September 21, 2003

Managing God’s Estate: The Gospel
Matthew 5:14-16; Romans 1:1-17

When you place a particularly important letter in the hands of a Federal Express employee, you assume that he will watch over it and deliver it, unaltered, in the allotted time. You might even turn on your computer and track the letter as it makes its way to the desired destination. After all, that letter is extremely important, and you have entrusted it into that Federal Express agent’s care.

“While I am away,” Jesus said to his followers, “manage my estate.” And among the many items that he wants for us to manage, none is more important than the message that he wants us to deliver all over the world. As managers of God’s estate, we have been entrusted with the very gospel of Christ.

What are the responsibilities that go along with being entrusted with the gospel? What does being good stewards with the gospel involve? In short, we who follow Jesus are to guard the gospel, live the gospel, and share the gospel.

Here in Romans 1, Paul begins by swiftly describing the basic components of the gospel. He does much the same thing, though in a bit more detail, in 1 Corinthians 15. This gospel is God’s gospel, and it had been promised long ago through the prophets in the Old Testament. It is the same gospel that Jesus himself came proclaiming, a gospel involving the coming of God’s kingdom here on earth. This wonderful gospel is exceedingly good news, for it announces that Jesus died for our sins, rose from the dead, and now freely offers new life to all of us who believe. This same gospel declares freedom for the captives, sight for the blind, rest for the weary, and hope for all who are lost. It is a wonderful gospel, rich and full! And we are to guard it.

I speak of guarding the gospel, of course, not in the sense of concealing it or building impassable walls around it, walls that keep other people away. I am not talking about institutionalizing this gospel by developing endless laws and regulations so that it remains inaccessible to common folk. We have all had enough of that kind of religion. Instead, I refer to the need to ensure that the heart of the gospel—its focus on God’s grace and Jesus’ death and resurrection—is never lost. We are to ensure that the breadth and power of this gospel with which we have been entrusted is never diluted or replaced by some counterfeit version.

Paul himself was deeply concerned about this when he wrote to some of the churches that he had previously planted. In many of his letters, he alludes to “enemies” who alter the gospel, and he is disturbed at how easily some of his young converts are lead astray. He warns the believers in Galatia, for example, to beware of those who would tear the grace of God out of the gospel and replace it with Jewish customs and laws. A gospel that places the responsibility of earning salvation squarely on the shoulders of men and women themselves is not the gospel at all. “We are saved by grace,” Paul constantly repeats. “Guard the gospel.”

Today, we face a similar responsibility to guard the gospel so that it is not diluted or emptied or legalized. Like Paul and his young converts, we too face various contemporary expressions of the gospel that are deficient and illegitimate. There are those, for example, who announce a gospel of health and earthly prosperity, a gospel that denies or trivializes the demands that cross-bearing often involves. Because of this version of the gospel, many people inevitably abandon their faith the first time genuine difficulty comes their way. There are also those—and I suppose this is among the most common inadequate versions of the gospel today—who overly spiritualize the good news of Jesus, making the gospel simply a channel for saving our individual souls in the life to come. This version, it seems to me, grossly minimizes the extent of what Jesus longs to do in our lives and in the world. God’s good news, brought to us through the blood of Christ, makes possible renewal and total transformation in every area of our lives, and it seeks to make us agents of transformation in the world around us. As managers of God’s estate, we are to guard the wonderful gospel with which we have been entrusted.

Being good stewards with the gospel also involves living out the message of the gospel in our individual and corporate lives. Paul makes reference to this here in v. 8, doesn’t he? In conveying his deep admiration for the Christians in Rome, he alludes to the fact that word of their faith has spread throughout the world. The changes in their lives and the power of their witness have gained them a certain degree of notoriety. Stories must have been circulating: “Did you here about the impact the gospel had in Rome? People are really being changed and living new lives.”

Paul often connects being good stewards with the gospel to living godly lives as he attempts to nurture his young converts. He instructs the believers in Philippi, for example, to live their lives “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (1:27).” He also alludes in his second letter to the Thessalonians to those who “do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” As Paul develops this idea, he regularly encourages his listeners to “put off” the old person and to “put on” the new. “Put off whatever in you is earthy: impurity, lust, evil desires, greed, anger, malice, slander, lying, and foul language.” “Put on compassion, kindness, meekness, patience and love.” Managing God’s estate involving being good stewards with the gospel, and being good stewards with the gospel involves living out Christ’s teachings in every area of our lives.

Finally, being good stewards with the gospel includes our sharing it with everyone we meet. Paul’s comments here in vv. 14-17 reflect his own passion on this issue. He uses word pairs common among Roman orators, word pairs that envision the entire world: Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish. Everyone on earth fits into those categories. Paul, as he sees it, is responsible to share the good news of Jesus Christ with everybody.

