Romans 15:4-13 Overflow with Hope

Romans 15:4-13 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

4Indeed, whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we would have hope. 5And may God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement, grant that you agree with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6so that with one mind, in one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

7For this reason, accept one another as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God. 8For I am saying that Christ became a servant of those who are circumcised for the sake of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs. 9He also did this so that the Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:

For this reason I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and I will sing to your name.

10And again it says:

Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.

11And again:

Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples give him praise.

12And again Isaiah says:

There will be a Root of Jesse,

and he is the one who will rise up to rule the Gentiles;

on him the Gentiles will place their hope.

13Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Overflow with Hope

I.

There I was, sitting in my office writing a sermon. My office in that particular house was in the downstairs. Upstairs, the boys were home from school, finishing their homework and playing after they finished. All of a sudden, I heard sounds of dripping. Poking my head into the basement bathroom, I saw water coming out of the light fixture.

Running upstairs, I found that the float in the toilet tank had jammed, and the water just kept running after the toilet had finished its business. It was overflowing the top of the tank, running throughout the bathroom and into the hallway.

“Who flushed the toilet?” I asked. “I did,” one of the boys whispered. “This is not your fault!” I said, rather loudly. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

And then, I proceeded to clean up the mess. A new home project had begun unexpectedly, as so many of them do.

The point is, “overflow” often means something undesirable. When you don’t pay close attention, and fill your glass or cup to overflowing, you make a mess. When something like a sink or a toilet or a tub overflows, the mess is bigger, and could easily signal a project you weren’t anticipating. Coolant overflows in your car’s engine are usually a a sign that something expensive is happening to your car. A river overflowing its banks means disaster for a large swath of people in the area.

II.

Paul didn’t use the word overflow in a negative way. In the last verse of our text, Paul says his desire is: “...that you overflow with hope...” (Romans 15:13, EHV).

Maybe you see or hear Paul’s words at this time of the year and you immediately nod your head in agreement. This is the time of year that people talk about “peace” and “goodwill.” “Overflow with hope” seems to be an extension of that peace and goodwill.

But for many, the word “hope” is only a tentative thing; it’s just wishful thinking. The holiday horror stories I spoke about last week are part of their wishful thinking. They “hope” that this year everyone will be peaceful at the various holiday celebrations. They hope no one will drink too much, or throw Christmas trees into the snowbank, or lash out with hurtful words to other family members. They hope that there will be enough money to keep the household running smoothly.

There’s a dashing of hope rather than an overflow of hope.

But the dashing of hope doesn’t just come from external forces. It isn’t just all the other family members that you hope against hope will behave this year at Christmas. More often than not, the dashing of hope comes because of an overflow of a different kind—an overflow of sin. Though you might like to push the blame off on someone else, you know your own faults. Maybe you were the one with the harsh or thoughtless word that started the whole Christmas horror story. Maybe you were the one who couldn’t keep your temper in check and started lashing out at everyone around you. Maybe you were the one curled up in the corner with a bottle of Jack Daniels and slurring your curses at anyone who tried to get you to control yourself.

The overflow of sin affects Christian congregations, too. The Christians in Rome were surrounded by unbelievers. But even within, there was tension. Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians didn’t always see eye to eye. There were false teachers, who threatened to lure some away from Jesus with smooth talk and faithless deceptions. These things are a danger to every group of Christians to this very day. Factions and false doctrine are still threats in modern Christianity, too. Sometimes Christians are even urged to put their denominational differences aside for the so-called greater good. But if the gospel is compromised, it is no gospel at all.

III.

In fact, the teachings of Scripture are the thing Paul focuses on. “Indeed, whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that, through patient endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we would have hope” (Romans 15:4, EHV).

Paul’s idea of “hope” wasn’t wishful thinking, or a tentative thing. Paul said that real hope was to be found in the Scriptures. The Old Testament is filled with prophecy after prophecy about the coming Savior.

