Called To Belong

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.

And it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.

A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here.

And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good.

They don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it,

which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.

We're continuing this morning our series in the book of Romans.

And you'll remember that the book of Romans is a letter.

It's a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s AD.

And it's called Romans for a very simple reason, which is that it's written to the churches in the city of Rome.

This letter is about the gospel. It's about the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection.

And Paul's hope in writing it is that these churches would be established in the gospel.

That's what he goes on to say just a few verses later in chapter 1, verse 11.

And there are many applications that show up throughout this book,

but Paul has a special focus on the mission and the unity of the church.

There are many spokes that are going to shoot out, but as we've seen before,

and we'll see again this morning, those spokes are constantly returning back to the hub of the gospel.

And as I've told you many times now,

if you're nervous about the fact that we're moving so slowly through the book of Fear Not,

we will speed up a little bit, especially next week.

We're just working slowly through the introduction because there's so much for us to unpack here.

You'll remember last time we were in the book of Romans,

we took a look at verse 5 and we asked this big question,

what does success look like?

What does it look like when it comes to the mission of the church in God's people?

And we saw that the success was to bring about the obedience of faith.

Paul also gave us the why, why that actually matters,

and it matters because it's for the sake of his name.

We discussed the fact that it is in God's glory that we discover our good.

And then Paul gave us the scope that this is for all the world,

that it's for all people everywhere.

As we turn from verse 5 to verses 6 and 7,

we're asking a different question, which is,

who are you?

What is the basic definition of the Christian?

And if I ask you, who are you, really what I'm asking you is this,

what is most important?

What is the thing in life that matters more than anything else?

Now this might sound a little coming out of left field,

and that's because it is.

I'm going to ask you another question.

If you were going to get a tattoo, what would you get it of?

Now in asking that, I realize some of you already have tattoos,

and so you can already answer, oh, I already know.

I already have it.

Okay.

With that in mind, I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Romans 1.

For the sake of context, we're going to start at verse 1.

And as we do this, remember that this is God's word.

And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold,

even the finest gold,

and it's sweeter than honey,

even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And that's why we read it now, Romans 1, starting at verse 1.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle,

set apart for the gospel of God,

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures,

concerning his son who was descended from David,

according to the flesh,

and was declared to be the son of God in power,

according to the spirit of holiness,

by his resurrection from the dead,

Jesus Christ our Lord,

through whom we have received grace and apostleship

to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name,

among all the nations,

including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints,

grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we do thank you,

as we do every week, for your word that you've given to us.

You haven't abandoned us to figure things out on our own,

but instead, you make good on your promise.

You tell us that we belong to you,

and so you give us everything that we need.

We ask that you would do that this morning by your word,

that you would instruct us, you'd guide us, you'd shape us.

More than all of that, you'd show us Jesus,

that we would see his beauty and his power and his holiness and his majesty and his glory.

We'd be able to grow in knowing his mercy and his grace and his love.

And we thank you that we don't worry this morning

about whether we've earned or deserved these things.

We know, in fact, we haven't.

And so we simply ask them in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

If you pay attention to things like this,

you may have noticed exactly three weeks ago today,

the Postal Service did what it does,

if not every year, every few years,

which is they raised the price of first-class stamps

from 68 cents to 73 cents.

It's about double what postage was back in 2002.

And it's no secret that the USPS is struggling

and has been struggling for some time.

struggling both with financial problems and also slow delivery.

In 2023, they had a net loss of $6.5 billion.

Now, there's many factors.

The most obvious factor in all of these things

is the emergence of email,

which is replacing much of snail mail.

And so there's just less volume in the Postal Service

because now, instead of sending each other letters,

we send each other texts and emails.

The current Postmaster General is a man named Louis DeJoy.

And in April of this year, he was interviewed,

and he said,

the Postal Service across the board is facing a crisis.

We have seen a dramatic decline in first-class mail delivery

as more and more people communicate online.

