Reaching Out

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 21st of July, 2024.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

In Jesus’ day, Rome was the enemy.  The Roman army was the greatest on earth and its forces occupied most of the known world, including all the lands of Israel.  Although Messianic prophecy did not even hint at a military leader, over the centuries, and especially during the occupation, the idea emerged that the promised Messiah would raise an army that would free the Jewish people from Roman tyranny.  Jesus knew better, and tried to tell folks that the Messiah was not some conquering hero, not in the sense they were thinking.  But the idea persisted and even His disciples had trouble shaking off that belief, mainly because people despised the Romans for what they did.

So yeah, Rome was the enemy.  But not all Romans were bad.  We are told of one centurion who was a friend of the Jewish people, who helped them with their synagogue, and whose servant’s son Jesus healed.  And there was another who, at the cross, proclaimed that surely Jesus was the Son of God.  All of this is just to say that I find it very interesting that a church would be established and thrive in Rome, there among the Gentiles, and would even count a Roman emperor among its converts.

We don’t know which apostle established that church, but it was most likely not Paul or Peter, who were both martyred there.  It may have been one of the visitors at Pentecost, who went back and told folks about what they had seen and heard, or it could have been one of Paul’s or another apostle’s converts – we just don’t know.  But we do know that Paul wrote and sent them a letter.

This was a church he was anxious to visit and minister to, and the letter was basically to introduce himself to the church and to set forth his beliefs and his doctrines so that the church would know where he stood when he did come to them.  A principal theme of the letter centers on Christian behavior – how we should act and live as Christians.  In our hectic modern world, in our more liberal society, in our increasingly divided nation, we need to be reminded that we Christians are new creations, different from the rest of the world, so we should act and be seen differently, as Paul reminds us.  So please listen and follow along as I read the 12th chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, and I’ll be reading from the Contemporary English Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to Him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God. 2 Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to Him.

3 I realize God has treated me with undeserved grace, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you. 4  A body is made up of many parts, and each of them has its own use. 5 That's how it is with us. There are many of us, but we each are part of the body of Christ, as well as part of one another.

6  God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. 7 If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. 8 If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.

9 Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. 10 Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than you do yourself. 11 Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. 12 Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. 13 Take care of God's needy people and welcome strangers into your home.

14  Ask God to bless everyone who mistreats you. Ask Him to bless them and not to curse them. 15  When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. 16  Be friendly with everyone. Don't be proud and feel that you know more than others. Make friends with ordinary people. 17 Don't mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, 18 and do your best to live at peace with everyone.

19  Dear friends, don't try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says,

“I am the One to take revenge

and pay them back.”

20  The Scriptures also say,

“If your enemies are hungry,

give them something to eat.

And if they are thirsty,

give them something

to drink.

This will be the same

as piling burning coals

on their heads.”

21 Don't let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good.

--Romans 12 (CEV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for showing Paul the truth and inspiring him to share with us how we should live and act, we who follow Your Christ Jesus.  When we accept Jesus as Your Son and our Lord, You send Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us, making us new and setting us apart from the others in this world.  Sadly, Father, we don’t always look and act differently from anyone else.  Nor do we always follow our Lord’s commands as we should.  Please help us be better servants.  Help us as we reach out into the world, helping those in need and witnessing to the non-believers, sharing the Good News and showing Your love.  Help us spread the message that all anyone has to do is to believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord and they will have eternal life.  And please forgive us when we hesitate to witness for You and our Lord Jesus out of fear or anxiety.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Thank You for forgiving and forgetting our sin.  Help us reach out and share the Good News of everlasting life in our daily walk.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

I may have used this before, but it's cute so I'm using it again.  Author William C. Schultz tells us that people need people by sharing this little story about his daughter.  “Laurie was about three when one night she requested my aid in getting undressed.  I was downstairs and she was upstairs, and ...well... ‘You know how to undress yourself,’ I reminded. ‘Yes,’ she explained, ‘but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves.’”

This is why we help others, because sometimes they just need help, even if they do know how to do things by themselves.  Sometimes, they just need to know someone cares enough to help.  Sometimes they just need to feel a little love.  We just have to get up out of our comfortable surroundings and go to where they are.  After all, that’s what Jesus commanded us to do, to go into the world making disciples.

