Right if there is no distinction in God’s mind between the weak and the strong, between black and white, between Jew and Gentile, then why would we ever make such divisions amongst ourselves? The answer is we shouldn’t! We should treat all people as Christ treats us. Each is valuable and all are special.

And Paul points out here that this is not a new concept. You see the Jews of the day treated the Gentiles as outsiders and second class citizens, but Paul shows them through the use of 4 Old Testament quotes, that this God who is on display in Jesus is the same God of the Old Testament. He’s always had His sights set on the Gentiles as well as the Jews! God has chosen you and He’s chosen me to be special in His sight!

And there’s more we could say about this as to why we should work to get along with one another, but we’ve spent enough time on that over the past couple Sundays and I want to take us a bit of a different direction this morning.

And show you what can happen in your life if you allow the reality of God’s sovereign choice to capture your hearts and minds this morning!

In vs. 8-13 we discover why God chooses in and through Jesus.

In v. 8 we’re told that God’s choice of you and the Jews through Jesus was made to confirm His promises!

You see the Bible is among other things a book of promises given to weak and frail humans beings that if we would return to God, He would choose us and Jesus is the exclamation point on the Truth of every one of those promises. To quote 2 Corinthians 1:20 Every promise of God finds its yes and Amen in Jesus!

So Jesus is the exclamation point on the Truth of all and every one of God’s promises and Jesus also serves to highlight the mercy and grace that exists for the weak and frail human beings those promises were made to.

Do you feel special? Do you feel appreciated? Do you feel valuable? Do you feel worthy? Do you feel chosen? Chances are, if you’re honest, most days no. Most days it’s an astounding no! Right! Why would God choose you? After what you’ve done? After what you’ve said? After you failed again!

And yet, loved ones He did and He has and He does in Jesus! Do you deserve it? Do I deserve it? Of course not and that is kind of the point! Do you see how this serves to glorify and magnify God’s mercy!? as Paul says in vs. 9?

Now before we move on here’s what God needs from you. Embrace His choice! Don’t listen to the voice in your head that comes from your parents or that one coach in your past, don’t listen to the voice of the Great Accuser who runs a litany of reasons who you don’t deserve to be called a Christian. Tell those voices to shut up. Tell them to shut up and to go to hell, which is where they come from and embrace the truth which was confirmed by the death and resurrection of Christ! In Christ, you are chosen. In Christ you are special! In Christ you are valuable! In Christ you are loved more than you could ever possibly know. In Christ, there is always someone in your corner and there is always someone who wants you and is happy to see you! Always. Always and forever!

Grab a hold of this Church. Turn to your neighbor right now and tell them. Child, you’ve been chosen by God and He loves you! Turn to you’re other neighbor and tell them Christ has called you child and you more valuable to him than Bezos Billions!

And for those who still don’t believe it. Let me tell you briefly remind you the lengths God went to make His choice. For one, God left heaven. The greatest most luxurious gated community ever known in the history of the universe. God left heaven and came to the ghetto of this world, not as a king, but as a peasant. He traded in ultimate glory and splendor for a feeding trough in a studio apartment with dirt floors to choose you! Deserving all praise and glory, but getting none, he came to a people who despised and rejected him and ultimately murdered Him in the most brutal way that we humans have ever derived! He did this to choose you!

While His beaten body lie dead and buried in the grave, the God of life, descended further still to the place of the dead to proclaim freedom for the captives and victory over the enemies of God! And then Church, up from the grave He arose overcoming sin, Satan and death once for all! And he did all of this to choose you!

And as if this were not enough, and for many it’s not. Not only has God pursued you by leaving Heaven but He has not stopped pursuing you since His return to Heaven! God has raised up thousands more to help Him in His pursuit of you.

In our text this morning we see that He chose Paul, a murdering terrorist serving Satan under the disguise of God. He chose Paul to preach the truth to you and to I, to remind us that everything God has said and done is true. Jesus was who He claimed to be. He did what He claimed to do and to confirm this message He transformed a terrorist against Jesus into someone who couldn’t stop testifying about the goodness of Jesus! He used this transformed terrorist to proclaim His glory through signs, wonders, and gospel preaching and God has been pursuing you to this day with men and women who are following in Paul’s footsteps! For thousands of years!

And you want to tell me that you feel second class! You want to tell me you don’t feel valuable! Friend just contemplate the lengths God went to choose you for 5 minutes and I know that you will feel your heart uniquely warmed to the truth!

You’ve been chosen! You are special! You matter greatly to God and mind you this has nothing to do with what you can do or how gifted or good looking you are… which can we just agree thank heavens for that… all of those things can change… no, you matter to God because He decided for you to matter to Him!

