Beautiful Feet

Turn in your Bibles to Romans 10:

I’ve never been one to recall a person’s facial details. I’m the guy who never remembers her eye color, even the most beautiful eyes. It’s pretty frustrating. But my brief encounter with Honduras taught me to look at faces, but more than that, to study faces. Faces often denote hope or hopelessness for that matter. That principal remains intact in America, even as I prepare for a short missions break-out session I will co-lead, that has forced me to encounter once again that beautifully yet haunting passage in Romans 10:

"For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“ How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”"-Romans 10:13-15

That passage, it haunts my thoughts; yet I welcome its splendid conviction-even as I write chocking back tears of joy and sorry. Where to begin: a call to preach-to say the least, an impossible task-undoubtedly so, a beautiful reward-but who can claim it? And if that is not weighty enough, this passage is wedged between two of scriptures’ most controversial chapters, and wrapped with Paul’s desperate cry for his people. Tragedy, hope, prophecy, and God’s absolute sovereignty crash into a couple of jam-packed paragraphs that leave me floored. Breathe. O.K., here we go.

One chapter earlier Paul said, “...I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh.” He then describes physical Israel’s salvific situation, which ultimately results in the eternal death of those he so desperately desired to see saved, while simultaneously painting one of the most detailed pictures of God’s sovereignty in scripture. Then in Chapter 10 Paul by the Spirit writes:

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.-Romans 10:1-2

It’s worse than we thought; they even have a zeal for God, but a misplaced zeal-how tragic. Israel’s zeal was for self-righteousness based on their interpretation of the law, but those born of Abraham missed it-Christ is the end of the law-He is righteousness. The Word of faith is, “you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Whoever calls on His name will be saved. You can almost feel Paul’s heart wrenching as he describes the situation regarding his kin; yet you can see his eyes soften and light up as he describes salvation; the gracious gift of faith to those who respond to God’s calling by in turn calling out to Him. After all, how impossible is it to uphold the righteous requirement of the law (Romans 1-8); and isn’t that the point? When faced with the impossibility of keeping the law there is really only one correct response: to “call upon the name of the Lord.”

This passage calls to attention another popular theme for the Romans reader, the equality of Jews and Gentiles. The Lord of the Jews is indeed the Lord of the Gentiles as well. So we can infer that, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Then, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” How can a person call on something or to someone whom they have not believed? Without the gift of faith one will continue in blind slavery to sin for, “There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.” (Romans 3:11). And how will they have faith in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they ever hear without a preacher?

I hear that and my mind instantly travels across the Pacific and ascends miles to the tops of the mighty Himalayas, where entire people groups live-dead. Alive physically, but dead spiritually, doomed to hopelessness because they are without a preacher. No less guilty, but no less deserving of grace than myself and my people. My mind then races to Central America, to the millions of impoverished people crammed onto the sides of the mudslide prone mountains of Tegucigalpa. I think about the false preachers who peddled for thousands of years a “gospel” that reads, “faith + works + indulgences = a ticket to Heaven.” I think of how hopeless it must be to try to earn salvation, while trying to feed your family in the 11th poorest nation on earth. Then to war-tarn Africa, where 2 million or more displaced Ugandans dwell in one U.N. refugee camp in the most pitiful conditions. Little food, sanitary conditions are a really non-humorous joke, and no one is allowed to leave. How hopeless are the faces of those who are separated from their families, hungry, sick, and trapped in the confines of barb-wired fences and armed guards? Then I’m back to Southeast Asia where child sex-trafficking is commonplace. Girls as young as 5 forced to perform vile sexual acts for sicko-Western perverts, while local police turn a blind eye because sex-tourism is top dollar. Hopeless victims, with no conceivable escape, exist only for the purpose of sexually pleasuring dirty old men. How will they believe? How will they hear? Who will preach to them?

But, that passage-is it unique to foreign missions? No, but it extends even to the hopelessness that exists here in the coffee shop on Fayetteville Street. Businessmen discuss the darkening economy, teenagers discuss their wild throw-downs, and news anchors discuss the always gloomy evening news. Hopeless Americans, can we just abandon them? How will they have faith without hearing? How will they hear without a preacher?

Where do we even begin? Is the sex-slave more worthy of the gospel than the businessman? Is the teenager more worthy than the refugee? The world is perishing, we need an answer. Is this the burden of Paul I wonder? Did he assess the situation, and see the hopelessness? Is that where his sorrow derived? It is indeed impossible, “With men it is impossible.” But, “not with God; for with God all things are possible.” It is possible with God, who makes the Church His hands and feet. An arduous but possible task(in God alone) is before us-to trust in God to use His people to rescue the perishing. If we do so then we will have beautiful feet.

This is part one of an undetermined number.

"For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel!"-1 Cor 9:16