Romans 11 | Against the Tide of Prejudice, Pride and Pessimism | Shaun McGregor

What can save us from today's tide of prejudice, pessimism and pride?

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Of the Pew Bibles. I asked them, did God reject his people? By no means. I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah? How he appealed to God against Israel. Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I'm the only one left, and they are trying to kill me. And what was God's answer to him? I have reserved for myself 7,000 who have not bowed the knee to bow. So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works. If it were, grace would no longer be grace. What then, what the people of Israel sought so earnestly, they did not obtain. The elect among them did, but the others were hardened, as it is written. God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that could not see, and ears that could not hear, to this very day. And David says, May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever. Again I ask, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all. Rather, because of their transgression. Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring? I am talking to you, Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection brought reconciliation to the world, what will the acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy. If the root is holy, then so are the branches. If some of the branches have been broken off and you throw a wild olive shoot, have been grafted among the others and now share in the nourishing set from the olive root. Do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this. And you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God. Sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness, otherwise you will also be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature, were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited. Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion. He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake. But as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have not received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay them? For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. Here ends the reading.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Chapter twelve, verse one. Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In this series, Against the Tide, we're seeing how God's mercy rewires us to live counterculturally. Do you see it there in verse two? Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In chapter 11 today, we're coming to the end of Paul answering this question that's raised by so few of his people, of God's people believing in Jesus. And we're going to see that what Paul says here, that what God says to us here, leads us against the tide of prejudice, against the tide of pride, and against the tide of pessimism. Firstly, God has not rejected his people. You know, God has always had a plan to gather people for himself from every tribe and nation and country. And so he chose one people, one race, and gave promises to Abraham and his descendants. They're called the Israelites here. We call them the Jews. He gave them the law with commandments and sacrifices and promised them a king, a Christ, through whom they would be saved, and the people of all nations will be saved. But Paul has a profound personal pain. Most of his people, the Jews, have not believed in their Christ. He's grappling with this reality. The Christ has come, but most have rejected him. And so he asks the question: has God's word failed? No, he says. They have a zeal without knowledge. They've pursued the law as if it were by works. But ultimately the explanation is that it's God who chooses people. And not all Israel are really Israel. Finally, he asks the question in chapter 11. I asked then, verse 1, did God reject his people? If so few of them have believed? No, says Paul. What's his evidence, verse 1? I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. Has God rejected his people? No, look at me, says Paul. But that is a very glass half full approach, isn't it? He is just one person. What difference does that make? Well, he goes back to the example of Elijah, verse 2. Don't you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah? Elijah was a prophet. He'd just taken on the prophets of a false god, Baal, and been victorious, but then he was persecuted, he's running away, and feels like he's the only one left. He appealed to God against Israel, Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left. And they are trying to kill me. Elijah had a very glass, half-empty view, didn't he? What was God's answer to him? God said, I have reserved for myself seven thousand Israelites who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And so on the basis of that past example, Paul says, verse five, so too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. God said, I have reserved for myself God had chosen. Verse 5, at the present time there is a remnant, a leftover part chosen by grace. You could have a glass half-empty view and say, Well, that's only a few. But Paul can see, on the basis of Elijah's example, that's a demonstration, that's evidence that God has not rejected his people, he has still chosen some. Has God rejected his people, the Jews? Does he no longer have a special love for them? You see clearly here, even this side of Jesus, when the gospel has gone to all people, when most of the people in our church are not Jewish, God still has a special love for his people, the Jews. You see it explicitly in verse 28 coming up on the