Day 3: Lonely Days, Where Is Comfort?

"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 our Lord Jesus Christ." - Romans 1:7

In his commentary on Romans, E.F. Bruce says, "Because they are well-loved people of God, they are called to be holy as he is holy. He has summoned them to be set apart for himself; they are saints by divine vocation" (Bruce 70). This love and "set-apart-ness" is essential to who we are. 

Where do you start building community when you first land in a new country? I remember this being something I even struggled with when I moved to the States for the first time after living in the Czech Republic for my entire life. The beginning weeks, and even months can easily feel disconnected from the world that is known, even with the excitement you're experiencing of finally arriving. 

In this time, I offer not a list of things to do, but the hope of a living God to turn to in your discouragement. Not only does our Lord offer himself to us, but he also loves us and calls us to holiness, giving us grace and peace through his Son, Jesus Christ as we continually turn to him in faith. 

You are not merely set apart from something, but you are set apart for the one who loves you. We take great personal comfort in this reality, yet there is one more truth we cling to when loneliness sets in. 

There's one more part in verse 7 to notice. Let's take a look at the first half of the verse again.  When Paul wrote these words in the first chapter of Romans, he applied them specifically to all of the readers of his letter - both Jew and Gentile (Bruce 70). He insists on making it clear that there are no longer any divisions between the saints. Who you are depends on God's love and call, rather than your cultural background. This has implications for the way that you get to relate with believers all over the world! Even just in these very first verses of Romans Paul makes it so clear that Jesus is the heart of the gospel (Moo 55), and this transcends all cultural and linguistic barriers. 

Remember that when those barriers seem too high to scale, those believers in the church near you are united with Christ, with you, as one body. Yes, you have been called to the mission field and you are loved right there, but there may be believers that share the same sainthood with you, with whom you can commune with. 

Take heart. You are loved, you are set apart, you are called to holiness, and you are one with Christ and his body, no matter where you are at. The Lord never leaves you, and neither do the members of his body, the church.

Bruce, F. F. Romans - The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985. Print.

Moo, Douglas J. Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000. Print.

Day 2: Why Did We Move?

It's Day 2 of our journey through Romans together, and in your transition time too. What might you be experiencing today? You have made the trek across the ocean, and you're exhausted. After all of the emotional buildup to this one day, you are now beginning to let down and see reality. This reality sets in and you realize that you have finally made it and you get to begin putting into action the calling that God set in your hearts. You know what also sets in at the same time? Fear and doubt.

I can imagine maybe on this day, when you enter a new, beautiful, terrifying country, that you might ask yourself, "Why did we just make that trip?" and "What now?"

Let's dip into the well of God's Word and seek answers to those questions.

Paul opens his letter to the Romans with an identity statement:

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God," 

- Romans 1:1

R.C. Sproul, in his commentary on Romans, says that when Paul opens his letter this way, he is essentially saying, "I have been commissioned to proclaim God's gospel, the gospel belongs to him. It is his possession, and I am going to communicate it to you" (Sproul 18).

Not only is the gospel God's, but it always has been God's. Even before the prophets, this gospel was promised by God. And now Paul has been set apart for its sake - as a servant. He is a servant of Christ Jesus, and also an unlikely apostle (he hadn't been with Jesus as a disciple before Jesus ascended, unlike other apostles), yet one who has definitively been called. The word apostle means, "someone who is sent, a messenger" (Morris 39), and Paul was specifically one who was sent to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). Why was he sent? 

Paul was sent because he was set apart for the gospel. He is not in this way separated from something, in a negative sense, but rather to something so wonderful - the gospel. This doesn't mean he's only separated to preach the gospel, but to literally be a "gospel man, to live the gospel" (Morris 40).

After that introduction, we have a really long run-on sentence. Come on, Paul, let us breathe! Bear with him in this, because it's worth it!

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 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, 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, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,"

-Romans 1:1-6

This Gospel changes everything, and it is Jesus who plays the central role.

It's not only Paul who was called to the Gospel, but the Roman Christians. Douglas Moo says it this way: "As Paul has been 'called' to be an apostle, so the Roman Christians have been 'called' to be people who name Jesus as Christ and Lord" (Moo 54). For who's sake is obedience of faith? For the sake of his name among all the nations, including you.

So just as you, one who used to be far off from relationship with God, were brought to him by faith and made righteous (that means, being made right in his eyes), now you get to live out that faith among all the nations. Yes, you get to live out this faith in this new country that you just moved to! 

Just like Paul was called to be an apostle, and the Romans Christians were called to be Christ's people, so you are called to be a messenger and ambassador for Christ. It is for this Gospel that you were set apart: Jesus, descended from David, the Son of God, our Lord, became Incarnate, lived, died and was resurrected, so that we might receive grace and live in faith. 

No matter what doubts you have today, know that your calling was and is true. It is the calling you not only received to go to the country you're in now, but it's your calling when you received the grace that comes by faith in Jesus Christ! Now you get to participate in obedience to him, for his name's sake. You belong to him, and you have been called by him. There is no doubt about that. 

Works Cited:

Moo, Douglas J. Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000. Print.

Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1988. Print.

Day 1: Suitcases are Packed, What Now?

The suitcases are packed. You've probably already loaded up a huge container with all of your belongings to be shipped across the ocean to arrive who-knows-when. You have already said goodbye to most of the people you have loved for so long. You've walked around your neighborhood, gone to your favorite restaurants, stood up in front of the church, been prayed for and sent out.

You're mourning what you've already lost, and you're also indescribably excited and anxious to just make the move.

You get on the plane, settle into your window seat, and let the emotion of it all finally set in: You're moving overseas with your family. It's finally here, and you can't contain your relief and grief, all at the same time.

For the next 15 days, I'd like to walk this journey with you. In a time of so many unknowns, we can only cling to what is eternally true: God's Word. I invite you into drawing from this wellspring of life by faith and letting it refresh and revive you through a time that could feel like a drought. We will be specifically looking at life through the lens of the book of Romans.

Faith and righteousness. Two powerful words that will give you hope as you transition together as a family. But before we dive into those two words in Romans, let me give you a little background on this letter. This will help you see how it applied to the people of the day, and how it can apply to you right where you're at now.

The book of Romans was written by Paul to the church of Rome. Rome was a city of class and wealth, but also of spiritual brokenness, pagan idolatry, and disunity. Those who belonged to the city of Rome had largely given up their own cultural values to adapt to the Roman system. Christians lived right in the heart of all of these issues. 

Interestingly, there was a large group of Jews in the city who didn't quite know how they felt about Christianity (Morris 4). The very first converts who followed Christ were Jews, but at this point, the number of Gentile believers was rising higher and higher. Paul urges believers to accept one another, which tells us of disunity in the church at the time. What does Paul say about both the Jews and the Gentiles? That God is God of both (Romans 3:29). The teachings in this letter apply to all Christians, everywhere. Truths of the Gospel are not limited to just one place or one people group.

You're moving to a place where you don't yet belong. You will have to adapt to new cultural values and try to navigate the issues in this foreign place. And you will live out the gospel right in the heart of that. God is God in the States, and in this country you're moving to! He will be with you just as much now as before.

Take comfort in knowing that what you have believed and the Word of truth will be what you cling to as you enter a new culture. Amidst spiritual brokenness, potential disunity, and, yes, even idolatry, God is still God.

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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

- Romans 1:16-17

Works Cited: 

Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1988. Print.