And so there's a dramatic shift that's happening in our world,

as all of us know,

dramatic changes in communication.

And in the midst of those changes,

there are some things that never change.

Whether you send an email or a letter,

you do something that people have done for millennia,

which is this.

You've got to say who it's to.

You have to say who it's from.

All right?

Some things never change.

And that's what's happening in this letter

that Paul is writing to the Romans.

We are finishing this week his introduction,

which takes up verses 1 through 7.

Verses 1 through 5 are Paul's introduction.

Paul has been saying in these last five verses,

here is who the letter is from.

It's from me, Paul.

And now if that surprises you,

remember,

because we've talked about a lot of things

that are not related to Paul, right?

We've talked about Jesus Christ

and the fact that he was descended from David

and that he's here to bring about the obedience of faith.

That's because Paul has used the introduction

about himself as an excuse to talk about Jesus.

So he says,

hey, this is from Paul,

and here's all these things you need to know

about me and my mission in Jesus.

Okay?

So verses 1 through 5,

that's the from part of the letter.

Verses 6 through 7,

we turn to the to.

Verses 1 through 6 then,

or 1 through 5,

who is Paul?

Who is the letter from?

Verses 6 through 7,

who is it to?

Who is Paul writing to?

And we're asking not just the name of the recipients here,

we're also asking about their identity.

And the very first thing he tells them

about their identity is this.

Verse 6,

you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

This shouldn't sound new to you at all

if you've been here the last several weeks

in the book of Romans

because Paul has been circling

around the same themes over and over.

He is again saying something that he has said before.

We already knew that Paul belonged to Christ, right?

What did we see in verse 1?

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ.

And then we talked about it again last time

when we were at verse 5.

We talked about the why of Paul's mission,

that it is for the sake of his name.

In other words,

everything should lead back to Jesus Christ.

Everything revolves around

and centers on Jesus Christ.

That's why I've been telling you

that there are many spokes

that tie back to one hub.

And so I'm going to tell you

the same thing I told you

in verses 1 and 5.

There are three different options

for who we belong to.

Remember, option one,

you can belong to another person.

And I don't need to convince you

that that's probably not a great idea.

Because what you know

is that at the end of the day,

any human in this world

will ultimately choose themselves over you.

So option one,

belong to another person or an institution,

not great.

Option two,

this is the option that is tempting,

appealing, alluring.

We can belong to ourselves.

And as we talked about in verse 1 and verse 5,

that is not as good as it sounds.

And it's not as good as it sounds

for a variety of reasons.

First, we think we know what's best for us.

We actually don't.

Second, even if we do find out

what's best for us,

we don't actually do it.

And so each time we've discussed this,

I've given you a different quote,

looking at a different angle

of why it is in fact a terrible idea

to belong to yourself.

And I'm going to give you another one this morning.

Page 8 of your worship guide,

Third, autonomy offered us freedom

and gave us alienation.

Belonging to yourself

actually doesn't end very well.

Option three,

belong to God.

Belong to someone who loves you

more than you love yourself.

And that's what we discussed back in verse 5.

Last time we said,

it is in God's glory

that we discover our good.

It's in God's glory

that we discover our good.

That's actually what leads us

to the good life.

That brings me back to the question

I asked you just a few minutes ago.

What would you get a tattoo of?

And why?

If you've been paying attention

the last number of years

in our culture,

tattoos have been skyrocketing.

We now are at a place

where roughly one-third

of American adults

have a tattoo of some sort.

I've actually noticed

over the last couple years,

if you look at advertising

from clothing companies,

more and more

you'll see models

that are covered in tattoos.

I don't remember that being the case

five years ago.

So this is increasingly

a factor in our culture.

There was an article

in World Magazine

that quoted Kevin Dougherty,

a professor of sociology

at Baylor University,

and he said,

Americans have embraced tattoos

as a way to say,

I get to choose for myself

who I am

and who I declare myself to be.

Think about that.

