Romans: When Kindness Confronts Our Shadow Sid-A Wake‑Up Call

So I just want to thank you guys, everybody who donated school supplies.

Worked the open house, gave money, whatever, every part of it.

Just thank you. You guys absolutely crushed.

You crushed it. Just serving our community well is showing out.

I want to zoom in on one particular moment that I just, I just thought it was

really cool. And I want to share it with you. I want to celebrate the wins.

I'm going to have family come. Just a mom and her daughter.

And I think they grabbed just a handful of supplies. And then they asked,

hey, are you guys the church that gives away the shoes every year?

And it was really a cool moment because it was like, not only are we the church

that does that. All right.

As a church collectively, we do that. But some of the ladies who actually go

and buy the shoes, like for those orders were the ones that they asked,

are you the ones who did that?

And so they were like, yeah, they did it. What color were the shoes?

They were like, we picked those out. Right. It was, it was like this cool moment.

It was really just like heartwarming to see guys, you, us, we are making an

impact right here at Riverwood.

And I just got to say, I'm so honored to be your pastor that,

Hey, it's not about what we receive. It's actually about what we give.

That is more blessed to give than is to receive. And let's just not get weary of doing good.

Because I know we do the school supplies and the shoe drive every year,

and we do them every year because every year there are people who need to be served.

There are people who need a little bit of help. And our job as followers of

Jesus is to be salt and light in this planet.

And so we're going to step into those. Let's not grow weary of doing good.

I really just want to say I'm honored to be a pastor. It's cool when you see

God working in those moments of not us doing anything crazy,

just being faithful with the resources that He's given us and serving our community.

So I'm just proud of you guys for how you guys do that.

I just thought I might share that fun moment with you guys before we get into the Word.

Right now, let's get our hearts ready for what God has for us this morning.

Why don't you put your arms out with your palms up, close your eyes,

just posture of surrender, take a deep breath.

And remember, God is just as near as the air you're breathing. Let's pray.

God, today, would you guide us closer to you? Help our minds put away the frustrations

of the past week, to put away the distractions of the coming week.

We want to fully focus on you.

We come empty with nothing to offer but surrender.

Fill us up as only you can. Holy Spirit, move in here today with power.

We believe that in advance. And we ask all these things in Jesus' name and all

God's people said, amen, amen.

Hey, have you guys ever been in a situation where nothing was just going the

way you thought it was going to go?

None of your normal tricks were working, so you had to go with the extreme method

to get the solution, to get the place you wanted to be, kind of like break the

glass in case of emergency.

Have you guys ever been in a situation where you had to do that?

Like the status quo wasn't working, you had to kind of change things up in a drastic way to do that.

A couple of weeks ago at football practice, I think the Club 57ers all left,

So some of them could wrap me out here.

All right. But I had to bust this. That was an in-case-of-emergency thing.

You got to use it sparingly, but it worked. I learned this one from a TV show.

I practiced. I wasn't Logan Key. I was Kogan Lee. All right.

Just flip it. Not Logan Key, Kogan Lee.

And just let me tell you, Kogan Lee is a hard-nosed coach.

All right. He expects perfection. He's making the kids do laps,

do push-ups. He punts footballs and makes kids go get it. He's really a mean guy. All right.

All right. But in case of emergency, right? Here's my deal. The boys weren't

paying attention. They weren't getting after it. They were goofing off.

They were snipping at each other, getting mad. That was a bad pass.

You know, they kind of just getting on each other and just needed something

to grab their attention and really rally them together.

And in this particular situation, the thing that rallied them together was a mean coach, right?

They focus, but they rally and unite now because they have a common enemy. It's me.

And it feels kind of like that's what Paul is doing here at the end of Romans

all the way to the beginning of chapter three. He is pulling out the big guns

to grab their attention and to really rally them together.

He's not pulling any punches. And remember at this point, the Apostle Paul is kind of a senior saint.

