SERMON TITLE: Beautiful Feet
SCRIPTURE: Romans 10:14-21 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 12-8-24
Watch the sermon hereTake notes here
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — are joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend — finishing up chapter ten today — if you’d like to turn there in your Bible. And this will be our last week in Romans for the year. Originally I’d thought that we’d be through chapter eleven at this time — but God had other plans for us — so we’ll pick back up in Romans chapter eleven in the new year.
And I know that — in previous years — we’ve done much longer Christmas series here at Gateway. But I made the decision to shorten this year’s Christmas series so we could at least get through Romans chapter ten before the end of the year. But know that we’ll be all in with Christmas starting next week and then — on December 22nd — Gateway’s founding pastor — Pastor Ben — we’ll be with us as part of our Christmas series. I should say that Ben — and his wife Kathy — are here with us a lot of the time during the year — Ben even spoke at our church staff retreat two months ago. I’m thankful for their continued faithfulness to God and his church here at Gateway — as I’m sure you all are as well.
But — as I said — we’re wrapping up our time in Romans for the year — and what a journey it’s been! And I hope that — though today may sound like a repeat of previous weeks — for Paul’s going to show us that — though he believes in God’s sovereign mercy — he also believes that people are saved by God’s sovereign mercy through the sharing of the gospel — thus I hope that this sermon will feel like a companion to our sermon from a few weeks ago when I answered your question about our free will.
So let’s turn to our text and I think you’ll see what I mean. We’ll be in Romans chapter ten — beginning in verse fourteen. There Paul writes…
Romans 10:14–21 (ESV)
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” 19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” 20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
The point Paul’s making here is that saving faith comes through hearing the preached Word of Christ — or the gospel being proclaimed. This is where we — those who believe in Jesus — see the high calling and purpose that our God has given to us: to be those who share the news of Jesus Christ with others. Who — like the friends we saw a few weeks ago — who so loved their paralyzed friend that they carried him to the feet of Jesus — God has called us — has called you — if you believe in Jesus — to take the gospel to others — to carry them to the feet of Jesus so they might find life everlasting — a life full of joy and hope and peace and love — through faith in him.
To see this — we need to return to a verse we looked at last week — verse thirteen. For verse thirteen connects our passage from last week to today’s passage. In verse thirteen — Paul concludes his declaration of God’s glorious promise of salvation — with the words…
Romans 10:13 (ESV)
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” A verse full of hope. A verse full of life. Full of mercy. Full of grace. To which Paul — after declaring that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” — continues with…
Romans 10:14–15 (ESV)
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
If calling on the Lord — which is when we put our faith in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation — if calling on the name of the Lord is necessary in order for a person to be saved — to be rescued — to experience liberation and freedom from Satan, sin, death, and Hell — how do they call on the name of the Lord if they don’t believe in him — this is what Paul is asking. Which shows us that Paul’s making a distinction between calling — or confessing with our mouths that Jesus is our Lord — and actually believing that he is. Many make confessions — but belief and confession are not the same — for it’s one thing to say that Jesus is your Lord and something very different to live with Jesus as your Lord.
But how are they to believe in Jesus if they’ve never heard of him? Did you know that today — according to the organization Joshua Project — there are currently 3.2 to 3.4 billion people who have little to no access to the gospel. That’s around forty percent of the global population. They can’t believe in Jesus because they haven’t heard of him. And I understand how this seems impossible — how this is so hard to believe to be true because of our context. Some of us don’t remember a day not having heard about Jesus — you may not have believed in him — but — at the very least — you heard him used as part of a cuss word. Imagine not having ever heard the name Jesus — or about the cross — or of his sacrifice for your sins. That’s the reality for over three billion people right now — which is why our desire is that all who follow Jesus — here at Gateway — would be Kingdom-minded disciples. Meaning — we care about God’s global mission of saving people from all nations and people groups.
Paul asks, “How are they to hear without someone preaching?” I don’t want you to feel like you’re off the hook — by the word preaching here. The word means to “proclaim, to announce openly and publicly.” It’s the same Greek word that Paul uses a few verses earlier when he says…
Romans 10:8 (ESV)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim);
“Proclaim” is the same word as “preached” in the original language. So this isn’t just something that preachers do — though the preaching of God’s Word should not be devalued — but what Paul’s talking about is something that all Christians are called to do: To proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In the church world this is called evangelism. And — as we reported during our ministry celebration weekend back in September — I’m so thankful that ninety-six percent of us had at least one evangelistic conversation about Jesus in the past year — with thirty-seven percent of us having had six or more such conversations. What a blessing it is to be part of a faith family full of people who proclaim the news of Jesus Christ! I hope you’re encouraged by the faithfulness of those around you — I know that I’m encouraged.
Paul continues with, “How are they to preach — or to proclaim the news about Jesus — unless they are sent?” Unless they are sent. You know what I bet would be a good catch phrase for a group of Christians to use who want to remind themselves every week of the importance of being proclaimers of the gospel — I don’t know — maybe the words “You are sent.” For our friends in Bucyrus — we have banners at our Gateway campuses that have the words “you are sent” on them. It’s also something we say at the end of worship services around here.
