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Fancy Footwork
Romans 10: 13-15
The story is told that the great master painter Leonardo DaVinci had
been working on a masterpiece for a long period of time. During this
time he allowed a young painter to watch him paint and study his
technique. The young student stood mesmerized as he watched this great
master work and the painting evolved in front of him. Surely, the
student thought that learning this technique and observing DaVinci’s
skill would enhance his own skill and technique.
As the painting was coming to completion the old painter turned and
looked at his young student and put the brush into his hand. “You have
stood and watch so patiently, now it is your turn, you finish the
painting.
The young student dropped the brush, backed away and protested that he
wouldn’t dream of touching the Master’s work, but DaVinci said, “Does
the work I have done not inspire you to do your best?”
I really like that story because as we read thru the Bible we sense the
work of a Master. You can see Jesus in every book of Scripture. And you
can see the message of Christ’s coming in every stroke of the brush.
Throughout the Old Testament you hear that: Someone is coming!
And in Gospels you can read: That Someone has come!
And in the Epistles we hear: Someone has not only come… But that He is
coming again!
Throughout the Scriptures you get the impression that God has created
this great masterpiece… and then – almost like a still small voice in
the back of your mind – you sense that God has stepped back and handed
us the brush.
I am sure that you have heard the old fable about a conversation between
God and his angels. Jesus had just risen from the dead and ascended into
heaven. The angels were curious about this new thing that Jesus had died
and risen from the dead to establish – the church. And they asked all
kinds of questions about how God was going to get it started.
In the course of the conversation, it became obvious that the success of
this new venture depended heavily upon the men that had walked with
Jesus and had been His disciples.
One of the angels laughed and said “You’ve got to be kidding! It depends
on these guys? These men are not well educated… they’re not particularly
brave… they’ve been misfits and failures all their lives. And you’re
telling us that these men are the key to whether the church survives or
not. What happens if they fail? What is the plan B?”
And looking steadily at the angel, God replied “No, there is no plan B.
This is THE PLAN.
Look with me at the letter Paul wrote to the Christians living in Rome.
In the 10th chapter it’s as if Paul is reminding the Church there the
same thing.
Romans 10:14 "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed
in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And
how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"
You see, you and I are plan “A.” And there is no other plan. God has
done His part in reaching the people around us and now it’s obvious that
God expects us to do our part in spreading the message to others.
In fact, He’s gone so far as to tell us that people cannot believe in
Jesus if they’ve not heard of Him --- from people like us. The salvation
of others might just hinge on whether they hear about Jesus from us.
There is a great little poem that goes:
They will not come, they must be brought.
They will not seek, they must be sought.
They will not learn, they must be taught.
Essentially, that’s what Paul is saying Romans 10:14. “How can they
believe in Jesus if they’ve not heard of Him thru us.”
This is so significant to God that He declares that the very feet of
those who tell others about Jesus are beautiful.
Have any of you ever taken part in a “foot washing?” It is not something
that we participate in very often. In the youth group I grew up in the
seniors would wash the feet of the in coming freshmen as a sign that
they would not only serve us but teach us how to serve God. We would
automatically think that it was humbling to have to wash someone else’s
feet, but if you have ever had your feet washed then you know how hard
it is to take your shoes off.
Some people say that it is because they are uncomfortable having you see
or smell their feet. But there is another reason, and a bigger reason,
we don’t think of our feet as pretty, let alone beautiful! It seems that
the farther from the face we go the less attractive we believe we are.
But did you notice what God says: If you and I share the message of
Jesus with others, EVEN our feet are beautiful to Him.
Did you know that when we share our faith with others or when we tell
others what Jesus means to us, this pleases God more than you or I can
even imagine. If Luke 15 is right, the very courts of heaven explode in
celebration and delight. You and I are part of the plan. God has stepped
back and handed us the brush. And you can almost hear Him ask us “Does
the work I have done not inspire you to do your best?”
Tonight I have two things that we must know if we are going to
understand what God is thinking here.
First, Do you know that God believes in us?
God believes that we are capable of telling others about Jesus. He
believes we are capable of telling others “good news”
He isn’t asking us to recite all the books of the Bible, or to give the
theological implications of sanctification and justification. ALL we
have to talk about is the good news. In other words, what has Jesus done
for you.
The infamous skeptic, atheist, and enemy of the church, Fredrick
Nietzsche once said: “Show me that you are redeemed, and I will believe
in your Redeemer.”
Now, I don’t know if he was being honest or not. But it is nonetheless
true: If we can show others that it works – if we can tell others how
Jesus has made a difference in our lives, then maybe they will believe.
“But Jeremy – what if I can’t talk real well? What if I’m not sure I
could tell someone enough about Jesus to help them?” Well… that’s ok.