We've talked about how senior saints just kind of say what's on their mind, right?

That's just kind of how it goes. I think the older you get, the less of a filter you have, right?

He's writing to these believers in Rome, the Jews and the Gentiles.

Remember, the Jews have just come back. They've been brought back together.

They were deported, and the Apostle Paul wants to make sure that they are united in the gospel.

That they are united in the gospel. And so he's going to be talking today about

sin, judgment, and God's wrath.

Should have picked a guest speaker for this passage, right? It's going to be a fun one.

All right, but a quick plug, there's so much going on here in the book of Romans,

and we only have so much time every Sunday to look at these.

I want to make sure, and I strongly, strongly encourage that you pick up one

of our Wendon Romans reading guides.

There's still some of them out there in the lobby, and that each week you could

just be reading these passages and looking at them, being familiar with them,

long before you come into the building, because here's the deal.

You can hear it for a 30-minute message, or you can get into the Word each and

every day. And when you do that and then hear the message, it just goes deeper

at a level that's really, really important. So back to our regularly scheduled

programming, right? Romans 1, 18, all the way to Romans 3, 20.

Paul is not pulling any punches.

And we're going to look at a bunch, there's a bunch to look at there,

but I want us to zoom in on just a few of the key passages, I think,

from this section. And these are, again, that they're heavier passages.

They've got some weight to it. And here's why I think that is so important, right?

We've got people with book lights over here so they can read their physical

Bibles, right? Shout out to my mom. All right, there we go. But here's the deal.

There's some weight to it. And I think it's really important that we don't avoid

or run away from hard truths or things that maybe might not sit well with us.

I'm not sure if you've heard the term of a shadow side.

The quickest explanation I can have is like, imagine that each skill that you

possess, in your life, like that would represent a mountain.

And the greater the skill, the higher the mountain, and the bigger the mountain,

the greater a shadow that it casts.

All right, let me give you an example of this. I've got a son who just started

middle school and they had a pep rally the second day of school.

And we got a picture from him, from the school photographer,

of him walking into the pep rally with a room that's filled with people in the

stands and a lot of stuff. And he's like,

Thank you. Like he's like living it up, acting as if all the cheers were for him.

That is my son. He would do anything to try to make somebody laugh,

right? He's just like his dad. He'll do anything for the joke.

He want to get some in trouble, right?

But there's some confidence in there that I love. That is a great strength to

be, to be confident. Like literally the photographer sent it to Kelsey and was

like, I can see middle school is going well, right? She's like,

he's got some, he's got some confidence. Uh, but here's the deal.

If someone has great confidence, right? That would be a big mountain.

That's a good thing to have confidence, right?

It would be easy for that shadow side to show up. You can probably see how that

shadow side would come up.

The shadow side of confidence could be arrogance or being somebody who is slow

to learn because guess what? They already know, right?

And that's true for each and every strength that each and every one of us possesses.

The greater the strength, the greater potential for a shadow side. And here's the deal.

It's not bad to have a shadow side. It's just a fact.

There are two sides to every coin. And it doesn't mean it's bad,

but left unchecked, that can be a problem.

Often the best way to minimize what that shadow size is, is to acknowledge it.

Does that make sense? And so today in our passage, Paul is basically giving

us the shadow side of the gospel.

And here's, he's kind of starting with the, the gospel means good news,

but he's kind of starting with the bad news. The shadow side of the gospel is

not about God, but it's actually about us.

This is a heavy passage, but God is bigger and stronger than any sin or judgment

that we could bring upon ourselves.

And we're going to spend a lot of time diving into that. But before the good

news can be good news, the bad news has to be bad.

In fact, it has to be so bad that only Jesus could save us. That's how bad it has to be.

That's what makes it good news.

So in our passage today, Paul speaks pretty clearly about sin,

judgment, and God's wrath.

Let's dive right into it. Romans 1, verse 18 says.

