The Feet of Christ

Mission and Ministry Series
Old Mystic, November 8, 2009
Romans 10:8-15

Summary

Good news bring hope; sometimes the hope of change, of a better future, and of peace. Paul explained the work of Jesus Christ in his letter to the church in Rome with the expectation that people would receive that message of hope in Christ—the good news—and go to places to share it with others.

Sermon

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” These words by the prophet Isaiah quoted by Paul in his letter to the Romans portray the joy that good news brings to recipients, often expressed in appreciation to the messenger. On the other hand, when the news is not so good, when it is not what we are expecting, or when it is hurtful, we get angry with the envoy!

Isaiah was conveying to the people who were in exile a message of peace and of salvation; the messenger was announcing to the people of Israel that God reigns and therefore it was good news. Paul is extending this good news to everyone, to the Jew and to the Greek; he is making the case for Jesus Christ carefully explaining how salvation for all human beings takes place through his work. And Paul is concerned about those who have not believed. They need couriers, heralds, carriers of the message of the gospel of peace.

The metaphor of the feet is a powerful image of what it takes to bring the gospel. It is an image associated with effort, the use of time and energy, and the realization that the delivery of the message will come with no little pain. Messengers in antiquity had to walk before the talk and always spoke for the one who sent them! In these days of multimedia, we have found so many ways to “proclaim” the good news that the message has sometimes become a sort of a formula to which people can assent or reject altogether—not to mention how the message offered comes many times with strings attached. We have very often lost the personal touch of the messenger; we have become entrepreneurs of the communication of the gospel.

In a world that needs sincere, personal, and human expressions of peace and of the love of God, we are the feet—and the hands—of Jesus. Paul speaks about people that need to hear and messengers that need to speak; people who will believe through those who are sent to share and are willing to go where the others are.

When we go where people are, in first place, they might hear us. Because going to the places where they are makes a difference. Some people may be tired of the megaphone, or the crusades of big crowds and stages, or the impersonal message conveyed through printed or recorded media. The warmth of our human presence in the name of Christ, showing God’s love and mercy will bless lives more powerfully than any articulated and detailed message about how the work of salvation is effected—or any rational and oversimplified version of it. Being silently and lovingly there, by the side of those who suffer, of those who need God, the good news of God’s love can sometimes make a greater impact on them.

Going to the places where people are, in their homes, or in the hospital, or in their jobs, we engage in face-to-face relationships with them. And this is difficult and risky but, as we develop friendships, we also share with them the best of what we have. Friends will be open to hear what we have to say; their hearts will be prepared to receive what we have to offer. They will hear us because their hearing will be more that the use of that sense, it will be experiencing the love we have to offer in the name of our lord Jesus Christ.

In second place, when we go where people are and they are open to hear us, we can proclaim the good news. But our proclamation will not necessarily be preaching a sermon, or teaching a lesson, or reciting certain “spiritual laws.” It will be a proclamation of the heart when our heart opens to pour out the concrete reality of our experience with the Living God. As Saint Francis said, “preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” An encounter with the Living God who desires to have a relationship with us will connect us also with others in a way in which words are hardly necessary. Our deeds, our walk, and our life will be open books about God’s love.

Yet, salvation must be received and confessed. As Paul said, “one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.” We are being saved to be part of God’s project, the project of God’s kingdom that has already begun. It is the hope of peace, the realization that we have a God that loves us and loves us deeply, and the expectation that God’s righteousness and justice will be established forever. Our awareness of the greatness of that salvation will prompt us to confess it with our mouth. This confession, however, does not amount to memorizing and reciting a creed. It means sharing what Jesus Christ means to us from the bottom of our hearts, not with the purpose of convincing our hearers to do the same—only the Holy Spirit convinces—but for the sake of expressing what Christ means to us.

Some will hear with respect, others will perhaps despise us. Yet, our openness to the relationship, because we are there for them, will out shadow all differences, disagreements, or even rejection. God’s love in Jesus Christ deserves to be shared! But sharing must not be imposing, or oppressive, much less threatening. The Gospel is a gift, not a package to unload that someone else is compelled to bear; it is good news to bring and to share.

We have heard enough complaints about the way in which Christianity has conducted itself in its efforts to evangelize the world. The work has been done with honesty, with great effort, and out of love for the lost. At the same time we have often done it with arrogance, with self-righteousness, and judgmentally. Messengers, those with “beautiful feet,” those who go to places to be where people are will only open their mouths to utter words of love, to tell real good news, to share hope and possibilities with people—not to tell them what is wrong with them. Salvation is at hand! God wants to save us through Jesus Christ and invites us to enter into a special relationship with him and, as we go to the places where people are and we develop friendships, that salvation will be spread trough the whole world.