screen. As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake. But as far as election, God's choice is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs of Abraham and so on. For God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. They don't change. Has God rejected his people? No, he chose them as a whole to be loved. And so he continues to choose some to be saved. God has not rejected his people. So we need to go against the tide of prejudice. The end of last year there was a terrifying terrorist attack at Bondi Beach. Many of us were moved and terrified and shocked by this happening on our own shores here in Australia. Since then, there's now a Royal Commission happening right now in the news. And there seems to be a tide of rising antisemitism. Anti-Semitism is not new, is it? In Rome, the Jews were expelled in the first century. They've been scattered over the world by persecution ever since, and everywhere they've gone, they've been persecuted. One of the most harrowing events of my life was visiting the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. China may well be one of the few countries in the world where Jews have not been persecuted. And I'm ashamed to say that Christians are not immune from this. Indeed, sometimes Christians have led anti-Semitism. The great reformer Martin Luther did just that. It is complicated today. It is confusing, for when you hear the name Israel, what do you think of? You think of a state, a nation in the Middle East. And what do you think of when you hear Israel? You think Gaza. We think Gaza. And the terrible things that have been done there in the last year. Partly due to social media, partly that we like to see some things as black and white, and partly we ignore the faults of the victims sometimes, like Hamas. But still, we have very good reason to criticize the nation of Israel, the state of Israel. Some people, when you criticize the state of Israel, wrongly accuse you of being anti-Semitic, of being prejudiced against Jewish people. But some people do confuse being critical of the nation of Israel with being critical of Jewish people, no matter where they live. And perhaps there is a rising tide of anti-Semitism. What should we think about these things? Should Christians ever give in to a tide of prejudice against Jewish people? Well, of course not. In this very chapter, God has not rejected his people, he has a special love for the Jewish race. So Christians of all people cannot be prejudiced against Jews. We should never tell Jewish jokes. Whatever stereotypes we have in our heads about Jewish people, we need to get rid of them. And we should never assume someone's political views based on their race or religion. We should never blame an individual that we meet for whatever might be happening in the Middle East. Of course, prejudice is much wider, isn't it, than just being against Jews. People of all sorts of races and religions, gender, age, experience prejudice. And the immigration debate that is constantly raging in Australia makes this complicated. Following Jesus destroys prejudice. People of every race, tribe, nation, male or female, old or young, are welcomed by God, for they are made in the image of God, equal in his sight. He loves all people and welcomes them to have faith in Jesus. The international dinner last night was an expression of that. Church here every Sunday is an expression of that, isn't it? And it's glorious. But I believe in everyone's head and heart there is prejudice. One of the great ironies is that we can have a prejudice that people from other groups are prejudiced. And yet every one of us in our head, we can look at someone's skin color or hear their accent and immediately generalize about them and look down on them. In our words and actions, we can tell jokes, we can act cooler towards some people than others, we can exclude people from our groups, we can have just a token person, or we can not listen seriously to people from certain groups. It doesn't matter whether you are in the minority or in the majority, it's possible to be prejudiced, isn't it? I wonder where you can see prejudice in your heart. Are you able to see it? Will you repent of it? Will you replace pride and negativity with curiosity and acceptance? God has not rejected his people. So we must go against the tide of prejudice no matter who it's against. And of course, the root of prejudice is pride, isn't it? And God has an antidote. Secondly, whoever you are, God only saves through faith in Christ. Some Christians are so ashamed of how we've treated Jewish people in the past that they've stopped thinking that Jewish people need to believe in Jesus. There's no need to tell them about Jesus because they're already God's people. But that is to completely miss what Paul is saying here, isn't it? He is talking about real Jewish people who are zealous for the law but who get it wrong. They are so focused on walking on the path leading to Christ that they have stumbled over Christ. And as a result, he says they are cursed and cast out, broken off, verse 19, because of their unbelief. He is so clear that Jewish people without faith in Christ are lost. Because whoever you are, God only saves through faith in Christ. We saw that last week in chapter 10, didn't we? For there is no difference, verse 12, coming up on the screen, between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Whoever you are, God only saves through faith in Christ. And so, like Paul, we should long for Jewish people to believe in Jesus. We should pray for Jewish people to believe in Jesus. We should do everything we can for Jewish people to believe in Jesus. Whoever you are, God only saves through faith in