Romans 1:18

It says, but God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful,

wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

For they know the truth about God because he made it obvious to them.

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky through

everything God made. They can see his invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature.

So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

Verse 21, yes, they know God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks.

And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like.

As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools.

It starts right at the beginning of that. Who does God show his anger towards?

You cast that at the verse part there.

Those who suppress the truth of their wickedness.

Who does it say God has angered towards? the people who lie about how good they

are at, how good they're doing.

His anger is showed toward those who conceal their sin.

God doesn't want us to hide anything about who we are. He wants us to be real, to own that.

Then it says the truth about God is obvious. Paul's making it clear that through creation, right?

Through the earth and the sky, that humanity can clearly see his qualities,

power, and divinity, that they have no excuse for not knowing God.

That's why we send missionaries all around the world to tell others about Jesus.

We want everyone to know about him and what he's done.

We have to. He's saying everyone is without excuse.

The world, there are things that you, can you guys ever see nature and it's

been in awe of the vast, it's been in awe of how like, how do all these things

work together? It's because there's a creator who's put it all together.

And Paul is saying, because of that, because they know that there is a God—,

They have no excuse for not acknowledging him. Again, that's why we send missionaries.

That's why we tell people about him.

And these last two verses here from that section, they might be the most sobering verses of the day.

They knew God, but they didn't worship him as God.

Then it goes on to you. They didn't even give thanks to him.

It says they knew him, it goes on to say, But they came up with their own ideas about him.

That last verse says, claiming to be wise, they became fools.

You guys have heard pride comes before the fall, right? Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

I'm reminded, I heard this. It's funny how you just remember random things when

you're a kid. I heard a story of a pastor, a grown-up, and on time he said,

his wife discovered the secret to cutting onions, right, so that you didn't cry.

And so if you get a big, like, plastic bag and you cut the onions,

like you put the cutting board in and you cut the onions inside the bag.

It keeps all like the juices in there and they're out of the air.

And so your eyes don't water. Pretty smart, right?

And so his wife is kind of bragging. I have like a family dinner.

People come over. His wife's kind of bragging about how, Hey,

I can, I look at what I learned, you know, look at me.

And with the whole family around watching, she cuts the onions inside the bag.

My eyes aren't watering. Then she finishes cutting the onions,

put the knife down and rubs her eye.

Right. And the waterworks begin.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

When we know God, but we come with our own beliefs or ideals about God,

simply thoughts or ideas that we've conjured up, we've missed it.

He tells us so much about himself in his word.

Everything that we need to live a righteous life is right here.

The gospel isn't about smart people claiming to be wise.

That's not Jesus followers, smart people coming to us. It's humble people acknowledging

their foolishness and saying, we need a savior.

That's what the gospel is.

So claiming to be wise, they became fools, they messed up. And they do what

most people do when they mess up.

Do you know what most people do when they mess up? Most people,

when they fail, they do what I think all of us, what kids, even adults are meant to do.

They look around for somebody else who's messed up more, right?

I mean, does that ring true? You're like, hey, I messed up, but look at them.

They did so much worse than I did, right? And Paul, he knows that that's how

people are going to respond. He knows that's how their heart posture is going

to be. So look at chapter two, these first couple of verses here.

It says, you may think you can condemn such people, those people who you think

are worse than you. You may think you can condemn such people,

but you are just as bad and have no excuse.

When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself.

For you who judge others do these very same things.

And we know that God in his justice will punish anyone who does such things.

Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid,

God's punishment, God's judgment when you do the same things?

Ouch, right? He's saying, you know you messed up, so you're gonna condemn other

people, but you have no really right to condemn because you're just as bad as they are.

God is gonna judge you. It reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 7,

verse two, he says, for you will be treated as you treat others.

The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.

That's Jesus speaking. The standard which you judge is the standard by which you will be judging.

What you're putting out is what you're going to get. Uh-oh, right?

That's a problem. Because most of us, if we're being honest,

maybe it doesn't make it out of our mouth, but in between our ears,

the problem was that most of us are hypercritical of others. Right?

And yet we give ourselves all the grace and leeway because it's not because

we think we're better. We just know our full story, right?

And in our world that works inside our heads, it makes us feel superior or above

others. Like we're at least we're doing better than they are.

But in God's kingdom, it's just not that way because we are all judged the same way.

It's against the word of God. It's against the way that God has worked.

And Paul has shown us that although we might sin differently,

It's pretty clear here in Romans 1 and Romans 2 and the beginning of the year.

Everybody sins.

Every single person in this room is guilty of sinning. You are.

And look how Paul flips the script on us in our sin. Verse 4.

This is a verse that's always just near to my heart. Don't you see how wonderfully

kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you?

Does this mean nothing to you?

Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

Again, this is a verse that's just, it's always near to me because can't you

see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? Man, what a verse.

God's kindness is extended, not so that you can continue in your sin.

But actually so that you wouldn't be destroyed by your sin, that you would turn to him.

He's being kind to you so that you would repent, so that you would turn from

the evil things that you would turn from your sins, so that you would turn to him.

2 Peter 3.9 says this, the Lord isn't really being slow about his promise,

as some people think. No, he is patient for your sake.

He doesn't want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

His kindness and patience is there to lead you to repentance.

To repent literally means to turn, to turn from your sin and to turn to God.

And I think, I just, I feel like I need to address this. There's a type of Christianity

that's kind of superficial, kind of that Instagram, I got my Bible and my coffee,

but I'm just doing this for a photo. I'm not actually getting into the word.

There's a type of Christianity that's just superficial and it only speaks of

the love and the kindness of God. And here's the, God is love.

He is tolerant and kind so that you would turn from your sin, not continue in it.

Because God knows that your sin is going to lead to your destruction.

He doesn't want death for you. He wants life.

He wants life for you.

Let's go down a few more verses. Verse 15 says, They demonstrate that God's

law is written in their hearts.

For their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.

And this is the message I proclaim. That the day is coming when God,

through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone's secret life.

If you were to talk to someone and they genuinely believe that they never did

anything wrong, if you were to talk to somebody and they were like,

you know, I've never done anything wrong, they genuinely believe that,

what's the first judgment you'd make about that person who says they've never done anything wrong?

Liar, right? That is the first judgment you would make.

They are a liar. Because here's the deal. All of us are aware of our shortcomings,

that we aren't perfect, that we know we have said, I've yet to meet the person

who claims they've never done wrong. Everybody knows it because God's law is written on your heart.

You don't need to convince people that they're sinners. Usually they are well aware of that fact.

And that fact is true, whether they know the law formally or not.

Paul says that God's creation reveals the glory of God.

And then in verse 16, it's really a double-edged sword right there.

The day is coming when God, through Jesus Christ, will judge everyone's secret life.

And one side of that sword is kind of, it's almost satisfying.

I don't know if that's the right word, but it's kind of satisfying.

Every person who seemingly got away with it in your life, that person who you

see and you know they're doing wrong, but it seems like nobody else sees it.

Those people who do evil in secret, or maybe those people who do evil in the

open, like the day is coming when God will judge them for everything they've

done, whether in private or in public, God will judge them for what they've done.

No one escapes the judgment of God.

And on some level, that's like, get them, you know, just feel that like there's

people who have wronged us, people who've hurt people that you love.

They've hurt you. And it's like, yeah, God's judgment's coming for you.

And regardless of the judgment they may or may not get on this earth,

there is a higher judgment coming. There's a feeling of satisfaction,

of justice being served to those who do evil.

That's one side of the sword. Here's where it gets a little queasy.

The day is coming when God will judge everyone's secret life.

The other side of the sword is that everyone includes you. It includes me.

That feels like the exact opposite of satisfaction, right?

It feels like death. It feels like pain. It feels like humiliation.

