Paul’s Letter to the Romans is a mighty missionary tract. Over the course of the summer, we have outlined its powerful themes.
For the Apostle Paul, as we said in June, Spain matters. The Letter to the Romans makes clear that Paul is burdened for the men and women of the first-century Iberian Peninsula. They do not yet know the Savior. They need to.
In July we found that Rome matters, too. The Apostle did not know the sisters and brothers of first-century Rome, apparently. Yet he found in them the church of Jesus Christ – and wherever he found the church, he found partners in the mission of God. The Letter to the Romans aims to enlist their help in extending the gospel to Spain.
Last month we said that Jerusalem matters for the Apostle Paul, as well. Jerusalem was the mother church – “headquarters,” the physical center of the nascent Christian movement. Paul loved Jerusalem. He hoped to bridge the collective gifts of the gentile church back again “home” – to the city where it all began. The sisters and brothers at headquarters stood badly in need of it.
This is a theme that will take us farther – beyond Spain, and Rome, and Jerusalem itself – to consider the Kingdom of God. For the Apostle Paul, the Kingdom matters most of all.
In chapter fifteen, as we saw last month, Paul proposes a journey to the mother church in Jerusalem – in spite of the danger awaiting him there. At one level, Paul hopes simply to deliver an offering collected among the gentiles in relief of the poor in the holy city. But there is another dimension at work here as well.
Many commentators feel that the journey to Jerusalem represented the fulfillment of a missionary vision described by Isaiah long before. Indeed, they believe that Paul must have had this very vision in mind as he traveled to Jerusalem. It was a sweeping and powerful vision, described in Isaiah 66. “They shall bring all your kindred from all the nations as an offering to the Lord…” (v.20).
The prophet pictures a special kind of “offering,” and it is much more than a collection of money. Isaiah foresees that the people of God will present the nations themselves as an “offering to the Lord.” It is a missionary sort of offering – and a sign of the fulfillment of God’s missionary purposes for all the peoples of the world. Paul has come to understand himself as a personal part of this expansive vision. New Testament scholar Christopher Wright summarizes the perspective: “It is clear that Paul sees the whole Gentile mission as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies regarding the ingathering of the nations and the worship that will ascend to the God of Israel from the nations in the process” (2006:526).
So you see, there is something beyond Spain and Rome and Jerusalem. There is a kingdom beyond the map. Paul has become a part of the Grand Narrative of the Kingdom of God – prophesied from old, working its way through the centuries, unfolding now before him, and sweeping him into action. And it makes all the difference in the world.
With the narrative of God’s own Kingdom as backdrop, the rest of the map fits together. Spain matters… because God himself cares that the lost may be found, redeemed at last by the love of Jesus. Rome matters… because the found are made part of God’s design for all peoples. And Jerusalem matters, too. Yet no longer as the presumptive hub. It is not the goal; it is not the arbiter of things. Jerusalem matters as one point more in the design and the mission of God. The Kingdom beyond the map puts the map itself into perspective.
The Kingdom can put your life into perspective, too. You see, you are no longer the presumptive hub, either. Your special insights are not the goal of things. Your perspective is not the arbiter and your foibles and weakness not the limitation. Jesus, if you let him, will make you a part of another map altogether – and a design much bigger than you have ever imagined. It is the map of his loving purposes for all the peoples of the world. And let me tell you – he wants you to be a part of his purposes, too.
Other posts in this Mission Matters series: