INSTANT REPLAY – The Practice of Posting Last Week’s Sermon Manuscript

“CLOSE” – June 21, 2015 – Shawnee Church of the Nazarene

Author: Jason T. Rowinski

Calendar: Ordinary Time

Sermon Series: “SALT & LIGHT – Becoming a People of Radical Hospitality”

Sermon Text: Romans 10.1-4, 13

Homiletical Method: Paul Scott Wilson’s “4 Pages of a Sermon”

Note: (1) The small variances between manuscript & live sermon is because I preach from a one page outline. Consequently, I don’t say everything exactly the same. For my personality, it’s just as important to be physically engaged and relational in my preaching disposition.  (2) The images you see here are the visual media I use with the text on screen as I preach, similar to a Ted Talk. 

Romans 10:1-4, 13 (NRSV)

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. ² I can testify that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. ³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. ¹³ For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

INTRODUCTION – “CLOSE”

I suppose it’s natural that as we get older we become our parents. Our teenage selves scoffed at this idea as the most inconceivable scenario. Our twenty-something selves believed that our education and experiences were enough to evolve us past our parents. It’s probably sometime in your thirties when it happens – out of nowhere – we say the stuff our parents said.

Not too long ago, I was a 30-something Discipleship Pastor who had responsibilities pastoring single young adults. The young adult group gathered in the parking lot of Bethany First Church of the Nazarene to embark on our annual canoe trip. I’d made it clear to everyone we were on a tight schedule. Everyone showed up, on time, except for one guy (who was always late). I tried calling. He didn’t answer, because no one talks on the phone anymore. So I texted him, “Where are you? We needed to leave 25 minutes ago!” He replied with one word, “Close.” And then it happened. I replied with something my mom said to me often, something her dad said to her, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades.” With that reply, I’d become my mother.

Sometimes close doesn’t count. Kids – if you’re close to the front of the line for the Verruckt at Schlitterbahn, close is good if its 1pm, but bad if it’s closing time and they shut the ride down right before you can get on! A 59 is close to a 60 (D-) passing grade, but it’s still an F.  

Sometimes whether close is good or bad is matter of perspective. Hear this truth, church…It’s good to be “close” to your spouse. It’s bad to be “close” to a person who doesn’t wear deodorant when you’re stuck on a broken down train in the middle of Italy.

Paul reminds us today that Christ is close to everyone who calls on his name. Close doesn’t count much if we are in desperate need of meaning, goodness, or salvation – and never find it. Close might be good news to the poor and broken, the lost and the least. Close might be bad news to the power-hoarders, the greed-addicted, and the self-righteous.

Christ is close to everyone who calls on his name.

Could we be in danger of being close and missing it? Could this good news be bad news for us because his way contradicts our chosen way of living?

Christ is close to everyone who calls on his name.

PAGE 1 – CONFLICT & TROUBLE IN THE TEXT

The Jews were close to Paul’s heart. He was a Jew. In his own words, he was a Jew’s Jew – proud of his heritage, proud of being one who meticulously kept the law because of his concern for holiness, proud even in his former life as Saul – when he persecuted the early church because they blasphemed God. He cared deeply for his people. They were so close! So close to God’s promise! So close to the Messiah who was one of them. He knew they wanted to be close to a holy God and he knew all of their efforts were directed to that end. They sincerely believed the law would bring them close to God.

The Jews had sincere zeal for God. The way of the law was not an easy way. It was extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable.

I need five kid volunteers to come up here and help me (NOTE: family worship Sunday all kids K-6 grade stay in worship the entire time, therefore I try to keep them engaged & part of the sermon). (a) Move this hymnal from this side of the stage to the baptistery & come back here, (b)Turn this lamp on an off until I say stop, (c) Draw me a picture of a dinosaur on this piece of paper. KIDS: You’re all very talented & you follow directions well. Good job! Unfortunately, you just did work on the Sabbath – so you’ve all failed at being strict observers of God’s law.

The way of the law was not an easy way. You had to be serious about your faith to follow it. You could walk only about 5/10 of a mile. You could not lift anything which weighed more than two tried figs. You couldn’t cook food on the Sabbath. If you got sick on the Sabbath, you could keep yourself from getting worse, but could do nothing to make yourself get better.  

The whole Jewish approach was that by this kind of obedience to the law a person put themselves in right relationship with God. The Jews had three classes into which they divided humankind. The good, the bad, and the in-between – who could get closer to God by doing one more good work. If you wanted to be close to God, you had to earn it. Like a scale, some were weighed and approved while others weighed and found wanting.That commitment alone – to be close to God – showed Paul the deep sincerity of the Jews. But they were ignorant of true God’s true righteousness.

They were close, but not close enough.

PAGE 2 –TROUBLE & CONFLICT IN OUR WORLD

Sincerity appears to be a modern day virtue. Sincerity is the absence of “pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy.” In a day and age when everyone seems to want something from you OR when you’re left to fend for yourself – sincerity is refreshing. It’s good to see people actually desire the good life, seek wisdom, pursue meaningful work, and prioritize relationships over money. Christians don’t have an exclusive edge on “the good.”

Not too long ago – a young CEO, Dan Price, believed so sincerely that income inequality was hurting both his employees and his company, so he determined that everyone in the company should earn a minimum of $70,000. This means that out of the 120 employees, 70 will be getting raises and 30 will see their incomes double. For Price, this will also mean reducing his $1 million annual salary to $70,000. Dan was sincere and it was good news to his employees.