I mentioned Peter earlier, in that he and Paul were both put to death in Rome.  But before that fateful day, Peter wrote at least three letters himself, addressed to the early church flung out across the known world.  In one of those letters, Peter echoes Paul’s directions to us regarding using our gifts.  Please listen to what the Apostle Peter wrote in the 4th chapter of his 1st letter, verses 10 and 11…

10 Each of you has been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service of others. So use your gift well. 11 If you have the gift of speaking, preach God's message. If you have the gift of helping others, do it with the strength that God supplies. Everything should be done in a way that will bring honor to God because of Jesus Christ, who is glorious and powerful forever. Amen. 

--1 Peter 4:10-11 (CEV)

Did you notice Peter ended that passage with the word “Amen”?  One meaning of "Amen" is "so be it".  Peter is telling us to make it so, to do as he says.  We are to use the gifts God gave us, by the strength He supplies, and in His service, to bring Him and only Him all honor and glory.

Our command to reach out and help others did not begin with the letters of Paul and Peter.  This goes all the way back to the Old Testament, as Moses led the people out of Egypt through the wilderness.  Please listen to what Moses wrote in the 10th chapter of his Book of Deuteronomy, verses 17 through 19…

17 The Lord your God is more powerful than all other gods and lords, and His tremendous power is to be feared. His decisions are always fair, and you cannot bribe Him to change His mind. 18  The Lord defends the rights of orphans and widows. He cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing. 19 And you should also care for them, because you were foreigners in Egypt. 

--Deuteronomy 10:17-19 (CEV)

The Lord our God, the Creator of all there is, who wields tremendous power, defends the rights of orphans and widows, and cares for foreigners.  So we should follow His example and obey His commands and care for others too, including orphans, widows, and even foreigners.

Now we might not have ever been foreigners ourselves, not in the sense of coming from another land, but we may have come from somewhere else at some time or another.  Over the last few decades, North Carolina has experienced  a huge influx of new citizens from all over the country and all over the world.  They have come here where customs and habits may be quite different from what they were used to.  Our way of life may be foreign to them.  That must not detract from our caring for them.  They often need help, too.

Outreach – reaching out.  This is what I read between the lines in Paul’s passage.  Reaching out with the gifts God has given us to help others, and not just other Christians but any others in their time of need.

And not only helping but being sincere in our help, sincere in our love.  We’re not to help so that we are seen in a good light, or for a photo op, or to win a good citizen award, or to get any kind of personal reward or recognition.  We are to help out of sincere love and compassion, even blessing those who may mistreat us, even our enemies.  We must not let evil defeat us, but instead, we are to defeat evil with good.

I bet most of us can remember the old Bell Telephone System slogan, "Reach out and touch someone".  They were encouraging us to reach out for our phone, pick it up, and call someone, but the idea of reaching out and touching someone is actually quite beautiful.  Sometimes a touch conveys more than any words ever could, whether sharing a moment of sadness, of grief, or of joy and happiness.  So maybe "Reach out and touch someone" should be our slogan, too, though not so much to talk with them, although that is part of it, but mostly to help them in their times of need.

I think we do a good job of that, this Pilgrim family.  For one, there’s our missions support, where we give monthly to help those who help others.  And there’s our Outreach Team, that will be hosting our annual Ice Cream Social fundraiser this afternoon.  The Team reaches out into the community helping others, many of whom have come to the end of their ropes, financially, even spiritually.  Most notably, we've hosted our annual Run for Grace 5K and provided thousands of dollars in needed funds for the Workshop of Davidson - almost $100K in eight years.  This particular fundraiser is to refill the bucket we use to help out in the community around us.

As a family, this is one way we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God.  This is all part of our good and acceptable service.  For we have been treated with underserved grace.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who gave of Himself to bring us the living water and everlasting life, and who is coming again to judge us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for helping us in our times of need.  Thank You for always being at our side.  We know You love us, and we know You loved us even when we rebelled against You.  By that, we know You really do love all people, so we should help show them Your love.  Sometimes, though Father, we hesitate to carry out our Lord’s commands because we’re afraid.  We’re worried we’ll get it all wrong, that we’ll say or do something to turn them away rather than toward You.  Sometimes we’re just too comfortable where we are and don’t want to get up and go somewhere less comfortable.  Please forgive us those times, Father, when we get too complacent.  Please help us reach out more into the world, helping folks even if we think they don’t really need help.  Help us be more forgiving, more merciful in our dealings with others.  Guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You set the example for us in how You lived Your life while among us.  You helped any and all when they needed You.  And You reached out to us all when we were lost in darkness, offering Your hand to lift us out of our sin.  Thank You, Jesus!  Please help us share Your love by being more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving of others, offering aid when we can.  Not everyone believes in You, so it is our job to help them see the truth and believe. So Lord, please help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings.  Help us fend off his attacks.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.