He is also eager to meet this obligation, not lamenting his god-given assignment. “I have often intended to come to you,” he says, “but thus far have been prevented.” These untimely obstacles, one senses, have only served to heighten his eagerness to somehow get to Rome. He wants to preach the gospel there before his life comes to an end. Paul reminds me of a little child who runs home from school to tell her parents about the test that she aced. Paul reminds me of young man who wants everyone to see the wonderful woman who wears his ring. Paul reminds me of the cricket who was hiding in the prayer room this morning when I longed for silence—he just couldn’t be quiet. Paul has to share the gospel.

Good stewards of the gospel guard the gospel, live the gospel, and share the gospel. But why? Why guard the gospel? Why live the gospel? Why share the gospel? Paul’s answer in v. 16 is striking: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith,…” Paul wants to guard and live and share the gospel with everybody he meets because he is convinced that the gospel has the ability to totally transform their lives.

For any salesman, it is of course essential that he believe in his product. For any teacher to be effective, she must be excited about her subject. For any Christian to genuinely share the gospel, he must be convinced that Jesus Christ is in fact the hope of the world. Paul was convinced, and his confidence in the gospel motivated him to be a good steward.

But what does Paul actually have in mind when he speaks about not being ashamed? Most of us here have been ashamed or embarrassed at one time or another. I remember an occasion some years ago when I was with my in-laws in Massachusetts. I’ve always prided myself on making good homemade ice cream—the old-fashioned kind that you cook a mixture of eggs, milk, and sugar, let it cool, and then add fresh cream. It is wonderful. On this particular occasion, I wanted the finished product to be especially good, so I reduced the amount of milk in the cooked mixture and planned to add additional cream later when I froze it. What I failed to realize was that there was not enough milk in the mixture to balance the number of eggs that I used. When I cooked the mixture, it thickened, and thickened, and thickened. What I was left with was not a rich custard suitable for freezing ice cream, but a pot full of sickening sweet scrambled eggs. Even Buckwheat, their dog, refused to eat it! I was embarrassed.

You have all had your moments, too. A cake that didn’t rise. A pair of pants that split in public. A drawing that nobody could figure out. A slip of the tongue while you were speaking. You felt embarrassed. Ashamed.

But is that the type of shame that Paul has in mind here? Is he saying that he does not feel some casual emotional embarrassment over being a Christian? I don’t think so. Instead, he is saying that the gospel is not empty, worthless, or meaningless. He is affirming that the gospel has never let him down or left him hanging out on a limb. He is affirming that his hope in sharing the good news of Christ is rooted in his unalterable conviction that the gospel is life-transforming: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Why should I be? It is the power of God and it is what every last person on the face of the earth needs to hear.”

It is important for us to keep in mind who is writing this. Romans is probably the latest of Paul’s epistles. He has already completed his various journeys and is nearing the end of his life and ministry. This is no young preacher fresh out of seminary. Paul isn’t in the middle of his first pastoral appointment here. On the contrary. He is a man of many diverse experiences, a person who has seen it all:
This is Paul, raised a zealous Jew and a long-time persecutor of Christians. This is the Christian-killer himself turned Christian producer. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Why should I be? Look what God has done in my own life.”
This is Paul, who preached all over the Mediterranean world. He preached at Corinth, a commercial seaport no less important in the ancient world than is New York today. He worked among slaves, prostitutes, businessmen, government official, and laborers. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Why should I be? Look what God has done in the lives of countless people whose lives have intersected with mine.”
This is Paul, who has seen it all. “I am not ashamed of the Gospel. Why should I be? I have yet to meet a person or encounter a need for whom the Gospel of Jesus Christ is inadequate or powerless.”
We could go on and on, but the point is clear. Here was a man who had traveled from city to city and country to country, and who had seen every human situation imaginable. Nevertheless, he could still testify, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is powerful enough to touch the heart and soul of any man or woman, whether rich or poor, young or old. It is life-changing news for janitors, presidents, terrorists, teachers, and accountants. It announces freedom for Indians, Italians, Brazilians, Canadians, and Americans. It offers hope to the marginalized and outcasts, to prisoners, pimps, and pushers. “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is what everyone—everyone!—in the world needs to hear,” Paul believes. “Why should I be ashamed?” “Why should I be ashamed?”

“While I am away,” Jesus continually tells us, “watch the house.” “Manage my estate.” And of all of the things that he asks us to manage—time, money, talents—none is more precious, none more valuable, than this: God’s wonderful gospel that anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus can be totally transformed into an new creation. Guard it. Live it. And share it.