I get to choose for myself

who I am

and who I declare myself to be.

Now, there are lots

of different places

you might get a tattoo.

There are lots of different

types of tattoos.

Some tattoos are about

memories and experiences.

Some of them are about

family members,

those we love,

those who have passed.

There's one type of tattoo

that typically shows up

on someone's forearm

or their wrist.

And the forearm

or the wrist tattoo

is often meant

as a reminder

of a core value.

It's a core value

or a guiding principle,

a north star,

a first principle.

There's a phrase

or a word

that someone will pick

and it will remind them,

oh yes,

this is how I want

to live life.

This is the thing

that I want to guide me

in every decision.

Why the forearm

or the wrist?

Because I can always

look and see it.

Right?

When I'm faced

with a challenge in life,

when I'm faced

with a decision,

when I don't know

which way to go,

I can just pull out my arm

and be reminded

what it is

that guides me

most of all.

I can remember

what's more important

than anything else.

I had a pastor

in college

who said

if he were going

to get a tattoo,

he would put it

not on his wrist

or his forearm,

he would put it

on his forehead

right here,

which is a place

that you can put a tattoo.

It's a bold move.

And he said

he would do

one thing

and one thing only.

He would get

the Hebrew word

that shows up

in the Old Testament

and means

treasured possession.

The Hebrew word

segula,

which is the word

that God uses

to talk about

his people Israel.

He tells them

over and over,

this is how

I think of you.

This is how

I consider you.

You aren't

just my possession,

you're my treasured

possession.

And you're not

just treasured,

you're my possession.

Now, I'm not

endorsing tattoos

this morning.

I'm not saying

you should

or should not

get one.

I am simply

bringing this up

to say one thing.

If you are

a Christian,

I can tell you

right now

what your

North Star

should be.

I can tell you

this morning

what your

guiding principle

is.

And it is this.

You are

a treasured

possession.

What should you

pull out

to remember

your way

when you think

you've lost it?

What is it

that determines

your decisions

when they're

difficult?

what is it

that is

your first

principle?

Paul tells us

right here

in verse 6.

You

who are

called

to belong

to Jesus

Christ.

I get

to choose

for myself

who I am

and who

I declare

myself

to be.

No.

You actually

don't.

You in

fact

belong

to Jesus

Christ.

He has

already

decided

who you

are

and who

you will

be.

Now you

don't need

to get a

tattoo of

that.

One of the

reasons is

this.

God already

has one.

He tells

Israel in

Isaiah

Isaiah 49 · chapter mention

chapter 49,

behold,

behold,

I have

engraved

you on

the palms

of my

hands.

That's

where the

reminder

is.

You don't

need to write

me on your

body.

I've already

written you

on mine.

Christian,

that is

your first

principle.

that is

your

north star.

Jesus

says this

in John

John 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10,

my sheep

hear my

voice and

I know

them and

they follow

me.

Brothers

and sisters,

this is

radically

different than

what the

world around

us is

saying at

this moment

in 2024.

This is on

page 8

again of

your worship

guide.

Taylor Swift

gave a

commencement

address at

New York

University in

2022 and

she had

many things

to say.

One of the

things she

had to say

was this,

I have

some good

news.

It's

totally up

to you.

I have

some terrifying

news.

It's

totally up

to you.

One of

those statements

is correct.

She has

some terrifying

news.

That's what

our culture

is telling

you right

now.

It is

entirely

up.

It's

up to

you to

figure out

what exactly

your sexuality

or your

expression

should be.

It's

up to

you to

determine

what is

right or

wrong.

It's

up to

you to

decide

ultimate

reality

through

whichever

political

party

you

affiliate

with.

And

that is

a crushing

weight.

In fact,

I would

tell you

it's more

than a crushing

weight.

weight.

It's a

weight that

humans are

not designed

to bear

up under.

It is

in fact

too much.

We should

not be

surprised that

anxiety and

depression

spike the

more we

tell people

it's totally

up to

you.