“And may God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement...” (Romans 15:5, EHV). God is the source of patient endurance and encouragement. God is the source of hope. It was God who instructed his prophets to speak about the Savior who was coming, and to give the encouragement that the Savior would deal with the problem of sin—the problems of hopelessness and despair—in a way that the sacrifices of the temple could never do.

“And may God, the source of patient endurance and encouragement, grant that you agree with one another in accordance with Christ Jesus, 6so that with one mind, in one voice, you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:5-6, EHV). Paul prayed for unity among the Roman congregation of believers. The unity, of course, could come about only through the Scriptures that had been written for our instruction. Unity without agreeing with Scripture is no unity at all.

Remember the factions mentioned among the Roman believers? Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians weren’t always seeing eye-to-eye. Paul said: “For this reason, accept one another as Christ also accepted you to the glory of God” (Romans 15:8, EHV). Did the Jewish Christians imply that the Gentile Christians weren’t really loved by God? Perhaps it was implied that they were “lesser” Christians, because they weren’t descendants of Abraham.

“For I am saying that Christ became a servant of those who are circumcised for the sake of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs. 9He also did this so that the Gentiles would glorify God for his mercy” (Romans 15:8-9, EHV). Jewish and Gentile Christians alike needed to know that God’s promised Savior was for them.

Paul quotes the Old Testament.

“As it is written: For this reason I will praise you among the Gentiles, and I will sing to your name” (Romans 15:9, EHV, quoting Psalm 18:49). The very songbook of the Old Testament church spoke about praising God’s name among the Gentiles. Everyone should hear about the Savior-God.

“And again it says: Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people” (Romans 15:10, EHV, quoting Deuteronomy 32:43). Gentiles being part of God’s people was not some new thing, only discovered millennia after the promises made to the people of Israel. Even in the books of Moses Gentiles were among those who would rejoice in the Savior-God.

“And again: Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples give him praise” (Romans 15:11, EHV, quoting Psalm 117:1). Paul quotes yet another Psalm from the songbook of the Old Testament. All peoples were—and are—eligible to be among the people of God.

“And again Isaiah says: There will be a Root of Jesse, and he is the one who will rise up to rule the Gentiles; on him the Gentiles will place their hope” (Romans 15:12, EHV, quoting Isaiah 11:10). And there’s the kicker. Quoting today’s First Reading from Isaiah, Paul says that it isn’t just people of Jewish descent who are to put their hope in the Savior God sent, but Gentiles, as well.

Hope that we fabricate always fades when times get tough. Hope in the Lord never fades. Hope in the Lord and his promises stretches back all the way to the beginning. God wanted his people—all Christians—to place their hope in him.

The hope God points us to in his Word is the Root of Jesse. Jesus came into this world of hopelessness and despair, this world overflowing with sin, to give his life for our sins.

The Risen Christ—the Root of Jesse—springs forth in our lives. He is the hope that brings comfort in our grief, harmony in brokenness, forgiveness of our sins.

IV.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13, EHV). You’ve heard those words from behind this pulpit before. After the end of the sermon, there is customarily one last Bible verse, though I don’t mention the reference. It’s intended to ask God’s blessings on you who have heard God’s Word that day.

Paul’s prayer—and mine, when I use these words at the end of a sermon, is for God to fill you up with hope. Not the superficial hope that isn’t really sure something will happen, but the sure hope of the gospel promises of God—the promise that you have forgiveness in Christ Jesus.

His prayer, and mine, is not just that you have a little bit of this sure hope in the forgiveness of Jesus, but that hope overflows. This kind of overflowing isn’t some portending disaster, but an overflowing of blessings. While forgiveness of sins and eternal life because of our Savior, Jesus, isn’t something we deserve, it’s something that is sure and certain.

It makes you not overflow just with hope, but with joy. Share the hope. Share the joy. You overflow with hope so much, there is no chance that you will run out when you share this hope with others. Amen.