Not Ashamed of the Gospel- Samaritan House

I will always remember the elective course on Paul's letter to the Romans that I took while in seminary.  More than any other class I took during those three years, this course influenced how I read the Bible, understand my personal faith, and interpret the world around me. 

This letter of Paul to a congregation he has never met, lays out the Christian message in a way that still resonates, as he recounts the goodness of God's creation, our sinfulness that destroys the world God made and loves, God's righteous action to respond to our disobedience but doing so by becoming incarnate among us and dying to destroy the powers of sin and death that have enslaved the world.  The death and resurrection of Jesus, then, become the new beginning, the rebirth into a new life in a new creation, and his rising is a promise of our own resurrection at the end of history, when God completes the salvtion of the world and all live together in peace.

In our course, we dissected this biblical letter much like you would dissect a novel or poem or letter in an English course.  Early on, we established that Paul's "thesis statement" in the letter is 1:16-17, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, 'The one who is righteous will live by faith.'"

Our professor, Dr. Beth Johnson, helped us to see the complexity of the Greek word we translate as "ashamed."  The term certainly connotes embarrassment, and Paul is declaring that he is not embarrassed by the proclamation of Jesus Christ.  Honor and shame, however, were the defining characteristics of the early Greco-Roman culture, and shame was the result of putting your trust in someone or something that failed you in the end.  Shame could destroy a career, cause loss of position in the community, could bring economic ruin.  It left you ostracized and alone.

Therefore, when Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the gospel, we might think of him as saying, "I am puting my trust in the Good News of the saving death of Jesus Christ for the world, and that Good News will not let me down!"

I find that radical trust, personally, to be my daily calling that I struggle to live into.  It may be apparent from my preaching patterns, but I frequently feel that the powers of sin and death are winning over the power of the gospel, and so serving the crucified Lord begins to look a little embarrassing or untrustworthy. 

Today, however, I had the opportunity to attend an advisory board meeting of Appalachian Outreach, a local ministry in our community that seeks to live out the love of Jesus Christ in a variety of ways including home repair work, a clothes closet, a food pantry, and operating a homeless shelter known as Samaritan House.

The organization has been in the process of building a new Samaritan House which they expect to open in August of this year.  Land for the project was donated for the build and volunteers locally and from around the country have given their times and skills to construct the new facility.  Even with those donations, however, the cost of the project will still come out to roughly $850,000. 

At our meeting today, we were told that the thrift store, Second Source, has been regularly donating their proceeds to the Samaritan House project over the last six years.  During that time, the thrift store (which charge $1 to $2 for each item they sell) has donated over $699,000 to the building of the Samaritan House (and yes, that is not a typo...)!  Several members of our congregation serve there regularly, sorting clothes and making sales, and I would encourage you to talk to them to learn more about the work of Second Source. 

When I heard about that success, the generosity of the organization, the contribution they have made to bringing wholeness to the lives of others in our community, I could not help but think that there is indeed power in this gospel we proclaim.  This expanded ministry, the hands that have worked, the prayers that have been offered, the donations that have been given, shows the world what salvation looks like.  Salvation looks like a warm place to sleep when all hope seems lost.  Salvation is a second chance at a new life.  Salvation is an emptying of ourselves for the wholeness of the world.  Thanks to the hard work of the volunteers and customers of the Second Source Thrift Store, the promise of salvation is being celebrated in our community through the new Samaritan House. 

Let us, then, not be ashamed of the gospel, for its power is being made known among us even now.