Now come with me back to the playground for a second. Remember what is was like to be standing there in that line, waiting, wanting to get chosen? Sure you do. We all do. Not only did you want to be picked up towards the front, you also had a guy or a team you were hoping to get picked by. Why?

Because we all want to win! No body wants to be a loosing team right!

Hear this, not only have you been chosen in Christ, but you’ve been chosen by the winning team and you’ve been chosen to serve as a star player on that team!

Now hang with me a bit. Let’s read the rest of Romans 15:14-22 and then I’ll show you where this comes out in the text.

Paul says in vv. 8-12 that God has chosen Jews and Gentiles in Jesus and everything is going to according to plan. Then Paul goes on to say, ok now that you know you’ve been chosen trust the Truth Giver and the power of the Holy Spirit to give fill you with hope and a purpose you can boast about!

Starting in v. 13

Romans 15:13–22 (NIV)

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. 14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” 22 This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

vv. 8-12 tells us that we were chosen and that when we embrace Christ’s choice we will be filled with hope and can start trusting the Truth Giver… remember vs. 8… Jesus served the Jews to confirm the promises! He chose them and chooses us to shore up our trust in His truth and magnify His mercy.

Along with that now that we’ve been chosen for team Jesus, He says I’ve given you a new power to serve on this team!

You’ve been picked for team Jesus, empower to serve on Team Jesus and given a specific position on team Jesus!

Paul tells us that the power of the Spirit is best experienced in community where we can instruct one another and remind each other of important things… look at vv. 14-15.

Romans 15:14–15 (NIV)

14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me

And then the rest of this sections outlines for us the reality that when we get picked for team Jesus, He has a specific position or part for us to play on His team!

Not only will He fill us with hope, joy and peace, but He will also fill us with a purpose that we can feel proud about!

For Paul, He says His purpose in Jesus was to preach the gospel to the gentiles and in v. 17-22 then Paul essentially say, look at what Jesus has done for me! Look at what Jesus as worked out in and through me! He’s not boasting in himself, he’s played a part, but Jesus is the one who’s done the work. Jesus is the one who’s helped Paul play his position well!

Paul says God chose me, changed me and then placed me on the team to be a pioneering point guard! I’ve been a shot maker for Jesus to the Gentiles and look and what God has done through me on this court of life! Those who were not told about God have seen and those who haven’t heard now understand! God is fulfilling prophecy through me! What a part He’s empowered me to play on this team!

Now Church, who doesn’t want this to be true. You want to feel chosen and special. We all want to have someone who loves us and is always happy to see us. Not only that we want to be on a winning team and we all want to have a sense of purpose on that team… we want to know that we played apart on the team to help win!

And God in Christ says to you I have a team for you to be on and I choose you! Not only do I choose you, but I have a vital part for you to play. It may be preacher or it may be patron.

Do you know the difference? Proclaimers and preachers are those God has gifted to speak and proclaim the gospel. It’s an important role but it’s not more important that the patrons. Do you know what a Gospel Patron is? It’s men and women of industry, gifted in building and created and running businesses and fork clifts and those who go out into the world and create and make and support to help feed and care for God’s world. They come along side of the proclaimers as vital partners to support the proclamations through relationships, finances and prayer.

God’s Kingdom needs both Church! Behind every major move of God stands not only the proclaimers which we often hear a lot about because their the ones on stage but also the patrons who serve behind the scenes to support those God has positioned on the team to be out front! (Book Gospel Patrons)

Back back to my main point… Wouldn’t it be amazing to get feel chosen, to get picked to be on a winning team, one that will make your life count and give you purpose and meaning that last for eternity? Would it be amazing to know that you matter to someone great, to someone important and better yet that He has a job for you to do that is vitally important..... wouldn’t it be amazing if that were true?

Folks, it is true and all of it is found in and because of Jesus!

He’s chosen you. You matter to Him. He has a place and a people for which you can belong. He has a position for you on His team and purpose for you that you can boast about.

The only question is have you embraced this truth?

Do you know how you know? What is it that you boast about? Building your own Kingdom? Accumulating more stuff? Filling your barns and storehouses? Climbing the next rung on the career ladder? Or do you boast about what God is doing through you by the power of the Spirit in he context of community to support and expand His Kingdom?

I’m not sure how you’ll answer that question, but here’s what I do know, however you answer it, doesn’t change the fact that God has chosen you in Christ to be on His team. The soon you and I learn to embrace it, the sooner you and I will be on the path to more hope, more joy, more peace and more purpose in our lives empowered by His Spirit which works best in the context of Christian community.

Pray.