And I love how Paul finishes this thought of his: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach — or proclaim — the good news!” How beautiful are the feet. I don’t know about you but feet don’t make my list of most beautiful body parts. They’re gross. They stink. Toes are weird. Not to mention that — in Paul’s day — everyone wore sandals, and the roads were dusty, and animals used the bathroom on them. So feet were way dirtier than our nasty feet today.
In Life Group — a couple of weeks ago — I won’t name names — but one of the dads in our group didn’t have socks or shoes on. And his toddler was on the floor by his feet. And one of the very mature adults in my Life Group turned the situation into a “smell dad’s feet” game with the little one. And she put her face right on his feet. And all of the adults were like, “That’s gross!” Which got her to do it again and again because of our reaction. We’re a super mature group if you can’t tell.
So what a statement Paul makes when he says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the good news.” For they’re the feet of the sent ones — who through them — others will hear the gospel. And some who hear will believe and their belief will be evident by their calling out on the name of the Lord.
This reminds me of Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch in the book of Acts.
Acts 8:26–40 (ESV)
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went.
How beautiful are the feet.
And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”
How are they to preach unless they are sent?
30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.
How are they to hear without someone preaching? How are they to believe if they don’t hear? How are they to call if they don’t believe?
36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the good news — which Philip continued to do.
Who does God want you to share the gospel with? Yes, you. From the moment you believed in Jesus you were commissioned to proclaim his good news to others. For — to be a disciple of Jesus — yes — means we need to learn the content of what he taught and commanded us to do — and — equally important — to be a disciple of Jesus means we do what he taught and commanded us to do. And the one whom we say we follow said of himself…
Luke 4:18–19 (ESV)
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
The one who we’ve called upon — the one who we believe and trust in for our salvation — is he who said of himself, “I’ve been anointed by God’s Spirit to proclaim good news — to proclaim liberty — to proclaim the Lord’s favor.” Thus — to follow Jesus — is to be proclaimers of this same good news of liberty and favor. Or — as we say it around here — to be disciples of Jesus who make disciples of Jesus — who help others follow Jesus — even if they’re currently someone who doesn’t yet believe in Jesus. For evangelism — sharing the gospel with those who don’t believe — and discipleship — sharing the gospel with those who do believe — go hand in hand.
And the command to make disciples is given to all who follow Jesus.
Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As is proclaiming the good news.
1 Peter 2:9–10 (ESV)
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
As is living — in such a way — that how we live causes others — who don’t believe — to ask us about our hope.
1 Peter 3:15–16 (NLT)
15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.
Which leads us back to Paul’s words in Romans chapter ten. In verse sixteen he writes…
Romans 10:16–18 (ESV)
16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
Paul’s bringing us back to the dilemma we’ve been facing since we returned to Romans. For many people — who don’t believe the gospel — have heard it. Though earlier I mentioned how many people have little to no access to the gospel — thus we desire to be a Kingdom-minded group of disciples here at Gateway — there are also many people — and you probably know some — who’ve heard the gospel and yet still don’t believe it. Though faith comes from hearing the gospel proclaimed — hearing the gospel proclaimed is no guarantee that faith will be the result.
Thus Paul returns to the original question he’s been answering to his readers. A question I mentioned so long long ago it’s understandable if you’ve forgotten about it. The question Paul’s been trying to answer — since the beginning of chapter nine — is: Why did so many Israelites fail to believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah? Do you remember that question? That’s the dilemma Paul’s original audience is wrestling with. For the Israelites were the ones given the promises, the covenants, and the patriarchs — read the opening verses of chapter nine — and the Israelites were given the promise that the Messiah — the promised Savior of the world — would be one of them. And — yet — when Jesus came as the fulfillment of God’s Messiah — the vast majority of the Jewish people rejected him. The vast majority didn’t believe in Jesus — instead — they had him killed. So Paul continues with…
Romans 10:19–21 (ESV)
19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.” 20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, “I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.” 21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”
Though there’s sweet beauty in our passage — in these verses — we encounter the sorrow of knowing not everyone will respond to the good news by believing in Jesus. Paul will expand more on Israel’s rejection of Christ in chapter eleven but — for now — know that Paul — in quoting both from Moses and Isaiah — is making it clear that the promised Messiah — though Jewish in ethnicity — is the Savior of people from all nations. This is our hope — those of us who are people of the nations — not of Jewish origin. For — though we weren’t God’s chosen nation — as we saw earlier in Peter’s words — we are “now his chosen people…a holy nation.” Though we were not seeking God — we found him — because he first revealed himself to us even when we had no interest in him.
And — yet — God continued to hold out his hand of mercy to the people of Israel — who are described as a “disobedient and contrary people.” A disobedient and stubborn people. A disobedient and obstinate people. A disobedient and rebellious people who heard the message of truth — the gospel — and yet their hearing did not lead to their believing and calling on the name of Jesus for their salvation.
