The Messenger - April 14, 2010 - The Gospel

Pastor's Corner

What is "the Gospel"?

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel.
It is the power of God for salvation to all who believe
--the Jew first and also the Greek." (Romans 1:16)

I grew up knowing there were four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Through those gospels, I learned about the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I learned several of Jesus' teachings--especially the moral teachings--and several of his miracles as well. But I did not know there was a gospel--a single and coherent explanation of Christ's purpose in this life--until I had attended church for almost 20 years. That's when I first read the Book of Romans.

Unlike Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, this gospel is not a collection of stories but an explanation of them. It explains why Jesus came, and especially, why he died. It also explains the Old Testament--especially some of its rituals that seem quite alien to us. It tells us why those rituals were important, and it shows us why Christ's death and resurrection really is good news for us.

Before I understood the Book of Romans, I thought of Jesus as a very severe character. That's because I had heard all about his teachings in the first four gospels, and I remembered his "hard" words:

Matthew 5:48: "Be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect." I thought, "no one's perfect."

Matthew 10:37: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." I thought, "How can I love the people who have helped me directly less than I love God, whose care seems so much more removed?"

Matthew 5:30: "If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off." I thought, "that's a lose-lose proposition."

Luke 9:24: "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." I thought, "there has to be another way."

Now that I have studied the four gospels for an additional 30 years, I know there is good news even in these texts. But it's very hard to see it at first glance. Without my exposure to the one gospel that the Book of Romans brings, I may well have given up 25 years ago. But the Book of Romans helped me to hear the words of Jesus in a whole new way.

Martin Luther once said that, if he could keep just 1 book out of the whole Bible, it would be the Book of Romans. I think I would agree. It's not an easy book by any means, because it deals quite frankly--even harshly--with our sin. But it's worth an extended look, because the remedy it prescribes is simply astonishing. Roman's "remedy" is quite different from Judaism and quite different from Islam. It differs from Buddhist practice and pop psychology as well. I think it is the most powerful part of the Bible. But it takes a while to "get it." It takes a while to "see."

Thus, I'll be preaching from the Book of Romans for the next several weeks, and I hope that you will join me in this quest.