Until you can find a way to tell others about what Jesus has done in
your life, you might have to become a little inventive. You might have
to find a “creative” way to share Jesus.
D.L. Moody once told the story of a wealthy London banker who loved
Jesus deeply but couldn’t tell others about his faith in a way that he
felt was convincing. So, what he did instead, was hire all of the
carriage drivers he could on the days of a Revival and then sent the
drivers in while he held the reins of the horses.
So if you haven’t figured out yet how to talk to others yet you can
still find a way to get the message to them, if you want to. Every
member of this body has been smart enough to come with reasons why we
couldn’t or shouldn’t share the good news, now we just have to use some
of that same reasoning to come up with inventive ways to share the good
news. We must be reminded that God believes you can do it.
Second, Do you know that you don’t have to do this alone?
Most of us are not afraid of hard work, or taking on difficult tasks we
are just afraid that we will have to do it all by ourselves. Jesus tells
us that the Spirit of God is working behind the scenes. When Jesus
walked upon the earth, He said that, when the Spirit came, His job was
to “…convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and
judgment:” John 16:8
When you talk to others about Jesus, remember that God’s Spirit has been
softening them up well ahead of time. He’s been convicting them of their
sins, He’s been convicting them of their need for righteousness, and
He’s been convicting them - that there is time of judgment coming and
they need to get ready.
Now… I believe there’s a reason why God uses the imagery of feet here in
Romans 10. Romans 10:15 declares "How beautiful are the feet of those
who bring good news!"
Feet? Feet?… what’s so significant about our feet? I mean… it’s not our
feet that tells about Jesus… that would be our head and our mouth. But
as we close tonight I want to show you why there is a very good reason
why God talked our feet in this passage:
Many people talk a good talk… but they don’t walk a good walk.
The message has no power, if the messenger doesn’t walk with Jesus. If a
person talks the talk but doesn’t walk the walk, well we have a special
name for them. What do we call people who talk a good talk, but don’t
walk the walk???? Hypocrites! We’ve got to walk the walk for our talk to
have any impact.
You cannot tell people about the Prince of Peace if your life is lived
in constant turmoil.
You cannot share the forgiveness offered by Christ, if you are hard,
cold, and calloused.
And you cannot tell people about the Joy of the Lord, is you are the
most miserable person they know.
Secondly, It is my feet that determine my direction.
I can turn my head to the left or the right and still go straight ahead,
and I’ve seen some of you drive looking out the side window of your cars
so I know I am not alone. The direction of my head doesn’t determine
where I’m going. But once my feet are set on a path – that’s where I’m
going. My feet determine what direction I’m going in.
When you ask one of our high school students what they want to be when
they grow up, you might get and well though out answer, or they might
just as well tell you, “I don’t know.”
That’s because they have never set a goal. They know that they can do
anything so they are still trying to figure out what direction they want
to take. They have not set out on a path yet. BUT, eventually they will
make up their mind, some sooner than later, and once that becomes the
focus of what they want to do they’ll pursue that goal no matter what
the obstacle – no matter what barrier they might face. Why? Because
their feet are set upon the path and they WILL attain their goal.
Likewise, if our feet are set on the path of sharing with others about
Jesus… if that is truly the goal that is set in our hearts, then we’ll
strain for that objective no matter what barrier or objection or
obstacle we may face.
Lastly, Feet are personal!
I can’t send my feet somewhere that I can’t go myself. I have to go
where my feet go. Notice, God doesn’t say: “How beautiful is the tract
that you hand out” even though tracts may be very effective.
Or “How beautiful is the door hanger that you leave” though those door
hangers might influence some people.
Or “How beautiful is the bible that you put in the coat you gave to the
needy”, though I believe that our Warm Coats for Warm Hearts campaign is
a great outreach.
What God does say is “How beautiful are your feet.” What does that mean?
It means that people are won to Christ because we are willing to be
where they are.
A couple of years ago Newsweek had an article on Religion and Street
Gangs. They interviewed a Pentecostal preacher named Rivers. When he
first moved into this neighborhood, Rivers sought out a local drug
dealer named Selvin... and that drug dealer gave Rivers a lesson in why
God was losing to gangs in the battle for the souls of inner city kids.
“Selvin explained, ‘I’m there when Johnny goes out for a loaf of bread
for Mama. I’m there, you’re not. I win, you lose, It’s all about being
there.’”
When Jesus sought to save mankind, he walked with them. He walked with
the prostitutes and the tax collectors and the dregs of society because
they were the ones that would best understand the need for His message.
He spent time with them. He didn’t join in with their sinful behavior,
but He showed His love for them in being with them. And today that’s
still the only way to show you care.
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