Christ. And that leaves Paul to have a special warning to Gentile Christians, which is almost everyone here this morning. The whole letter to the Romans is written to the church in Rome, most of whom, the vast majority of whom, are Gentiles, not Jews. And so the whole thing mostly is written to Gentile Christians. But he steps out from behind the curtain and as if he points the finger at that majority. Do you see it there in verse 13? I am talking to you Gentiles. He has a special message for us. What is it that he wants to say? Verse 18 Do not consider yourself superior. Verse 20, do not be arrogant. About what? Towards whom? The Jews had such a head start, the Gentiles were the underdogs, weren't we? And yet the Gentiles have succeeded in believing in Jesus in Paul's day, and almost all the Jews have failed. And whenever you are the underdog and you succeed, you feel proud. I remember when I was 11, 1984, in the Olympics, the Australian cycling team was taking on the Americans, and the Americans had always won. Plus, the Americans had invested millions of dollars and built superbikes. We were certainly the underdogs. Would you like to know who won? Why is it that I can remember 40 years later? We beat the Americans. And how did I feel? I'd contributed clearly. I was 11 and I was an Australian. I felt proud. When an underdog wins, you feel proud. Gentiles, says Paul, do not consider yourself superior. Do not be arrogant. Why not? The Jewish people are God's vine, his plant that he has grown. Paul reminds them that the Jewish people are the natural branches in that vine, and you have been grafted in. If God can cut off the natural branches, he can graft them back in if he wants. And if God can cut off the natural branches, he can cut off the unnatural branches. Why did he cut them off? Verse 20 because of unbelief. Because they did not have faith. And you, Paul says, you stand by faith. So if you stop having faith you'll be cut off as well do not be proud do not consider yourself superior do not be arrogant for pride is the very opposite of faith imagine you are drowning in the sea a lifeguard comes out to save you and you put your trust in the lifeguard and she swims you back to shore any reason for pride for you none at all whoever you are God only saves through faith in Christ so go against the tide of proud of pride are you a proud person I think pride is so natural isn't it every time I walk our dog Ripley I realize how natural pride is Ripley came to us uh a few months ago he was already trained it is a sheer joy to walk him along the streets he knows exactly what to do when you walk past another dog who barks and jumps at him and wants to do all this stuff he just keeps walking and what do I feel pride do I have any reason for pride at that point I have a dog at home who I do not walk who we did not train well and I'm simply walking a dog who someone else trained and yet immediately my heart fills up with pride even though I've realized this before pride comes naturally and it comes naturally to people who are successful and most people here this morning have some measure of success do you not we feel pride and we even think in our society that pride is good but pride destroys you and your relationships when you can't say I was wrong when you think you are better than other people when you value yourself more than other people it's an ugly thing. Indeed it is the root of prejudice pride and the most ugly sort of pride that there could be is to look down on those who do not believe because believing is nothing to be proud of whoever you are what is it you bring to God? Nothing. So when is it that you feel proud which achievements are you proud of which things do you like to compare about yourself with other people or compare your children with other people's children would other people say that you are proud parents how are you discipling your children when they do something well what do you say to them do you tell them how proud of them you are or have you worked out some other way to express it that expresses that you are dependent on God and so are they whoever you are God only saves through faith in Christ and so we must go against the tide of pride. When you put these two things together God has not rejected his people so we go against the tide of prejudice and whoever you are God saves through faith in Christ so we go against the tide of pride when you have these two things in your head and remember that God is faithful then finally it leads you against the tide of pessimism for God will save all those he has chosen. Paul in verses one to six says has God rejected his people no not in the past not in the present so what about in the future verse eleven again I ask, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? In chapter nine why are there so few Jews believing in Jesus? Chapter ten How is it that there are so few believe Jews believing in Jesus and chapter eleven will there always be so few Jews believing in Jesus? Paul is sure that God could save more verse twenty three if they do not persist in unbelief they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. But it's not as that God is able I think Paul is more optimistic than that. Verse twelve he talks about a full inclusion he can even say that I persuade Gentiles so that Jews will be made envious but will there always be so few? God can he's optimistic that he will but more than that have a look at verse 25 he is sure that God will save more Jews. Verse 25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery brothers and sisters so that you may not be conceited Israel, the Jews, have experienced a hardening in part now