8-12-2001(communion)

Introduction

In Romans 15:7-13 Jesus is presented to us as servant (v. 8), singer (vs. 9-11), and ruler (v. 12). If you compare these three activities (serving, singing, and ruling) it is interesting to consider which is the most fundamental in this text. Which is presented here as the most basic and leading to the others? In the abstract you would probably say that being king, a divine king no less is the most fundamental activity. Notice that I said "in the abstract." In the context of this passage and the history of redemption, it turns out that serving is the fundamental activity because without it there is no ground for singing and without it there is no basis for ruling.

To avoid missing a key point, let me stress something about Jesus as king. His kingship here is not a divine kingship. That is, He becomes king as the root of Jesse (v. 12). We are talking here about a kingship that belongs to Him "who as to his human nature was a descendant of David" (Rom. 1:3, Jesse being David's father). This is historical-redemptive. His kingship is something that is granted to Him in history (not something He had for all eternity as God the Son and thus king of the universe; cf. Acts 2:36).

Therefore, being ruler is grounded in being servant. Being ruler is granted in His exaltation but His exaltation is rooted in His humiliation (he humbled himself taking the form of a servant, Phil. 2:7).

So in remembering our Lord today I want to consider Jesus as our singing servant king with an accent on the astounding fact that He is a servant, that He is our servant, my servant, your servant. That is truly amazing.

1A. First, His service was sacrificial

Throughout this passage in Romans we have noted that Jesus is the model of others-oriented-service. He did not please Himself (v. 3). He is our example of not seeking to please ourselves but others, of welcoming one another as Christ has welcomed us into His home, into His family (v. 7). The direction is away from self; it is a model of unselfishness.

But His service is more than unselfish; it is sacrificial to the ultimate. This is stated in verse 8: "Christ has become a servant of circumcision" (a servant of the Jews). The reference here to the Jewish people is in terms of the rite of circumcision.

He came to fulfill God's truth, which means to prove God's faithfulness by bringing His promises to realization (Rom. 15:8b, "on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises to the patriarchs"). The promises were made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that a descendant would be born that would bring restoration from all the effects of the fall. He will be a descendant of Eve (Gen. 3:15) a descendant of Abraham (Gen. 12:7) by Sarah (Gen. 17:16) through Jacob and His twelve sons, through Jacob's son Judah, through Judah's descendant Jesse to David and ultimately to the greater David, our Lord Jesus Christ.

These promises included blessing to all families of the earth along with blessing to the descendants of Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 17:4; 28:14). Again, the blessing is redemptive involving restoration from the effects of the fall in the descendant of Eve that will crush the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15).

But the way that redemptive restoration will come is through being struck in the heel. The picture is that of a person extending his foot to crush a snake and receiving a deadly strike from the snake in the process.

There we have the picture of self-sacrifice. To fulfill the covenant promises, Jesus came not to be served (not to please Himself) but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.

Here literally we are told that Jesus served circumcision. He fulfilled all the requirements of circumcision. He was cut off from the land of the living by the violent circumcision of the cross (our circumcision of heart came about because of His circumcision into death and burial, Col. 2:11-12). The circumcision done to Him brought about the circumcision done by Him of us. Thus, he serves us by being a servant of circumcision fulfilling the death required to bring in the new covenant.

So, He says in the institution of the Supper, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" (1 Cor. 11:25). Formerly it was said, "circumcision is my covenant" (Gen. 17:10); now "this cup is my covenant" (note the ritual simplicity and the change from covenant promise to form a family signified in the cutting of the organ of generation to covenant fulfillment signified in nourishing the new people of God).

2A. Second, His was a painful service

It is an understatement to say that He pleased not Himself but sought to please us. His sacrifice of Himself on the cross for our redemption was immeasurably painful.

He was "stricken, smitten, and afflicted" when He died on the cross. The serpent struck him with a deadly blow. He was afflicted in the house of His friends as expressed in the hymn: "Tell me ye who hear him groaning, was there ever grief like his? Friends thro' fear his cause disowning, foes insulting his distress."

But we know whose arrow pierced His heart and soul most deeply and we know why. "The deepest stroke that pierced him was the stroke that Justice gave." He was obedient unto death, a painful death to bring many sons and daughters to glory. As we are told in Hebrews, because the children given to him in the eternal covenant of redemption "have flesh and blood" therefore "he too shared in their humanity" to suffer in service to God enduring God's wrath in their place (2:14-18).

Do you remember His deep distress in the shadow of the cross when He said, "Now my soul is exceedingly troubled, and what shall I say? With every ounce of self-preservation in my being I must say, 'Father save me from this hour.' But with determined and obedient love I must say, 'Father, bring on the cross and there glorify thy name'" (my paraphrase).

His service as the servant of circumcision was painful service to welcome us into the kingdom and family of God (Rom. 15:7).

3A. His service was effectual

In serving circumcision and fulfilling the covenant to the patriarchs, He had a determined purpose (so that, v. 9), the determined purpose to give mercy to the Gentiles and by that to elicit from them praise to God (v. 9).