Sincerity seems to our world like a solution to society’s problems. We believe that if we are sincere enough, we’ll get closer to the good life, a good society, even God. This mentality that’s been with us for some time. English philosopher George Henry Lewes championed sincerity as moral truth in the 1800’s, saying:“Insincerity is always weakness; sincerity, even in error, is strength.”

 The problem with this belief is visible this past week in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylan Storm Roof believed sincerely that African-Americans were destroying his country. He said: “I have no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight,” the author of the text writes. “I chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country. We have no skinheads, no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the Internet. Well someone has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to be me.” He took that sincere belie to Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and murdered nine people at a prayer meeting.  Dylan was sincere – and it had terrible repercussions for nine innocent people.

Sincerity can be good, it can be bad. What it cannot be is the base of morality, goodness or truth.

Sincerity may bring us close but sometimes close doesn’t count much if we miss the truth. We can be sincere about things. We can be zealous. We can be wrong – or as Paul says ignorant (meaning we don’t know). I can sincerely believe my friend Shane is smart about money and be zealous enough to make him my financial planner. But that doesn’t make it a wise decision.

Sincerity may bring us close to the truth or keep us from seeing it. It’s a matter of perspective. The proximity & availability of God & salvation is good news or bad news, depending on your point of view. If you’re engaged in practices you want to hide, it’s bad news. If you want care only for self-preservation and exclude those you hate, it’s bad news. Many Jews could not accept that God opened salvation to the Gentiles, to people like us who aren’t ethnic Jews.

If you’re trying to EARN salvation through works, its bad news. Like the Jews our sincere and zealous attempts of earning our own salvation – through relationships, through education, through achievement, through religiosity, through legalism – may be close, but not close enough. Or we hold them so close, we can’t let go and receive God’s grace.

PAGE 3 – GRACE & GOOD NEWS FOR US IN THE TEXT

It’s Paul one heartfelt desire and sincere longing that the Jews may be saved. There is no anger or accusation in his words. The Law (or any attempt to earn our way to God) is not the way. Paul’s answer is – Christ is the end (telos) of the law. This is a way of saying that the law was not an END unto itself, but it had a purpose – to bring us into a right relationship with God.  

God’s purpose is always to be in relationship with his people. He created us for relationship. He opened his own relationship – Father, Son, & Spirit to us – and invited us in.

The truth is – God is always close. We say in our doctrine of prevenient grace that God is always and everywhere moving toward us, pursuing us – ready and waiting for us to call on him. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from. Salvation is for everyone.

Christ is close to everyone who calls on his name.

Christ is close to the Jews & the Gentiles. The good & the bad. The young & the old. The missionaries & the misfits. The theologian & the thug. The pretty & the ugly. The winners & the losers. The born-Christians and the born-Muslims. The black & the white.

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!

Christ is close to everyone who calls on his name.

PAGE 4 – GRACE & GOOD NEWS FOR US IN THE WORLD

Our church vision focus this year is SALT & LIGHT – becoming a people of radical hospitality. We first said that God is a “COME & SEE” kind of God, so we need to be a people of INVITATIONAL hospitality. Then we talked about how God empowers us to “GO & BE” his witnesses in the world, so we too are a people of INCARNATIONAL presence. Today we come to understand that we don’t do this on our own, that we rely on God because God is “CLOSE.” Since God is close and salvation is cannot be earned by our own effort or sincerity, we must CALL on his name. Our spirit-empowered response is as INVOCATIONAL people. An invocation is a prayer calling on God to be present and help us.

Christ is close to everyone who calls on his name. So, I have a question for you. Have you called?

First – this is not to be taken lightly – have you called on God for salvation? Salvation means both to rescue & to heal. Jesus rescues us from the darkness, brokenness, and sickness of our sin-sick souls and world. Many people, including modern-day Church members, try to EARN salvation. This serves to make us religious, but it doesn’t mean we’ve come to know and follow Jesus Christ. Churches are filled with religious people with sincere intentions who aren’t Christians. You can’t share what you don’t have. God is close – right here – for you! Maybe today is the day you call on God for your salvation.

Second – have you called on God to rescue & heal the people you love? Note that Paul said not only that it was his heart’s desire, but that it was his PRAYER that his people find salvation. I believe that prayer is radical hospitality. Rather than thinking that someone coming to God is our responsibility alone, in prayer we acknowledge that God is already close & ready to help. Prayer helps us to be humble – we recognize like Paul that people are sincere about their life and beliefs, perhaps ignorant of God’s love but not necessarily evil or worthless. Prayer recognizes that God is close – right here – to help you love people through prayer. Maybe today is the day that you choose to begin to call on God for others salvation, by name.

CONCLUSION – “CLOSE”

In your pews are “radical hospitality” touch cards that represent our personal prayers for ten people we love who don’t know Christ to come to know his love & forgiveness.  You can keep these in your wallet or purse. These are the people we’re committed to pray for, to invite into our lives, to invite into this community, and ultimately, invite to call on Christ, who is close to anyone who calls on his name.

We need God – Our families, our friends, our world – need God.

Part of being SALT & LIGHT people means being INVOCATIONAL people.

What a tragedy it would be to be close to God and miss him, or to be close to people and not care enough to pray for them.  God is close. Let’s call.

Christ is close to everyone who calls on his name. AMEN.