until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved. This is a controversial verse and genuine Bible believing Christians have different ideas about what it means. Who is he talking about? What does he mean by Israel? Clearly not the nation, the state of Israel but does he mean every Jewish person ever or just many of them? When is he talking about? Is he talking about when Jesus returns and the Gentile mission stage has finished and then there'll be a special stage of Jewish mission. Clearly he is talking about numbers he uses the word numbers I don't think he can be saying that all Israel every Jew everywhere for back in chapter 9 verse 6 he said not all Israel is Israel. God is committed to his people and so he chooses some for now says Paul there are not many Jews believing but because God has not rejected his people because he only saves through faith in Christ there is a time coming Paul says when it won't be a few Jews who believe in Jesus it will be many Jews who believe in Jesus all those God has chosen God will save all those he has chosen so go against the tide of pessimism are you a pessimist there's a fair bit of pessimism at the moment cost of living instability political climate climate change AI everything's going badly we think Christians we can think that too especially older Christians I think the tide has turned we're no longer the majority in society the census again will show that our numbers have gone down and when you are a pessimist you become passive we complain about the culture that's our focus we retreat into our ghetto and we stop praying for non-Christians and we stop looking for opportunities. Think about it for a moment Paul and the Romans had every reason to be pessimistic. They lived under the pagan Roman Empire. There was plenty of persecution around and the Christians were a tiny minority and so few Jewish people were becoming Christians how could you be optimistic at this point? And yet Paul is thoroughly optimistic verse 11 he talks about the death of Jesus the transgression of the Jews when they killed Jesus and can see it optimistically that was how the Gentiles got to hear the gospel he talks about the Gentiles coming in is going to make the Jewish people envious and so they will become Christians. He is optimistic that God will save many why is he like that next week we'll have a begin a three week series taking a break from Romans with a preacher called Craig Roberts who's been here once before the series is called I Will Build My Church The Words of Jesus this week I was talking to Penny one of our mission partners she and her husband James serve in Eurasia no that's not a country it's a region because we can't tell you what country she's in no one can know there that they are missionaries. No one I was talking to her no one there knows that they are missionaries. All they can do is just live and form relationships and try to share Jesus with people. There is a tiny minority of people there and they have given their life to this work why would you do that it is a God-based gospel optimism that God chooses people and will save people are you a pessimist or an optimist? We have different personalities don't we but we have every reason whether you're a pessimist or an optimist to be optimistic about God's mission we can't look back and say they were the glory days we'll never have them again God was in control in the past he's in the control now and in the future we can't think about our loved ones and think they will never come to Jesus and so I won't bother talking to them. It's not worth inviting them to someone for God is at work. God is in control and he may well have chosen them we can trust him imagine how different your prayers would be how different your way of thinking would be and how more motivated you could be about mission if you had a God based optimism Romans chapters 9 to 11 I don't know about you but I find them very difficult. They talk about judgment they talk about God choosing people and it's just hard to follow what Paul is talking about, isn't it? There was a profound personal pain for Paul about the Jewish people not believing but I don't really feel that pain about Jewish people. I sort of think it's normal that Jewish people reject Jesus. When we read 9 to 11 we sort of wish that Paul had written 1 to 8 the first part of Romans and then just skipped over 12 to 16. I mean imagine if he'd written 9 to 11 and before the publisher came along you get to give him some advice Paul just cut out that middle bit we'll have to change the chapter numbers but that's okay and then I wouldn't have to work out how to preach on it. It's pretty difficult isn't it solve some theological conundrum no it leads him to praise do you see that right at the end here? Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counsellor who has ever given to God that God should repay him? Paul here is not frustrated that he can't work it out. He's in awe of God and what God has revealed and yet those things that he doesn't quite understand. And in the end it's not just about him understanding is it there is a deep truth here that is the ultimate antidote to prejudice pride and pessimism do you see there in verse 36 for from God and through God and for God are all things to him be the glory forever how could you be prejudiced or proud or pessimistic when all things are to his glory let's pray our Heavenly Father we praise you for all things are for you and to you and all things are for your glory so Father please renew our minds so that we be transformed and go against the tide of pride of prejudice and of pessimism and Father we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Faith is