We must think of God's purpose as unfailing. "The root of Jesse will spring up" (v. 12) and He will "rule over the nations." In laying down His life for His sheep, He told us that as the good shepherd He has other sheep that He "owns" that are not of the Israelite sheep pen (Jn. 10:10, 16). These are Gentile sheep given to Him before the foundation of the world in the covenant of redemption (Jn. 17:1-2). He says of them, "I must bring them also" (Jn. 10:16). This means bring them to salvation by laying down His life for them. It is effectual. When lifted up on the cross, the Son of man we were told, will bring all nations to Himself (Jn. 12:32).

He is sovereign Lord and will not fail to bring the nations under His rule. It is a redemptive rule and therefore He will not fail to save each one for whom He came. The Father gave Him authority over all flesh, Jew and Gentile alike, in order for Him to give eternal life to those given to Him by the Father (Jn. 17:2, to bring them to a saving knowledge of God, 17:3).

This includes "even us" who here today, Gentiles who did not seek and yet have found the blessing of redemption through Christ.

4A. Finally, His service was joyful

Now we remember that our servant king is a singing servant king. In Romans 15:9 we have a reference again (like 15:3) to Christ in the Psalms. The Psalmist typifies Christ who declares, "I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name."

After instituting the Lord Supper, we are told that "when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (Mk. 14:26). I think it is good for us to remember Jesus as a singer, a hymn singer, a singer of Psalms. This surely sanctifies music, especially vocal music. We are not told much about His singing but the fact that our Lord Jesus, our servant-king sang hymns has to stir us up to sing hymns like He did.

So we ask, what are we told of His hymn singing? 1) It is praise that involves singing hymns "to God's name" (Rom. 15:9). His hymn singing is an expression of music from the vocal cords that glorifies and praises God ("awake my soul and sing….glory to the bleeding lamb").

2) In Hebrews we are told that He sings God's praises "in the presence of the congregation" and He makes declaration to us His brothers and sisters (2:12). How are we to understand this? It is not to be restricted to heaven and final glory because the context here concerns the family facing temptation and needing help (Heb. 2:18). It seems to me that this must refer to the fact that Jesus sings along with us in our singing. He does this as our risen Lord; He is present with us by the Spirit.

This is a lofty thought. Here we are singing as part of worship and we think of singing as a word to ourselves (awake my soul and sing), a word to one another (Listen, hark, do you hear the voice of love and mercy? Come, turn your harps, all on earth with all in heaven, join to praise), and a word to God ("Forbid it Lord [I pray] that I should boast save in the death of Christ). But it is also a word from God (To Him that on Jesus that has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes; I will never, no never, no never forsake). And in terms of this text before us today, it is a word from the Lord Jesus calling us to rejoice and to sing along with Him (Rom. 15:10-11). He is present with us as risen Lord by the Holy Spirit. He sings along with us. And in our singing He calls us to rejoice and to express that joy in songs of praise to God.

If we remember the Lord Jesus in this way as a singer who calls us to sing then that has to put some spark in our hearts to sing amidst the congregation. But if we remember Him as a singer who sings along with us then that has to put some fire in our hearts to sing praises to God amidst the congregation. With this memory of Christ in mind, I don't see how I can ever approach congregational singing in a halfhearted way.

We come today with these table elements to remember Jesus as our singing servant king.

Approaching Participation in the Table Elements

What do you now say to these things God has said in reminding us of Christ? There are three things to emphasize via this context of Romans 15:7-13.

1) First, I need this singing servant.

Because of my sin that I acknowledge forthrightly, I need the work He has done. I need the service He has rendered. I am a sinner and I am not worthy of the least of His favors. I need Him. I need the body and blood pictured in these elements. I need to be served by Him. I need Him as I need bread; He is the bread of life.

As a prayer, "O Lord Jesus I need you."

2) Second, I own this singing king as my very own

He has put the highest and greatest hope out in front of me. He makes me want to sing along with Him. I appropriate His work to my life. I own Him as my king to live under His authority and by His law. This is my baptismal pledge: I commit myself to live under His absolute authority over my life from a to z (that is the core commitment of baptism). In all my learning it is from His hand that I learn. In all my living it is His will that I desire to do. "Like Him, to be like Him, O to be like Him," that is my desire. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Him. He is my portion. He is my song as my singing servant king.

This becomes the prayer: "O Lord Jesus I own you as my very own. Your death is my death and your life is my life. You are my Lord and my God." What you command that I will do. You say be baptized then I will be baptized. You say take communion then I will take communion. You say sing praises to God then I will sing praises to God.

3) Third, I own the children of this servant-king who sings as my family

There is only one loaf so we being many are one body. He is our king, savior, sovereign God, and our dear elder brother. He sings in the midst of the congregation. So I want to sing in the midst of the congregation. I want to sing, pray, and fellowship with the people of God in communion, that is, in co-union. What a privilege this is to gather together to ask the Lord's blessing, to remember the Lord Jesus, and to sing along with Him.

So even though it is not always easy to do, though it may be easier said than done, we are to sing together with family love, one anothering mutually preferring love, and brotherly love (Rom. 13:10). In other words, we are to pile up love along the pathway of our journey. We are to compound love, heap it up as we make our way on the sure path of the good road as fellow soldiers protected by the armor of light. This begins right here with one another. And it should spill over in our relationships with all Christians and to all other contexts of life. Thus, we say in symbol what we ought to say in our hearts and live in our lives: "O Lord Jesus I own your people here and everywhere as my family."

Let us so take and eat in remembrance of Him, our singing servant king.