4.9.36b 7.28.2022 Wednesday Paul’s Courage
2 Jr. High Week 2022 • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsPaul had courage because he was unashamed of the Gospel
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Entice: May 18, 2022. As I write this many of us are amazed at the courage displayed by the citizens and soldiers of Ukraine. War did not make them courageous. Combat revealed courage which they already had. If combat made someone courageous…explain the other side. Tonight’s topic is the courage of Paul. If we want to consider the courage of Paul we need to agree on some kind of definition or at least a description for the attribute courage. And that generally means asking some good questions.
Engage:
What is courage?
What is courage?
Can it be quantified
Can it be quantified
or is it a
quality?
quality?
Is it concrete
Is it concrete
is it
partly,
partly,
mostly,
mostly,
or
entirely
entirely
abstract?
abstract?
Consider this clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEEyijiTW-I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEEyijiTW-I
Wow. That is entertaining, but not informative. Not only did Oz never give nothin’ to the Tin Man that he didn’t, didn’t already have, he similarly shafted the rest of them--Lion, scarecrow & Little girl as well. In fact it was Dorothy Gale, from Kansas, who came to understand that the definition of courage is recognizing opportunity (bucket of water) despite opposition (witch) to meet our obligations (protect her friends) creating the right outcomes (kill witch, get broom, go home). We will return to this line of reasoning a bit later but first let’s bring the discussion back to Paul. In 2 Corinthians Paul describes the hardships of ministry.
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
It is tempting to describe what he encountered as “courage”. More accurately this is an account of what a courageous man endured.
Enduring beatings does not make you courageous,
Enduring beatings does not make you courageous,
it makes you a victim.
it makes you a victim.
Getting whupped doesn’t make you brave,
Getting whupped doesn’t make you brave,
being brave gets you whupped.
being brave gets you whupped.
This is a not uncommon logical, category mistake, confusing the result of an action for the reason or cause.
Expand: Paul was a preacher and a theologian. He was also not a fool. His mission involved quite a bit of Risk Analysis. Paul was convinced of the saving power of the Christ he proclaimed. Like Dorothy Gale, of Kansas, he came to understand the interplay of opportunity, opposition, obligation, and outcome in his analysis. If you are convinced of the Gospel, courage comes from that conviction.
Courage that compels us to seek out opportunities to serve.
Courage to overcome opposition.
Courage to accept the burden of great obligation.
Courage to pursue great outcomes.
Excite:
Don’t be confused by Paul’s chains.
Don’t be distracted by the debates.
Don’t be sidetracked by skeptics.
Don’t be overcome by the outrages,
Don’t be discouraged by the doubters.
Don’t become unfocused because of the unfaithful,
Paul’s purpose was to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ and whether
then or now courage is always necessary in the midst of a fallen world.
Explore:
Paul was courageous because he was unashamed of the Gospel
Paul was courageous because he was unashamed of the Gospel
Explain: In Romans 1.1-17 Paul established the parameters for courageous Christian living..
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Body of Sermon:
The first parameter for courageous living is
1 Opportunity.
1 Opportunity.
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,
2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh
4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,
6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you
10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—
12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
1.1 Facts of our shared Gospel. 1-6
1.1 Facts of our shared Gospel. 1-6
1.2 Focus of a shared ministry. 7-12
1.2 Focus of a shared ministry. 7-12
It seems that the joyful opportunities of ministry are the circumstances in which we encounter
2 Opposition.
2 Opposition.
13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.
2.1 Desire thwarted.
2.1 Desire thwarted.
2.2 Dream delayed.
2.2 Dream delayed.
Like Paul we do not concede defeat because our Gospel empowers us and we are compelled by a divine
3 Obligation.
3 Obligation.
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
These pregnant words establish the mandate under which the Church still functions. The obligation of the Church to an unbelieving world has no real boundaries as the shadow of the cross falls across all human history, every human society, and the whole inhabited globe. That means we deal in
3.1 Culture.
3.1 Culture.
Jew, Greek, and barbarian is how those of Jewish descent described everyone. Us and them.
Beyond the specifics of culture we deal with the more universal construct of class
3.2 Class.
3.2 Class.
Even though we pretend like we live in a classless society, it’s not really the case. Class is a human category which our Gospel actively questions. In this text he mentions Wise & Foolish. These pairs are all over Paul’s writings. Free & Slave. Man & Woman. Rich & Poor. We are obligated to proclaim freedom in Christ to every social class.
But none of the big picture posturing about class and culture are worth a thing if we don’t keep it local meeting our obligation to our own
3.3 Community
3.3 Community
In Rome, in Illinois.
The final parameter, the fuel that focuses our courageous faith is the
4 Outcome.
4 Outcome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
4.1 Salvation.
4.1 Salvation.
4.2 Integration
4.2 Integration
(Jew/Greek)
4.3 Amplification.
4.3 Amplification.
Shut Down:
Luke tells us the story of Paul finally making it to Rome. Two terms jump immediately to mind. Shipwreck, snakebite. Yet he always kept the outcome in mind. He
saw himself as universally obligated to tell the story of Jesus. He expected opposition, and celebrated every opportunity. That is true, undaunted, faithful courage.
You don’t become courageous by seeking the outcome. You become courageous by undertaking the journey. I think if he were here tonight he would say to us “are
you up for an adventure?”