That there is nothing you've done that is hidden from God. There is no deed.

There is no motive in a deed or thought that he isn't aware of.

Everyone and everything will be judged.

That sits heavy, right? Let's keep going.

We're going to jump to chapter three, hop in at verse 19 and 20.

Obviously, the law applies to those whom it was given for its purposes to keep

people from having excuses and to show the entire world is guilty before God.

To show the entire world is guilty before God. For no one can ever be made right

with God by doing what the law commands.

The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

The law simply shows us how sinful we are. The law of God was given for a purpose.

And the purpose, right, according to right here, it says to show us how sinful we are.

James, in the book of James, describes the law as a mirror, that it's not actually

meant to save us, but it's rather to show us, to show us that we are sinners in need of a savior.

And what we see is that God's judgment of sinners is to pour out his wrath.

Like God is going to pour his wrath out on sinners is often described as his cup.

That's all bad news. We are all sinners. He knows everything that we've ever done.

And the law, there's no way we could fulfill it. It's not meant to save us. It's meant to show us.

Bad news. Here's the good news. That cup of wrath, that cup of suffering that

God will pour out on sinners, that he has to, as a just God,

he can't stand sin. Jesus took that cup.

The cup of God's wrath that was meant for us. Jesus took, Matthew 26,

39, this is Jesus talking.

He says, my father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away

from me. This is right before he's taken to the cross.

Yet I want your will be done, not mine.

Jesus was perfect without sin. He was the perfect son of God.

And on the cross, the wrath of God was poured out on him. He died the debt that

we deserve. He paid the price that we owed. He gave up his life for us.

You guys probably know John 3.16. It's just, it's the perfect verse.

Or worship idols or commit adultery or are male prostitutes or practice homosexuality

or are thieves or greedy people or drunkards or are abusive or cheat people.

None of these people, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.

These people won't inherit the kingdom of God. All of these sinners will not inherit God's kingdom.

Jesus, that we are cleansed and made holy by him, not by our actions, but by calling on him.

That's good news.

Jesus doesn't turn away sinners. He saves them.

He saves them. I'm going to close with going back to Romans 2.

We'll look at verse 28, 29.

I think it's important right here to remember the audience is the Jewish community and the Gentiles.

And remember, they've just come back together. They're having disputes on how

do we follow Jesus and what is the role of the law in that?

Verse 28 says, for you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish

parents or because you have gone through the ceremonial circumcision.

No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And a true circumcision

is not merely obeying the letter of the law. Rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit.

And a person who, who with a changed heart seeks praise from God.

A person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

They're arguing around about what it takes to be a Jesus follower.

Some are saying you had to obey and your obedience to the law made you a Jesus

follower. And Paul says, it's not about the outside.

It's not about behavior modification. That's not what makes you a Jesus follower.

It's a changed heart.

A changed heart is produced, not from us, but from the Spirit.

A person seeks praise from God and not from people.

God is not concerned with the external, but He's concerned with the internal.

He doesn't want you shiny on the outside.

He wants your heart. Jesus wants your heart. He isn't looking for you to have

it all together. He isn't looking for you to be perfect.

He simply wants you to turn to Him, to turn away from your sin and to turn to Him.

And there is no one in your life who is too far gone from the good news of Jesus.

You aren't too far gone from the good news of Jesus.

You've given us mercy that we do not deserve. And we thank you so much for the

freedom that we have in you.

God, I pray for those who have yet to put their faith in you.

God, would you draw them near to you? Would you give them tender hearts to your

word and your spirit? Would you move in ways that only you can?

God, I pray for us that are here that are Jesus followers. God,

that we wouldn't just try to look good on the outside. God, we would give you

our hearts. We'd give you all that we have because, God, you are worthy of it all.

There is none like you, Lord. Lord, there's no one worthy of all we have but you.

Help us to live that way in every area of our lives.

Not just on Sundays, but every single day knowing you are the king of our hearts.