And Paul

here has a

radical and

transformative

word.

you who

are called

to belong

to Jesus

Christ.

That is

the fundamental

reality of

the Christian.

That is

the

foundation.

Why is

it as

Christians

that we

should turn

the other

cheek?

Why would

you not

vindicate

yourself and

get the

revenge that

you need,

right?

You're not

going to get

perfect justice

anywhere else.

why not

take it all

up into

your own

hands?

Because you

belong to

Jesus Christ

and therefore

you know

that he

will defend

you.

Even more

than that,

bringing

ultimate

justice is

his job,

not your

job.

And he

will do

it for

his

children.

Why

would you

be generous

with your

money

when the

future is

filled with

all sorts

of unknown

and frightening

things?

You do

it for

one reason

and one

reason only,

because you

belong to

Jesus Christ.

And Jesus

Christ takes

care of

and preserves

and upholds

those who

belong to

him.

Why should

you embrace

hope?

As you

survey the

shameful

moments

and the

failures

and the

mistakes of

your life.

and as

you

realize

that the

older

you

get,

the

more

of

those

there

are

to

review.

For one

reason

and one

reason only,

because you

belong to

Jesus Christ.

And because

you belong

to him,

you have a

future

and a

hope.

It is in

fact not

all up to

you.

he has

written your

story.

He is

still writing

your story.

We already

sang this

this morning.

If you go

back to

page four

of your

worship guide,

look at

verse four.

I am not

my own

and now

my heart

is free.

O

maker,

come and

make what

you will

of me.

There is

nothing

broken

that you

cannot

repair.

So

Lord,

I leave

my life

in your

loving

care.

We

embrace

hope

because

we

belong

to

Jesus

Christ.

Why are

we stingy

with our

bodies?

Why is it

that we

only have

sex with

people we're

married to?

Because

and only

because

you belong

to Jesus

Christ.

your body

is his,

it is not

your own.

We sang

that too.

We sang

that in the

second verse.

My body

is a temple

of the

living God.

I'll worship

in this

house that

his blood

has bald.

As I

bear his

image,

oh may

I not

profane

the holiness

I hold

in this

earthly

frame.

what was

the lie

that Satan

told Adam

and Eve

in the

garden?

The lie

was that

they belonged

to themselves.

The lie

was that

God did

not want

the best

for them.

The lie

was that

God was

not looking

out for

them.

It was

all up

to you.

I have

some good

news.

It's

totally

up to

you.

I have

some

terrifying

news.

It's

totally

up

to

you.

And of

course,

it's only

terrifying

news.

It's the

lie that

Adam and

Eve

believed

so many

decades

ago,

millennia

ago,

in the

garden.

It's the

lie that

you and

I continue

to believe

today.

I belong

to the

Lord.

I am

not my

own.

I will

honor him

for this

I know.

Now,

you might

be thinking,

thanks a

lot,

pastor.

Of course,

you're going

to say

that.

Realtors

always believe

it's a good

time to

buy.

Pastors

always believe

it's a good

time to

belong to

Jesus.

Why?

Why?

Why is

this the

touchstone

above all

other things?

Why should

this be

the north

star?

Even more

than that,

is it safe?

Is it

good?

Will I

regret

belonging

to Jesus

Christ?

Thankfully,

Paul doesn't

leave us to

wonder.

He tells us

many other

things.

He goes

on in

verse 7

to tell us

this.

to all

those in

Rome

who are

loved

by God.

Remember,

treasured

possession.

Verse 6,

what we've

talked about

is possession.

Verse 7,

what we're

going to

talk about

is treasured.

And what

does he

mean here

that we're

loved by

God?

We talked

about this

back in

verse 1.

This gets

us back

from the

spoke to

the hub.

This ties

us back

down to

the heart

of the

gospel.

The one

who died

for us

is the

only one

we can

give ourselves

over to

completely.

