News Worth Appreciating and Sharing.

Romans 10:1-15

But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? – Romans 10:14 NLT

For nine chapters, Paul has made a big deal out of the Good News. He has been the undeserving recipient of it. He lives day by day in the power made available through it. He has spent his life telling others about it. He even longs for his own nation, the people of Israel, to discover the joy and freedom of salvation through Christ, rather than through their continued efforts at trying to keep the law of Moses. But in spite of his efforts to share the Good News with the Jewish people, they didn't respond favorably. He wrote, "they don't understand God's way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God's way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law" (Romans 10:3 NLT). But their refusal to accept the Good News never stopped Paul from sharing it. Why? Because he knew from first-hand experience the freedom, joy, peace, contentment, and hope it could bring. So he preached the message of faith relentlessly, tirelessly, and obsessively. He wanted anyone and everyone to know that "it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved" (Romans 10:10 NLT). He told anyone who would listen, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13 NLT). He didn't worry about whether they were going to respond positively or negatively. He saw his job as that of sharing and proclaiming. It was God's job to save.

Paul saw his role as a messenger of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as vital and non-negotiable. He had been shown grace and mercy from God. He had been given a second chance. And he wanted to extend that same offer of redemption and reconciliation with God to every person with whom he came into contact – whether that person was a Jew or a Gentile, rich or poor, slave or free, influential or inconsequential. Paul believed what Isaiah 52:7 said: "How beautiful are the feet of the messengers who bring good news!" He realized that he had a responsibility to tell others what had happened to him and for him. The Good News has to be proclaimed. The message of salvation needs to be shared. Paul's logic is impeccable and impenetrable. "But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent" (Romans 10:14-15 NLT). Paul knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he had been sent. Not long after his miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, he had received a God-appointed visit from Ananias, who told him, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard" (Acts 22:14-15 NLT). Not long after that, Jesus Himself told Paul, "Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles" (Acts 22:21 NLT). And Paul took his commission seriously. He went to the Gentiles. He told everyone what he had seen and heard. He gave his testimony of life change. He shared how men could be made right with God. He witnessed to the life-transformative power of God made available through the death of Jesus Christ. And many believed. Many called on the name of the Lord and were saved. Many confessed with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believed in their hearts that God had raised him from the dead, and they were saved.

But Paul wasn't the first and last messenger. He wasn't the only one to receive a commission. Jesus had told the disciples, just prior to His ascension, "And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8 NLT). Matthew records these well-known words from Jesus that have stood as the commission and calling for every Christ-follower since the earliest days of the church until now. "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20. We have news to share. We have a commission to accomplish. We have Good News to announce to the nations. But could the reason many of us fail to share be because we fail to truly appreciate what we have received? Does the Good News mean as much to us as it did to Paul? Are we blown away by the grace and mercy of God and can't help but tell others what He has done for us – in spite of us? Paul was a transformed man. He was truly free. He had lived much of his life trying to make himself right with God, but had been released from the dead-end pursuit by the unmerited, unearned favor of God. He couldn't help but tell others what God had done for him. "I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't preach the Good News!" (1Corinthians 9:16b NLT). What about you? Are you compelled by God to share the Good News? Would you ever consider it "terrible" should you NOT be able to share? Paul was driven by a passion to see people escape condemnation and death, not just go to heaven. He was motivated by a strong desire to see people released from captivity to sin and self-righteousness. His own salvation became the his greatest motivation for telling others about Jesus. His gratitude to God flowed out in his attitude of compassion for others.

Father, may my awareness of the magnitude of Your gracious gift motivate me to share what I have received with others. Give me a growing passion for proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to anyone and everyone I meet. My job is not to save anyone, but to share with everyone. Thank You that someone told me. Now may I be a willing witness to others. Amen.

Go and Tell.

Luke 8:26-39

"The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying, 'No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.' So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him." – Luke 8:38-39 NLT

After the demons left the two demon-possessed men and fled into the herd of pigs, sending them running wildly off the edge of a nearby cliff, that's when the real action began. The disciples stood amazed and afraid. The herdsmen, who just watched their livelihood get wiped out, took off at a run for town in order to tell everyone what had happened. In no time, Jesus was surrounded by villagers eager to see for themselves what had happened. They wanted to verify that what they had heard was true – the two men (at least according to Matthew's account) were no longer demon-possessed. These two men had been a fixture in the lives of these people for years. They feared them and stayed as far away from them as possible. Both of the men were more than likely from the nearby village and their neighbors had seen them make the transition from normal, healthy boys to crazed, demon-possessed lunatics living in a graveyard and terrorizing the community.

When the villagers arrived, they found the man who had the many demons and was known as Legion, "sitting at Jesus' feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid" (Luke 8:35 NLT). Not amazed, but afraid. A similar response to that of the disciples when Jesus calmed the sea just a few hours earlier. Luke records that when the disciples had seen Jesus calm the waves and the wind, they "were terrified and amazed" (Luke 8:25 NLT). At the witness of the power of Jesus, the villagers and the disciples reacted in fear and terror. They didn't know what to do with what they had seen. In this case, the villagers wanted Jesus to leave, "for a great wave of fear swept over them" (Luke 8:37 NLT). Rather than worship, they wanted Him to leave. They wanted life to go back to the way it was before. It didn't matter that there was a miracle sitting in their midst in the form of two totally healed, demon-free men. They wanted Jesus gone.

But there was at least one individual who reacted in faith and not fear. One of the men who had been healed asked Jesus if he could go with Him. His life had been radically, unalterably changed by an encounter with Jesus, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life serving and following Him. But Jesus denied his request. Instead, He told the man to "go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you" (Luke 8:39 NLT). Jesus made him a missionary to his own people. The area in which this all took place was on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, in a region that was primarily Gentile. So Jesus commissions this man (and more than likely, his companion) to return home and spread the news of what God had done for him. This man had had an encounter with God Himself – in the form of Jesus, the Son of God. Now he was to go and tell what had happened. And he did. Mark tells us, "the man started off to visit the Ten Town of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed at what he told them" (Mark 8:20 NLT). There is no greater tool for proclaiming the power of God than the lips of the one who has experienced that power first-hand. Our testimony of transformation at the hands of God is undeniable and irrefutable. Yes, people can doubt it, but they can't disprove it. There were probably those who would deny that this man had ever been demon-possessed, but he would always know the truth. His zeal and unwavering knowledge of what had happened to his life would always be there. And the same should be true of us. Our greatest witness of the power of God is what He has done in our own lives. Jesus is telling us to do exactly what He told this man to do: "Go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you." Go and tell. Just share what Jesus has done. Give testimony to the fact that you have been and are being transformed by the power of God. And this testimony should be an ongoing and a growing one. Each day, we should have new news to share regarding God's power in our lives. It is not just about a point in time when we accepted Christ as our Savior. That is just the beginning. Our testimony is a work in progress. God is always doing something in our lives. His power is always available and at work behind the scenes. Sometimes we just don't see or recognize it. But we must look for it and then tell everyone we meet about it. Go and tell – spread the news of "everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been" (Mark 8:19 NLT).

Father, too often I fail to recognize Your power in my life. And as a result, I fail to tell anyone else about it. First of all, help me to see it. Secondly, help me have the boldness to talk about it to others, regardless of how they might receive it. I want to go and tell more regularly and faithfully. You have done so much for me and shown me so much mercy over the years. I have a story to tell that is growing with each passing day. May I begin to tell it to all with whom I come into contact. Amen.