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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
Romans 15:23-29
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
How should we approach others when we pay them a visit?
Those visits can amount to trips we may make to see family or friends. They can be to hospital rooms and nursing homes to shows care for the afflicted. And they can be at funeral homes to support those who have had loved ones pass away.
Indeed, visits can happen for any number of reasons and in the case of the Apostle Paul, his visits were to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles who had yet to hear about salvation through God’s Son, Jesus. In fact, he dedicated his life to this cause across four missionary journeys that are detailed in the Book of Acts and in excerpts from many of the letters he wrote to Christian churches like the one we have been studying for quite some time, the letter to the Romans.
So how did Paul approach his visits to the many places he traveled to?
We find out in today’s passage as we are nearing the end of Paul’s letter. Look again at these words from verses 23 through 29 of Romans 15:
But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to visit you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to see you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while. Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this contribution, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.
Paul had covered a lot of ground. In yesterday’s message, we learned from Paul’s own words that he had the ambition to fully proclaim the Gospel “from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum” and he had visited so many places that there was “no more place” for him to work in those regions. This would allow Paul to visit his brothers and sisters in Rome after he made a trip to Jerusalem to drop off contributions to the poor given by the churches in Macedonia and Achaia. Note how Paul emphasizes how these donations were owed to those in need in Israel’s capital city. For God had allowed the Gentiles to share in the blessing of salvation through Jesus with the Jews and so providing assistance to Jerusalem was a way to share their material blessings with their fellow Christians in Judea. And after providing the offerings from Macedonia and Achaia in Jerusalem, we read where Paul had intentions to sail to Spain and on the way he would stop in and visit the Romans, doing so “in the full measure of the blessing of Christ”.
These final words really struck a chord with me and I pray they do so with you as well. For I was caused to wonder how many times I may have made visits to places and people with the wrong attitude or spirit.
Have I always entered into visits with family and friends showing the “full measure of the blessing of Christ”? How about the visits to nursing home or hospitals or funeral homes?
I’m not sure I have been absolutely above reproach if I am really being honest and so I am thankful for Paul’s words here. For they are now written on my heart and in my mind, and I intend to remember them and apply them to all future visits I may make to others.
When dropping in to see family and friends, I will show them the full measure of the blessing of Christ. I will make sure I love as Jesus loves, to care as Jesus cares, to be patient as Jesus is patient, and to forgive as Jesus forgives.
When I visit hospitals, I will show the concern that Jesus always showed the afflicted and I will pray with the sick and suffering as Jesus prayed with those He healed.
When I visit nursing homes, I will seek to let people know they aren’t alone or forsaken just as Jesus did those who felt isolated and alone.
And when I visit a funeral home, I will seek to bring comfort and peace to those who mourn as Jesus did when he blessed those who grieved.
While other verses in Romans gain a lot more attention, verse 29 in chapter 15 carries so much value for us as Christians today. Let us always seek to display the full measure of the blessing of Jesus in all our encounters with others.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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