The one

who died

for us

is the

one we

can trust

more

than we

trust

ourselves.

Why is

it good

that we

belong to

God?

It's good

that we

belong to

God

because

we are

loved

by God.

God

says,

whether you're

a Christian

or not

a Christian,

there is

one thing

that I

know that

you need.

You

need to

be cared

for

and protected

by someone

who loves

you more

than you

love

yourself.

Jesus

says this,

John chapter

John 10 · chapter mention

10,

I am

the good

shepherd.

I know

my own

and my

own

know me.

Just as

the father

knows me

and I

know the

father

and I

lay down

my life

for the

sheep.

That's

what you

need.

You need

a shepherd

who lays

down his

life

for the

sheep.

You

won't find

that in a

human

institution.

You

won't find

that in

another

person.

And I

can

guarantee

you will

not find

it in

yourself.

You

cannot

be

your

own

shepherd.

At

least not

very well.

And so

Paul is

reminding us

at the

very beginning

of the

letter

of this.

You

need to

belong

not to

someone

else.

You

need to

belong

not to

yourself.

You

need to

belong

to your

Lord and

Savior

Jesus

Christ.

the

one

whose

love

led

him

to

lay

down

his

life

for

you.

Now

how do

you get

that

kind

of

shepherd?

How do

you get

the care

and

protection

that you

need?

If it's

true that

non-Christians

and Christians

both need

someone who

loves them

more than

they love

themselves,

what is

it that

you need

to do?

Wrong

question.

verse 7

of your

worship

guide.

We are

Christians

for one

reason only

and that

is that

God has

set his

love upon

us.

That is

the thing

that brings

us out

of the

world

and out

of the

dominion

of Satan.

We are

what we

are,

not because

of our

goodness,

not because

of our

lives,

not because

of anything

in us.

it all

comes from

the love

of God.

There is

nothing to

do.

There's

nothing to

do except

to accept

and follow

Jesus as

your Lord

and King.

To know

what Paul

tells us at

the end

here, he

says,

called to be

saints,

grace to

you and

peace.

Grace,

Paul is

reminding

us of

God's

undeserved

mercy and

favor on

his people,

that he

has given

us what

we do

not

deserve.

And the

peace

reminds us

that while

at one

point we

were at

enmity with

God, we

were at

war with

him, we

have now

been granted

reconciliation

through Jesus

Christ.

In other

words, you

cannot pull

yourself up

by your

bootstraps.

You cannot

do anything

to prove

something to

God or

earn anything

from him.

No, it's

rooted and

grounded in

the love

of God,

the grace

and peace

of Jesus

Christ.

that's what

results in

them.

This is

verse 7,

called to

be saints.

I was

talking to

someone about

a month

ago at

a coffee

shop and

this person

said, hey,

I've really

started to

study the

saints

recently.

And I

said, you're

a saint.

Everyone who

is a

Christian is

a saint.

How do I

know?

Paul tells

us right

here.

Saint simply

means set

apart for

God.

Does it

mean that

we live in

a certain

way?

Yes,

because

first we've

been set

apart.

God's

unmerited

favor, his

grace, favor

we didn't

earn.

God's

peace,

reconciliation,

we don't

deserve.

We are

Christians for

one reason

only, and

that is that

God has

set his

love upon

us.

That is the

thing that

brings us

out of the

world and

out of the

dominion of

Satan.

I belong to

the Lord.

I am not

my own.

I will

honor him

for this I

know.

I belong

to the

Lord.

I am

not my

own.

Let's

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven, we

thank you

and we

praise you

that you

have called

us to

belong to

Jesus Christ.

We thank

you you

don't do

it for

anything we've

done, to

earn it or

deserve it.

You do it

because you

have set

your love

on us and

you've

called us

to be

saints.

We ask

that you

would remind

us of

that, that

we would

give up

other

belongings and

that we

would embrace

our identity

in you.

We ask

these things

in the

mighty name

of Jesus

Christ.

Amen.