Romans 15:14, 20-22, 25-28 (NIV) 14I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. 20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. 21Rather, as it is written: "Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand."22This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you. 25Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. 26For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27They 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. 28So 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.
Giving as an outward and visible sign of appreciation for the inward and invisible gifts of spiritual blessings seems to apply to giving as Paul describes it when he says, “For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.”
Paul brings two spiritual blessings into focus for the Christians in Rome. The first is goodness. Real goodness is the power to rise above the coldness, cruelty, and crassness of our world as well as the corruption of our own lives. The second spiritual blessing is knowledge. Knowledge is more than knowing facts or being able to reason things out, but is what enables us to see beyond present pressures to know that God is still sovereign.
I suspect that for some of us “spiritual blessings” has a vague, nebulous sound, a kind of misty meaning. Spiritual refers to the work of the spirit. Blessing refers to the good work of God in our life. Spiritual blessings are the good works of God’s Spirit brought about in our lives. For the Christians in Rome, those spiritual blessings were clear, concrete, and manifold. For them, spiritual blessings meant being delivered from the iron fist of fate, and discovering that they were gifted and called to fulfill God’s purpose for human life. These spiritual blessings included freedom from the useless rituals of cleansing from sin and receiving real forgiveness through Jesus the Christ. And they included seeing death in a new light, no longer as the great abyss, but as a movement into the fullness of eternal life made clear and believable through the resurrection of Jesus.
A heart aware of spiritual blessing is grateful and ready to respond with material gifts. Are we willing now to express our gratitude and our commitment to God through giving? They received spiritually, they gave materially. That is the heart and the soul of gospel giving. Are we prepared to give in that manner and with that spirit?
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope November 18, 1990
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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