Sermon by Dr. Jeffrey Jeremiah
February 5, 2006

"God’s Business"
Romans 1:1

"I got stabbed in the back." For me, that’s the sentence that sums up the incredibly disappointing season the Seattle Seahawks suffered through last year. You remember what happened. It’s the last game of the regular season. Toward the end of the game Seattle drives the length of the field. The ball is on the one-yard line and the Seahawks must score. At the same time, star running back Shaun Alexander needs one more yard in order to win the NFL rushing title. Instead of calling Alexander’s number, Coach Mike Holmgren calls for a quarterback sneak; Matt Hasselbeck scores. The Seahawks win the game to get into the playoffs, but Alexander doesn’t win the rushing title. "I got stabbed in the back" is how he described his disappointment. Those words just confirmed what many of his teammates and fans believed: that for Shaun Alexander "It’s all about me," not the team. Was anyone really surprised when the Seahawks were bounced from the playoffs the next week? Fast forward to this season. Shaun Alexander is a model teammate. He is incredibly humble and gracious. Whenever he can, he gives credit to his offensive line and his coaching staff for his success. And his success is spectacular, off the charts. He leads the NFL in rushing. He set a record by scoring 28 touchdowns. He’s named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player; he’s leading his team into the Super Bowl. A children’s book is written about him. As I observe and enjoy all this, I think, what a difference a year makes! It’s pretty clear that in the last year there’s been a major change in Shaun Alexander’s life.

Life change, major life change is what I think of when I read the first words of Romans: "Paul a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God." Your immediate reaction might be, "Where’s the change? Wasn’t Paul someone who gave his whole life to doing what God wanted him to do?" Not exactly. We know quite a bit about the man who wrote this letter. He was originally named Saul, after the first king of Israel. He was born in Tarsus, located in what is now the southeastern part of modern Turkey. Tarsus was a major cosmopolitan city that was the home of one of the three great universities of the Roman Empire. Saul grew up as a Roman citizen in a family that was quite well off. In all likelihood, he received an outstanding education at that university. As important as his secular education, his education in Judaism was much more important for its impact on him in terms of his spiritual life and work. During his teen years, Saul was sent to Jerusalem to study under the great Jewish teacher Gamaliel. He acquired a thorough knowledge of the Jewish law and traditions. The son of a Pharisee, he became a Pharisee himself. He described himself as a zealous legalist, a "Hebrew of Hebrews," totally committed to the Jewish law in every detail. He was not in Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified, but like most of the Jewish leaders, he was deeply offended by Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah and dedicated himself to stamping out those who followed Him. Because of his zeal, energy, and natural ability, he soon became a leader in persecuting the church. He took legal responsibility for the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. After that murder, he "began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women," putting them into prison (Acts 9:3). Not content with persecuting believers in Jerusalem and Judea, Saul got permission from the high priest to go to Damascus to arrest and bring believers in that city back to Jerusalem. This man hated Christians, everything they believed and stood for.

On his trip from Jerusalem to Damascus, Saul was confronted in an overwhelming blaze of light by the resurrected Jesus, who asked, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" Terrified, Saul replied, "Who are you, Lord?" and the Lord said, "I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting." At that moment Saul must have been both terrified and shattered – terrified that he was in the very presence of God and shattered by the realization that he’d been attacking God instead of serving Him. The blood he was shedding was the blood of God’s people. The Jesus Whom his Jews had ridiculed, beaten, and put to death; the Jesus Whom Stephen had called out for as Saul stood by consenting to his death; the Jesus Whose followers Saul was persecuting and imprisoning – that Jesus was God, his God! If the Lord hadn’t immediately added, "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do," Saul very well could have died from overwhelming fear and terror as he was confronted by the Lord. Later, as he looked back on that experience that changed his life (as well as his name) Saul wrote, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst" (I Timothy 1:12-15).

My point in focusing our attention on Paul and this first verse of Romans today: God is in the business of changing lives. He’s in the business of changing people, men, women, boys, and girls, by saving them in His Son Jesus Christ. You may be here today thinking, "I am in such a rut. Every day is just the same old, same old. I feel like life is just being sucked out of me." God is in the business of changing lives. Or maybe there’s an important person in your life, even a loved one, and you’re really frustrated with them, so you’ve concluded, "They’ll never change." God is in the business of changing lives. You may be here today thinking, "There’s no hope for me. For the things I’ve done in my life, there’s no way God could care about me, help me, change me." Paul is real, living, personal proof that God changes lives. If ever there was a person who didn’t deserve anything good from God it was Paul – a blasphemer, a persecutor of the church, a murderer of Christians. Paul didn’t deserve God’s mercy, His love. He didn’t deserve to be saved by God. But neither do you, neither do I. No one deserves it! It’s not about us, it’s about God, and God’s in the business of changing lives, of saving us in His Son!

Back to Shaun Alexander: many of you know that the change that took place in his life didn’t happen because he was saved in the last year. Alexander has claimed a deep, saving faith in Jesus Christ for many years. So what happened? The answer comes in two parts. First is God’s Word. Reading in the book of Genesis about how Abraham dealt with a tough situation showed Alexander he needed to re-think his attitude. Second, his wife and a former teammate confronted him about the way he presented himself to his teammates and the public. Because of the Word and from the concern of loved ones, Alexander made a change, a change for the better. The second part of God’s business is this: He doesn’t just save us in Jesus Christ, He’s also in the business of changing believers by growing them in their salvation, their relationship with their Savior and Lord. If you’re a follower of Christ, that’s the business God has to conduct with you: to draw you closer to Jesus, to make Him a stronger and stronger influence in your life, to make you more humble, gracious, loving, God-honoring in your life. How does He do that? He’ll use His Word, friends and loved ones, other relationships, circumstances, you can’t exhaust the ways God can move as He conducts His business in our lives, the business of changing, saving, growing us in His Son.

At this Table, Jesus meets you to conduct business with you. He doesn’t meet you with arms folded, shaking His head in disgust at you, or shaking an accusing finger at you. He meets you with mercy, grace, and love; He confronts you with the opportunity to change, to be saved if you’re not a believer, or to mature, develop, grow you closer to Him in love, faith, courage, and strength if you are. Won’t you consider this possibility for your life as we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Last Supper?