This is what Paul experienced as he traveled the known world to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. When he entered a town — he made it a practice to go to the synagogue first — to the gathering place of the Jews — where he’d speak to his fellow Israelites about Jesus. Yet he often experienced opposition to his message — not the reception of it — by his fellow Jews. For example — in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia…
Acts 13:15–52 (NLT)
15 After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.” 16 So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me. 17 “The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery. 18 He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness. 19 Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. “After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years. 22 But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’ 23 “And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel! 24 Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized. 25 As John was finishing his ministry he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon — and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’ 26 “Brothers — you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles — this message of salvation has been sent to us! 27 The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath. 28 They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway. 29 “When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead! 31 And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel. 32 “And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, 33 and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus: ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’ 34 For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’ 35 Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’ 36 This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. 37 No, it was a reference to someone else — someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay. 38 “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. 39 Everyone who believes in him is made right in God’s sight — something the law of Moses could never do. 40 Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said, 41 ‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’” 42 As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the next week. 43 Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God. 44 The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord. 45 But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous; so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. 47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’” 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers. 49 So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region. 50 Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town. 51 So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium. 52 And the believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the good news — even when the message isn’t received by all who hear it.
As we end our time in Romans — for this year — a couple of questions for us to ponder. First — if you’re a follower of Jesus — how are you fulfilling your God-given role of being a sharer of the gospel? To ask it another way: How beautiful are your feet? Here at Gateway there are many opportunities for you to be a sharer of God’s good news. Maybe this is the year you get your passport and go on an international missions trip to Cuba or Bangladesh or to some other place to tell others about Jesus. Or men — maybe this is the year that you sign up to be a mentor in the Women’s Resource Center’s fatherhood program. Or maybe this is the year that you and your spouse start leading one of our next generation ministries’ life groups. Or start hosting a gathering in your neighborhood or college dorm or workplace — where you talk about life and faith. If you’re a follower of Jesus — you’ve been given the task of being a proclaimer of the good news — and oh how beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim it.
Second — if you’re not a follower of Jesus — what will you do with the news you’ve heard today? To repeat what you heard earlier from Paul, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” There’s hope in these words. A guaranteed promise of life, joy, hope, and peace in knowing that you are saved. Not “think that you’re saved” — but are saved. And this confidence isn’t based on you or anything you do — not even in your calling on the name of the Lord — but is a confidence based solely on who God is, what he’s promised, and what is guaranteed because of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. May today — though you came here expecting nothing to change — may today be the day of your salvation. Where — though you never imagined it happening — you leave here believing that Jesus Christ gave his life in love for you. For the gift of salvation is being offered to you today in your hearing of the good news. May you receive it. Believe it. Trust it. And call on the name of the Lord.
Finally — if you’re here today and you’ve not heard anything new — but you’ve been unsettled by the life you’ve been called to live compared to the life you have been living — know that God always forgives those who turn back to him in faith as they turn away from whatever they’ve been living for. This world is full of distractions and we have a very real enemy who wants to lessen our impact as followers of Jesus. For he knows he can’t undo our salvation — so the best tactic he has is to make you an ineffective Christian. Know that Jesus not only forgives us of the sins we committed prior to believing in him — but his mercy also covers the sins we commit after having believed in him. May today be the day of your spiritual renewal. May today be a day of restoration and a refocusing of your purpose, priorities, and calling. May today be the day of your recommitment to serving the one whose name you have called upon for your hope and salvation. Let’s pray together.
Heavenly Father, on behalf of those of us who believe in your Son — thank you for the beautiful feet of those who shared the good news with us. For you used them to be the means by which we heard, believed, and called on the name of Jesus. For some of us — it was a faithful Sunday school teacher whose name we’ve long forgotten. For others of us — it was a close friend or relative or roommate. For others — it may have been a stranger on the street. Yet you orchestrated that moment in our — and their lives — in love for us. You orchestrated that moment to be when we experienced your mercy.
Holy Spirit, those you’ve called to believe in Jesus are those you call to proclaim his good news. Give us confidence — not cockiness — but supernatural confidence that you’re with us, speaking through us, and doing the work of saving people today — just as you’ve always done through your people. Raise up more evangelists among us. Those with your special anointing as a sharer of your good news — as you empower all of us — to be obedient to Jesus’ command to “go and make disciples of all nations.”
And — Jesus — you’re our Savior and Lord — the one we believe in and are following. May our love for you increase our desire to see others respond to your love for them. May our love for you increase our desire to share the gospel with others. May our love for you spur us on to act on this desire and to actually share the gospel with those who don’t yet believe.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — I ask that even right now — you would use me to be the voice through which some hear of your love for them — and respond to it — by believing in Jesus and calling out to him for their salvation. And we thank you that your promise to us is guaranteed: that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May you go with beautiful feet — the beautiful feet of those who proclaim the gospel. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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