Faithful Christian Commitment and service
in the Middle East for almost 150 years The Nazareth Trust Healing in the Name of Jesus Since 1861
in the Middle East for almost 150 years The Nazareth Trust Healing in the Name of Jesus Since 1861
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Romans 1: 8 - 17
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome.
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
In the passage we can see some similarities between what Paul says to the Christians in Rome and ourselves today, as visitors and local residents of Nazareth. Paul says that “your faith is reported all over the world” and although this may not be quite the same, visitors certainly take news of your faith back with them.
Paul also clearly sees the church as an international community, which is shown even more clearly in Romans 15: 23 – 29, where he describes his planned journey to Jerusalem.
"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 see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit 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 saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints 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 fruit, 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."
Here we see Paul on his journey back to Jerusalem, with gifts from the Greek churches and planning to visit Rome on his way to Spain. He has gifts and encouragement to share with them and we also have gifts and encouragement to share with each other.
Although we have gifts to share with each other, sometimes we are not the best qualified to judge what they are, as we can be unaware of what we give to people. Some gifts that local people give to visitors are:
Hospitality
This is not only in the sense of opening your homes to people, but also in time and consideration. Even in the impromptu supply of translation is such a gift, and would perhaps not be seen in churches in other places where it would be expected that visitors would speak their language.
Family Life
Another gift is that of family life. It is encouraging to see whole families worshipping together at the churches in Nazareth, where perhaps this is not seen in other countries. In the UK, marriage is declining and many children do not live with both natural parents. Even within the church, it can be unusual for the family as a whole to be present at services.
Faithfulness
The Church of Scotland has existed for 450 years and is relatively young when compared with the church here, which has existed for centuries more. Some may say this has given more time for people to disagree with each other, but there is a valuable lesson in faithfulness to be learned. Christians are a minority within a minority in Nazareth, and Christians are becoming increasingly a minority in the UK too. We can certainly learn from this gift of faithfulness.
Of course these gifts go both ways and there are gifts that visitors also bring with them for Nazareth and the Hospital.
Solidarity
Some of you may remember the political movement of Solidarity which brought down Communism in Poland. Similarly, solidarity is something visitors can express to strengthen and empower local Christians. We want to stand with you, learn from you, be blessed by you and offer a blessing in return. Christians in the UK are perhaps too inward looking, so we can all benefit by seeing and experiencing each others’ way of expressing faith.
Resources
As visitors we can also offer ourselves as volunteers, helpers, workers and teachers in the hospital and in the wider town. There has been and will be an ongoing programme of volunteering with the aim to build up and encourage the hospital and the Christian community.
There is the continuing resource of our CEO Joseph Main, who uses his skill and encouragement to help improve and develop the organization. There is also the resource of money for the Nazareth Trust, which is working to develop the Hospital, the School of Nursing and other new initiatives.
These are all ways that we can mutually encourage each other’s faith in the service of the Gospel, as an international community. These churches were mutually encouraged and remind us in verse 16 that we are “not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes”.
Speaker: Rev Michael Frew